Once upon a time, when cups were plates and when knives and forks grew in the ground, there was an old woman who had never seen an eagle.
在和现在非常不一样的从前,有一位老妇人,她从来没见过鹰。
One day, an eagle was flying high in the sky and decided to stop for a rest. He swooped down and landed — where do you think?
有一天,一只高高飞翔的鹰想歇息一会儿,就从天上飞下来,停在了 ... 你猜哪里?
He landed right at the front door of the old woman’s house.
对了,就在这位老妇人的门前。
The old woman took a long, hard look at the eagle and said, “Oh my, what a funny pigeon you are!” She figured he was a pigeon, you see, because although she had never seen an eagle, she had seen lots of pigeons.
“I am not a pigeon at all,” said the eagle, drawing himself up to his full height.
老妇人仔细瞧了鹰很久,她说:“哦,你真是一只看上去很可笑的鸽子”。她认为这只鹰是鸽子,因为她从没见过鹰,但见过很多鸽子。
“我不是鸽子”,鹰说,还努力地立起来,让老妇人好好看看自己。
“Nonsense!” said the old woman. “I’ve lived for more years than you’ve got feathers in your wings, and I know a pigeon when I see one.”
“If you’re so sure that I’m a pigeon,” said the eagle, “then why do you say I’m a funny pigeon?”
“胡说!”老妇人说。“我活得年数比你翅膀上的羽毛还多,我不会认错一只鸽子。”
“如果你这么确定我是一只鸽子”,鹰说,“那你为什么说我很可笑?”
“Well, just look at your beak,” said the old woman. “It’s all bent. Pigeons have nice, straight beaks. And look at those claws of yours! Pigeons don’t have long claws like that. And look at the feathers on top of your head! They are all messed up and need to be brushed down. Pigeons have nice, smooth feathers on their heads.”
“看看你的喙”,老妇人说:“它是弯的,鸽子的喙很直很好看。再看看你的爪子,鸽子的爪子没那么长。还有你头上的羽毛,乱哄哄竖立着,应该梳平,像鸽子头上的毛那样顺。”
And before the eagle could reply, she got hold of him and carried him into the house. She took her clippers and trimmed his claws until they were quite short.
鹰还没来得及回答,老妇人就把他抱起来,带进屋子里,拿出剪刀,把他的爪子剪短剪平了。
She pulled on his beak until it was quite straight. And she brushed down the lovely tuft of feathers on top of his head until it was quite flat.
把它的嘴巴拉直,把头上的那簇毛也梳平了。
“Now you look more like a pigeon!” said the old woman. “That’s so much better!” But the eagle didn’t feel any better. In fact, he felt quite sad.
“好了,你现在终于看上去像一只鸽子了”,老妇人说,“真棒”。但是鹰的感觉可不好,他觉得很悲伤。
As soon as the old woman let him go he flew to the top of a tree. As he was sitting there wondering what to do, another eagle came along and alighted on the bough beside him.
“Well, well,” said the new bird. “Aren’t you a funny looking eagle!”
“Well, at least you know I’m an eagle,” said the first eagle. “Thank goodness for that!”
“What happened to you?” asked the new eagle.
所以当老妇人放下他,他马上飞到了树顶上;正在考虑下一步做什么的'时候,另外一只鹰飞过来,立在他身边。
第二只鹰说:“哈哈,你真是一只看上去很好笑的鹰!”
“好吧,至少你知道我是一只鹰”,第一只鹰说,“谢天谢地。”
“发生了什么事?”第二只鹰问。
“Well,” said the first eagle, “An old woman thought I was a pigeon. And since pigeons don’t have long claws, she trimmed my claws. And since pigeons don’t have hooked beaks, she straightened my beak. And since pigeons don’t
have tufts of feathers on their heads, she brushed my tuft down.”
“是这样的”,第一只鹰说,“一位老妇人认为我是一只鸽子。因为鸽子的爪子不长,她就把我的爪子剪短了。因为鸽子没有弯弯的嘴巴,她就把我的嘴巴拉直了。因为鸽子头顶上没有那一簇毛,她就把我的毛梳平了。”
“She must be a very foolish old woman, indeed,” said the new eagle.
And with that, he took a brush from under his wing, and he brushed the first eagle’s feathers back into a tuft. And with his claws he bent the eagle’s beak down until it was nicely rounded once again.
“她一定是一个非常愚蠢的老妇人”,第二只鹰说。
说到这,第二只鹰从翅膀下拿出一把梳子,把第一只鹰头顶上的那簇毛又梳出来了;然后用自己的爪子去掰第一只鹰的喙,恢复了它原来弯弯的形状。
“There now!” he said, “you look like an eagle again. Don’t worry about your claws, they’ll soon grow back.”
“Thank you, my friend!” said the first eagle.
“Think nothing of it,” said his new friend.
“好了”,他说,“你现在看上去又像一只鹰啦。不要担心你的爪子,它们会长回来的。”
“谢谢你,我的朋友”,第一只鹰说。
“没有什么好谢的”,他的新朋友说。
“But remember this,” he continued, “there are a lot of silly people in the worldwho think that pigeons are eagles, or that eagles are pigeons, or that all sorts of things are other things. And when they are silly like that, they do very foolish things. We must be sure to keep away from that silly old woman and the people like her.”
“但是记住”,他继续说,“世界上有许多很傻的人,他们把鸽子当做鹰,把鹰当做鸽子,把各种事情搞得乱七八糟。他们犯傻的时候,会做非常愚蠢的事情。我们必须要远离这些人,比如那个老妇人,还有像她那样的人。”
And with that, the eagles flew back to their own country and returned to their own nests. And they never went near that silly old woman again.
And so everyone lived happily ever after.
说完,这两只鹰就飞向了他们自己的国度,回到了他们的家。他们再也没有接近过那位老妇人。
从此,大家都快快乐乐地生活。
好久没有看到这位老人了,认识她还在四年前。那时我开店不久,转身看到老老少少的三口,并未太在意,只是觉得孩子有些可怜,干吗不在家里跟着父母呢?想不明白,便转身屋去了。忽然有一天,老人把三轮车搁在我的门旁。一转眼,哇塞!不会吧?老人竟然勿自地走进门来!
“大姨,你要做什么?”我轻声地问。
“闺女,俺想复印。”老人眼睛红红的,有些肿。
我很是诧异,生怕自己听错了,一脸疑问。
“我复印。在这儿呢。”她赶忙说。在衣兜里使劲地摸,摸出两张纸。
“这是我打官司用的,让印一下,要办手续。”她抹了一下眼睛。
我接过来,看到纸上的内容,忽然愣住了。“大姨,这是怎么回事呢?”我忍不住问。
“我儿子,就在这个孩子刚出生的时候,被车轧了。车主跑了,我们去公安局找,说是人没抓着,不能立案。闺女啦,这日子实在没法过了。这孩子的妈妈改嫁了,剩下我们一家老的老小的小,我儿子了到现在没有一分钱赔偿,可这孩子怎么办哪!”老人开始给我讲述。我忙请老人坐下。可是老人不坐,意思是她身上脏,怕客人嫌弃。于是我便听下去她的故事。
“我没有工资,老头的退休金又少,一家人吃不饱穿不暖的,就愁孩子大了没着落。还要上学,将来要上班工作,还要结婚……可是我们都这么大年纪了。”老人说着就抹眼泪。我抬头看了一下,这位大姨大约60岁,虽然穿着有些脏破,但却显得身板硬朗,利利索索的样子。“闺女啦,没办法。打官司俺也没钱,可是想想这个孩子,还是不忍心让他没着落,还是不想放弃啊!有人说,其实那人没跑,是他托了关系,找了人……”老人说到这儿泪流满面。
“我还是不心。老头也不想让我再找了,我们花不起那个钱啊!”
我被老人震撼了。拿过她的材料帮她复印起来。忽然,我想起一位朋友,她正在附近一所律师事务所工作。或许能帮得上她呢?
于是,我说:“大姨,我带你去找我朋友!”老人听了这话很感激。然而复钱的钱,又非要给我。我说不用了!你那么困难,帮还帮不过来呢,复印纸值不多少钱,你就拿着吧!
“哪能这样啊,闺女。俺再穷也不能做这样的事,该给你多少要给多少!”老人忽然倔强起来。
“大姨,开店的钱费用虽大,但也不是一点两点能够挣得来的。你的,真的不要了。”我也坚决起来。
可是老人显然恼火了。我也要急了!
老人抖着手,伸进衣服的斜口里,半天摸出一个手巾包。那包很大,打开却用了半天。七折八折,翻出一叠钱,都是一块两块的零钱,挺厚的.一沓。我实在拿老人没办法!忽然灵机一动!我说,就留两块吧!
“少不?”
“不少!十张两块,两毛一张!”我咬紧牙关。其实,谁都知道,复印已经长到三毛一张了。有的干脆就是五毛!
钱收下了,我伸手将店里放在角落的塑料瓶哗哗啦啦地捧出来。
老人说什么都不留!
我说:“大姨,拿着吧!权当替我跑腿了!整天呆在店里,我也没有时间去卖呢!”老人接过我递过去的瓶瓶,眼里闪动着几朵泪花。忽然我看到桌上有我早晨吃剩的包子!“这个也拿上!大姨,别嫌我脏,拿回家给孩子蒸了吃,权比我放这儿嫌冷扔了强!”
老人一连串地感动!
后来,我带老人找了律师。可是律师详细了解情况后,也说这事不好解决。
再以后,老人又来复印过几回,每次都为三元五元的复印费推推攘攘。每次都是以我拿出一大摞剩瓶瓶告终。直到有一回,瓶瓶没了。老人说:“闺女,你就留我一回高价吧!我一直知道你要的少,闺女,我是真心的。”我知道老人就是那种太容易感恩的人,点点滴滴的小事都放在心坎上。如果不让她了一片心事,她还会打心眼里过意不去。那一回,我狠了狠心,真的多留了一元。而那一次真巧,我就没找到塑料瓶!
想不到,那是老人最后一次复印!她说案子立不了,找了好久,还是没有音信……
后来,我的店搬家了。走在路上,忽然想起老人,她可能从此再也找不到我了吧!
可是那天早上真巧,我在附近吃早点,一转头,看到屋里一个包蒸饺的帮工,分明不是那位不知名的大姨么?
“是的闺女,我在这儿干了。以后不再受那样苦了,有个地方呆着了。”老人面色红润起来了,衣服也穿得干净利索了。原来,老人干活还真是一把好手,那蒸饺包得好看还快呢!或许在这儿找到了自己的价值,老人对着我笑了笑。我说,以后能常看到你了,我就专来这儿吃蒸饺!冲着我这话,不仅老人高兴,老板也高兴!我为老人而高兴!她终于有了一个体面的工作了,有了一个象家的地方了!
许多日子之后,小店地区围起了围栏。原来小店要拆迁了!店主说,又在别处开了一个店,就是离这儿远了很多。我当然不会去那么远吃早点。然而自从拆迁之后,就再也没有见过老人,更没有见过那个乖乖的孩子。
日月如梭,细数擦肩的日子,又是一整年了。我知道我们微不足道的力量不能帮助别人太多,唯有在旷大的天宇间道一声“祝福”吧!愿老人脚下的路能够走好!愿那个乖乖的宝宝,健康成长!愿九泉之下的亡灵,能够早日安息!也希望那位丧尽良心的司机,早日迷途知返!人,一生做过一回错事没什么,只怕一辈子都在做错!不能原谅的是给别人带来苦难的人,没有勇气担负起应该担负的责任,而自己却逍遥法外……
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