文字难度：★★☆
The second week of the game brought more amazing events. The garbage was taken out without anyone being asked. Someone even did two of Kelly’s hard math problems one night when she left her homework out on the table.
The little pile of straw grew higher and softer. Every day brought new and different surprises as the secret elves stepped up their activity. The McDonald home was finally filled with Christmas spirit. Only Eric had been unusually quiet since the third week of name picking.
The final night of name picking was also the night before Christmas Eve. As the family sat around the table waiting for the last set of names to be put in the hat, Mother said, “You’ve all done a wonderful job. There must be hundreds of straws in our crib—maybe a thousand. You should be so pleased with the bed you’ve made. But remember, there’s still one whole day left. We all have time to do a little more to make the bed even softer before tomorrow night. Let’s try.”
For the last time, the hat was passed around the table. Little Mike pulled out a name, and Daddy whispered it to him, just as he had done every week. Randi unfolded hers carefully under the table, peeked at it and 1)hunched up her shoulders, smiling. Kelly reached into the hat and giggled happily when she saw the name. Mother and Daddy each took their turns, too, and then handed the hat with the last name to Eric. But as he unfolded the small scrap of paper and read it, his face 2)pinched up and he suddenly seemed about to cry. Without a word, he ran from the room.
游戏进行到第二周时,更多惊人的事发生了。有人主动把垃圾拿到外面倒掉。一天晚上,凯利把作业留在了桌上,竟然有人帮她解决了两道数学难题。
那一小堆稻草堆得更高了,小耶稣的床也变得更柔软。每一天,那群神秘兮兮的小鬼加紧做好事,各异的新惊喜接踵而至。麦克唐纳的家里终于充满了圣诞气息。唯有埃里克自第三周抽名字以后,就变得异常沉默。
最后一晚抽名字正是在平安夜的前一晚。全家人围着桌子坐好,等着最后一次把大家的名字放进帽子里,母亲说:“你们每个人都做得很棒。我们的摇篮里肯定有几百根稻草了——或许已有上千根了。你们该为自己铺的耶稣小床感到高兴。但要记住,还剩下一天。我们所有人都还有时间多做一点好事,在明晚到来之前,我们还可以让小床变得更柔软。大家努力吧。”
最后一次,那顶帽子绕着桌子被传了一圈。小迈克抽出一个名字,爸爸低声告诉他是谁的名字,就像过去几周那样;兰迪小心地在桌下打开抽到的纸片,瞥了一眼,接着耸耸肩,笑了;凯利把手伸进帽子里,当看到自己抽到的那个名字时,她开心地咯咯笑了起来;母亲和父亲也轮流抽了名字,并把装有最后一个名字的帽子递给了埃里克。但当他打开那张小纸片看时,一脸愁容,而且突然好像就要哭了。他没说一句话就跑出了房间。
Everyone immediately jumped up from the table, but Mother stopped them. “No, stay where you are,” she said. “Let me talk to him alone first.”
Just as she reached the top of the stairs, Eric’s door banged open. He was trying to pull his coat on with one hand while he carried a small suitcase with the other hand.
“I have to leave,” he said quietly, through his tears. “If I don’t, I’ll spoil Christmas for everyone!”
“But why? And where are you going?” asked Mother.
“I can sleep in my snow fort for a couple of days. I’ll come home right after Christmas. I promise.”
Mother started to say something about freezing and snow and no 3)mittens or boots, but Daddy, who was now standing just behind her, put his hand on her arm and shook his head. The front door closed, and together they watched from the window as the little figure with the sadly 4)slumped shoulders and no hat trudged across the street and sat down on a snowbank near the corner. It was very dark outside, and cold, and a few snow 5)flurries drifted down on the small boy and his suitcase.
每个人都马上从桌子边跳了起来,但母亲阻止了他们。“别动,呆在原位就好了。”她说道,“让我先单独和他聊聊。”
她刚走到楼上,就看到埃里克的房门砰地打开了。他正一只手努力穿着外套,另一只手则提着一个小手提箱。
“我得走,”他泪眼模糊,平静地说道,“如果我不走,我会毁了大家的圣诞。”
“可为什么呢?你要去哪?”母亲问道。
“我可以在我的雪城堡里睡上几天。圣诞一过,我就会回家。我保证。”
母亲开始跟他说些诸如外面很冷,还下着雪,他没戴保暖手套也没穿靴子之类的话。但此时,站在母亲身后的父亲把手搭在她手臂上,摇了摇头。前门关上了。他俩一块从窗口往外看着那没戴帽子,垂头丧气的小身影拖着沉重的步伐走过街道。小男孩在街角的一处雪堤上坐了下来。外面漆黑一片,而且很冷,点点雪花飘落到他身上和手提箱上。
“But he’ll freeze!” said Mother.
“Give him a few minutes alone,” said Dad quietly. “Then you can talk to him.”
The huddled figure was already dusted with white when Mother walked across the street 10 minutes later and sat down beside him on the snowbank.
“What is it, Eric? You’ve been so good these last few weeks, but I know something’s been bothering you since we first started the crib. Can you tell me, honey?”
“Aw, Mom, don’t you see?” he sniffed. “I tried so hard, but I can’t do it anymore, and now I’m going to wreck Christmas for everyone.” With that he burst into sobs and threw himself into his mother’s arms.
“But I don’t understand,” Mother said, brushing the tears from his face. “What can’t you do? And how could you possibly spoil Christmas for us?”
“Mom,” the little boy said through his tears, “you just don’t understand. I got Kelly’s name all four weeks! And I hate Kelly! I can’t do one more nice thing for her or I’ll die! I tried, Mom. I really did. I sneaked in her room every night and fixed her bed. I even laid out her 6)crummy nightgown. I emptied her wastebasket, and I did some homework for her one night when she was going to the bathroom. Mom, I even let her use my race car one day, but she smashed it right into the wall like always! I tried to be nice to her, Mom. Even when she called me a stupid 7)dummy, I didn’t hit her. And every week, when we picked new names, I thought it would be over. But tonight, when I got her name again, I knew I couldn’t do one more nice thing for her, Mom. I just can’t! And tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. I’ll spoil Christmas for everybody just when we’re ready to put Baby Jesus in the crib. Don’t you see why I had to leave?”
“但他会冻僵的!”母亲说道。
“让他独自呆会儿,”父亲平静地说道,“然后你再去和他聊聊。”
十分钟后,母亲走过街道,和他一起坐在雪堤上,此时,他那蜷缩着的身子已披上了一层雪。
“怎么了,埃里克?过去这几周,你一直表现得很棒,但我知道从一开始我们张罗那个摇篮,你就有点心事。宝贝,能告诉我是怎么回事吗?”
“噢,妈妈,你没看见吗?”他用力吸了一口气。“我努力过了,但我不能再继续做下去了。现在,我会毁了属于大家的圣诞。”他边说边抽泣着,扑进了母亲的怀里。
“可我不明白。”母亲边说边擦去他脸上的泪水。“你做不了什么?你怎么可能会毁了我们的圣诞?”
“妈妈,”小男孩含着泪水说道,“你就是不明白。我整整四周都抽到了凯利的名字!但是我讨厌她!我没办法再为她多做一件好事,我会死的!我努力过,妈妈,我真的努力过。我每天晚上偷偷溜进她房里帮她整理床铺;我甚至帮她把那件难看的睡衣准备好摆出来;还把她那个废纸篓里的垃圾倒掉;有天晚上,她去洗澡,我还帮她做了部分作业。妈妈,有一天,我连自己的小赛车也给她玩了,但她跟往常一样总是把车径直撞向墙!妈妈,我努力对她友善,即使她叫我‘笨蛋’,我也没打她。每一周,当我们重抽名字时,我总想,这一切会结束。但今晚,我又抽到她的名字,那一刻,我知道我再也不能为她做好事了,妈妈。我就是做不到!而明天就是平安夜了。大家都准备好把小耶稣放进摇篮,我却会毁了大家的圣诞。你还不明白我为什么要离开吗?”
They sat together quietly for a few minutes, Mother’s arm around the small boy’s shoulders. Only an occasional 8)sniffle and9)hiccup broke the silence on the snowbank.
Finally Mother began to speak softly, “Eric, I am so proud of you. Every good thing you did should count as double because it was especially hard for you to be nice to Kelly for so long. But you did all those nice things anyway, one straw at a time. You gave your love when it wasn’t easy to give. Maybe that’s what the spirit of Christmas is really all about. If it’s too easy to give, maybe we’re not really giving much of ourselves after all. The straws you added were probably the most important ones, and you should be proud of yourself.”
“Now, how would you like a chance to earn a few easy straws like the rest of us? I still have the name I picked tonight in my pocket, and I haven’t looked at it yet. Why don’t we switch, just for the last day? It will be our secret.”
“That’s not cheating?”
“It’s not cheating,” Mother smiled.
Together they dried the tears, brushed off the snow and walked back to the house.
The next day the whole family was busy cooking and 10)straightening up the house for Christmas Day, wrapping last-minute presents and trying hard not to burst with excitement. But even with all the activity and eagerness, a flurry of new straws piled up in the crib, and by nightfall it was overflowing. At different times while passing by, each member of the family, big and small, would pause and look at the wonderful pile for a moment, then smile before going on. It was almost time for the tiny crib to be used. But was it soft enough? One straw might still make a difference.
For that very reason, just before bedtime, Mother tip-toed quietly to Kelly’s room to lay out the little blue nightgown and turn down the bed. But she stopped in the doorway, surprised. Someone had already been there. The nightgown was laid neatly across the bed and a small red race car rested next to it on the pillow.
The last straw was Eric’s after all.
(The end.)
他们一起安静地坐了一会儿,母亲用手臂搂着小男孩的肩膀。只有偶尔的抽鼻涕声和打嗝声打破了雪堤上的寂静。
最后,母亲开始温柔地说道:“埃里克,我太为你感到自豪了。你做的每一件好事都应该按双倍算,因为要你这么长时间友善地对待凯利是特别困难的。但你还是做到了,好事一件一件地做,稻草一根一根地累积。即使不容易,你也能付出那份爱。也许那才是真正的圣诞‘精神’所在。如果付出爱是件容易的事,那么也许我们并没真正付出很多。你添进去的稻草应该是其中最重要的稻草了,你应该为自己感到自豪。”
“现在,你要不要跟我们一样把握机会轻松地赚些稻草?我口袋里还留着今晚抽到的名字,我还没看。只剩最后一天,我们不如交换抽到的名字吧。我们保守这个秘密。”
“那不是作弊吗?”
“不算作弊。”母亲笑道。
他们一起擦干眼泪,掸去身上的雪,走回家。
第二天,全家人都在为圣诞忙着烹饪和打扫房子,抓紧最后的时间包装礼物,强抑着内心的兴奋。但即使忙碌张罗,迫不及待,摇篮里仍骤然新添了许多稻草。到了黄昏,摇篮里的稻草多得就要溢出来了。无论哪一刻经过摇篮时,家里大大小小的成员都会停下来,花上好一会儿工夫看着那堆奇妙的稻草,然后笑笑,走开。几乎到了小摇篮要派上用场的时候了。但够软了吗?多加一根稻草,当然会更好。
就为了那个原因,就在睡觉前,母亲踮着脚悄悄走进凯利的房间,想把女儿那件蓝色小睡衣摆出来,并把床铺好。但她走到门口时停住了,惊讶万分。有人已经“光顾”过那里了。睡衣整齐地摆放在床上,一辆红色的小赛车就放在睡衣旁的枕头上。
最后一根稻草终究还是埃里克添上的。
(完)
