时间：2022-10-17 01:40:56
Angels in Indiana
In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two.
I scrubbed1 the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress. I loaded them into the rusty2 old car and drove off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck.
The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, called the Big Wheel. An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked3 out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard4 shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 cents an hour and I could start that night.
On Christmas Eve, the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. It was still dark and I couldn't see much, but there appeared to be some dark shadows in the car -- or was that just a trick of the night? Something certainly looked different, but it was hard to tell what. When I reached the car I peered warily5 into one of the side windows. Then my jaw dropped in amazement. My old battered6 car was full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, scrambled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was a whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes: There were candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was a whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll.
As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning.
Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December.
1960年9月的一个早晨,我醒来,身边是6个饥饿的孩子,口袋里只有75美分。孩子们的父亲已经离开了。男孩子们年龄在3个月到7岁之间,他们的妹妹只有2岁。
我把孩子们擦洗干净,他们看起来干干净净。然后,我穿上最好的自己缝制的衣服。我把他们放在生锈的旧汽车里,去找工作。我们7个人走遍了我们小镇的每一个工厂、商店、餐厅,一无所获。
最后,我们来到离镇里几英里的叫做“大车轮”的地方。这个地方由一个老奶奶所有。她不时地从窗户里看着这些孩子们。她需要有人值夜班,晚上11点到第二天7点。每小时付65美分,我当天晚上就可以上班。
圣诞节前夜,通常顾客们在这儿喝咖啡。天黑,看不清什么。在车里,有几个黑影在走动。难道晚上有恶作剧吗?感觉有点异样,但是说不清是什么。我向车走去,看了一眼车的侧窗。我目瞪口呆。我的破车里放满了各种形状和大小的盒子。我很快打开驾驶员的侧门,爬进车里,面向车的后座跪了下来。打开最上面的一个盒子,里面装着一盒子蓝色小牛仔裤,号码从2到10都有。另一个盒子里,装满了与牛仔裤配套的衬衫。其他盒子里有糖果、坚果、香蕉和其他日用品袋。有一个巨大的火腿,罐装的蔬菜和土豆。有布丁、饼干、馅饼和面粉,一大袋洗涤和清洁用品。有5个玩具汽车和―个漂亮的小洋娃娃。
当我开车回家时,太阳正慢慢升起,我最有意义的圣诞节开始了。我充满感激,热泪盈眶。我永远也忘不了圣诞节的早晨我孩子们脸上的幸福表情。
确实,在那个逝去的12月里,印第安那出现了天使。
注释
①scrub v.洗擦,擦净
②rusty adj.生锈的,迟钝的
③peek n.一瞥,匆忙看过;v.偷看
④graveyard n.墓地
⑤warily adv.留心地,小心地,警惕地
⑥batter n.击球手;v.打坏,猛击