ON CHRISTMAS EVE
圣誕前夜

A friend of mine named Paul
received an automobile
from his brother as Christmas present.
我有個朋友，保羅
在圣誕節(jié)那天
收到了一份來自他哥哥的禮物，
一輛轎車。

On Christmas eve,
when Paul came out of his office,
a street urchin
was looking around the shining new car,
admiring it.
在圣誕前夜，
當(dāng)保羅從他的辦公室走出來時，
一個街頭頑童正圍著他的新車打轉(zhuǎn)地看，
非常羨慕。

"Is this your car, Mister?"
he said.
“這是您的汽車嗎，先生？”
他說。

Paul nodded,
"My brother gave it to me for Christmas."
保羅點了點頭，
“我哥哥給我的圣誕禮物。

The boy was astounded,
"You mean your brother gave it to you,
and didn't cost you anything?"
小男孩詫異了，
“你是說你哥哥給你的，
不用花你一分錢？”

"Boy, I wish..."
he hesitated.
“兄弟，我希望...”
他遲疑了。

Of course
Paul knew what he was going to wish for.
He was going to wish
he has a brother like that.
But what the lad said jarred Paul
all the way down his heels.
保羅當(dāng)然清楚他希望什么，
他希望他也有個那樣的哥哥，
但這個小家伙說的話，
使保羅大吃了一驚。

"I wish,"
the boy went on,
"that I could be a brother like that."
“我希望，
小男孩繼續(xù)說道，
“我可以做一個那樣的哥哥。”

Paul looked at the boy in astonishment,
then inpulsivly he added,
"Would you like to take a ride in my car?"
保羅驚奇地看著小男孩
然后激動地說了句
“你想不想做我的車去兜兜風(fēng)？”

"Oh, yes. I'd love that."
“哦，想！我喜歡！”

After a short ride,
the boy turned his eyes aglow,
said, "Mister, would you mind
driving in front of my house?"
跑了一小段路后，
小男孩眼光水靈閃閃地說道，
“先生，您可以把車開到我家門前嗎？”

Paul smiled a little.
He thought he knew what the lad wanted.
He wanted to show his neighbours
that he could ride home in a big automobile.
But Paul was wrong again.
保羅微微一笑。
他覺得他知道這個小家伙想要干什么，
他想要向他的鄰居炫耀他可以坐一輛大汽車回家。
但是，保羅又一次想錯了。

"Would you stop at those with two steps?"
the boy asked.
“您可以在那有兩個臺階的房子前停下嗎？”
小男孩問道。

He ran up stairs.
Then in a little while, Paul heard him coming back,
but he was not coming fast.
他跑著上樓去了。
然后一小會兒，
保羅聽到他回來的腳步聲，
但他沒再用跑的了。

He was carrying his little crippled brother.
He set him down on the bottom step.
Then a sort of squeezed up against him
and pointed to the car.
保羅看見他正攙扶著他的跛腳的弟弟，
他扶著他坐在最底層的臺階上，
然后擁抱著他，
指著這部車。

"There she is, buddy,
just like I told you upstairs.
His brother gave it to him for Christmas
and didn't cost him a cent.
“弟弟，那就是我在樓上跟你說的那部車。
他哥哥給他的圣誕禮物，
不用花他一分錢。

And some day,
I'm gonna give you one just like it.
Then you can see for yourself
all the prettiest things in the windows
that I was trying to tell you about."
將來某天我也要給你一部像那樣的車，
那樣你就可以自己去看，
我以前盡力想讓你知道的
那些窗邊的圣誕飾品了。”

Paul got off
and lifted the lad into the front of his car.
The shinning eyed old brother
climbed in beside him.
And three of them
began a memorable holiday ride.
保羅下車把跛腳的小孩抱上了車的前座，
他的眼睛水靈靈的哥哥爬上了車，
坐到了他旁邊。
然后他們?nèi)齻€開始一段令人難忘的旅程。

That Christmas eve,
Paul learned what Jesus meant,
when he said,
"It is more blessed to give than to receive..."
那個圣誕前夜，
保羅收獲了很多，
他真正體會了耶穌所說的那句話，
“施舍比接受更有福...”

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