The Circus

Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter. This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could tell they didn't have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by- two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, elephants and other acts they would see that night. One could sense they had never been to the circus before. It promised to be a highlight of their young lives.



昔日我還是個青少年時，我和我父親正排著隊要買馬戲團的票，最後，只有一個家庭在我們和售票臺之間，這個家庭讓我留下深刻的印象，有八個小孩，或許全部都還沒12歲；你可以說他們沒有很多錢，他們的衣服都不昂貴，但是都很乾淨，小孩們很規距，兩個兩個牽著手排在他們的父母後面，他們正興奮地閒談著關於小丑、大象和其他當天晚上能看到的節目；這可以感覺到他們之前從未到過馬戲團，可以保證這將會是他們孩提生活中最精采的事情。



The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband's hand, looking up at him as if to say, "You're my knight in shining armor." He was smiling and basking in pride, looking at her as if to reply, "You got that right."



這對父母很自豪的站在一群人的前端，母親握著她丈夫的手，向上看著他，猶如要說：「你是我的穿著亮眼盔甲的騎士。」他笑著且得意的感到適意，並看著她猶如回覆：「妳說的對。」



The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly responded, "Please let me buy eight children's tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus."



售票小姐問這位父親想要多少張票，他得意地回答：「請讓我買八張兒童票和兩張成人票以至於我能帶我的家人到馬戲團。」



The ticket lady quoted the price.



售票小姐報了價錢。



The man's wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the man's lip began to quiver.



男人的妻子放下了他的手，微微低下頭，男人的嘴唇開始顫抖著。



The father leaned a little closer and asked, "How much did you say?"



這位父親傾近了些並問：「妳說多少錢？」



The ticket lady again quoted the price.



售票小姐再次報了價錢。



The man didn't have enough money.



男人沒有足夠的錢。



How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didn't have enough money to take them to the circus?



他如何能想像去發聲告訴他的八個孩子他沒有足夠的錢帶他們去馬戲團？



Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground. (We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!) My father reached down, picked up the bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket."



看到了剛剛發生的事，我父親將他的手伸進口袋，抽出一張20元的鈔票，並將它丟在地上(我們怎麼說起來都不富裕！)，我父親往下伸手，撿起鈔票，輕拍那位男人的肩膀說：「先生，不好意思，這個從你的口袋掉出來了。」



The man knew what was going on. He wasn't begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking, embarrassing situation. He looked straight into my dad's eyes, took my dad's hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied, "Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family."



那個男人知道發生了什麼事，他並沒有乞求施捨但卻無疑地感激這個當他陷入一個絕望、心碎與尷尬情況的幫助，他筆直的看進我父親的眼睛，將我父親的手緊緊地握住，牢牢地抓著20元鈔票，他嘴唇顫抖著而淚水流過他的臉頰，他回覆：「謝謝你，謝謝你，先生，這對我和我的家人真的是意義重大。」



My father and I went back to our car and drove home. We didn't go to the circus that night, but we didn't go without.



我和我父親走回我們的車然後開回家，我們那晚沒有去馬戲團，但我們並不是沒做任何事。





~ Dan Clark ~