圣诞祝福 Toothless 1)Grin
文字难度：★★☆
I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store and decided to look at fashion dolls. A nicely dressed little girl was excitedly looking through the same dolls as well, with a roll of money 2)clamped tightly in her little hand. When she came upon a doll she liked, she would turn and ask her father if she had enough money to buy it. He usually said yes but she would keep looking and keep going through their 3)ritual of “do I have enough?”
圣诞节前夕，我在一家玩具店里进行最后时刻的圣诞购物，我决定去看看那些时下流行的洋娃娃。一个衣着漂亮的小女孩也正在兴奋地注视着那些洋娃娃，小手里还紧紧地攥着一卷钞票。每当她发现了一个她喜欢的娃娃，她都会回过头去询问她父亲，她的钱够不够买下它。她父亲总是作肯定回答，但是小女孩还是会继续寻找，并一再提出同样的问题，“我的钱够吗”？
As she was looking, a little boy wandered in across the aisle and started 4)sorting through some of the 5)video games. He was dressed neatly, but in clothes that were obviously rather worn, and wearing a jacket that was probably a couple of sizes too small. He, too, had money in his hand, but it looked to be no more than five dollars or so, at the most. He was with his father as well, but each time he picked one of the video games and looked at his father, his father shook his head.
就在小女孩继续寻找的时候，一个小男孩也在店里转悠。只见他沿着过道走来，开始挑选一些电视游戏盘。尽管他的衣服很整洁，却明显有点破旧，而且他穿的夹克衫也小了几号。小男孩的手里也攥着几张钞票，可那看起来最多不过五美元左右。他也是和他父亲一起来的，但是每次他拿起一张游戏盘再看看父亲时，他父亲总是摇摇头。
The little girl had apparently chosen her doll, a beautifully dressed, 6)glamorous creation that would have been the envy of every little girl on the 7)block. However, she had stopped and was watching the 8)interchange between the little boy and his father. Rather 9)dejectedly, the boy had given up on the video games and had chosen what looked like a 10)book of 11)stickers instead. He and his father then started walking through another aisle of the store.
小女孩显然已经选好了她想要的娃娃—那是一个服饰精美，漂亮迷人的洋娃娃，足以让整个街区的女孩子羡慕不已。但是，她突然停了下来，注视着那个小男孩和他父亲之间的交流。小男孩看起来很沮丧，他放弃了那些游戏盘，转而挑选了一册看似贴纸的东西。然后，他和他父亲走进店里的另一条过道。
The little girl put her carefully chosen doll back on the shelf, and ran over to the video games. She excitedly picked up one that was lying on top of the other toys, and raced toward the 12)checkout after speaking with her father. I picked up my 13)purchases and got in line behind them. Then, much to the little girl’s obvious delight, the little boy and his father got in line behind me.
这时，小女孩把她精心挑选好的娃娃放回到货架上，然后向摆放着游戏盘的地方跑去。她兴奋地选了一张被放在其它玩具上的游戏盘。和父亲交谈了几句之后，小女孩跑向收银台。我拿起我要买的东西，排在了小女孩和她父亲的后面。接着，那个小男孩和他父亲排在了我后面，这让小女孩高兴不已。
After the video game was paid for and bagged, the little girl handed it back to the 14)cashier and whispered something in her ear. The cashier smiled and put the package under the counter. I paid for my purchases and was 15)rearranging things in my purse when the little boy came up to the cashier.
小女孩付了游戏盘的款，等它包装好之后，便交还给商店的收银员，并在她耳边低声说了几句。收银员笑了，把包好的游戏盘放到柜台里。我付了钱，重新整理钱包里的东西时，小男孩来到收银员跟前。
The cashier 16)rang up his purchases and then said, “Congratulations, you have been selected to win a prize!” With that, she handed the little boy the video game, and he could only stare in disbelief. It was, he said, exactly what he had wanted!
收银员先将他要买的东西的价格录入收银机，然后对他说：“恭喜你，你中奖了！” 说罢，她将游戏盘递给小男孩。小男孩目瞪口呆，完全不敢相信。他激动地说，那正是他想要的礼物！
The little girl and her father had been standing at the doorway during all of this, and I saw the biggest, prettiest, toothless grin on that little girl that I have ever seen in my life. Then they walked out the door, and I followed, close behind them.
在这个过程中，小女孩和她父亲一直都站在玩具店的门口，我看见小女孩咧嘴笑了。她处于换牙期，嘴里新齿未出，然而这却是我这一生所见过的最灿烂最美丽的笑容。随后，父女俩一起走出了大门，我紧跟在他们后面，也走了出来。
As I walked back to my car, 17)in amazement over what I had just witnessed, I heard the father ask his daughter why she had done that. I’ll never forget what she said to him. “Daddy, didn’t 18)Nana and Grandpa want me to buy something that would make me happy?” He said, “Of course they did, honey.” To which the little girl replied, “ Well, I just did!” With that, she 19)giggled and started 20)skipping toward their car.
当我走向自己的汽车时，我仍在为我刚才见到的那一幕而惊奇不已。这时，我听见那位父亲在问女儿为什么要这么做。我永远也不会忘记小女孩的回答：“爸爸，爷爷和奶奶不是希望我买到能够让自己高兴的东西吗？”父亲回答说：“那是当然的，宝贝。”小女孩接着说：“啊，我正好买到了呀！”说着，她咯咯地笑起来，蹦蹦跳跳地朝他们的汽车跑去。
I had just witnessed the Christmas spirit in that toy store, in the form of a little girl who understands more about the reason for the season than most adults I know! May God bless her and her parents, just as she blessed that little boy, and me, that day!
就在那家玩具店里，我从那个小女孩的身上看到了圣诞节的意义。她比我所认识的大多数成年人更明白这个节日的意义！愿上帝保佑她和她的父母，就像她在那一天将祝福送给那个小男孩和我一样。
