圣诞前夜

A friend of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as Christmas present. On Christmas eve， when Paul came out of his office， a street urchin was looking around the shining new car， admiring it.

“Is this your car， Mister？” he said.

Paul nodded， “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.”

The boy was astounded， “You mean your brother gave it to you， and didnt cost you anything？”

“Boy， I wish...” he hesitated.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he has a brother like that. But what the boy said jarred Paul all the way down his heels.

我有个朋友叫保罗。他收到了一份来自他哥哥的圣诞礼物——一辆轿车。在圣诞前夜，当保罗从他的办公室走出来时，一个街头顽童正围着他的新车打量，非常羡慕。

“这是您的汽车吗，先生？”他说。

保罗点了点头说道：“我哥哥送我的圣诞礼物。

小男孩震惊地说道：“你是说汽车是你哥哥送你的，不用花你一分钱？”

“小家伙，我希望……”他迟疑了。

保罗当然清楚他希望什么，他希望小男孩也有个那样的哥哥。但小男孩说的话，使保罗大吃了一惊。

“I wish，” the boy went on， “that I could be a brother like that.”

Paul looked at the boy in astonishment， then he added， “Would you like to take a ride in my car？”

“Oh， yes. Id love that.”

After a short ride， the boy said， “Mister， would you mind driving in front of my house？”

Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again.

“Would you stop at those with two steps？” the boy asked.

“我希望，”小男孩继续说道，“我可以做一个像那样的哥哥。”

保罗惊奇地看着小男孩，然后说了句：“你想不想坐我的车去兜兜风？”

“噢，想！我很乐意！”

跑了一小段路后，小男孩说道：“先生，您可以把车开到我家门前吗？”

保罗微微一笑。他想他知道这个小家伙想要干什么，他想要向他的邻居炫耀他可以坐一辆大汽车回家。但是，保罗又一次想错了。

“您可以在那有两个台阶的房子前停下吗？”小男孩问道。

He ran up stairs. Then in a little while， Paul heard him coming back， but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He set him down on the bottom step， then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.

“There she is， buddy， just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and didnt cost him a cent. And some day， Im gonna give you one just like it. Then you can see for yourself all the prettiest things in the windows that I was trying to tell you about.”

Paul got off and lifted the crippled boy into the front of his car. The old brother climbed in beside him. And three of them began a memorable holiday ride.

That Christmas eve， Paul learned what Jesus meant， when he said， “It is more blessed to give than to receive...”

他跑著上楼去了。然后过了一小会儿，保罗听到他回来的脚步声，但他没再用跑的了。保罗看见他搀扶着他跛脚的弟弟。他扶着弟弟坐在最底层的台阶上，然后轻轻地挨着他，指着这辆车。

“小弟，那就是我在楼上跟你说的那辆车。他哥哥送他的圣诞礼物，不用花他一分钱。将来某天我也要送你一辆像那样的车。那时你就可以自己去看我以前尽力想让你知道的那些漂亮至极的窗边圣诞饰品了。”

保罗下车把跛脚的小男孩抱上了车的前座，他的哥哥爬上车坐到了他旁边。然后他们三个开始了一段令人难忘的旅程。

那个圣诞前夜，保罗明白了耶稣所说的那句话：“给予比接受更有福……”

Vocabulary

admire v. 欣赏（admiring是现在分词形式）

hesitate v. 迟疑;犹豫（hesitated是过去式形式）

crippled adj. 跛腿的;残疾的

point to 指向

memorable adj. 难忘的;值得纪念的