圣誕清晨

“予人玫瑰，手有余香”的故事聽過很多，但每次聽到都還是會很感動。圣誕節清晨的一次邂逅，使三個孩子心中關于圣誕老人的童話夢幻免于破滅，同時也令另外三個孩子學到了寶貴的一課并收獲了幫助他人所得到的滿足感。

A light 1)drizzle was falling as my sister Jill and I ran out of the Methodist Church， 2)eager to get home and play with the presents that 3)Santa had left for us and our baby sister， Sharon. Across the street from the church was a 4)Pan-American gas station where the Greyhound bus stopped. It was closed for Christmas， but I noticed a family standing outside the locked door，

5)huddled under the narrow 6)overhang in an attempt to keep dry. I wondered briefly why they were there but then forgot about them as I raced to keep up with Jill.

Once we got home， there was 7)barely time to enjoy our presents. We had to go off to our grandparents’ house for our annual Christmas dinner. As we drove down the highway through town， I noticed that the family was still there， standing outside the closed gas station.

My father was driving very slowly down the highway. The closer we got to the 8)turnoff for my grandparents’ house， the slower the car went. Suddenly， my father U-turned in the middle of the road and said， “I can’t stand it!”

“What?” asked my mother.

“It’s those people back there at the Pan Am， standing in the rain. They’ve got children. It’s Christmas. I can’t stand it.”

When my father pulled into the service station， I saw that there were five of them: the parents and three children—two girls and a small boy.

My father rolled down his window. “Merry Christmas，” he said.

“9)Howdy，” the man replied. He was very tall and had to 10)stoop slightly to peer into the car.

Jill， Sharon， and I stared at the children， and they stared back at us.

“You waiting on the bus?” my father asked.

The man said that they were. They were going to Birmingham， where he had a brother and 11)prospects of

a job.

“Well， that bus isn’t going to come along for several hours， and you’re getting wet standing here. Winborn’s just a couple miles up the road. They’ve got a 12)shed with a cover there， and some benches，” my father said. “Why don’t y’all get in the car and I’ll run you up there.”

The man thought about it for a moment， and then he 13)beckoned to his family. They climbed into the car. They had no luggage， only the clothes they were wearing.

Once they settled in， my father looked back over his shoulder and asked the children if Santa had found them yet. Three 14)glum faces 15)mutely gave him his answer.

“Well， I didn’t think so，” my father said， 16)winking at my mother， “because when I saw Santa this morning， he told me that he was having trouble finding you all， and he asked me if he could leave your toys at my house. We’ll just go get them before I take you to the

bus stop.”

All at once， the three children’s faces lit up， and they began to 17)bounce around in the back seat， laughing and 18)chattering.

When we got out of the car at our house， the three children ran through the front door and straight to the toys that were spread out under our Christmas tree. One of the girls

19)spied Jill’s doll and immediately 20)hugged it to her breast. I remember that the little boy 21)grabbed Sharon’s ball. And the other girl picked up something of mine. All this happened a long time ago， but the memory of it remains clear. That was the Christmas when my sisters and I learned the joy of making others happy.

My mother noticed that the middle child was wearing a short-sleeved dress， so she gave the girl Jill’s only sweater to wear.

My father invited them to join us at our grandparents’ for Christmas dinner， but the parents refused. Even when we all tried to talk them into coming， they were firm in their decision.

Back at the car， on the way to Winborn， my father asked the man if he had money for bus fare.

His brother had sent tickets， the man said.

My father reached into his pocket and pulled out two dollars， which was all he had left until his next payday. He pressed the money into the man’s hand. The man tried to give it back， but my father insisted. “It’ll be late when you get to Birmingham， and these children will be hungry before then. Take it. I’ve been broke before， and I know what it’s like when you can’t feed your family.”

We left them there at the bus stop in Winborn. As we drove away， I watched out the window as long as I could， looking back at the little girl hugging her new doll.

天上下著毛毛細雨，我和姐姐吉爾跑出衛理公會教堂，滿心只想著快點回到家玩圣誕老人送給我們和小妹妹莎倫的禮物。教堂對面是一家泛美加油站，灰狗長途汽車會在那里停站。由于是圣誕節，所以加油站當天沒有營業，但我發現在緊鎖著的站門外站著一家人，他們就擠在店外狹小的檐篷下，好不讓雨淋濕。我腦中閃過一絲疑問:他們為什么站在那里呢?但我很快就把他們給忘了，只顧著追上吉爾。

回到家后其實根本就沒有時間讓我們去盡情把玩禮物，因為我們得馬上動身前往祖父母家同他們共進一年一度的圣誕大餐。當我們開車經過剛才那條穿越城鎮的公路時，我看到那家人依然站在緊閉的加油站門外。

爸爸開得很慢，車在那條公路上緩緩前進。當我們的車越接近去往祖父母家的分叉路口時，車子就越慢。突然，我爸爸在半路上來了個180度轉彎，口中念著:“我實在不忍心。”

“什么?”我媽媽問。

“就是泛美加油站前面的那家人啊，他們就站在雨中，還帶小孩呢。今天可是圣誕節，我實在不忍心。”

當爸爸把車開到加油站旁停下時，我看清楚了那一家一共有五人:夫妻倆和三個小孩——兩個女孩和一個小

男孩。

我爸爸搖下車窗對他們說:“圣誕快樂。”

“你好。”那個男人答道。他很高，必須稍微彎下腰來往我們車里瞧。

吉爾、莎倫和我盯著那三個孩子看，他們也盯著我

們看。

“你們在等汽車嗎?”爸爸問。

那個男人回答說是。他們準備前往伯明翰，他有一個哥哥在那邊，而且在那兒有望找到一份工作。

“唔，汽車起碼還得過幾個小時才到，你們站在這兒會淋濕的。往前幾英里就是溫邦站，那兒有個棚屋，還有些板凳，”爸爸說。“你們何不上車，我帶你們上那兒去。”

那個男人考慮了一會兒，然后示意他的家人(上車)。他們鉆進車里，除了身上穿著的衣服，他們沒有任何

行李。

等他們坐好了，爸爸就轉過頭問那幾個孩子圣誕老人有沒有找到他們。三張憂郁的臉無聲地回答了他。

“喔，我想應該還沒吧。”我爸爸邊說邊朝我媽媽使眼色，“因為我早上碰到圣誕老人時，他跟我說他找不到你們，想把給你們的玩具暫時放到我家。在我帶你們去公車站前我先帶你們到我家把禮物取了吧。”

他們三人的臉上頓時樂開了花，開始在后座蹦蹦跳跳，笑笑嚷嚷起來。

到了我們家門口一下車，那三個孩子穿過正門就直奔散放在圣誕樹下的禮物堆里。其中一個女孩看中了吉爾的玩偶，立即把它攬入懷中。我記得那個小男孩一把抱起莎倫的小球。而另一個女孩則挑走了一件我的東西。這些都是很久以前的事了，然而回憶起來依然記憶猶新。就是在這個圣誕節，我和我的姐妹領會到了幫助別人是快樂的。

媽媽注意到他們家老二穿著的衣服是短袖的，便把吉爾僅有的毛衣給了那個女孩。

爸爸邀請他們一起去參加祖父母家的圣誕大餐，但他們夫婦倆拒絕了。不管我們怎么游說，他們還是堅持自己的決定。

回到車里在去往溫邦車站的路上，爸爸問那個男人有沒有足夠的錢買車票。

那個男人說他的哥哥給他們寄來了車票。

爸爸伸手到口袋里掏出了僅有的兩美元，那本來是我們要熬到他到下次發工資的，他卻把錢塞到那個男人的手里。男人試圖把錢推回，但爸爸硬要他收下。“你們到達伯明翰時會很晚，而孩子們可能在到達那兒之前已經餓了。收下吧。我以前也潦倒過，無法養家糊口的滋味不好受，我懂。”

把他們送到溫邦的車站后，我們就開車離開了。我從車窗外回望良久，凝望著那個小女孩抱著她的新玩偶。