智慧背囊 浮華背后-08-您富有嗎
Are You Rich? 您富有嗎?
It was Thanksgiving morning and in the crowded kitchen of my small home I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags huddling together inside the storm door on the top step.
"Any old papers, lady?"
I was busy. I wanted to say no — until I looked down at their feet. Thin little sandals, sopped with sleet.
"Come in and I'll make you a cup of hot cocoa."
There was no conversation. Their soggy sandals left marks upon the hearthstone. I served them cocoa and toast with jam to fortify against the chill outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget.
The silence in the front room struck through to me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, "Lady ... are you rich?"
"Am I rich? Mercy, no!" I looked at my shabby slipcovers. The girl put her cup back in its saucer — carefully.
"Your cups match your saucers."
Her voice was old, with a hunger that was not of the stomach. They left then, holding their bundles of papers against the wind. They hadn't said thank you. They didn't need to. They had done more than that. Plain blue pottery cups and saucers. But they matched.
I tasted the potatoes and stirred the gravy. Potatoes and brown gravy, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job — these things matched, too.
I moved the chairs back from the fire and tidied the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my hearth. I let them be. I want them there in case I ever forget again how very rich I am.
感恩節(jié)的早晨，狹小的家里。我正在擁擠的廚房里忙著烹調(diào)傳統(tǒng)特色的感恩節(jié)火雞。突然，門鈴響了。我打開前門，只見兩個衣衫襤褸的小孩 蜷縮著相互偎依在我家擋風(fēng)門棟里的最高臺階上。
"太太，請問您有舊報紙嗎?"
當(dāng)時，我正忙得不可開交。我本來想對他們說沒有，但當(dāng)我看到他們腳上只穿著一雙被冰雪浸濕得再單薄不過的便鞋時，我改變了主意。
"進(jìn)屋來吧，我來給你們煮一杯熱可可茶。"
他們一聲不響地跟我進(jìn)了屋，他們浸濕的便鞋在爐邊留下了一連串的腳印。我給他們端上可可茶和果醬面包，以便幫助他們抵御外面的風(fēng)寒。然后我回到了廚房，又開始了我的家庭理財工作。
前屋里一片沉默，這讓我感到很奇怪。我向屋里望去，只見小女孩手里端著空茶杯，認(rèn)真地凝視著它。小男孩則平靜地問道：“太太，您富有嗎 ?"
"我富有嗎? 天哪，我可算不上。"我盯著那破舊的沙發(fā)套說道。這時，那個小女孩非常小心地把杯子放回茶碟里。
"您的杯子和茶碟非常相配。"
她說話的聲音聽起來很成熟，并帶著一種饑渴，而這種饑渴卻非出于對食物的饑渴。然后，他們抱著舊報紙，頂著風(fēng)雪離開了。他們甚至連一聲"謝謝"都沒有說。其實，他們根本沒有必要說。他們的表現(xiàn)已經(jīng)勝過了道謝。非常樸素的一對藍(lán)色陶瓷杯碟，但它們確實很相配。
我品嘗了一下鍋里煮著的土豆，然后又?jǐn)嚢枇藥紫氯庵Ｗ厣鉁油炼?，遮風(fēng)擋雨的房子，擁有一份穩(wěn)定工作的丈夫——這一切的一切同樣也很匹配。
我把椅子從爐邊向后拉開些，然后將起居室整理干凈。爐邊留下的泥腳印還沒有干。其實，我想讓它們留在那里。想讓它們留在那里，以便提醒我不要忘記我是多么的富有。
