The Giving Treesby

Kathleen Dixon

I was a single parent of four small children， working at a minimum-wage job. Money was always tight， but we had a roof over our heads， food on the table， clothes on our backs and， if not a lot， always enough. My kids told me that in those days they didn't know we were poor. They just thought Mom was cheap. I've always been glad about that.

It was Christmas time， and although there wasn't money for a lot of gifts， we planned to celebrate with church and family， parties and friends， drives downtown to see the Christmas lights， special dinners， and by decorating our home.

But the big excitement for the kids was fun of Christmas shopping at the mall. They talked and planned for weeks ahead of time， asking each other and their grandparents what they wanted for Christmas. I dreaded it. I had saved $120 for presents to be shared by all five of us.

The big day arrived and we started out early. I gave each of the four kids a twenty dollar bill and reminded them to look for gift about four dollars each. Then everyone scattered. We had two hours to shop; then we would meet back at the “Santa's workshop”display.

Back in the car driving home， everyone was in high Christmas spirits， laughing and teasing each other with hints and clues about what they had bought. My younger daughter， Ginger， who was about eight years old， was unusually quiet. I noted she had only one small， flat bag with her after her shopping spree. I could see enough through the plastic bag to tell that she had bought candy bars—fifty-cent candy bars！ I was so angry. ①What did you do with that twenty dollar bill I gave you？ I wanted to yell at her， but I didn't say anything until we got home. I called her into my bedroom and closed the door， ready to be angry again when I asked her what she had done with the money. This is what she told me：

“I was looking around， thinking of what to buy， and I stopped to read the little cards on one of the Salvation Army's ‘Giving Trees'. One of the cards was for a little girl， four years old， and all she wanted for Christmas was a doll with clothes and a hairbrush. So I took the card off the tree and bought the doll and the hairbrush for her and took it to the Salvation Army booth.”

②“I only had enough money left to buy candy bars for us，” Ginger continued，“but we have so much and she doesn't have anything.”

I never felt so rich as I did that day.

小試身手：试试翻译划线的句子。

背景接触：cheap在文中意为“不大方，小气的”，而非“便宜的”。

Salvation Army成立至今已有一百多年，现国际总部仍在伦敦。它的主要宗旨是帮助受苦的人们。

Giving Trees在有些西方国家，当圣诞节时，孩子们常会把自己的新年愿望和想要的礼物写在卡片上，挂在一棵树上或摆在桌子上。路边的行人可以选择其中之一，帮助他们实现愿望。

（黑龙江哈尔滨 李奇 选编）