The Greatest Of These 最伟大的是真爱
The Greatest Of These 最伟大的是真爱
◎ Nanette Thorsen-Snipes
My day began on a decidedly sour note when I saw my six-year-old son wrestling with a limb of my azalea bush. By the time I got outside, he’d broken it. “Can I take this to school today?” he asked. With a wave of my hand, I sent him off. I turned my back so he wouldn’t see the tears gathering in my eyes. I loved that azalea bush. I touched the broken limb as if to say silently, “I’m sorry.”
今天一大早我就非常恼火，因为我看见六岁的儿子正在费力扭折我的一枝杜鹃花。当我赶到外面时，他已经把花摘下来了。“今天我能把花带到学校吗？”他问。我摆了摆手，让他离开了。我转过身来，为的是不让他看到我眼里的泪水，因为我很爱杜鹃花。我轻抚那被折断的花枝，像是在对它无声地道歉。
I wished I could have said that to my husband earlier, but I’d been angry. The washing machine had leaked on my brand-new linoleum. If he’d just taken the time to fix it the night before when I asked him, instead of playing checkers with Jonathan. What are his priorities anyway? I wondered. I was still mopping up the mess when Jonathan walked into the kitchen. “What’s for breakfast, Mom?” I opened the empty refrigerator. “Not cereal,” I said, watching the sides of his mouth drop. “How about toast and jelly?” I smeared the toast with jelly and set it in front of him. Why was I so angry? I tossed my husband’s dishes into the sudsy water.
我多希望我能早点儿把那件事告诉丈夫，但是当时我很生气。洗衣机的水都漏到我那崭新的油毯上了。如果他能在我问他的前一晚上花点时间把洗衣机修好，这样的事就不会发生，可他当时却在和乔纳森玩跳棋。我搞不明白他到底有什么了不起？当乔纳森走进厨房时，我还在收拾那杂乱的一摊。“妈妈，早餐吃什么？”我打开空空的冰箱，“不吃麦片粥，”我回答，这时我看到他的嘴角拉了下来。“吐司和果子冻怎么样？”我把果子冻抹在吐司上放在他面前。我为什么这么生气呢？我把丈夫用过的碟子扔进洗涤池里。
It was days like this that made me want to quit. I just wanted to drive up to the mountains, hide in a cave, and never come out.
就是这样的日子让我有了退却的想法。我真想开车到山里，藏在一个山洞里，永远也不再出来。
Somehow I managed to lug the wet clothes to the Laundromat. I spent most of the day washing and drying clothes and thinking how love had disappeared from my life. Staring at the graffiti on the walls, I felt as wrung-out as the clothes left in the washers.
不过我还是把那一堆湿衣服拿到了自助洗衣店。那一天的大部分时间我都在清洗和烘干那些衣服，同时也在思考着爱是如何从我的生活中消失的。看着墙上的涂鸦，我突然感到自己就像洗衣机里的衣服一样扭曲。
As I finished hanging up the last of my husband’s shirts, I looked at the clock. 2:30. I was late. Jonathan’s class let out at 2:15. I dumped the clothes in the back seat and hurriedly drove to the school.
当我把丈夫的最后一件衬衫挂起来时，我看了看时间，已经2∶30了。我迟到了，乔纳森2∶15下课。我把衣服塞到后座上，急急忙忙开车去学校。
I was out of breath by the time I knocked on the teacher’s door and peered through the glass. With one finger, she motioned for me to wait. She said something to Jonathan and handed him and two other children crayons and a sheet of paper.
当我敲响老师的门，透过玻璃向里窥探时，我已经上气不接下气了。她用一根手指示意我等一下。她对乔纳森说了些什么，然后给了他和另外两个孩子一些彩色笔和一张纸。
What now? I thought, as she rustled through the door and took me aside. “I want to talk to you about Jonathan,” she said.
当她从门内过来，把我拉到一边时，我心里想着她要干什么。“我想和你谈谈乔纳森。”她说。
I prepared myself for the worst. Nothing would have surprised me. “Did you know Jonathan brought flowers to school today?” she asked. I nodded, thinking about my favorite bush and trying to hide the hurt in my eyes. I glanced at my son busily coloring a picture. His wavy hair was too long and flopped just beneath his brow. He brushed it away with the back of his hand. His eyes burst with blue as he admired his handiwork. “Let me tell you about yesterday,” the teacher insisted. “See that little girl?” I watched the bright-eyed child laugh and point to a colorful picture taped to the wall. I nodded.
我已经作好了最坏的准备，什么事都不会让我惊讶的。“你知道乔纳森今天带花来学校了吗？”她问。我点点头，心里还在想着我最爱的花束，但我试着隐藏眼中残余的伤痛。我瞥了一眼儿子，他正忙着给一幅图画上色。他的卷发太长了，都已经垂到了他的眉毛下面。他用手背把头发拨开。当他欣赏自己的作品时，眼中充满着忧郁。“我要跟你讲一下昨天的事情，”老师继续说，“看到那个小女孩了吗？”我看着那个眼睛明亮的孩子，点了点头，她当时正用手指着墙上的一副五彩的图画开怀大笑。
“Well, yesterday she was almost hysterical. Her mother and father are going through a nasty divorce. She told me she didn’t want to live, she wished she could die. I watched that little girl bury her face in her hands and say loud enough for the class to hear, ‘Nobody loves me.’ I did all I could to console her, but it only seemed to make matters worse.”
“呃，昨天她几近歇斯底里。她的父母正在闹离婚。她告诉我她不想活了，她希望自己死掉。我看着那个小女孩把脸埋在双手里大声对全班同学喊道‘没有人爱我’。我尽自己所能去安慰她，但这似乎使事情变得更加糟糕。”
”I thought you wanted to talk to me about Jonathan,” I said.
“我以为你会跟我谈乔纳森。”我说。
“I do,” she said, touching the sleeve of my blouse. “Today your son walked straight over to that child. I watched him hand her some pretty pink flowers and whisper, ‘I love you.’”
“是的，”她边说边碰了碰我的上衣袖子。“今天你的儿子径直朝那个孩子走过去。我看见他给了她几枝很漂亮的粉色花朵，然后悄悄对她说‘我爱你’。”
I felt my heart swell with pride for what my son had done. I smiled at the teacher. “Thank you,” I said, reaching for Jonathan’s hand, “you’ve made my day.”
对儿子的所作所为，我心里充满了自豪感。我对老师笑了笑，并说了声“谢谢”，然后我抓住了儿子的手说，“你让我感觉到了快乐。”
Later that evening, I began pulling weeds from around my lopsided azalea bush. As my mind wandered back to the love Jonathan showed the little girl, a biblical verse came to me: “...these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” While my son had put love into practice, I had only felt anger.
那天傍晚的时候，我开始清理倾斜的杜鹃花周边的杂草。当我回想起乔纳森对小女孩表达的爱意时，圣经中的一句话在我脑海中浮现：“……这三样留了下来：信仰、希望和爱。但这之中最伟大的是爱。”当我的儿子将爱付诸实践时，我却只感受到了气愤。
I heard the familiar squeak of my husband’s brakes as he pulled into the drive. I snapped a small limb bristling with hot pink azaleas off the bush. I felt the seed of love that God planted in my family beginning to bloom once again in me. My husband’s eyes widened in surprise as I handed him the flowers. “I love you.” I said.
当丈夫开车回来时，我听到了那熟悉的刹车声。我从花丛中折下一小束粉红至极的杜鹃花。我感到上帝在家庭中播撒的爱的种子又一次在我心里开花。当我把花递给丈夫时，他吃惊地睁大眼睛。“我爱你。”我对他说。
