人性間的愛、尊重、互敬與分享
ON HUMAN LOVE, MUTUALITY OF RESPECT AND SHARING.

兩碗牛肉麵
TWO BOWLS OF BEEF NOODLE

那是一個春寒料峭的黃昏，
On a chilly spring evening,
店裏來了一對特別的客人——— 父子倆。
came into our store a couple of special guests, a father and his son.

說他們特別，是因為那父親是盲人。他身邊的男孩小心翼翼地攙扶著他。
They were special because the father was a blind man, led and supported by the cautious hands of
那男孩看上去才十八九歲，衣著樸素得有點寒酸，
his son of 18 or 19 years old, a plain-clad, but a bit of shabby

身上卻帶著沈靜的書卷氣，該是個正在求學的學生。
student-like young man with taciturn bookishness.
男孩來到我面前。
The young man came to me and loudly ordered,
" 兩碗牛肉麵"他大聲地說著。
"two bowls of beef noodle".
我正要開票，他忽然又朝我搖搖手。我詫異地看著他，他歉意地笑了笑，
I was going to jot down his order when he suddenly signaled to me with a wave of his hand.
然後用手指指我身後牆上貼著的價目表，
He grinned a apology and pointed to the bill of fare on the wall in responding my curiosity,
告訴我，只要一碗牛肉麵，另一碗是蔥油麵。

telling me he just wanted only ONE bowl of beef noodle and a no-frills instead

我先是怔了一怔，接著恍然大悟。
I was at loss for a short stint, then I realized.
原來他大聲叫兩碗牛肉麵是給他父親聽的，
He just made his father believe what he did,

實際上是囊中羞澀，又不願讓父親知道。
not letting his father know that two orders of beef noodle was barely affordable to him.
我會意地沖他笑了。
I smiled at him, knowingly.
廚房很快就端來了兩碗熱氣騰騰的麵。
Soon two bowls of hot noodle were served.

男孩把那碗牛肉麵移到他父親面前，
The young man moved the beef one to his father.
細心地招呼："爸，麵來了，慢慢吃，小心燙著。 "
Gingerly he attended to his father,"Dad, there you go. Take it easy, it’s searing."
他自己則端過那碗清湯麵。

Leave that no-frills to himself.
他父親並不著急著吃，只是摸摸索索地用筷子在J裏探來探去。
His father did not hasten to start eating, just groped in the bowl for something with chopsticks.
好不容易夾住了一塊牛肉就忙不移地把那片肉往兒子碗裏夾。
No sooner the old man finally clipped a piece of beef with the chopsticks than he sent it to the bowl

"吃，你多吃點兒，吃飽了好好念書，
of his son’s, and said, "Eat, son, you take some more, so you’ll have strength to study.
快高考了，能考上大學，將來做個對社會有用的。
College entrance exam will be coming soon. Get into college and be a useful guy someday."

" 老人慈祥地說，一雙眼睛雖失明無神，滿臉的皺紋卻佈滿溫和的笑意。
The old man uttered his words in a gentle way, and a tender smile shone through his rumpled face
讓我感到奇怪的是，那個做兒子的男孩並不阻止父親的行為，
despite a pair of glazed, blind eyes. Strange thing is, the son did not inhibit his father from doing so.

而是默不作聲地接受了父親夾來的牛肉片，
Instead he silently took what his father gave him, and
然後再悄無聲息地把牛肉片又夾回父親碗中。
returned the slice of beef to where they are from, without making a sound, too.
周而復始，那父親碗中的牛肉片似乎永遠??A不完。"

The see-saw took place so many times that beef in the old man’s bowl seemed never coming
這個飯店真厚道，麵條裏有這麼多牛肉片。
to an end. "How nice this store is, there are so many slices of beef in the noodle",

" 老人感歎著。一旁的我不由一陣汗?，
the old man signed a grateful sigh. I was so embarrassed standing nearby.
那只是幾片屈指可數、又薄如蟬翼的肉啊。
The truth was there had been only several slim pieces of beef.
做兒子的這時趕緊趁機接話： "爸，您快吃吧，我的碗裏都裝不下了。"

The son replied at once, " Dad, come on and eat yourself, my bowl is loaded."
" 好，好，你快吃，這牛肉麵其實挺實惠的。 "
"Okay, you eat, too. The beef noodle is plenty enough,", the old man said.

父子倆的行為和對話把我們都感動了。
The dialogue and the manner between the two really moved us.
老闆娘不知什麼時候也站到了我的身邊，靜靜地凝望著這對父子。
Coming from nowhere was the shopkeeper’s wife, staring at the father and the son.
這時廚房的小張端來一盤剛切牛肉，

Out of kitchen came Chang, the busboy, with a plate of newly-sliced beef.
老闆娘呶呶嘴示意他把盤子放在那對父子的桌上。
The shopkeeper’s wife pursed to signal Chang putting the plate on the table where the two were dinning at.

男孩抬起頭環視了一下，它這桌並無其他顧客，
The young man raised his head and looked around, there were no other clients on the table.
忙輕聲提醒："你放錯了吧？我們沒要牛肉。 "
He then whispered to Chang and reminded him, " You must’ve made a mistake, we didn’t order this."

老闆娘微笑著走了過去： "沒錯，今天是我們開業年慶，
The shopkeeper’s wife approached and smiled, " Today is our anniversary, and
這盤牛肉是贈送的。
this plate of beef is our treat."
"男孩笑笑，不再提問。
The young man smiled and asked nothing more.

他又夾了幾片牛肉放入父親的碗中，
He then clipped several slices of beef into his father’sbowl,
然後，把剩下的裝入了一個塑料袋中。
and put the rest in a doggy bag.
我們就這樣靜靜地看著他們父子吃完，
Quietly we saw them finishing up their noodle

然後再目送著他們出門。
and then saw them off.
之後小張去收碗時，忽然輕聲地叫起來。
Afterward when Chang cleaned up the table, he suddenly made a surprised sound,
原來那男孩的碗下，還壓著幾張紙幣，一共是三十塊錢，
for he found some notes in sum of thirty dollar under the young man’s bowl, exactly

正好是我們價目表上一盤乾切牛肉的價錢。
the same price for a plate of beef list on our bill of fare.
一時間，
Instantly, all of us,
我、老闆娘，還有小張誰都說不出話來，
the shopkeeper’s wife, Chang and me were all wordless,
只有無聲的歎息靜靜地回蕩在每個人的心間。

and in their hearts only sigh of silence that lingered.
看完的(你 )妳~~~~~ 心中是什麼樣的感覺呢????

How'd you feel, after reading this?

在這物慾薰心的時代，你可真的明白這真正屬於親情的偉大，一個人如果 觀
念及價值觀都是正確的話，那不論身處任何的環境，也不會動搖內心懂得親情可貴的重要性，讓溫暖佈滿人間就從自己做起唷！

In a time fraught with greed and materialism,  do you really understand the greatness of family affections?  Under no circumstances, a person will not shake his or her belief towards the preciousness ingrained deep down, supposed he or she is possessing correct minset and ethic.  So let's disseminate warmth to the world from ourselves!