散文佳作108篇 第58期:A Gift of Dreams 夢寐以求的禮物

A Gift of Dreams(Excerpt)

夢寐以求的禮物(節(jié)選)

George H.Brooks

喬治·H·布魯克斯

Christmas Eve, 1994. I was a sailor in the U.S. Navy, on a one-day leave in San Francisco. Ihad won ' 300 at poker that ordinarily would have burned a hole in my pocket, but I couldn'tshake an overwhelming sadness.

1944年圣誕夜。當時我是美國海軍士兵，到舊金山休假一天。在那以前，我玩撲克游戲，贏了300元。通常，錢燒口袋滑，一有就不留。可我當時極為憂愁煩悶，怎么也無法擺脫那種惡劣的心境。

Scuttlebutt had it we'd be pulling out before the New Year for the South Pacific. I'd just receivedword that another friend had been killed in Europe. And here I was, an 18-year-old alone in astrange city. Nothing seemed to make any kind of sense.What was I going to be fighting for,anyway

傳聞部隊在新年前要開赴南太平洋，而且剛剛聽說又有一位朋友在歐洲陣亡。我年僅18，如今在一個陌生的城市里，單身無靠。干什么都沒有意思。我究竟為什么打仗來著

I spent most of the day in a mental fog, wandering aimlessly through crowds of laughing,happy people. Then, late in the afternoon, my vision suddenly focused, and for the first time ascene registered.

我精神迷惘，在歡笑的人群中毫無目的地逛蕩，消磨了差不多一整天。后來，在黃昏的時候，視線突然集中，第一次有一個情景引起了我的注意。

There in a department-store window were two electric trains chugging through a miniature,snow-covered town. In front of the window was a skinny boy around nine years old, his nosepressed against the glass. He just stood there, fixed on those trains.

在一家百貨商店的櫥窗里，有兩列電動火車正在一座白雪覆蓋的微型城市里嘎嚓嘎嚓地行駛。在櫥窗前，一個約莫9歲光景的瘦小男孩，鼻子緊貼玻璃，一動不動地站在那里，目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地注視著那兩列火車。

Suddenly the boy was me nine short years before, and the store was Macy's in New York City,my home town. I could see, could feel the same longing, the same desperate hoping. I couldhear the sigh of resignation -- the frail attempt to hide the disappointment that Dad couldnot afford those trains. And I saw the reluctant turning away and then the one last look.

那男孩忽地成了短短的9年前的我，那商店成了我的家鄉(xiāng)紐約市的梅西商店。我看得見，也感覺得到那同樣的渴望和急切的期待。我聽得見那無可奈何的嘆息——爸爸買不起那種火車只好這么強憋住失望的心情。那戀戀不舍地轉(zhuǎn)身走開，最后又看上一眼，恍如就在眼前。

Not this time l I don't know what came over me, but I grabbed the boy by the arm, scaring himhalf to death.

不能再這樣了!我至今弄不明白是中的什么邪，反正我一把抓住男孩的胳臂，把他嚇得半死。

My name is George, I told him.

“我叫喬治，”我告訴他。

Jeffrey Hollis Jr., he managed to reply.

“我叫小杰弗里·霍利斯，”他好不容易答了一聲。

Well, Jeff Hollis Jr., I said in my best grown-up voice, we are going to get us those trains. '

“這樣吧，小杰弗，霍利斯，”我盡量說得像大人，“咱們?nèi)グ涯腔疖囐I下來。”

His eyes grew wide, and he let me lead him into the store. I knew it was crazy, but I didn't care.Suddenly I wanted to be nine again and have a kid's dream come true. The salesclerk looked atus suspiciously, a scruffy black boy and a black sailor in ill-fitting dress blues.

他睜大了眼睛，隨我進了商店。我知道這真荒唐，可我不管我忽然想再回到9歲，實現(xiàn)孩時的夢想。售貨員心懷疑慮望著我們：一個是衣衫檻樓的黑孩子，一個是黑人水兵，穿著一套不合身的海軍制服。

Those trains in the window, I blurted before he could speak. The whole setup. How much is it

“櫥窗里那套火車，”不等售貨員說話我就脫口而出。“要整套。多少錢?”

His snorting response was interrupted by the arrival of a much older man wearing a warmChristmas smile. One hundred and sixty-five dollars and sixty-three cents, the elder manreplied, delivery included.

他剛露出一副不屑搭理的模樣，過來一位年紀大得多的人，滿臉喜氣洋洋的過節(jié)神情。“165元6角3分，”他回答，“包送到家。”

We'll take it, I said. Right now if we can.

“我們要了，”我說，“可以現(xiàn)買現(xiàn)送吧。”

Jeff Hollis Sr.'s reaction reminded me of what my own father's would have been if I had shownup with a stranger and a whole lot of gifts.I could see he was a hard-working man, breaking hisback to make ends meet and knowing he couldn't give his family all he wanted.

老杰弗·霍利斯的反應使我想起我的父親，要是我當初也領著一個陌生人，抱著一大堆禮物回來，他會怎么樣呢。我看得出迷人很勤勞，累死累活也只能勉強糊口，他也知道他沒法盡心盡意滿足這一大家人。

I'm just a sailor a long way from home, Mr. Hollis, I said respectfully, explaining how I had seenmyself in his son's longing gaze at the store display.

“我只是個遠離家鄉(xiāng)的水兵，霍利斯先生，”我說得很謙恭，說我見他兒子眼巴巴地盯著商店里的擺設，像是看到了我自己。

You couldn't have spent the money any other way he asked gruffly.

“你有錢就不能往別處花了”他問得挺生硬。

No, sir, I replied.

“不能，先生，”我回答。

His face softened, and he welcomed me to share their table. After supper, I read to Jeff Jr. andhis sisters until they went off to bed.

他臉色和氣了，邀我一起吃晚飯。飯后，我給小杰弗和他的兩個妹妹念故事，直到他們?nèi)ニX。

I guess you know we've got a lot to do before morning, Jeff Sr. said. His words startled me fora moment. Then I understood. I was no longer a child; I was a man now, with adultresponsibilities. So I joined him at what turned out to be nearly an all-night job of getting thetrains put together and set up. His wife, Marge, made sandwiches and coffee and kept metalking about growing up in New York. At midnight we paused to wish each other a MerryChristmas, then went back to the task of making a boy's dream come true.

“我想你也知道，這下我們可得忙乎到天亮了，”老杰弗說.我一聽吃了一驚，過了一會才明白過來。我已不再是孩子，是大人了，該盡成年人的責任了。于是，我和他一起把火車攢起來，裝配好，幾乎干了一通宵.他的妻子瑪吉做三明治，煮咖啡，一面要我講從小怎么在紐約長大的。午夜時分，我們停下來互相祝賀圣誕，過后，又再接再勵，把一個孩子的夢想變成現(xiàn)實。

Dreams, I thought sleepily, kid dreams. I guess I dozed because the next thing I knew it wasfive o'clock, and Jeff Jr. was shaking me. He had remembered I had to be back by eight.

多少個夢想，我睡眼朦朧地想，兒時的夢想。我猜想我后來打了個盹兒，因為待到清醒過來已是5點，小杰弗正忙著推我。他記得我必須在8點鐘以前趕回基地。

For about five minutes Jeff Jr. ran his train. Then, abruptly, he stopped and, without a word,left the room. He returned with the presents he had bought, a look of pride on his face. He'dhad some help, but he'd made the choices himself.

小杰弗玩了大約5分鐘的火車.突然，他停了下來，一句話沒說就離開了房間。他回來時，拿著他買好的禮物，臉上神氣十足。當時店里是有人領他去的，可東西都是他自己挑的。

I thought he was finished when he turned to me with a package in his hand. Merry Christmas,George, he said quietly. I was totally surprised. The gift was a comb-and-brush set, along witha case for other toilet articles. He held out his hand, then changed his mind and hugged mewarmly.The moment of parting was bittersweet, for ] knew I would probably never see theHollises again. Jeff Sr. and Marge thanked me, but I was the grateful one.

我以為他把禮物都分完了，只見他這時拿著一包東西轉(zhuǎn)向了我.“恭賀圣誕，喬治，”他小聲說。我完全沒有想到。送給我的是一套梳刷用具，另有一只裝其他盥洗用品的盒子。他伸出手，又改變主意，熱烈擁抱起我來.分別的時刻又苦又甜，我知道恐怕永遠也不會再見到霍利斯一家了.老杰弗和瑪吉感謝我，倒是我要向他們感恩才是。

As I made my way to the station to catch a bus back to the base, I realized I had no morenagging doubts. I had found more in this experience than I had received from all the pep talksand patriotic speeches I had ever heard.

在趕往車站搭車返回基地的路上，我意識到我不再有那些牽腸掛肚的疑慮了。我從這次經(jīng)歷中覺得的，要比我從所有聽過的鼓動性講話和宣揚愛國精神的演講中得到的更多。

For me, it was a revelation. I knew now what this war and all the fighting was about. It wassomething at once wonderful and simple. This country, my country, was a place of dreams..,and of dreamers who had the faith and the will to make dreams come true.

這對我是個啟發(fā)。我終于明白這場戰(zhàn)爭和所有這些戰(zhàn)斗為的是什么了。它是某種既精彩又簡單的東西。這個國家。我的祖國，是將讓人夢寐以求的國土......是一片讓那些有信心和意志讓夢想成真的人夢寐以求的國土。