心存善意

鄭琴琴

To pay for his education， a poor boy usedto sell goods from door to door. One day， theyoung boy found he was really hungry but hadno money to buy any food. He decided to askfor something to eat when he knocked on thefront door of the next house.

A beautiful young woman opened thedoor， and the boy lost his nerve. He simplyasked for a drink of water， too embarrassed toask for food. The young woman brought him aglass of milk， which the boy greedily drank.

The boy asked her how much he owed，but she simply smiled and said her mother hadtaught her to be kind to others and never expectanything in return.

The young boy left the woman’s homewith a full tummy and a heart full of renewedstrength to push on with his education and con tinue working hard. Just when he was ready toquit， the woman had instilled in him newfoundfaith and fortitude.

Years later， in a big city， renowned surgeon Dr. Howard Kelly was called to consulton a woman who was suffering from a rare dis ease. When the woman told him the name ofthe small town where she lived， Dr. Kelly felt afaint memory arise in his mind， and then suddenly recognition dawned on him. She was thewoman who had given him the glass of milkmany years ago.

The doctor went on to provide the womanwith the very best care and made sure she re ceived special attention. In fact， it was his skillsas a doctor that saved her life.

After a long and difficult hospitalization，the woman was finally ready for dischargehome. The woman was worried it would takeher years to settle her account with the hospital.

Her serious illness and long hospital stay hadproduced a substantial bill. However， when shereceived the bill， she found that Dr. Kelly hadpaid the entire bill himself and written a smallnote for her.

The note simply stated： Paid in full with aglass of milk.

為了支付學費，一個窮小子挨家挨戶地賣東西。一天，窮小子覺得餓極了卻沒錢買任何吃的。當他敲響下一棟樓的第一扇門的時候，他決定要點吃的。

一個漂亮女孩開了門，窮小子沒了勇氣。他只是要了點水，要吃的太讓他難堪了。女孩給了他一杯牛奶，男孩兒貪婪地喝完了。

男孩兒問這需要多少錢，女孩微笑著說媽媽告訴她要與人為善，不求任何回報。男孩兒帶著飽飽的肚子和重新充滿力量的心離開了女孩家，并繼續堅持為了上學努力工作。就在他想要放棄的時候，女孩兒給了他重新開始的信心和勇氣。

幾年后，在一個大城市里，著名的外科醫生，霍爾德凱里醫生被叫來商議一個身患

罕見病的女人的治療方案。當女人告訴他她生活過的小鎮的名字的時候，凱里醫生腦中浮現了一段模糊的記憶，然后一下子明白了。這個女人就是許多年前給他牛奶的那個女孩兒。

醫生一直給女人最好的照顧而且保證了她得到特殊的關照。事實上，是他用精湛的醫術挽救了她的生命。

經過很久很艱難的住院治療，女人終于可以出院了。她很擔心自己可能要花許多年去還清這筆醫藥費。她的病重程度和長期住院治療一定是一筆大數目的賬單。然而，當她拿到賬單時，她發現凱里醫生為她支付了全部醫藥費而且給她留了一個小紙條。

紙條上只寫了一句話：這是一杯牛奶的價錢。

【讀文章學單詞】

embarrass [?m'b?r?s] vt.使窘迫;使尷尬;使為難

vi. 窘迫

instill[?n'st?l] vt.逐漸灌輸;滴注

consult [k?n's?lt] v. 查閱;請教;商討;就診

hospitalization [?h?sp?t?la?'ze??n] n. 醫院收容;住院治療