第6章 Love the Others 让爱永驻心间(6)

I remember very clearly the night my parents gave me the bracelet. It was in my sophomore year of high school， and I had stayed out past my curfew at midnight. When I got home that night， my parents gave me a lecture on responsibility. I expected to be placed on restriction， but instead they gave me a jade bracelet. I was totally shocked... but when I went to bed that night I was supremely happy.

The next morning my father told me that because they had gone shopping for the bracelet， he had not gone to the racetrack， and had missed out on winning $20，000 because of me. However， he said that I was worth it.

The bracelet will always remind me of those two days and the love that exists in my relationship with my parents， even though nothing is ever said. I know that no matter what I may do， my parents will always love me and accept me the way I am.

Since I got the bracelet， I have not taken if off- mostly because I don’t want to， but also because my hand has outgrown the bracelet and therefore it is stuck on permanently. My bracelet means so much to me that if it should ever break， I would be enormously upset， but then， I could always save the pieces for good luck.

礼物的意义不仅在于它本身，还在于它包含的爱。

参考翻译（佚名）

每每静下来细想我所拥有的东西中哪件意义最大时，总会情不自禁地向左手腕看去。我手腕上戴着一件简单的饰物--一只碧玉手镯。它色彩不均，变幻多端，时而呈浅绿色，时而呈灰白色，时而呈海绿色，然而白璧微瑕，石头里有块儿褐斑。镯身有几道不为人注意的细微划痕。一面有道裂缝--也许最终镯子会从此处完全断裂。尽管它有着这样那样的瑕疵，对我来说却再完美不过了，因为它具有无可比拟的情感价值。

我永远记得八岁时第一次看到这种玉镯的情形。那是在一家博物馆的中国珠宝展厅内。一块完整的玉竟能雕刻出如此光彩照人的圆镯，真是令人咂舌，我想它一定价值连城。

回家后我将此事告诉了母亲，她告诉我这种手镯在中国妇女中很常见，而且玉的质地各不相同，价格相差悬殊。有些女人很小的时候就会得到一块玉并且会戴着它直到离开人世。玉是种很柔软的石头，若待之不慎很容易断裂。母亲告诉我若手镯断了，女人通常会用手帕将碎片包起来，并在有生之年一直保存，因为即使是碎片也能给人带来好运。母亲的话使我对中国妇女的形象有了了解，而拥有自己的手镯会让我永远记住我的文化，记住我是谁。

父母赠我手镯那晚的情形至今我还记得一清二楚。当时我正上高二，在外面玩到很晚，半夜才回家，违反了宵禁规定。当晚回到家，父母训诫了我一番，说要有责任心。我原以为父母会关我禁闭，可他们却送给我一只玉镯。我当时完全惊呆了……但那晚上床睡觉时我高兴极了。

第二天早上父亲告诉我，为了替我买这只手镯，他没能去赛马，因而错过了一次赢取两万美元的机会。然而，他却说为了我值得。

手镯会让我永远铭记着那两天的事情以及我与父母之间深深的爱，尽管这种爱从未用言语表达过。我知道不论我做什么，父母都会永远爱我并且接受我的方式。

自从有了这只手镯，我就再也没有摘下来过，主要是因为我不想摘，也因为我手腕长粗而将它永远地卡住了。这只手镯对我意义如此重大，如果某天碎了我定会伤心欲绝，但那时，我也会珍藏那些碎片以保佑我好运。

The Best Kind of Love 最好的爱

Anonymous

I have a friend who is falling in love. She honestly claims the sky is bluer. Mozart moves her to tears. She has lost 15 pounds and looks like a cover girl.

“I‘m young again！”She shouts exuberantly.

As my friend raves on about her new love， I’ve taken a good look at my old one. My husband of almost 20 years， Scott， has gained 15 pounds. Once a marathon runner， he now runs only down hospital halls. His hairline is receding and his body shows the signs of long working hours and too many candy bars. Yet he can still give me a certain look across a restaurant table and I want to ask for the check and head home.

When my friend asked me“What will make this love last？”I ran through all the obvious reasons： commitment， shared interests， unselfishness， physical attraction， communication. Yet there‘s more. We still have fun， spontaneous good times. Yesterday， after slipping therubber band off the rolled up newspaper， Scott flipped it playfully at me， this led to an all-out war. Last Saturday at the grocery， we split the list and raced each other to see who could make it to the checkout first. Even washing dishes can be a blast. We enjoy simply being together.

And there are surprises. One time I came home to find a note on the front door that led me to another note， then another， until I reached the walk-in closet. I opened the door to find Scott holding a“pot of gold”（my cooking kettle） and the“treasure”of a gift package. Sometimes I leave him notes on the mirror and little presents under his pillow.

There is understanding. I understand why he must play basketball with the guys. And he understands why， once a year， I must get away from the house， the kids- and even him- to meet my sisters for a few days of nonstop talking and laughing.

There is sharing. Not only do we share household worries and parental burdens- we also share ideas. Scott came home from a convention last month and presented me with a thick historical novel. Though he prefers thrillers and science fiction， he had read the novel on the plane. He touched my heart when he explained it was because he wanted to be able to exchange ideas about the book after I’d read it.