圣誕節的真意

By+Katherine+Krane

1. Claire's： 珂萊爾思，全球領先的時尚珠寶及配飾專業零售商，1961年成立于美國，目前在全球10個國家開設了3000多家專賣店，商品以時尚、優質、價格低廉而深受年輕人喜愛。

2. chai [t?a?] n. （尤指印度的）茶

3. bagel [?be?ɡl] n. （過水）硬面包圈，百吉面包圈 （先水煮后烤的發面圈）

4. comrade [?k?mre?d] n. 同伴，伙伴；同事；密友

5. draw a blank： <口>記不起（某事），記不得；認不得

"Four eleven-year-old boys in Claire's1）. Wow，" I observed， standing sleepily in the store's entrance. Holding my steaming chai2） tea in one hand and a bagel3） in the other， I observed this strange sight. My dad had just dropped me off after swim practice to shop for friends for Christmas gifts， but my brother and his comrades4） had a more noble reason for shopping.

"Do you think Caitlin will like this？" one of the boys asked， shoving something very pink and very furry in my face.

I transferred the bagel to my tea hand and took it. It was an incredibly fuzzy scarf. "Does she like pink？"

"Umm ...." He appeared to be drawing a blank5）.

"I'm sure she'll love it."

"Brigit！ Can you help them here？" My mom asked. The cashier was looking at us as though we were nuts.

"Coming." I worked my way through the earrings， lip gloss， and funky hair thingies until I reached the back of the store. Another one of the boys， looking rather confused， was standing in front of a shelf of satiny6） and fuzzy jewelry boxes decorated with frogs and ballerinas.

"Does she like pink？" I asked again. Maybe this one would know.

"Yeah， it's her favorite color."

"Okay. Then picking something pink would be a good idea，" I encouraged， removing the blue box from his hands. He picked up a pink satiny one with a frog and presented it to me for approval.

"Nice." David came over and dragged me toward a display of funky socks.

"Which of these would be best？"

"Well， she likes pink， right？"

"No， she hates it，" David said with certainly. I hit myself on the forehead with my palm.

"I don't know. Pretend you're a girl， David."

The boys had been shopping all morning and still weren't done. They were spending all their money， some of which they had saved up over the course of the year and had planned to put toward7） Christmas gifts， and some of which was early gifts from relatives to spend on themselves. But， they had all decided to spend it on Caitlin.

Just nine days before Christmas， Caitlin's house had burned to the ground. By some miracle Caitlin， her two siblings， her parents， and their dog had all escaped. When I saw the picture in the newspaper， I couldn't believe they had gotten out. The house was engulfed8） in flames， and in the end， there was nothing left except a pile of ashes and the chimney.

All the family had was what they were wearing， what the kids had in their lockers at school， and each other. All the pictures Caitlin had drawn in kindergarten， the family photo albums， the super-cool roller-sneakers her younger brother had earned doing chores9）， and the Christmas presents waiting to be wrapped—all gone. The school was replacing their books and uniforms and now， two days after the fire， all the girls in Caitlin's class were taking her shopping for clothes and shoes. The boys were shopping for things like earrings， scarves， socks， headbands， and hair ties， all the things we don't even think about.

After another hour， I had finished my shopping and had helped the boys pick out everything they wanted to get for Caitlin. I still don't know if she likes pink or not. They had almost exhausted their funds when we passed a shoe store. The boys ran inside， having spotted the sneakers that Caitlin's brother had held so dear. They all agreed to put $25 toward them， and together， they were able to buy him a new pair.

When we got home， my brother brought everything he had purchased for Caitlin to my room to make sure I thought she'd like everything one last time before he wrapped them.

"I think she'll love everything，" I said， and he smiled his big goofy10） smile. I hugged him， even though he tried to push me away. I was so proud of him at that moment. My brother has a big heart； he loves giving and making others happy. He's an honest kid who sees only the good in the world. I used to wonder how he could only see the good when there was so much bad， but now I realize why： there is so much good inside him.

David， goofy little （okay， not so little） David， my Monkey Man—the kid who idolized me when he was little， who followed my friends and me around endlessly， who always wanted to be like me， who asks me for advice on everything， who looks up to me—I discovered I have a lot to learn from him. He selflessly gave up all his savings for a new skateboard he had been obsessing over for a friend who needed a Christmas present more than he did. He had， through this act of a pure heart， captured the true spirit of Christmas.

唯有無私的給予

才能收獲快樂。

“四個11歲的男孩在珂萊爾思飾品商店，哇?！蔽覒醒笱蟮卣驹谏痰耆肟谟^察眼前這一幕。一手捧著熱氣騰騰的印度茶，一手拿著一個面包圈，我觀察著眼前這怪異的一幕。我結束游泳訓練，爸爸在接我回家的路上剛把我放在這兒，好讓我給朋友們買圣誕禮物，不過我弟弟和他的同伴們卻有更高尚的購物理由。

“你覺得凱特琳會喜歡這個嗎？”其中一個男孩問，說著把一個毛茸茸、粉嘟嘟的東西戳到我面前。

我把面包圈換到捧著茶的那只手中，拿過他手里的東西。那是一條超級毛茸茸的圍巾?！八矚g粉色嗎？”

“嗯……”他看起來大腦一片茫然。

“我相信她會喜歡的?！?/p>

“布里吉特！你能過來幫幫這幾個孩子嗎？”媽媽問道。商店收銀員像看傻瓜一樣看著我們。

“來啦?！蔽覐牧宅槤M目的耳環、潤唇膏和各種時髦頭飾中擠出一條路，來到商店的最里面。另一個男孩站在裝點著青蛙和芭蕾舞女演員圖案的各種光滑絲絨首飾盒的貨架前面，表情十分困惑。

“她喜歡粉色嗎？”我再一次問道。也許這個男孩知道。

“當然，這是她最喜歡的顏色?！?/p>

“好，那選些粉色的東西應該錯不了?！蔽夜膭畹?，拿走他手里的藍色首飾盒。他挑了一個光滑的粉色首飾盒，上面有一只青蛙圖案，拿到我面前征求我的同意。

“不錯?！贝笮l走過來把我拽到一個陳列著各種時髦襪子的貨架前。

“這里面哪一雙最好？”

“嗯，她喜歡粉色，對吧？”

“不，她討厭粉色，”大衛非常確定地說。我用手掌拍了下前額。

“我不知道了。假裝你是個女孩，大衛?！?/p>

這幾個男孩已經買了一上午了，仍然沒有買完東西。他們把自己所有的錢都拿出來了，有的是自己攢了一整年原本打算用來買圣誕禮物的錢，有的是之前親戚給他們自己花的錢。但他們都決定把這些錢用來給凱特琳買東西。

就在圣誕節來臨的九天前，凱特琳家的房子被燒得一干二凈。不過奇跡般地，凱特琳、她的兩個兄弟姐妹、她的父母和他們的狗狗都逃了出來。當我看到報紙上的圖片時，我都不敢相信他們居然都逃出來了。大火吞噬了房子，最后除了一個煙囪和一堆灰燼之外什么都沒有留下。

他們一家人只剩下身上穿的衣服、孩子們在學校儲物柜里的東西，還有他們彼此。凱特琳在幼兒園畫的畫、家庭相冊、她弟弟用干零活的錢買來的超酷冰鞋，還有已經買好就差包裝起來的圣誕禮物——全部都化為了灰燼。學校為他們換了新的書和校服，現在——發生大火兩天之后——凱特琳班上所有的女孩一起帶著她去買衣服和鞋子了。男孩則來買諸如耳環、圍巾、襪子、束發帶、頭繩之類的東西——都是我們想都不會去想的東西。

又過了一個小時，我已經買好了要買的東西，也幫男孩們挑選好了他們想要給凱特琳買的東西。我仍然不知道她究竟喜不喜歡粉色。我們路過一家鞋店的時候，他們幾乎已經花光了所有的錢。不過在那里發現凱特琳的弟弟以前非常喜歡的一雙運動鞋，他們還是跑了進去。他們都同意花25美元買下這雙鞋，于是幾個人一起，湊齊錢為他買了這雙新鞋。

回家之后，我弟弟把他為凱特琳買的所有東西拿到我的屋里來，想要在他把東西包起來之前最后一次請我確認凱特琳會喜歡他買的所有東西。

“我覺得這些東西她都會喜歡的，”我說，他露出一個大大的傻笑。我擁抱了他，盡管他一直試圖把我推開。那一刻，我實在是為他感到驕傲。我的弟弟心胸寬廣，他喜歡給予，也喜歡讓他人快樂。他是個誠實的孩子，眼里只看得到這世界的美好。我以前也曾好奇，這世界上有如此多的邪惡，他怎么能做到只看到這些美好呢，但是現在我明白了：因為他的心里有如此多的美好。

大衛，?。ê冒?，其實也沒那么?。┥倒洗笮l，我的小猴孩——那個小時候崇拜著我的孩子，那個沒完沒了到處跟著我和我朋友的孩子，那個一直想要像我一樣的孩子，那個每件事都要征求我意見的孩子，那個仰慕著我的人——我發現自己有許多東西要向他學習。為了一個比他更需要圣誕禮物的朋友，他放棄了自己攢下來原本打算買癡迷已久的新滑板的錢。通過這個出自純潔心靈做出的舉動，他領會了圣誕的真意。