An Invisible Smile　看不见的微笑

An Invisible Smile　看不见的微笑

◎ Marcia Byalick

Mr. Dawson was an old grouch, and everyone in town knew it. Kids knew not to go into his yard to pick a delicious apple, even off the ground, because old Dawson, they said, would come after you with his ball bullet gun.

道森先生是个脾气古怪的老头子，镇上所有人都知道。孩子们知道不能进入他的院子里摘美味的苹果，甚至掉在地上的也不能捡，因为据他们说，老道森会端着他的弹丸猎枪跟在你后面追。

One Friday, 12-year-old Janet was going to stay all night with her friend Amy. They had to walk by Dawson’s house on the way to Amy’s house, but as they got close Janet saw him sitting on his front porch and suggested they cross over to the other side of the street. Like most of the children, she was scared of the old man because of the stories she’d heard about him.

一个周五，12岁的珍妮特要陪她的朋友艾米在这里过夜。她们去艾米家的路上，不得不经过道森先生的房子。当她们离道森家越来越近时，珍妮特看见道森先生坐在前廊，于是她建议她们从街道的另一边走。跟大多数孩子一样，珍妮特听说过他的故事，对他很是害怕。

Amy said not to worry, Mr. Dawson wouldn’t hurt anyone. Still, Janet was growing more nervous with each step closer to the old man’s house. When they got close enough, Dawson looked up with his usual frown, but when he saw it was Amy, a broad smile changed his entire face as he said, “Hello Miss Amy. I see you’ve got a little friend with you today.”

艾米说不用担心，道森先生不会伤害任何人。尽管如此，每向前走一步，离老人的房子越近，珍妮特就越紧张。当她们走到房子那儿，道森抬起了头，一如既往地皱着眉头。但当他看到是艾米时，一个灿烂的笑容改变了他的整个表情，他说：“你好，艾米小姐，我看见今天有位可爱的小朋友陪你。”

Amy smiled back and told him Janet was staying overnight and they were going to listen to music and play games. Dawson told them that sounded fun, and offered them each a fresh picked apple off his tree. They gladly accepted. Dawson had the best apples in town.

艾米也对他微笑，告诉他珍妮特会陪她过夜，她们要一起听音乐玩游戏。道森告诉她们这听起来很有趣，给她们每人一个从树上刚摘下来的苹果。她们很高兴地接受了，因为道森的苹果是镇上最好的。

When they got out of earshot of Dawson , Janet asked Amy, “Everyone says he’s the meanest man in town. How come was he so nice to us?”

当他们离开道森的房子时，珍妮特问艾米：“每个人都说他是镇上最吝啬的人，但他为什么对我们这么好呢？”

Amy explained that when she first started walking past his house he wasn’t very friendly and she was afraid of him, but she pretended he was wearing an invisible smile and so she always smiled back at him. It took a while, but one day he half-smiled back at her.

艾米解释说，当她第一次路过他家时，他不是太友好，她还很害怕他。但她假装他带着一种看不见的微笑，所以她微笑着回望他。过了一段时间，终于有一天，他也对她露出了一点笑容。

After some more time, he started smiling real smiles and then started talking to her. Just a “hello” at first, then more. She said he always offers her an apple now, and is always very kind.

再过了一段日子，他开始真正地对她笑了，然后开始同艾米说话。开始只是一句“你好”，后来就越来越多。她说，他总是给她一个苹果，很和蔼可亲。

“An invisible smile?” questioned Janet.

“看不见的笑容？”珍妮特问。

“Yes,” answered Amy, “my grandma told me that if I pretended I wasn’t afraid and pretended he was smiling an invisible smile at me and I smiled back at him, that sooner or later he would really smile. Grandma says smiles are contagious.”

“是的，”艾米回答道，“我奶奶告诉我，如果我假装不害怕，假装他有着看不见的微笑，我微笑地回望他，迟早他会真正微笑起来。奶奶说，笑容是可以传染的。”

If we remember what Amy’s grandma said, that everyone wears an invisible smile, we too will find that most people can’t resist our smile after a while.

如果我们记住艾米奶奶说的，每个人都有着看不见的笑容，我们会发现，大多数人在一段时间后都无法抗拒我们的微笑。

We’re always on the go trying to accomplish so much, aren’t we? Getting groceries, cleaning the house, mowing the lawn—there’s always something. It’s so easy to get caught up in everyday life that we forget how simple it can be to bring cheer to ourselves and others. Giving a smile away takes so little effort and time, let’s make sure that we’ve not the one that others have to pretend is wearing an invisible smile.

我们总是忙着去尽量完成更多的事，不是吗？买东西，打扫房子，割院子里的杂草——总会有什么事。这就很容易让我们被日常琐事困住，而忘记了给自己和他人带来欢乐是多么简单的事情。绽放微笑所花费的精力和时间非常少，我们要确保自己不会成为这样的人——别人总得假装我们有看不见的笑容。

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