圣诞节的真意

By+Katherine+Krane

1. Claire's： 珂萊尔思，全球领先的时尚珠宝及配饰专业零售商，1961年成立于美国，目前在全球10个国家开设了3000多家专卖店，商品以时尚、优质、价格低廉而深受年轻人喜爱。

2. chai [t?a?] n. （尤指印度的）茶

3. bagel [?be?ɡl] n. （过水）硬面包圈，百吉面包圈 （先水煮后烤的发面圈）

4. comrade [?k?mre?d] n. 同伴，伙伴；同事；密友

5. draw a blank： <口>记不起（某事），记不得；认不得

"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.

唯有無私的给予

才能收获快乐。

“四个11岁的男孩在珂莱尔思饰品商店，哇。”我懒洋洋地站在商店入口观察眼前这一幕。一手捧着热气腾腾的印度茶，一手拿着一个面包圈，我观察着眼前这怪异的一幕。我结束游泳训练，爸爸在接我回家的路上刚把我放在这儿，好让我给朋友们买圣诞礼物，不过我弟弟和他的同伴们却有更高尚的购物理由。

“你觉得凯特琳会喜欢这个吗？”其中一个男孩问，说着把一个毛茸茸、粉嘟嘟的东西戳到我面前。

我把面包圈换到捧着茶的那只手中，拿过他手里的东西。那是一条超级毛茸茸的围巾。“她喜欢粉色吗？”

“嗯……”他看起来大脑一片茫然。

“我相信她会喜欢的。”

“布里吉特！你能过来帮帮这几个孩子吗？”妈妈问道。商店收银员像看傻瓜一样看着我们。

“来啦。”我从琳琅满目的耳环、润唇膏和各种时髦头饰中挤出一条路，来到商店的最里面。另一个男孩站在装点着青蛙和芭蕾舞女演员图案的各种光滑丝绒首饰盒的货架前面，表情十分困惑。

“她喜欢粉色吗？”我再一次问道。也许这个男孩知道。

“当然，这是她最喜欢的颜色。”

“好，那选些粉色的东西应该错不了。”我鼓励道，拿走他手里的蓝色首饰盒。他挑了一个光滑的粉色首饰盒，上面有一只青蛙图案，拿到我面前征求我的同意。

“不错。”大卫走过来把我拽到一个陈列着各种时髦袜子的货架前。

“这里面哪一双最好？”

“嗯，她喜欢粉色，对吧？”

“不，她讨厌粉色，”大卫非常确定地说。我用手掌拍了下前额。

“我不知道了。假装你是个女孩，大卫。”

这几个男孩已经买了一上午了，仍然没有买完东西。他们把自己所有的钱都拿出来了，有的是自己攒了一整年原本打算用来买圣诞礼物的钱，有的是之前亲戚给他们自己花的钱。但他们都决定把这些钱用来给凯特琳买东西。

就在圣诞节来临的九天前，凯特琳家的房子被烧得一干二净。不过奇迹般地，凯特琳、她的两个兄弟姐妹、她的父母和他们的狗狗都逃了出来。当我看到报纸上的图片时，我都不敢相信他们居然都逃出来了。大火吞噬了房子，最后除了一个烟囱和一堆灰烬之外什么都没有留下。

他们一家人只剩下身上穿的衣服、孩子们在学校储物柜里的东西，还有他们彼此。凯特琳在幼儿园画的画、家庭相册、她弟弟用干零活的钱买来的超酷冰鞋，还有已经买好就差包装起来的圣诞礼物——全部都化为了灰烬。学校为他们换了新的书和校服，现在——发生大火两天之后——凯特琳班上所有的女孩一起带着她去买衣服和鞋子了。男孩则来买诸如耳环、围巾、袜子、束发带、头绳之类的东西——都是我们想都不会去想的东西。

又过了一个小时，我已经买好了要买的东西，也帮男孩们挑选好了他们想要给凯特琳买的东西。我仍然不知道她究竟喜不喜欢粉色。我们路过一家鞋店的时候，他们几乎已经花光了所有的钱。不过在那里发现凯特琳的弟弟以前非常喜欢的一双运动鞋，他们还是跑了进去。他们都同意花25美元买下这双鞋，于是几个人一起，凑齐钱为他买了这双新鞋。

回家之后，我弟弟把他为凯特琳买的所有东西拿到我的屋里来，想要在他把東西包起来之前最后一次请我确认凯特琳会喜欢他买的所有东西。

“我觉得这些东西她都会喜欢的，”我说，他露出一个大大的傻笑。我拥抱了他，尽管他一直试图把我推开。那一刻，我实在是为他感到骄傲。我的弟弟心胸宽广，他喜欢给予，也喜欢让他人快乐。他是个诚实的孩子，眼里只看得到这世界的美好。我以前也曾好奇，这世界上有如此多的邪恶，他怎么能做到只看到这些美好呢，但是现在我明白了：因为他的心里有如此多的美好。

大卫，小（好吧，其实也没那么小）傻瓜大卫，我的小猴孩——那个小时候崇拜着我的孩子，那个没完没了到处跟着我和我朋友的孩子，那个一直想要像我一样的孩子，那个每件事都要征求我意见的孩子，那个仰慕着我的人——我发现自己有许多东西要向他学习。为了一个比他更需要圣诞礼物的朋友，他放弃了自己攒下来原本打算买痴迷已久的新滑板的钱。通过这个出自纯洁心灵做出的举动，他领会了圣诞的真意。