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A MILE AT A TIME
一次一英里
By Nancy Byrd Turner
作者：南希·伯德·特納
Do you remember how the Bernado children worked together to send Grandmother to Naples? Here is another story of some children who worked together to make an old lady happy.
你還記得伯納多的孩子們是如何齊心協力把祖母送到那不勒斯的嗎？這是一則新的故事，講述了一些孩子通過共同努力讓一位老婦人開心。
Jerry and Joan knew why their neighbor, Miss Phoebe Tabb, was sad about her lilac bush. The bush was lovely, but Miss Phoebe’s face was wistful when she looked at it. Memorial Day was coming, and there was no way to send the flowers down to Ridgefield to be placed on the grave of her soldier nephew. There had not been a way for a great number of years now.
杰瑞和瓊深知鄰居菲比·塔布女士為她的丁香樹而感傷的原因。丁香樹十分迷人，但是菲比女士看著它的時候，臉上露出了傷感的神情。陣亡將士紀念日快到了，菲比女士無法前往里奇菲爾德，把花送到自己軍人侄子的墳墓上。多年來一直都沒有辦法。
The neighborhood was thinly settled; Jerry and Joan and their widowed mother were Miss Phoebe’s only neighbors. Moreover, the rough roads were seldom used; there was small chance of a traveler’s passing at the right time.
住在附近的鄰居很少，杰瑞、瓊安和他們的寡母是菲比女士唯一的鄰居。而且很少有人走過那些崎嶇不平的道路；旅客們及時通過的可能性很小。
“She is too old to walk to Ridgefield,” Jerry said, “and we are too young.”
杰瑞說，“菲比女士年紀太大了，她無法走到里奇菲爾德，而我們又太小了。”
“And Mother can’t leave the baby,” added Joan.
瓊安補充道，“而且媽媽也沒法離開嬰孩，”
After a while Joan said suddenly, “Jerry, let’s carry the flowers one mile, anyway; surely we can find some one to carry them the other miles.”
過了一會，瓊安突然說，“杰瑞，不管怎樣，我們拿著花走一英里吧；我們一定會找到其他人，拿著花完成剩下的路。”
Jerry threw his cap into the air. “We’ll do it!” he said.
杰瑞把帽子扔到空中。“我們會做到的！”他說。
They hurried home and laid the plan before their mother.
他們很快回到家，把計劃告訴了母親。
“Mrs. Jennifer’s is the only house you could walk to,” she said. “You might try there.”
她說，“詹妮弗太太家是你們唯一可以步行前往的房子，你們可以在那試試。”
“Why, bless your hearts!” Miss Phoebe cried, when the children told her.
當孩子們告訴菲比女士時，她哭著說道，“哎呀，感謝你們的善心！”
She got up early on Memorial Day, picking great sprays of fragrant lilacs and wrapping the stems in thick cotton.
陣亡將士紀念日那天她起得很早，摘下一大束芳香的丁香花，用厚厚的棉布把莖裹起來。
“You can take turns at carrying them,” she told the children. “Pass the word along that the blossoms are for the grave of Roderick Tabb. And if you should have to bring them back, I shall not cry.”
她告訴孩子們，“你們可以輪流拿著這束花，”“請轉達這束花是要獻給羅德里克·塔布的墳墓的。就算你們不得不把花帶回來，我也不會哭的。”
