中英對照 - 我們都是地球母親的孩子

中英對照 - 我們都是地球母親的孩子

It was a few years ago. A friend had sent me a restaurant gift card for Christmas and I had picked a pretty, sunny Sunday afternoon to use it.
這是幾年前的事情。一個朋友送給我一張餐廳禮品券作為聖誕節的禮物。我選擇了一個美好，陽光燦爛的周日下午使用它。

It felt good. Taking my two grown sons and daughter to a nice sit-down restaurant instead of the fast food places we usually went.
這種感覺真好，帶著我長大成人的兒子和女兒來到一個很棒的餐廳，而不是我們平時經常去的那種快餐店。

The meal was delicious and we all had a good time just being together.
食物很美味，我們度過了一段愉快的時光，僅僅因為我們在一起這就足已。

When the waitress brought the check, I looked down at it. The gift card covered almost all of it.
當侍者把賬單遞給我時，我低頭看了一眼，禮品券幾乎抵消了全部的費用。

I reached into my wallet to get enough cash to cover the rest. I saw two bills in the front of it. The first would cover the rest of the bill and give the waitress a nice tip.
我拿出錢包想取出現金支付剩餘的費用，我在錢包里發現了兩張支票，第一張可以支付剩餘的餐費，還可以給侍者一份豐厚的小費。

The second bill was much larger so I reached down to pick out the first one.
第二張支票的數額比第一張大得多，所以我躬身先拿出了第一張。

At that moment, my mind flashed back to 30 years before. I was working as a busboy in a restaurant much like the one we were in now.
在這一刻我的思緒回到了三十年前，那時我在一家餐廳當雜工，那家餐廳與我們現在身處的餐廳十分類似。

It was long hours of hard work for low pay. I went home, just barely making enough to feed my young family.
那時我終日幹活，工作艱辛，報酬卻很低，下班回家時，所賺的錢只能夠養活我的妻子和孩子。

I also remembered how more than once I saw the waitresses counting their meager tips while worrying about how they were going to pay the rent and buy their kids the things they needed.
我還記得自己如何眼巴巴的看著其他服務員清點微薄的小費，不止一次與此同時替她們擔心這些錢如何能夠付清房租，還要為她們的孩子購買所需要的生活用品。

I remembered the pain in their eyes and saw the sadness in their faces at the end of the day. I blinked and was back in the present again.
我記得她們眼中的苦痛，一天結束時，我總看到她們臉上帶著憂愁，我眨了眨眼睛，思緒再次回到現實。

My fingers touching the smaller bill in my wallet. I smiled, pushed it back down, and picked out the much larger bill. I folded it around the gift card and covered both of them with the check.
我的手指輕輕撫摸著錢包里那張金額小一些的支票，我微笑把它放回錢包，拿起那張金額大得多的支票，我把它折起來，用它包住禮品券，把它們都藏在帳單裡。

As we all got up from the table I handed them to the hard-working waitress. "You keep the change."
我們從桌前起身，我把它們交給了那位正在辛勤做事的服務員，告訴他們「不用找了」。

I said with a smile and a happy heart. We are all one family in this world. We are all children of the same earth.
我說時，臉上掛著微笑，內心充滿幸福，在這個世界上，我們都是一個大家庭的成員。

We live together, rejoice together, and suffer together. Do your best to be kind then. Do your best to be a good person and loving child of nature. Do your best to replace the suffering with joy.
我們都是地球母親的孩子，我們生息與共，歡樂與共，患難與共，所以請盡可能的友善吧，盡全力讓自己成為一個好人，成為自然母親的充滿愛的孩子，盡你所能，讓人類的苦痛變成歡樂吧！

photo by geralt - pixabay.com