| 赞美是天下最动听的语言，而孩子对母亲的赞美则是这些语言中最动听、最感人的。孩子的赞美可以让母亲忘掉所有的辛劳，孩子的赞美是对母亲最大的鼓励，孩子的赞美是母亲所能得到的最美好的礼物，孩子的赞美抵得上整个世界。
| When we're young and we dream of love and fulfillment, we think perhaps of moon-drenched Parisian nights or walks along the beach at sunset. No one tells us that the greatest moments of a lifetime are fleeting, unplanned and nearly always catch us off guard.
Not long ago, as I was reading a bedtime story to my seven-year-old daughter, Annie, I became aware of her focused gaze. She was starring at me with a faraway, trancelike expression.
Apparently, completing The Tale of Samuel Whiskers was not as important as we first thought.
I asked what she was thinking about.
"Mommy," she whispered, "I just can't stop looking at your pretty face."
I almost dissolved on the spot.
Little did she know how many trying moments the glow of her sincerely loving statement would carry me through over the following years.
Not long after, I took my four-year-old son to an elegant department store, where the melodic notes of a classic love song drew us toward a tuxedoed musician playing a grand piano. Sam and I sat down on a marble bench nearby, and he seemed as transfixed by the lilting theme as I was.
I didn't realize that Sam had stood up next to me until he turned, took my face in his little hands and said, "Dance with me."
If only those women strolling under the Paris moon knew the joy of such an invitation made by a round-cheeked boy with baby teeth. Although shoppers openly chuckled, grinned and pointed at us as we glided and whirled around the open atrium, I would not have traded a dance with such a charming young gentleman if I'd been offered the universe.
| | 精美译文： | 我们年轻时总是梦想着获得真爱和满足，可能还想象着洒满月光的巴黎之夜，或者日落时分的海滩漫步。没有人告诉我们生命中那些最美好的时刻是稍纵即逝的，事先毫无计划，几乎总是在我们猝不及防时来临。
不久以前，我正在给七岁的女儿安妮读睡前故事的时候，忽然感觉到她目不转睛的凝视——她正以一种出神的、着迷的表情凝视着我。
显然，读完《大胡子塞缪尔的故事》并没有我们事先想象的那般重要。
我问她在想什么。
她柔柔地说道：“妈妈，我忍不住要看你漂亮的脸。”
当时我整个人都要融化掉了。
她自己却不知道那番真诚的、充满爱意的表白在此后的岁月里帮我度过了多少难熬的时刻。
那之后不久，我领着四岁的儿子走进一家高档的商场，一首经典爱情歌曲的美妙音符把我们吸引到了一位弹奏着大钢琴的穿礼服的音乐家身旁。我和萨姆在近旁的大理石长椅上坐下来，他好像和我一样，也被这首轻快的主题歌迷住了。
我没有想到，坐在旁边的萨姆站了起来，转过身，用他的小手捧起我的脸，说道：“跟我跳舞吧。”
那些在巴黎的月光下漫步的女人怎会知道受到这种邀请带来的快乐呢，这是一个脸儿圆圆、乳牙未脱的小男孩发出的邀请啊。我们在开阔的正厅里滑步、旋转着，一些购物者毫不隐瞒地笑出声来或者脸上带笑，对我们指指点点，即使如此，我仍要和这位魅力四射的年轻绅士共舞一曲，哪怕把整个宇宙给我，我也不会去交换。
| | 注释： | 1. fulfillment n. 成就，满足
2. drenched adj. 浸透的
3. fleeting adj. 飞逝的；短暂的
4. off guard adv. 不警惕，没有防备
5. aware adj.意识到的
6. focus v.集中，聚焦
7. trancelike adj.恍惚的，出神的
8. on the spot当场
| 9. glow n.温暖
10. elegant adj.高雅的
11. melodic adj.调子美妙的
12. tuxedoed adj.穿着礼服的
13. lilting adj.轻快活泼的
14. transfixed adj. 出神的
15. chuckle vi. 吃吃的笑
16. atrium n. 正厅
|
|
|
|
