She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart.
她和媽媽剛在沃爾瑪結束購物。

She must have been 6 years old,
this beautiful brown haired,
freckle-faced image of innocence.
It was pouring outside.

這個天真的小女孩應該6歲大了，
頭發是美麗的棕色，臉上有雀斑。

The kind of rain
that gushes over the top of rain gutters,
so much in a hurry to hit the Earth,
it has no time to flow down the spout.

外面下著傾盆大雨。
雨水溢滿了檐槽，
來不及排走，
就迫不及待地涌漲上地面。

We all stood there under the awning
and just inside the door of the Wal-Mart.

我們都站在沃爾瑪門口的遮篷下。

We all waited,
some patiently, others irritated,
because nature messed up their hurried day.

大家都在等待，有人很耐心，有人很煩躁，
因為老天在給他們本已忙碌的一天添亂。

I am always mesmerized by rainfall.
I get lost in the sound and sight of the heavens
washing away the dirt and dust of the world.

雨天總引起我的遐思。
我出神地聽著、看著老天
沖刷洗滌這世界的污垢和塵埃，

Memories of running, splashing
so carefree as a child
come pouring in as a welcome
reprieve from the worries of my day.

孩時無憂無慮地在雨中奔跑玩水的記憶洶涌而至，
暫時緩解了我一天的焦慮。

Her voice was so sweet
as it broke the hypnotic trance
we were all caught in,
“Mom, let's run through the rain.' she said.

小女孩甜美的聲音打破了這令人昏昏欲睡的氣氛，
“媽媽，我們在雨里跑吧。”她說。

'What?' Mom asked.

“什么?”母親問。

'Let's run through the rain!' She repeated.

“我們在雨里跑吧，”她重復。

'No, honey.

We'll wait until it slows down a bit.'
Mom replied.

“不，親愛的，我們等雨小一點再走。”
母親回答說。

This young child waited about another minute
and repeated: 'Mom, let's run through the rain.'

過了一會，
小女孩又說：“媽媽，我們跑出去吧。”

'We'll get soaked if we do.' Mom said.

“這樣的話我們會濕透的。”母親說。

'No, we won't, Mom.
That's not what you said this morning,'
the young girl said
as she tugged at her Mom's arm.'

“不會的，媽媽。你今天早上不是這樣說的。”
小女孩一邊說一邊拉著母親的手。

'This morning?
When did I say we could run through the rain
and not get wet?'

“今天早上?我什么時候說過我們淋雨不會濕啊?”

'Don't you remember?
When you were talking to Daddy
about his cancer, you said,
If God can get us through this,
he can get us through anything!'

“你不記得了嗎？你和爸爸談他的癌癥時，
你不是說‘如果上帝讓我們闖過這一關，
那我們就沒有什么過不去。’”

The entire crowd stopped dead silent.
I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain.
We all stood silently.

人群一片寂靜。
我發誓，除了雨聲，
你什么都聽不到。
我們都靜靜地站著。

No one came or left in the next few minutes.
Mom paused and thought for a moment
about what she would say.

接下來的幾分鐘沒有一個人走動。
母親停了一下，想著應該說些什么。

Now some would laugh it off
and scold her for being silly.
Some might even ignorewhat was said.

有人也許會對此一笑了之，
或者責備這孩子的不懂事，
有人甚至不把她的話放在心上。

But this was a moment of affirmation
in a young child's life.
Time when innocent trust can be nurtured
so that it will bloom into faith.

但這卻是一個小孩子一生中需要被肯定的時候。
若受到鼓舞，
此時孩子單純的信任就會發展成為堅定的信念。

'Honey, you are absolutely right.
Let's run through the rain.
If get wet, well maybe we just needed washing.'
Mom said. Then off they ran.

“親愛的，你說得對，我們跑過去吧。
如果淋濕了，
那也許是因為我們的確需要沖洗一下了。”
母親說。然后她們就沖出去了。

We all stood watching, smiling and laughing
as they darted past the cars.
They held their shopping bags
over their heads just in case.
They got soaked.

我們站在那里，
笑著看她們飛快地跑過停著的汽車。
她們把購物袋高舉過頭想擋擋雨，但還是濕透了。

But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed
like children all the way to their cars.

好幾個人像孩子般
尖叫著，大笑著
也跟著沖了出去，奔向自己的車子。

And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet.
I needed washing.
當然，我也這樣做了，
跑了出去，淋濕了。
我也需要接受洗禮。

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions,
they can take away your money,
and they can take away your health.
But no one can ever take away your precious memories.

環境或其他人可以奪去你的物質財富，
搶走你的金錢，帶走你的健康，
但沒有人可以帶走你珍貴的回憶。

So, don't forget to make time
and take the opportunities
to make memories every day!

因此，記得要抓緊時間，
抓住機會每天都給自己留下一些回憶吧。

To everything
there is a season and a time
to every purpose under heaven.
I hope you still take the time
to run through the rain.

世間萬物皆有自己的季節，
做任何事情也有一個恰當的時機。
希望你有機會在雨中狂奔一回。

微信公眾號：英語美文朗讀 孟叔的微博：孟飛Phoenix 孟叔的抖音：184302945