看不见的微笑

Mr. Dawson was an old man with bad temper， and everyone in town knew it. Kids couldn’t go into his yard to pick a delicious apple， even off the ground. Because old Dawson， they said， would come after you with his ball bullet gun.

道森先生是个坏脾气的老头子，镇上的每个人都知道。小孩们不能到他的院子里摘美味的苹果，甚至掉在地上的也不能捡，因为据他们说，老道森会端着他的弹丸猎枪跟在你后面追。

One Friday， 12-year-old Janet was going to stay all night with her friend Amy. They had to walk by Dawson’s house on the way to Amy’s house， but as they got close to Dawson’s house， Janet saw him sitting on his front porch and suggested they cross over to the other side of the street. Like most of the children， she was scared of the old man because of the stories she’d heard about him.

一个周五，12岁的珍妮特要陪她的朋友艾米过夜。她们去艾米家的途中得路过道森先生的房子。当她们离道森家越来越近时，珍妮特看见道森先生坐在前廊，于是她建议她们过马路从街的另一边走。跟大多数孩子一样，珍妮特听过他的故事，对他很是害怕。

Amy told Janet not to worry， Mr. Dawson wouldn’t hurt anyone. Still， Janet was growing more nervous with each step closer to the old man’s house. When they got close enough， Dawson looked up with his usual frown， but when he saw it was Amy， he suddenly flashed a broad smile and said， “Hello， Miss Amy. I see you’ve got a little friend with you today.”

艾米说别担心，道森先生不会伤害任何人。但每向前走一步，离老人的房子越近，珍妮特就越紧张。当她们走到房子那儿，道森抬起了头，一如既往地皱着他的眉头。但当他看到是艾米，立刻露出了灿烂的笑容，并说：“你好，艾米小姐，我看见今天有位小朋友陪你。”

Amy smiled back and told him Janet was staying overnight and they were going to listen to music and play games. Dawson told them that sounded fun， and offered them each a fresh apple of his tree. They gladly accepted. Dawson had the best apples in town.

艾米也对他微笑，告诉他珍妮特会陪她过夜，她们要一起听音乐玩游戏。道森告诉她们这听上去很有趣，给她们每人一个从他的树上刚摘下来的苹果。她们很高兴地接受了，因为道森的苹果是镇上最棒的。

When they got out of Dawson’s hearing， Janet asked Amy， “Everyone says he is the meanest (最不好相处的) man in town. But why was he so nice to us?”

走到道森听不到的地方，珍妮特问艾米：“每个人都说他是镇上最不好相处的人，但他为什么对我们这么好呢？”

Amy explained that when she first started walking past his house， he wasn’t very friendly and she was afraid of him， but she pretended he was wearing an invisible smile and so she always smiled back at him. It took a while， one day he half-smiled back at her.

艾米说当她第一次路过他家时，他不是很友好，这让她害怕。但她假装他有着看不见的微笑，所以她总对他回之以微笑。终于过了一段时间，有一天，他也对她露出了一点笑容。

After some more time， he started smiling real smiles and then started talking to her. Just a “hello” at first， then more. She said he always offers her an apple now， and is always very kind.

再过了些日子，他开始真正地对她笑了，并开始和艾米说话。开始只是打个招呼，后来越来越多。她说他现在总给她苹果，总是很友善。

“An invisible smile?” questioned Janet.

“看不见的笑容？”珍妮特问。

“Yes，” answered Amy， “my grandma told me that if I pretended I wasn’t afraid and pretended he was smiling an invisible smile at me and I smiled back at him， sooner or later (迟早) he would really smile. Grandma says smiles are contagious (有感染力的).”

“是的，”艾米回答道，“我奶奶告诉我如果我假装不害怕，假装他有着看不见的笑容，我对他微笑，总有一天他会真正微笑起来。奶奶说笑容是可以互相感染的。”

If we remember what Amy’s grandma said， that everyone wears an invisible smile， we too will find that most people can’t resist (抗拒) our smile after a while.

如果我们记住艾米奶奶说的，每个人都有着看不见的笑容，我们会发现大多数人在一段时间后是无法抗拒我们的微笑的。