双语美文：小伯特的感恩节最终话

"So this is your place of business?" said Bert, glancing about the plain office room. "What do you do here?"

“所以这里是您工作的地方吗?”伯特环视了一周这间简朴的办公室,接着问道:“您在这里是做什么工作呢?”

"I buy real estate, sometimes—sell—rent—and so forth."

“我是做房地产生意的,有时会卖掉、租赁房子等等。”

"Who for?" asked Bert.“

那是为谁打工呢?”伯特问。

"For myself," said the old gentleman, with a smile.“

“给我自己打工”,老先生微笑着说。

Bert was shocked! This was the man whom he had invited to dinner last Thursday!?

伯特很震惊。这真的是上周四他邀请一起吃晚餐的老人吗!?

"I—I—I thought—you were a poor man!"

“我——我——我以为——你是一个贫穷的人!”

"I am a poor man," said Mr. Crooker, locking his safe. "Money doesn't make a man rich. I've enough money. I own houses in the city. They give me something to think about and keep me busy. I had truer riches once, but I lost them long ago."

“我的确是一个穷人”,克鲁克先生一边说说,一边锁上了他的保险箱。“金钱并不会使一个人富有。我有足够的钱,在城里也有几套房子,我每天都要忙碌于管理这些财产。但实际上我曾经拥有更真实的财富,可惜我在很久之前就失去了他们。”

From the way the old man's voice trembled and eyes glistened, Bert thought he must have meant by these riches, the friends he had lost, wife and children, perhaps.

说到这里,老人的声音开始颤抖,眼里也闪现出了泪光,伯特意识到了这些所谓的“财富”其实有更深的含义,也许是指他失去的朋友,妻子和孩子。

"To think of me inviting you to dinner!"

“想想我还请你吃过饭呢!”

"It was odd. But it may turn out to have been a lucky circumstance for both of us. I like you. I believe in you, and I've an offer to make you. I want a trusty, bright boy in this office, somebody I can bring up in my business, and leave it with, as I get too old to run it myself. What do you say?"

“说来奇怪。不过对于我们两个来说也很有缘。我喜欢你,也信任你,因此我也想为你提供一个工作的机会。我想聘用一个可靠开朗的男孩在这间办公室工作,不仅能辅助我工作,也能在工作时间之外相互照应。如今我年事已高,无法自己运作它。你觉得怎么样呢?”

What could Bert say?

面对这样一个难得的机会,伯特又怎么会拒绝呢?

The lonely, childless old man, who owned so many houses, wanted a home and a family. One of his houses he offered to Bert's mother, with ample support for herself and children if she would allow him to live with them like a grandfather.

这样一个孤独,没有子女陪伴的老人,即便拥有很多房子,但内心更加渴望有一个真正的家,有一个完整的家庭。老人把很多房子中的一套给了伯特的母亲,也给她和她的孩子提供了充足的物质支持,不过前提是她同意老人跟他们住在一起,就像孩子的祖父一样。

Of course she accepted; and Bert soon saw all his dreams come true. He had employment, which promised to become a profitable business, as indeed it did in a few years. The old man and the boy proved very useful to each other; and, more than that, he was united once more with his mother and sisters in a happy home, where he has since had many Thanksgiving dinners.

当然她接受了,与此同时,伯特也很快就看见了他所有的梦想都逐渐成真。他顺利就业,从事着一项利益颇丰的生意,而这的确让伯特在几年里获益不少。老人和这个男孩也渐渐离不开彼此,更重要的是,他能够在这样一个幸福的家庭里常常跟母亲和姐妹见面,也自从那以后,他每年都能跟家人一起过感恩节了。