善心可依
When I was growing up, I was embarrassed to be seen with my father. He was severely crippled and very short, and when we would walk together, his hand on my arm for balance, people would stare. I would inwardly squirm at the unwanted attention. If he ever noticed or was bothered, he never let on.
在我成長的過程中,我一直羞于讓別人看見的和父親在一起。我的父親身材矮小,腿上有嚴重的殘疾。當我們一起走路時,他總是挽著我以保持身體平衡,這時總招來一些異樣的目光,令我無地自容。可是如果他注意到了這些,不管他內心多么痛苦,也從不表現出來。

It was difficult to coordinate our steps -- his halting, mine impatient -- and because of that, we didn't say much as we went along. But as we started out, he always said, "You set the pace. I will try to adjust to you. "
走路時,我們很難相互協調起來----他的步子慢慢騰騰,我的步子焦燥不安。所以一路上我們交談得很少。但是每次出行前,他總是說,"你走你的,我想法兒跟上你"。
Our usual walk was to or from the subway, which was how he got to work. He went to work sick, and despite nasty weather. He almost never missed a day, and would make it to the office even if others could not. A matter of pride.
我們常常往返于從家到他上班乘坐的地鐵站的那段路上。他有病也要上班,哪怕天氣惡劣。他幾乎從未誤過一天工,就是在別人不能去的情況下,他也要設法去上班。實在值得驕傲!
When snow or ice was on the ground, it was impossible for him to walk, even with help. At such times my sisters or I would pull him through the streets of Brooklyn, NY, on a child's sleigh to the subway entrance.
每當冰封大地,雪花飄飄的時候,若是沒有幫助,他簡直舉步維艱。每當此時,我或我的姐妹們就用兒童雪橇把他拉過紐約布魯克林區的街道,一直送他到地鐵的入口處。
Once there, he would cling to the handrail until he reached the lower steps that the warmer tunnel air kept ice-free. In Manhattan the subway station was the basement of his office building, and he would not have to go outside again until we met him in Brooklyn on his way home.
一到那兒,他便手抓扶手一直走到底下的臺階時才放開手,因為那里通道的空氣暖和些,地面上沒有結冰。到了曼哈頓,地鐵站就在他辦公樓的地下一層,在我們在布魯克林接他回家之前他無須再走出樓來。
When I think of it now, I marvel at how much courage it must have taken for a grown man to subject himself to such indignity and stress. And at how he did it -- without bitterness or complaint .
如今每當我想起這些,我驚嘆一個成年男子要經受信這種侮辱和壓力得需要多么大的勇氣啊!嘆服他竟然能夠做到這一點,不帶任何痛苦,沒有絲毫抱怨。
He never talked about himself as an object of pity, nor did he show any envy of the more fortunate or able.
他從不說自己可憐,也從不嫉妒別人的幸運和能力。