一個老人的故事

一個短小或許還有些老套的故事，但帶給我們的啟迪卻是很深刻—“坦然面對不幸而毫無怨言，并懷著感恩的心接受上帝賜予的美好”。如果每個人都能這樣，我想，這個世界一定會很美好。

Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to 1)out-patients at the clinic.

One summer evening as I was fixing supper， there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. “Why， he’s hardly taller than my eight-year-old，” I thought as I stared at the 2)stooped， 3)shriveled body. But the 4)appalling thing was his face... 5)lopsided from

6)swelling， red and raw. Yet， his voice was pleasant as he said， “Good evening. I’ve come to see if you’ve a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore， and there’s no bus ‘til morning.”

He told me he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success. No one seemed to have a room. “I guess it’s my face...I know it looks terrible， but my doctor says with a few more treatments...”

For a moment I hesitated， but his words convinced me. “I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning.”

I told him we would find him a bed， but to rest on the porch. I went inside and finished getting supper. When we were ready， I asked the old man if he would join us. “No， thank you. I have plenty.” And he held up a brown paper bag.

When I had finished the dishes， I went out on the porch to talk with him for a few minutes. It didn’t take long to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter， her five children， and her husband， who was hopelessly 7)crippled from a back injury.

He didn’t tell it by way of complaint. In fact， every other sentence was prefaced with a thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease， which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going.

At bedtime， we put a camp 8)cot in the children’s room for him. When I got up in the morning， the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch. He refused breakfast. But just before he left for his bus，

9)haltingly， as if asking a great favor， he said， “Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won’t put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair.”

He paused a moment and then added， “Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face， but children don’t seem to mind.”

I told him he was welcome to come again.

On his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift， he brought a big fish and a 10)quart of the largest 11)oysters I had ever seen. He said he had 12)shucked them that morning before he left so that they’d be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4:00 A.M. and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.

During the years he came to stay overnight with us， there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden. Other times we received packages in the mail， always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box with fresh young 13)spinach or 14)kale， every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these， and knowing how little money he had， made the gifts doubly precious.

When I received these little 15)remembrances， I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning. “Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!”

Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But if only they could have known him， perhaps their illness would have been easier to bear. I know our family will always be grateful to have known him. From him， we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God.

Recently， I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse. As she showed me her flowers， we came to the most beautiful one of all—a golden 16)chrysanthemum， bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise， it was growing in an old dented， rusty bucket.

I thought to myself， “If this were my plant， I’d put it in the loveliest container I had!” My friend changed my mind.

“I ran short of pots，” she explained， “and knowing how beautiful this one would be， I thought it wouldn’t mind starting out in this old pail. It’s just for a little while， until I can put it out in the garden.”

She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly， but I was imagining such a scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one，” God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old man. “He won’t mind starting in this small body.”

All this happened long ago， and now， in God’s garden， how tall this lovely soul must stand.

我家的房子在巴爾的摩市，與約翰斯#8226;霍普金斯醫(yī)院門診部的正門只隔了條馬路。我和家人住樓下，樓上的房間租給那些來診所看病的病人。

一個夏日的傍晚，我正準備晚餐時，忽然聽見有人敲門。打開門后，我見到一個長相實在可怕的老人。看著他那佝僂萎縮的身體我心想：“怎么，他還沒有我八歲的孩子高呢”。更嚇人的是他的臉——因浮腫而變形，紅紅的滿是皺紋。不過他的聲音卻很和善：“晚上好，我想問一下你這兒有沒有房間可以借住一晚。我早上從東海岸趕來治病，明天早上才有回家的巴士。”

他告訴我從中午起就在找房間，但都沒有找到。好像沒人有空房。“我估計是我的臉……我知道我的臉很可怕，但醫(yī)生說再多治療幾次就……

我猶豫了一下。“我可以睡在走廊的搖椅上，明天一早就去坐車。”聽到這話我同意了。

我告訴他我們會給他找一張床，不過只能先在走廊里休息。我回屋準備好晚餐，準備開飯時，我問老人要不要過來一起吃。他舉起一只褐色紙包說：“不了，謝謝你，我這兒有不少吃的呢。”

飯后洗完碗碟，我到走廊上同他聊了幾分鐘。三言兩語后，便發(fā)現(xiàn)這位老人瘦小的身軀里有著偉岸的心靈。他告訴我，他是以打魚為生的，要養(yǎng)活他女兒、女兒的五個孩子，還有因脊椎受傷而徹底殘廢的女婿。

他不是以抱怨的口吻提及這些事，實際上，每句話的開始都對上帝的恩賜充滿謝意。他很感激他所患的病（顯然是某種皮膚癌）沒有疼痛，他感謝上帝賜予他繼續(xù)活下去的力量。

就寢時，我在孩子們的房間給他放了張野營用的小床。第二天早晨我起來時，小床上的被褥用品已整齊地疊好，而老人也已經(jīng)站在外面的走廊上。他謝絕了早餐。就在即將離開去乘巴士時，他猶豫再三，像是要請求一個天大的恩惠，問道：“下次來看病時，我還能回到這兒住嗎？我不會給你們添太多麻煩的，只要給我一張椅子我就能睡得很好。”

他停了一會，補充道：“你們的小孩讓我感覺就像是在家里。我的臉可能會讓大人們不安，可孩子們好像不怎么介意。”

我告訴他歡迎下次再來。

第二次，老人早上七點多就到了。他帶了一條大魚和一夸脫我從來沒有見過的大牡蠣作為禮物。他說是早上出發(fā)前剝的殼，這樣就既新鮮又美味。我知道他乘的巴士凌晨4點發(fā)車，為了給我們準備這些東西，他得起得多早啊！

他在我們家借宿那些年，沒有哪次不帶魚、牡蠣，或是他家園子里的蔬菜給我們的。還有幾次我們收到他快遞來的包裹，里面是新鮮嫩菠菜或甘藍菜包裹的魚和牡蠣，每片葉子都仔細地洗過。我深知他得步行三英里郵寄這些東西，而他自己的收入又那么低，于是這些禮物在我們心里就變得格外珍貴。

每當我收到這些小禮物時，常想起老人首次借宿離開后的那個清晨，一個鄰居對我說：“昨晚你收留了那丑八怪老頭嗎？我把他支出去了！留這種人過夜非嚇跑房客不可！”

可能我家的確為此失去過房客一兩次，但是啊，如果他們能認識這位老人，或許他們的病痛將不再那么難以承受。我知道，我的家人會為認識這位老人而永遠心存感激。從他那里，我們學到了什么是坦然面對不幸而毫無怨言，并懷著感恩的心接受上帝賜予的美好。

最近，我拜訪了一位朋友。她有一個花房。隨著她的指引，我們來到花房中最美麗的一朵花面前——一株絢爛地開放著的金菊。但令我特別驚奇的是，它竟然生長在一個凹下去還生了銹的舊鐵桶里。

我不禁想，“如果這是我的花，我會把它放到我最可愛的花盆里去！”但朋友的話改變了我的想法。

“栽它的時候碰巧花盆不夠了”，她解釋道，“我就知道它會長得那么好看，我想它也不會介意一開始委身于這舊桶里的。用不了多久，我就會把它移栽到花園里去。”

她一定很奇怪為何我笑得如此開心，我那時正想象著天堂中這樣的一幅情景。上帝來到那位老人可愛的靈魂前說：“這樣一個特別可愛的靈魂，不會介意棲息于這副瘦小的身軀的。”

這些都發(fā)生在很久以前，而現(xiàn)在，那美好的靈魂，該是多么高大地佇立于上帝的花園中啊！