英文勵(lì)志短文：愛(ài)如絲線(xiàn)
有時(shí)我懷疑,父母之間是否存在著真愛(ài)。他們每天都疲于奔命，為我和弟弟賺學(xué)費(fèi)。我從沒(méi)見(jiàn)他們像我在書(shū)中或電視中看到的那樣浪漫。在他們看來(lái)，將“我愛(ài)你”這句話(huà)說(shuō)出口都太奢侈，更別說(shuō)在情人節(jié)互贈(zèng)鮮花了。父親脾氣很糟，特別是經(jīng)過(guò)了一天工作的勞累之后，糟糕的脾氣更容易發(fā)作。
有一天，媽媽正在縫被子，我安靜地坐在旁邊看著她。
“媽媽?zhuān)矣袀€(gè)問(wèn)題想問(wèn)你。”過(guò)了一會(huì)兒我說(shuō)。
“什么問(wèn)題?。?rdquo;她答道，而手里的活兒卻沒(méi)停下。
“你和爸爸之間有愛(ài)情嗎？”我壓低聲音問(wèn)道。
母親停下手里的活兒，抬起頭詫異地看著我，并未馬上回答，然后又低下頭，繼續(xù)縫被子。
我擔(dān)心這個(gè)問(wèn)題會(huì)傷她的心。我很尷尬，不知所措。但接下來(lái)卻聽(tīng)見(jiàn)母親這樣說(shuō)：
“蘇珊，”她若有所思地說(shuō)，“你看這線(xiàn)。有時(shí)我們看得見(jiàn)它，但更多時(shí)侯它卻藏在被子中，我們看不見(jiàn)。這些線(xiàn)確實(shí)使被子結(jié)實(shí)耐用。如果將生活比做被子，那么愛(ài)就是絲線(xiàn)。你不可能時(shí)刻都看得到它，但是它卻真實(shí)地存在著。愛(ài)是內(nèi)在的東西。”
我仔細(xì)聽(tīng)著，但是直到第二年春天才真正明白她所說(shuō)的話(huà)。當(dāng)時(shí)，父親病重，母親在醫(yī)院里照顧他，一個(gè)月后，父親出院回到家時(shí)，兩個(gè)人看起來(lái)都面色蒼白，就像他們得過(guò)同樣的重病似的。
他們回家后，每到黎明和黃昏，母親總會(huì)攙扶著父親在鄉(xiāng)間小路上散步。父親從沒(méi)有那樣溫和過(guò)。他們看起來(lái)是那樣和諧。路旁有許多漂亮的鮮花、綠草和樹(shù)木，陽(yáng)光透過(guò)葉子的縫隙溫柔地照射在上面，所有這一切勾勒出世間最美的畫(huà)面。
醫(yī)生說(shuō)，兩個(gè)月后父親就能病愈?？蓛蓚€(gè)月后他還是不能獨(dú)立行走，我們都很擔(dān)心。
“你感覺(jué)如何，爸爸？”有一天我問(wèn)他。
“蘇珊，不要擔(dān)心我。”父親慢慢地說(shuō)，“不瞞你說(shuō)，我就是喜歡和你媽媽一起散步的感覺(jué)。我喜歡這樣的生活。”從他的眼神中，我讀出了他對(duì)母親那深深的愛(ài)戀。
曾經(jīng)以為愛(ài)情是與鮮花、禮物和香甜的熱吻這些美好的事物分不開(kāi)的。經(jīng)歷了這些后，使我明白了：愛(ài)情就如同我們生活中被子里的絲線(xiàn)一樣，是內(nèi)在的、堅(jiān)固的和溫暖生活的東西。
Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don’t act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you”is too luxurious1 for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper. When he’s very tired from the hard work, it is easy for him to lose his temper.
One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her.
“Mom, I have a question to ask you，” I said after a while.
“What？”she replied, still doing her work.
“Is there love between you and Dad？” I asked her in a very low voice.
My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn’t answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.
I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment2 and I didn’t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:
“Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable3. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there. Love is inside.”
I listened carefully but I couldn’t understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.
After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious4 couple. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened5 through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.
The doctor had said my father would recover in two months. But after two months he still couldn’t walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.
“Dad, how are you feeling now？” I asked him one day.
“Susan, don’t worry about me.” he said gently,“To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life.” Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.
Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm.