如果你真的想帮助他人,即便是一个最微不足道的想法也能成就一番让人意想不到的事情——即使这只是意味着让你去画一只泰迪熊。为什么不尝试一下呢?画一只泰迪熊,并看看它如何照亮别人的生活。看到它给别人带来的那份快乐,这同样也能照亮你的生活! .
文字难度：★★☆
Will you draw a teddy bear for me?” I tried to turn my six-year-old’s mind to something cheerful. Tina had looked very serious ever since we left the hospital. She held her Elvis teddy bear tightly and was deep in thought. If there was anything Tina loved to do, it was to draw a teddy bear. But now she wouldn’t do even that. We had been visiting her cousin Mike who had managed to break his leg in a skateboard accident. Tina had never been to a hospital before and had wandered off before I noticed. When I did, I found her in a room full of much sicker children than Mike was. My little girl was always so 1)big-hearted, and when I found her she had given Elvis to a little boy to hold.
你画只泰迪熊给我好吗?”我尝试把我六岁女儿的注意力转移到开心的事情上面去。自从我们离开医院,蒂娜看起来神情十分严肃。她一边紧抱着她的泰迪熊埃尔维斯,一边陷入沉思中。如果有那么一件事情是蒂娜喜欢去做的,那就是画泰迪熊了。可是,此时她连泰迪熊都不想画了。之前我们在探望她那玩滑板弄伤了腿的表哥迈克。蒂娜在那以前从没去过医院,我一不留神,她已到处溜达去了。后来,我在一个房间里找到了她,那个房间里的孩子们病得比迈克严重多了。我这小女孩一直以来都是那么的好心肠,我找到她的时候,她已经把埃尔维斯给一个小男孩抱着了。
“You can hold him for a while,” I heard her say when I walked into the room, “Where is your own teddy?”
“你可以抱一会儿,”我走进房间时听到她说,“你自己的泰迪熊呢?”
“We cannot bring them here,” a girl said, “They are not hygi… hygia…”
“我们不能把泰迪熊带到这里来,”一个女孩答道,“那不卫……卫……”
“2)Hygienic,” a nurse walked into the room and went over to the little boy. “Here, young lady,” she took Elvis and gave it back to Tina, “It was a beautiful thought but we cannot have dirty bears around very sick children.”
“卫生,”一个护士走进房间,走向那个小男孩。“小姑娘,给你,”她一边拿起埃尔维斯把它还给蒂娜一边说道,“这份心意很好,但是,病得厉害的小孩周围不能有脏兮兮的毛绒小熊。”
Tina’s lips started trembling. “Elvis is a clean teddy!” she whispered. The nurse realized she had hurt her feelings. “I am sorry, sweetie. I did not mean your teddy looks dirty. Still, there is invisible dirt in your teddy that can harm the sick children. We have to be extra careful so that no extra 3)bacteria get in here. That is why you need to wash your hands and you cannot bring flowers. Nothing would make me happier than to give teddy bears to all the children here, but unfortunately that cannot be done.”
蒂娜的嘴唇开始颤抖。“埃尔维斯是一只干净的泰迪熊!”她小声说道。护士意识到她伤害到蒂娜的感情了。她说道:“亲爱的,对不起。我不是说你的泰迪熊看起来很脏。但是,你的泰迪熊身上会有一些看不见的脏东西可能伤害到这些生病的孩子。我们必须加倍小心,确保没有多余的细菌进到这里来。这也是为什么你要洗手而且不能带花进来的原因。如果能把泰迪熊带给这里的所有小孩,我当然最开心了,但很遗憾的是,在这里不能这么做。”
We had left the hospital after being assured by the nurses that Mike would get home soon enough, and then Tina turned very silent. I went to make some lunch. After a while I went to peek at what Tina was doing and found her drawing by her table. A teddy bear. I smiled and thought the little crisis was over. After lunch it was time to go to a park. The mothers in our neighborhood had a habit of meeting with our pre-school children every Tuesday after midday in a nearby park. The children would play with each other while the mothers talked about anything and everything, trusting there would be enough eyes to look after the children. Tina had a 4)shoulder bag and it seemed she had brought some drawings with her. I didn’t think much of it, and we walked the two blocks to the park. Children started to play, and us moms started 5)socializing. After a while I noticed all the children were standing in a group—and in the middle was Tina. She was holding one of her drawings and talking. I got up and walked closer.
护士们说迈克很快就可以出院,听到这,我们安心了,之后便离开了医院,但蒂娜却变得很沉默。我去准备午饭,过了一会,我偷偷去看蒂娜在做什么,发现蒂娜正在她的桌子前画画,是一只泰迪熊。我笑了笑,心想这场小“风波”总算结束了。午饭过后,我们该去公园了。住在我们这一带的妈妈们都有这么一个习惯:每周二中午过后把家里学龄前的小孩带上,在附近的公园聚聚。孩子们可以在一起玩,而妈妈们确信会有足够多的眼睛看着孩子们,她们便可以无所不谈。蒂娜挎了个单肩包,好像带了一些画去。我也没有多想,两人走过两条街来到公园。孩子们开始玩耍,而我们这些妈妈们则开始天南地北地闲聊。过了一会,我发现所有的孩子都聚在一起站着——蒂娜站在中间。她一边拿着一幅画,一边在说话。我站起来,凑过去。
“… to draw a teddy bear,” Tina said.
“Draw a teddy bear? Just one?”
“As many as you can. And tell other kids, too. Ask them all to draw a teddy bear.”
“Where shall we bring them?”
“Here, next week.”
“Ok!”
“……画一只泰迪熊,”蒂娜说。
“画一只泰迪熊?就一只吗?”
“你能画多少就画多少。也告诉其他小孩子吧。叫他们都画一只泰迪熊。”
“到时候我们要把画带到哪里?”
“这里,下个星期。”
“好的!”
At that the children went back to their playing. I knew something6)funny was going on but if the only thing the children did was to draw a teddy bear, or many, no problem. I went back to chat with the other ladies.
之后,所有的孩子都回头玩之前的游戏去了。我知道这其中有点古怪。但是如果孩子们所做的只是画一只或者许多只泰迪熊的话,那就没问题。我回去继续跟其他女士聊天。
Next Tuesday came in no time. Again we were in the park. The mothers looked slightly amused. “What did your Tina ask the kids to do?” A neighbor of mine laughed, “Look!” I turned to see Tina’s hands full of drawings. She had asked the children to draw a teddy bear and they had done just that. “My Tom did nothing else the whole week but draw teddy bears. And we are talking about a boy who won’t draw anything unless it has four wheels or metal wings!” Another mom shook her head, “Would you tell us what all this is about?” “To be honest, I have no idea,” I said, “So why don’t we let Tina speak, Ok? Tina!” She was already approaching, carrying dozens of teddy bear drawings and smiling broadly. “Ok, Mom! Now we can go!”
下周二很快就到了。我们再次来到公园里,妈妈们一脸给逗乐了的样子。“你们家蒂娜叫孩子们做什么呢?”我的一个邻居笑着说道,“看!”我扭头一看,发现蒂娜手里满是画。她之前让孩子们画一只泰迪熊,他们也都这么做了。“我们家汤姆整个星期什么事情都没做,就在那画泰迪熊。我们说的这个男孩,平时除了画有四个轮子或金属翅膀的东西之外,其他什么东西都不会去画的!”另一位妈妈摇了摇头说道,“你能告诉我们这是怎么回事吗?”“说实话,我也不知道,”我说道,“这样吧,让蒂娜自己来说说看,好不好?蒂娜!”她已经满脸笑容地拿着几十张泰迪熊画走过来了。“好了,妈妈!我们现在就去吧!”
“Go, honey? Where? We just got here! And what’s with all these teddy bears? Can I see?” I took a few drawings. On the first paper was a teddy bear picnic party and “Get well soon!” written in red letters. On the second there was an Elvis teddy bear, with the hair and all, and the same message written on it. The third one was pretty well drawn—it was a 7)Mr. Bean teddy bear. The funny expression was well drawn and made me laugh. This one wished speedy recovery. There was a love teddy bear with little hearts. An 8)antique-looking teddy bear with a bandage on its arm and “Let’s get well together.” A pink teddy was giving a teddy bear hug.
“去哪里,亲爱的?我们刚到这里!这些泰迪熊画是拿来干什么的?我可以看看吗?”我拿了几张画来看。第一张画的是泰迪熊野餐会,上面还写有“早日康复!”的红色字样。第二张是一只埃尔维斯泰迪熊,发型什么的都画全了,上面写着跟第一张画同样的字样。第三张画得很好——那是一只“憨豆先生”泰迪熊。那逗趣搞怪的表情画得很好,看得我都忍不住笑了。这幅是祝愿早日康复的。有画着一只带多颗小小心型图案的爱心泰迪熊,还有一只手臂上缠着绷带的复古泰迪熊,上面还写着“让我们一起康复吧”。一只粉红色的泰迪熊在拥抱另一只泰迪熊。
I thought I understood. “Are these all for Mike? That’s sweet, honey!” Tina looked at me and shook her head. “No, Mommy! Mike is at home already. He has all the teddies he needs. These are for the children at the hospital, the ones that cannot have real teddies. I asked everyone to draw a teddy bear so they could have teddy bear drawings. A teddy bear drawing is still a teddy bear! And all kids need a teddy bear!”
我想我明白是怎么一回事了。“这些都是给迈克的吗?亲爱的,那真是太好了!”蒂娜看着我,摇了摇头。“不是的,妈妈!迈克已经回家了。他要什么泰迪熊都可以了。这些是给那些在医院里的孩子的!那些孩子不能拿到真正的泰迪熊。我叫所有人都画一只泰迪熊,这样这些孩子们就可以有泰迪熊画了。泰迪熊画也算是泰迪熊呀!所有的孩子都要有一只泰迪熊!”
I saw some of the moms wipe their eyes. I felt so proud of my little girl. And so we drove to the hospital. I talked to the nurses and they let us leave the teddy bears for the children (I had been a bit afraid about how strict their rules of hygiene were).
我看到一些妈妈在擦眼睛。我为我的小女孩感到骄傲!于是,我们开车去医院。我跟护士们说了说,她们同意让我们把这些“泰迪熊”留给孩子们(之前我有一点担心他们会严格遵守其卫生守则)。
“You give one teddy bear to all the sick kids here, Ok? And if there are any left, keep them and give them to the new kids when they arrive.” The nurse who had taken Elvis from the little boy and called it dirty, smiled. “I promise,” she said, “And please tell your teddy I am sorry if I hurt his feelings last time.”
“你把泰迪熊分给这里所有生病的孩子,好吗?如果有多余的,就放好,到时候给那些新来的孩子。”那个先前从小男孩手里拿走埃尔维斯,说它脏的护士笑了。“我答应你,”她说道,“如果上次我伤了你那只泰迪熊的心,请替我跟它说声对不起。”
“It’s all right,” Tina nodded her head, “I explained to Elvis you meant well.” Then she turned and we went home.
“没关系,”蒂娜点了点头说,“我已经跟埃尔维斯解释过你是出于好心。”然后她就转身离开,我们一起回家了。
The story should have ended there—but the next Tuesday came and there were more children than usual at the park. The word had spread and they were all carrying drawings of teddy bears. And there we were with dozens of drawings of teddy bears again. Tuesday after Tuesday this was repeated. Tina became a local celebrity. She was interviewed in the newspaper as the “Draw a Teddy Bear Girl”. People who read the story began drawing teddy bears and sending them to her. We took the teddies to hospitals and children’s homes. When the 9)flood of drawings grew, an art exhibition was arranged at a local library—this time the drawings had price tags. We collected a 10)considerable sum of money to buy equipment for the children’s hospital. And so we continued—taking teddy bear drawings to hospitals and when there were extra ones, we sold them for charities.
故事本应到此结束的——但在接下来的那个星期二,比起平时,有更多的小孩子来到公园里。消息传开了,他们全都带着泰迪熊画来到这里。于是,我们又有了数十张泰迪熊画。每个星期二,故事都这样重复发生着。蒂娜成了我们当地的名人。报纸采访她,并称她为“画泰迪熊的女孩”。人们读到这个故事之后,都开始画泰迪熊并寄给她。我们把泰迪熊画带到医院及儿童之家。随着画作不断增多,我们在当地图书馆筹办了一个艺术展览——这一次,画作都标上了价格。我们筹集到一笔可观的资金用来为儿童医院购买设备。我们继续这样做着——将那些泰迪熊画拿到医院送给孩子们,如果有多余的则用来出售拍卖,把所得款项用作慈善。
If you really want to help, even the smallest idea can make amazing things happen—even if it just means you draw a teddy bear. Why don’t you try it? Draw a teddy bear and see how it can brighten up someone’s day. Seeing the joy it brings to someone else will brighten up your day as well!
如果你真的想帮助他人,即便是一个最微不足道的想法也能成就一番让人意想不到的事情——即使这只是意味着让你去画一只泰迪熊。为什么不尝试一下呢?画一只泰迪熊,并看看它如何照亮别人的生活。看到它给别人带来的那份快乐,这同样也能照亮你的生活!
