英語勵志故事：愛之鏈(The Chain Of Love)

一天傍晚，一名男子獨(dú)自開車回家，車子行駛在雙車道的鄉(xiāng)間小路上。工作在這樣一個中西部的小村落里，生活節(jié)奏就如同這破舊不堪的龐蒂亞克車一樣奇慢無比，但對未來他還是滿懷信心。

自工廠倒閉后，他便失業(yè)了。冬日漸近，生活的艱辛正如這冬日的寒流般逐漸侵襲著這個家庭。

靜寂的路上空無一人，除了下班離開工廠的人，不會有很多人走這條路。他的朋友大多已經(jīng)離開。他們要養(yǎng)家糊口，要實(shí)現(xiàn)夢想，不得不自謀生路，但他卻留了下來。

畢竟，這是安葬父母的地方，也是生養(yǎng)他的地方。他對這兒的一切再熟悉不過了。即使閉著眼睛，他也知道道路兩旁的風(fēng)景；即使車的前燈壞掉了，他也能自如駕駛在這條路上。

夜幕降臨，紛紛揚(yáng)揚(yáng)的雪花漫天飛舞。他得抓緊時間回家。知道嗎，路邊站著一個年邁的老太太，他差點(diǎn)兒就沒看到，雖然天色昏暗，他還是看得出來她是個需要幫助的人。他下了車，走到她跟前，他的寵蒂亞克車還在那兒撲哧撲哧喘著氣呢。盡管看到他面帶笑容，老太太仍憂心忡忡，因?yàn)閯偛诺囊粋€多小時內(nèi)一直沒有人肯停下來幫她。

他會傷害她嗎？他不能給人以安全感，因?yàn)樗瓷先ツ敲?a href='http://www.350c3.com/lizhigushi/43.html' target='_blank' title='窮'>窮困潦倒。他看得出來，站在冷風(fēng)中的她有些害怕。他理解她的感覺，這么一個大冷天，人們難免會心存恐懼。

“女士，我來幫你吧。你怎么不在車?yán)锏饶?？那里暖和啊。順便說一下，我是布賴恩。”

原來，這位女士只是車胎爆了，但這對于這么大年 紀(jì)的老太太來說，已是夠糟糕的了。

布賴恩鉆到車子底下，找合適的位置放千斤頂時，不小心手蹭破了幾塊皮。不一會兒，輪胎換好了，但他的衣服也弄臟了。他擰螺絲時，老太太搖下窗玻璃，與他攀談起來。她說她來自圣路易斯，不巧路過這兒時車子壞了，她不知道該怎么感謝他才好。布賴恩只是笑笑，把她的車兵備箱蓋上。

老太太問該付多少錢，只要他說個數(shù)，她都可以給。如果不是他停下來幫忙的話，她真不知還會發(fā)生什么可怕的事情。

布賴恩沒考慮錢的問題，這又不是他為賺錢才干的工作。

這只不過是給有困難的人提供一些可能的幫助罷了，以前也有很多人曾給他一些幫助……他的生活原則就是這樣，幫助別人很自然。

他告訴她，若她真想報(bào)答他的話，那就等下次遇到有困難的人時，給予他們幫助，布賴恩接著說，“……并且要想想我。”

他看著她把車子開走了。天很冷，陰沉得使人郁悶，然而他卻異常興奮。他開車向家駛?cè)?，很快消失在黃昏的暮色中。

老太太開了幾公里車，看到了一家小咖啡廳，想進(jìn)去吃些東西，暖暖身子后再開車回家。小店燈光昏暗，門口還放著兩個舊氣泵。

周圍的整個環(huán)境令老太太感到陌生。收銀機(jī)就像失業(yè)演員家的電話機(jī)一樣，根本派不上用場。女服務(wù)員遞給她一條干凈的毛巾，讓她擦干弄濕了的頭發(fā)。

雖然女服務(wù)員已在店里忙碌了一天，但此刻仍面帶甜美的微笑。老太太發(fā)現(xiàn)她足有八個月的身孕了，但她并未讓壓力和痛苦影響她的服務(wù)。

老太太心里盤算著，怎樣才能給這個陌生人幫助。這時她想起了布賴恩。

老太太吃完飯后，女服務(wù)員拿著她給的百元大鈔去找零。回來時，老太太已經(jīng)走了，女服務(wù)員正納悶兒，猜測老太太會去哪里呢。這時她突然看見紙巾上寫的字，下邊還有四張百元大鈔。讀著紙巾上的話語，她的雙眼淚如泉涌。

紙巾上寫著：“這是你應(yīng)得的，我也這樣接受過別人的幫助，就像我?guī)椭阋粯?。如果你真想?bào)答我的話，你應(yīng)這么做：不要讓這愛之鏈在你這兒斷掉。”

清理桌面，加滿糖罐，招待客人，女服務(wù)員又應(yīng)付過了一天的繁忙工作。晚上下班回到家，她躺在床上，想著這筆錢，想著老太太寫的那句話。這位老太太怎么會知道她和丈夫急需這筆錢呢？下個月孩子就要出生了，日子自然會越來越艱難。

她知道丈夫很擔(dān)心她，當(dāng)丈夫在身邊躺下時，她溫柔地吻了他，然后對他耳語道：“一切都會好的，我愛你，布賴恩。”

The Chain Of Love

He was driving home one evening, on a two-lane country road. work in this small mid-western community, was almost as slow as his beat-up pontiac. but he never quit looking. ever since the factory closed, he'd been unemployed, and with winter raging on, the chill had finally hit home.

It was a lonely road. not very many people had a reason to be on it, unless they were leaving. most of his friends had already left. they had families to feed and dreams to fulfil.but he stayed on. 

After all, this was where he buried his mother and father. he was born here and he knew the country. he could go down this road blind, and tell you what was on either side, and with his headlights not working, which came in handy.

It was starting to get dark and light snow flurries were coming down. he'd better get a move on.you know, he almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road. but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. so he pulled up in front of her mercedes and got out. his pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. even with the smile on his face, she was worried. no one had stopped to help for the last hour or so.

Was he going to hurt her? he didn't look safe, he looked poor and hungry. he could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. he knew how she felt. it was that chill which only fear can put in you. he said, "

I'm here to help you ma'am. why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? by the way, my name is bryan".

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough.

Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. soon he was able to change the tire. but he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. as he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. she told him that she was from st. louis and was only just passing through. she couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid. bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk.

She asked him how much she owed him. any amount would have been all right with her. she had already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped.

Bryan never thought twice about the money. this was not a job to him.

This was helping someone in need, and god knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past... he had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed, and bryan added "...and think of me".

He waited until she started her car and drove off. it had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. she went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. it was a dingy looking restaurant. outside were two old gas pumps.

The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. the cash register was like the telephone of an out of work actor - it didn't ring much. her waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair.

She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. the lady noticed that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude.

The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. then she remembered bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, and the waitress went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, the lady slipped right out the door. she was gone by the time the waitress came back. she wondered where the lady could be, then she noticed something written on the napkin under which were 4 more $100 bills. there were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote.

It said:"You don't owe me anything, I have been there too. somebody once helped me out, the way i'm helping you. if you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: do not let this chain of love end with you".

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. that night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. how could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? with the baby due next month, it was going to be hard.

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "everything's gonna be all right; i love you, bryan."