1. An act of Kindness and Goodwill

篇一：《賣香蕉的老婦》

Just after finishing his work, Mr. Phillips remembered that his wife had asked him to buy one kilo of Bananas. On his way to the grocery shop, he saw an ill-looking old lady who was selling fresh bananas on the street. Usually, Mr. Phillips buys bananas from a grocery shop a few blocks away from his office, but since he was in a hurry to get home today, buying them from the old lady seemed more convenient to him.
下班后，菲利普先生想起來太太囑咐過他買一公斤香蕉回家。在去雜貨店的路上，他看見一位氣色不太好的老婦人正在街上兜售新鮮香蕉。通常，菲利普先生都在離公司幾個街區遠的雜貨店買香蕉，但今天他正好有些著急回家，直接在老婦人這里購買對他來說似乎更方便。
The old lady quoted $7 for one kilo of bananas. 'But the shop where I usually buy from gives them for $5 per kilo!', Mr Phillips said. 'I'm sorry sir, I cannot afford to match that price. I cannot sell them to you for less than $6 per kilo', the old lady responded. 'Never mind' said Mr Phillips, and he went to the grocery shop.
老婦人的香蕉要7塊錢一公斤。“可是，我常去的店里才賣5元/公斤呢！”菲利普先生說道。“對不起先生，我沒法便宜到那個價格，低于6塊我都不能賣給您。”老婦人回答道。“沒事”，菲利普先生說著，徑直向雜貨店走去。
However, when he wanted to pay for the good bunch of bananas he picked, the cashier told him that the price per kilo was $10. Feeling somewhat offended he said: 'I have been buying bananas here for several years now and this is a steep price increase, can't you offer me a better deal for being a loyal customer?'
然而，就在他已經挑好一捆新鮮的香蕉準備付款時，收銀員告訴他，現在的價格是10元/公斤。菲利普先生莫名感到被冒犯了似的，說：“我是你們這家店的老顧客了，今天這價格也漲得太離譜了，難道你們就不能給我這個忠實的老顧客一個優惠的價格嗎？”
Then, the manager of the grocery shop who had overheard him said: 'Sorry sir but our prices are fixed, we do not bargain.' Mr. Phillips felt very annoyed with his attitude, and decided to put the bananas back and to go back to the old lady.
此時，雜貨店經理無意聽到了他們的對話，他解釋道：“不好意思先生，我們的價格是固定的，我們這里不講價。” 他的態度令菲利普先生十分不悅，于是決定不在這里買了，去街上的老婦人那里買。
She recognized him instantly and told him: 'Sir, I can't match that price, I won't be able to earn any profit if I sell my bananas for less than $6.' 'Don't worry, I will pay you $10 Per kilo!', said Mr Phillips. 'Now, give me two kilos please!' The Old lady happily packed two kilos of Bananas and said: 'I can't accept $10 per kilo but I will accept $7 per kilo. I appreciate your kindness.'
老婦人馬上認出了他，說道：“先生，我不能賣那個價格，低于6塊錢我都掙不了錢。”“別擔心，我付你10塊/公斤！”菲利普先生說道，“現在給我來兩公斤吧！”老婦人高興地挑了兩公斤香蕉，并說道：“我不能按10塊錢的價格賣給您，非常感謝您的善意，我堅持只賣7塊錢。”
As she continued talking, tears were flowing from her eyes. 'You know, my Husband used to own a small fruit shop, but he got very sick. We even had to sell his shop to cover his medical bills because nobody could support us. Unfortunately, he still passed away. So now I am trying to survive on my own.'
她一邊說著，淚水從她眼里滾落下來。“您不知道，我丈夫曾經經營過一個小水果店，現在他病重了，我們必須得賣掉小鋪來負擔他的醫療費用，沒有人能幫得上我們。不幸的是，他還是過世了。于是現在，我得自食其力了。”
Don't worry, I will only buy bananas from you from now.' Mr Phillips replied. Then, he pulled out his wallet and gave her $100 extra. 'Take this, consider this an advance payment for the bananas I will be buying from you later.' He left the old lady speechless with gratitude. He kept his promise, and also recommended many of his colleagues to buy bananas from the old lady, which they did. From that day on, she made a much better living than ever before.
“別擔心，我以后都在你這里買香蕉。” 菲利普先生安慰她，接著，他拿出錢包，拿出100元遞給她。“拿著這錢吧，這是我提前支付了以后在你這里買香蕉的錢。”之后，他就離開了。老婦人一句話也說不出來，充滿了感激之情。從那以后，菲利普先生信守了他的承諾，也推薦了許多他的同事來老婦人這里買香蕉。從那以后，水果小攤的生意逐漸好了起來，老婦人的困窘的生活也逐漸改善了。

2. Chicago paleta vendor Fidencio Sanchez melts US hearts

篇二：《賣冰棍的桑切斯先生》

An old man, the 89 year-old Mr Sanchez, had been retired just two months when his daughter passed away. This forced him out of retirement since he had to take custody of her children. He had been selling ice pops in Illinois city for 23 years up till then. His wife,who also used to sell the ice pops, could not help him because of her failing health.
89歲的老人桑切斯退休剛兩個月，她的女兒就過世了。這場意外令老人不得不放棄安度晚年，只因女兒還留下了兩個孩子需要撫養，老人成了她們的監護人。在這之前，他已經在伊利諾伊城賣了23年的冰棍。他的太太，雖然之前也賣過冰棍，但現在也幫不上忙了，因為她的身體狀況也每況愈下。
'We thought, what are we going to do? We have to pay the bills', the vendor told the news. So Mr Sanchez decided to dust off his ice-cream cart to support his wife and grandchildren. 'I woke up early and worked all day until eight at night,' he said.
“那我們能做什么呢？我們還有那么多的日常賬單要支付。” 推著冰棍車的老人告訴記者。于是桑切斯老人決定重拾舊業，繼續賣冰棍來養家，家里有他的太太和孫子們。“我每天早出晚歸，整天在外面忙碌。” 他說。
'It broke my heart seeing this man working so hard while he should be enjoying retirement,' said Joel Cervantes Macias, a man who has set up an online fundraise campaign for Mr Sanchez. 'When I saw Mr Sanchez, I bought 20 paletas (Mexican ice pops) from him. Later I posted a photo of Mr Sanchez online, with the comment: 'I respect this man to the fullest!' The image garnered a huge response.'
一位素不相識的陌生人Joel Cervantes Macias 先生在網絡上發起了為桑切斯先生的籌款活動，他說，“看到這個老人在應當安度晚年的年紀還如此賣力地討生活，令人心碎。”“我遇見他以后，我一口氣買了20根冰激凌。然后我把桑切斯先生的照片發到了網絡上，并寫道：我真心敬佩這樣的人。照片立即得到了許多人的回應。”
Mr Joel Cervantes Macias said that then, he decided to start a fundraising campaign in the hope of collecting $3,000 dollars (£2,250) for Mr Sanchez. That target was surpassed in less than an hour. Within two days, he had raised more than $201,000 for Mr Sanchez and his family. Mr Sanchez however, is still working as a paleta vendor because he said he would miss his work otherwise, but now he doesn't need to worry about money anymore, he is a happy man.
Macias先生說，后來他決定在網上籌款，目標是為桑切斯先生籌得3000美元（約2250英鎊）。這個目標不到一小時就被超越了。兩天之內，他已經籌到了201,000美元。而桑切斯先生，現在仍然推著他的冰棍車每日忙碌著，他說如果他歇下來他也會想念這份工作。但是他現在已經不再為錢而發愁了，他成為了一個快樂的老人。