牛之家

收到美國友人寄來的文章，看了很感動。

小小的行動卻可以達到很大的作用，

有時甚至是你所始料未及的 … 

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment

and sat down in my assigned seat. It was

going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a

good book to read. Perhaps I will

get a short nap,' I thought. 

我把我的手提行李放上飛機的行李箱裡後

坐到我的位子上。今天的飛行時間將會很長，

「我很高興我帶了一本好書可以閱讀，

也許我也可以小睡一番。」我心裡想著。 

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came

down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats,

totally surrounding me. I decided to start a

conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I

asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks

for special training, and then we're being

deployed to Afghanistan.’ 

就在起飛前，一列士兵沿著走道走來，

把空位都填滿了，就坐在我的周圍。

我決定和他們聊聊天。「你們要去哪裡？」

我問坐在我旁邊的一位士兵。

「倍塔窪。我們要在那接受兩週的特種訓練，

然後我們將被派到阿富汗去。」

After flying for about an hour, an

announcement was made that sack

lunches were available for five dollars. It

would be several hours before we reached the east,

and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.. 

起飛後大約一個小時，機上廣播將開始販售午餐袋，

每袋美金五元。到達美東之前還有好幾小時，

所以我很快地決定要買個午餐來打發一點時間。

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask

his buddy if he planned to buy lunch.

'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch.

Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks.

I'll wait till we get to base ' His friend agreed. 

當我伸手去拿錢包時，聽到一個士兵問他的同袍是否要買個午餐？

「不要啦！一個午餐袋要花那麼多錢，也許那根本不值五元。

我會等到達基地後再吃。」他的同袍同意他的說法。

I looked around at the other soldiers.

None were buying lunch. I walked to the back

of the plane and handed the flight attendant a

fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.'

She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly.

Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me.

'My son was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like

you are doing it for him.' 

我環顧其他的士兵，沒有一個人要買午餐。

我走向飛機後面拿了張五十元鈔票給空服員。

「請給那些士兵一人一份午餐。」

她把我的手拉過去而且緊緊地抓住，眼眶中泛著淚光，

她感激地告訴我：「我的兒子是在伊拉克的士兵，

你這樣做就好像是為了他而做一樣。」

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the

aisle to where the soldiers were seated.

She stopped at my seat and asked,

'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?' 

拿了十袋午餐，她沿著走道向著士兵的座位走去，

她經過我的座位時停下來問我說：

「你比較想要那一種餐，牛肉還是雞肉？」

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked.

She turned and went to the front of plane, returning

a minute later with a dinner plate from first class.

'This is your thanks.' 

「雞肉。」我狐疑地回答，想著她為什麼要這樣問。

她回頭向著飛機的前端走去，過了一分鐘後端著頭等艙的餐過來。

「這是為了感謝你所做的。」

After we finished eating, I went again to the back

of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me.

'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it.

Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars. 

當我們吃飽後，我再次向著飛機後面的洗間走去。

有一個人把我叫住：「我看到你剛剛做的那件事，

我想參與一份，這個你收下。」他給了我二十五元。

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight

Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the

aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was

not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the

numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to

my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said,

'I want to shake your hand.' 

我一回到座位，就看到機長沿著走道走過來，

邊走邊看著座位號碼，我希望他不是要找我，

可是我注意到他只看這我這邊的座位號碼。

當他走到我這排時停了下來，

微笑著伸出他的手來說：「我想和你握手。」

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the

Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I

was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once,

someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindnessI

never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause

was heard from all of the passengers. 

我很快地把安全帶解開站了起來握了機長的手。

他用宏亮的聲音說：「我以前也是個軍人，是軍機的飛行員。

有一次有人買了個午餐送給我，那件事對我來說是永生難忘的恩惠。」

當全機乘客的掌聲響起時，我的臉都紅了。

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs.

A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand,

wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm. 

稍後我走到飛機的前面去伸伸腿。

有個坐在我前六排的人伸出了他的手，等著要和我握手。

他也塞了二十五元在我手心裡。

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane.

Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me,

put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without

saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars! 

我們降落後，我把我的東西收拾好了準備下飛機。

有個等候在機門前的人把我叫住，

在我襯杉口袋裡塞了東西後不發一語轉身離去。

又是二十五元！

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering

 for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed

them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to

reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.' 

進到航站後，我看到那幾位士兵集合要出發前往基地。

我向著他們走過去，交給他們七十五元。

「你們到基地還要一段時間，剛好可以去吃個三明治，上帝祝福你們。」

Ten young men left that flight feeling the

love and respect of their fellow travelers.

As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return.

These soldiers were giving their all for our country.

I could only give them a couple of meals. 

十個青年人帶著全機旅客的愛與尊敬離開了飛機。

當我輕快地走向我的車的時候，我默默地為他們能平安地回來禱告。

這些士兵把他們的所有都獻給了國家，而我能給他們的卻是幾份餐而已。

It seemed so little... 
看起來真的不多 …

A veteran is someone who,

at one point in his life, wrote a

blank check made payable to '

The United States of America' for an amount of '

up to and including my life.'

退伍軍人就是，在他生命的某一段日子，

開了一張空白支票給「美利堅合眾國」，

金額是「最高包括我的生命」。 

That is Honor, and there are way too many people

in this country who no longer understand it.' 

這就是榮譽，但是這個國家有太多人現在已經不瞭解那是什麼了。

May God give you the strength

and courage to pass this along to

everyone on your email buddy list.... 

願上帝賜你力量及勇氣把這個信傳給在你通訊錄上的每個人。

I JUST DID 
我剛剛已經寄出了。

如果有人願意為不認識的人付出，那就是愛；

愛所能引發的效應是無限大的，而且會讓其他的人起而效尤。

而士兵為了保衛國家而無私無我，甚至付出生命，

則是為了保護在後方的所有的人，

讓大家能安居樂業，這也是最大的愛了。

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