親情故事:愛的價值 The Value of Love

The cheerful girl with 1)bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout 2)stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink 3)foil box. “Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them” Please, mommy, please!”
　　這個興高采烈的女孩差不多五歲了，留着一頭富有彈性的金黃卷發。她正和媽媽在收銀臺旁排隊等候交錢，忽然，她看見一串閃閃發光的白珍珠，裝在一個粉紅色的金屬盒裏。“噢，媽咪，能給我買那個嗎？媽咪，求你了！”

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face. “A dollar ninety-five. That’s almost $2.00. If you really want them, I’ll think of some extra 4)chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday’s only a week away and you might get another 5)crisp dollar bill from Grandma.”
　　她的媽媽迅速看了看那個小金屬盒的背後，然後回過頭望着女兒仰起的臉孔裏那雙充滿懇求的藍眼睛。“1.95美元。幾乎要2美元。如果你真想要，我會給你多一些家務做。很快你就能存夠錢給自己買了。再過一個星期就是你的生日，奶奶也許會給你一張嶄新的一美元鈔票。”

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny 6)bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick 7)dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.
　　詹妮一回到家就把儲錢罐裏的錢全倒了出來，數了數，一共17美分。飯後，她做家務比往常更勤快了。她還跑到鄰居家問麥克詹姆斯太太，願不願意花10美分讓她幫忙採蒲公英。她生日那天，奶奶真的給了她一張嶄新的一美元紙幣。最後，她終於存夠了錢買那串項鍊。

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere—Kindergarten, 8)Sunday school, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a 9)bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.
　　詹妮很喜愛這一串珍珠項鍊。戴上它，她便感到自己打扮得很漂亮，感到自己很成熟。她走到哪兒都戴着它——上幼兒園，星期天上主日學校，甚至是在睡覺的時候，只有游泳或洗泡泡浴時才取下。媽媽說，如果那些珍珠溼了水，就可能染綠她的脖子。

　　Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, “Do you love me”
　　詹妮有一個慈愛的爸爸。每晚她臨睡前，爸爸總會停下手頭上的工作，上樓來給她讀一個故事。有一天晚上，當爸爸講完了故事，他問詹妮：“你愛爸爸嗎？”

“Oh ye Daddy. You know that I love you.”
　“嗯，爸爸，你知道我愛你。”

“Then give me your pearls.”
　“那把你的那條珍珠項鍊送給爸爸吧。”

“Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess—the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy” The one you gave me. She’s my favorite.”
　　“噢，爸爸，不要是珍珠項鍊嘛。我給你我百寶箱裏的公主——那匹長着粉紅色尾巴的白馬。爸爸你記起了嗎？那是你送給我的。她是我最喜歡的寶貝。”

“That’s okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night.”And he 10)brushed her cheek with a kiss.
　　“好吧，甜心。爸爸愛你。晚安。”他輕吻了一下女兒的臉頰。

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny’s daddy asked again, “Do you love me”
　　過了一個星期，讀完故事，詹妮的爸爸又問：“你愛爸爸嗎？”

“Daddy, you know I love you.”
　　“爸爸，你知道我愛你。”

“Then give me your pearls.”
　　“那把你的那條珍珠項鍊送給爸爸吧。”

“Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow 11)blanket that matches her 12)sleeper.”
　　“噢，爸爸，不要是珍珠項鍊嘛。我給你我的娃娃，我生日收到的那個新的。她很漂亮，你還可以要那條和她睡衣顏色很相襯的黃色毛毯。”

　　“That’s okay. Sleep well, little one. Daddy loves you.”And as alway he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
　　“好吧。寶貝，睡個好覺。爸爸愛你。”像往常一樣，他輕吻了一下女兒的臉頰。

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed 13)Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.
　　過了幾夜，爸爸走進詹妮的房間，她正盤腿坐在牀上。爸爸走近時發現，詹妮的下巴顫抖着，一顆淚珠無聲地滑落她的臉頰。

“What is it, Jenny” What’s the matter”?
　　“怎麼了，詹妮？發生什麼事了？”

Jenny didn’t say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little 14)quiver, she finally said, “Here, Daddy. It’s for you.”
　　詹妮沒有答話，只把小手舉到爸爸面前。她攤開手掌，露出她那串小小的珍珠項鍊。她微微顫抖了一下，最終說道：“爸爸，這是送給你的。”

With tears gathering in his own eye Jenny’s kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the 15)dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue 16)velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her genuine treasure.
　　爸的眼裏滿是淚水，慈愛的他伸出一隻手，拿起珍妮手裏那串在廉價商店裏買的項鍊，另一隻手則伸進自己的口袋裏，拿出一個用天鵝絨包裹着的藍色盒子，裏面裝着一串用天然珍珠串成的項鍊遞給詹妮。他一直帶着這串項鍊。他只是等待女兒放棄那串廉價的珍珠項鍊，好送給她這份天然的珍品。