The Greatest Of These　最偉大的是真愛(ài)

The Greatest Of These　最偉大的是真愛(ài)

◎ Nanette Thorsen-Snipes

My day began on a decidedly sour note when I saw my six-year-old son wrestling with a limb of my azalea bush. By the time I got outside, he’d broken it. “Can I take this to school today?” he asked. With a wave of my hand, I sent him off. I turned my back so he wouldn’t see the tears gathering in my eyes. I loved that azalea bush. I touched the broken limb as if to say silently, “I’m sorry.”

今天一大早我就非常惱火，因?yàn)槲铱匆?jiàn)六歲的兒子正在費(fèi)力扭折我的一枝杜鵑花。當(dāng)我趕到外面時(shí)，他已經(jīng)把花摘下來(lái)了?！敖裉煳夷馨鸦◣У綄W(xué)校嗎？”他問(wèn)。我擺了擺手，讓他離開(kāi)了。我轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái)，為的是不讓他看到我眼里的淚水，因?yàn)槲液軔?ài)杜鵑花。我輕撫那被折斷的花枝，像是在對(duì)它無(wú)聲地道歉。

I wished I could have said that to my husband earlier, but I’d been angry. The washing machine had leaked on my brand-new linoleum. If he’d just taken the time to fix it the night before when I asked him, instead of playing checkers with Jonathan. What are his priorities anyway? I wondered. I was still mopping up the mess when Jonathan walked into the kitchen. “What’s for breakfast, Mom?” I opened the empty refrigerator. “Not cereal,” I said, watching the sides of his mouth drop. “How about toast and jelly?” I smeared the toast with jelly and set it in front of him. Why was I so angry? I tossed my husband’s dishes into the sudsy water.

我多希望我能早點(diǎn)兒把那件事告訴丈夫，但是當(dāng)時(shí)我很生氣。洗衣機(jī)的水都漏到我那嶄新的油毯上了。如果他能在我問(wèn)他的前一晚上花點(diǎn)時(shí)間把洗衣機(jī)修好，這樣的事就不會(huì)發(fā)生，可他當(dāng)時(shí)卻在和喬納森玩跳棋。我搞不明白他到底有什么了不起？當(dāng)喬納森走進(jìn)廚房時(shí)，我還在收拾那雜亂的一攤?！皨寢?zhuān)绮统允裁?？”我打開(kāi)空空的冰箱，“不吃麥片粥，”我回答，這時(shí)我看到他的嘴角拉了下來(lái)。“吐司和果子凍怎么樣？”我把果子凍抹在吐司上放在他面前。我為什么這么生氣呢？我把丈夫用過(guò)的碟子扔進(jìn)洗滌池里。

It was days like this that made me want to quit. I just wanted to drive up to the mountains, hide in a cave, and never come out.

就是這樣的日子讓我有了退卻的想法。我真想開(kāi)車(chē)到山里，藏在一個(gè)山洞里，永遠(yuǎn)也不再出來(lái)。

Somehow I managed to lug the wet clothes to the Laundromat. I spent most of the day washing and drying clothes and thinking how love had disappeared from my life. Staring at the graffiti on the walls, I felt as wrung-out as the clothes left in the washers.

不過(guò)我還是把那一堆濕衣服拿到了自助洗衣店。那一天的大部分時(shí)間我都在清洗和烘干那些衣服，同時(shí)也在思考著愛(ài)是如何從我的生活中消失的?？粗鴫ι系耐盔f，我突然感到自己就像洗衣機(jī)里的衣服一樣扭曲。

As I finished hanging up the last of my husband’s shirts, I looked at the clock. 2:30. I was late. Jonathan’s class let out at 2:15. I dumped the clothes in the back seat and hurriedly drove to the school.

當(dāng)我把丈夫的最后一件襯衫掛起來(lái)時(shí)，我看了看時(shí)間，已經(jīng)2∶30了。我遲到了，喬納森2∶15下課。我把衣服塞到后座上，急急忙忙開(kāi)車(chē)去學(xué)校。

I was out of breath by the time I knocked on the teacher’s door and peered through the glass. With one finger, she motioned for me to wait. She said something to Jonathan and handed him and two other children crayons and a sheet of paper.

當(dāng)我敲響老師的門(mén)，透過(guò)玻璃向里窺探時(shí)，我已經(jīng)上氣不接下氣了。她用一根手指示意我等一下。她對(duì)喬納森說(shuō)了些什么，然后給了他和另外兩個(gè)孩子一些彩色筆和一張紙。

What now? I thought, as she rustled through the door and took me aside. “I want to talk to you about Jonathan,” she said.

當(dāng)她從門(mén)內(nèi)過(guò)來(lái)，把我拉到一邊時(shí)，我心里想著她要干什么。“我想和你談?wù)剢碳{森。”她說(shuō)。

I prepared myself for the worst. Nothing would have surprised me. “Did you know Jonathan brought flowers to school today?” she asked. I nodded, thinking about my favorite bush and trying to hide the hurt in my eyes. I glanced at my son busily coloring a picture. His wavy hair was too long and flopped just beneath his brow. He brushed it away with the back of his hand. His eyes burst with blue as he admired his handiwork. “Let me tell you about yesterday,” the teacher insisted. “See that little girl?” I watched the bright-eyed child laugh and point to a colorful picture taped to the wall. I nodded.

我已經(jīng)作好了最壞的準(zhǔn)備，什么事都不會(huì)讓我驚訝的。“你知道喬納森今天帶花來(lái)學(xué)校了嗎？”她問(wèn)。我點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，心里還在想著我最?lèi)?ài)的花束，但我試著隱藏眼中殘余的傷痛。我瞥了一眼兒子，他正忙著給一幅圖畫(huà)上色。他的卷發(fā)太長(zhǎng)了，都已經(jīng)垂到了他的眉毛下面。他用手背把頭發(fā)撥開(kāi)。當(dāng)他欣賞自己的作品時(shí)，眼中充滿(mǎn)著憂(yōu)郁?！拔乙阒v一下昨天的事情，”老師繼續(xù)說(shuō)，“看到那個(gè)小女孩了嗎？”我看著那個(gè)眼睛明亮的孩子，點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭，她當(dāng)時(shí)正用手指著墻上的一副五彩的圖畫(huà)開(kāi)懷大笑。

“Well, yesterday she was almost hysterical. Her mother and father are going through a nasty divorce. She told me she didn’t want to live, she wished she could die. I watched that little girl bury her face in her hands and say loud enough for the class to hear, ‘Nobody loves me.’ I did all I could to console her, but it only seemed to make matters worse.”

“呃，昨天她幾近歇斯底里。她的父母正在鬧離婚。她告訴我她不想活了，她希望自己死掉。我看著那個(gè)小女孩把臉埋在雙手里大聲對(duì)全班同學(xué)喊道‘沒(méi)有人愛(ài)我’。我盡自己所能去安慰她，但這似乎使事情變得更加糟糕?！?

”I thought you wanted to talk to me about Jonathan,” I said.

“我以為你會(huì)跟我談喬納森。”我說(shuō)。

“I do,” she said, touching the sleeve of my blouse. “Today your son walked straight over to that child. I watched him hand her some pretty pink flowers and whisper, ‘I love you.’”

“是的，”她邊說(shuō)邊碰了碰我的上衣袖子?！敖裉炷愕膬鹤訌街背莻€(gè)孩子走過(guò)去。我看見(jiàn)他給了她幾枝很漂亮的粉色花朵，然后悄悄對(duì)她說(shuō)‘我愛(ài)你’?！?

I felt my heart swell with pride for what my son had done. I smiled at the teacher. “Thank you,” I said, reaching for Jonathan’s hand, “you’ve made my day.”

對(duì)兒子的所作所為，我心里充滿(mǎn)了自豪感。我對(duì)老師笑了笑，并說(shuō)了聲“謝謝”，然后我抓住了兒子的手說(shuō)，“你讓我感覺(jué)到了快樂(lè)?！?

Later that evening, I began pulling weeds from around my lopsided azalea bush. As my mind wandered back to the love Jonathan showed the little girl, a biblical verse came to me: “...these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” While my son had put love into practice, I had only felt anger.

那天傍晚的時(shí)候，我開(kāi)始清理傾斜的杜鵑花周邊的雜草。當(dāng)我回想起喬納森對(duì)小女孩表達(dá)的愛(ài)意時(shí)，圣經(jīng)中的一句話(huà)在我腦海中浮現(xiàn)：“……這三樣留了下來(lái)：信仰、希望和愛(ài)。但這之中最偉大的是愛(ài)?！碑?dāng)我的兒子將愛(ài)付諸實(shí)踐時(shí)，我卻只感受到了氣憤。

I heard the familiar squeak of my husband’s brakes as he pulled into the drive. I snapped a small limb bristling with hot pink azaleas off the bush. I felt the seed of love that God planted in my family beginning to bloom once again in me. My husband’s eyes widened in surprise as I handed him the flowers. “I love you.” I said.

當(dāng)丈夫開(kāi)車(chē)回來(lái)時(shí)，我聽(tīng)到了那熟悉的剎車(chē)聲。我從花叢中折下一小束粉紅至極的杜鵑花。我感到上帝在家庭中播撒的愛(ài)的種子又一次在我心里開(kāi)花。當(dāng)我把花遞給丈夫時(shí)，他吃驚地睜大眼睛?！拔覑?ài)你。”我對(duì)他說(shuō)。

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