【正文】 o go to dances and parties, where he could have a good time just sitting and watching. On one occasion a fight broke out at a beach party, with everyone punching and shoving. He wasn39。t content to sit and watch, but he couldn39。t stand unaided on the soft sand. In frustration he began to shout, I39。ll fight anyone who will sit down with me! I39。ll fight anyone who will sit down with me! Nobody did. But the next day people kidded him by saying it was the first time any fighter was urged to take a dive before the fight began. I now know he participated in some things through me, his only son. When I played ball (poorly), he played too. When I joined the Navy, he joined too. And when I came home on leave, he saw to it that I visited his office. Introducing me, he was really saying, This is my son, but it is also me, and I could have done this, too, if things had been different. Those words were never said aloud. He has been gone many years now, but I think of him often. I wonder if he sensed my reluctance to be seen with him during our walks. If he did, I am sorry I never told him how sorry I was, how unworthy I was, how I regretted it. I think of him when I plain about trifles, when I am envious of another39。s good fortune, when I don39。t have a good heart. At such times I put my hand on his arm to regain my balance, and say, You set the pace. I will try to adjust to you. 在我還未成年時，如果有人看到我和父親在一塊兒，我就會覺得難堪。他腿瘸得很厲害，個子又矮。我們一起走路時，他的手搭在我臂上以保持平衡，人們就會盯著看。對于這種討厭的注視，我打心眼里感到別扭。即使父親注意到這些或感到不安，他也從不表露出來。我們的步伐難以協(xié)調(diào)一致——他常常停下腳步，而我的步子卻顯得不耐煩。正因為如此，我們一路很少說話。但每次出門時，他總說：“你按你的步速走，我跟著你?！蔽覀兺ǔ＞驮诘罔F口和家門口之間來回，那是他上班的路線。他生病或天氣惡劣時也堅持上班，幾乎從不缺勤。他總是準(zhǔn)點到辦公室，即使別人做不到。這是件可以引以為榮的事。當(dāng)路上覆蓋冰雪時，即使有人攙扶，他也難以行走。這種時候，我或者我的姐妹們就用一輛帶有鋼輪的兒童推車?yán)┻^紐約布魯克林的街道到地鐵站口。一到那兒，他就緊抓著地鐵口的扶手一直往下走，因為地鐵內(nèi)比較暖和，下面幾級臺階沒有冰雪。曼哈頓的地鐵站直通他們辦公樓的地下室，他不用出站（就可到辦公室）。下班回家時，我們會去布魯克林的地鐵站口接他?，F(xiàn)在回想起來，我不禁驚嘆：像他那樣一個成年人，得有多大的勇氣才能承受這樣的屈辱和壓力，而當(dāng)時他卻顯得毫無痛苦，也沒怨言。他從不說自己可憐，也從不表現(xiàn)出對那些比他幸運或健康的人的羨慕。他從別人那兒尋找的是一顆“好心”。一旦找到了，那人在他心目中就是個大好人?，F(xiàn)在我長大了，我相信這是判斷一個人的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。雖然我還沒有確切理解什么是“好心”，但我知道自己有時候并沒有這么一顆“好心”。雖說很多活動父親都不能參加，但他還是試著以某種方式來參與。當(dāng)?shù)匾粋€棒球隊缺少一個經(jīng)理時，是他使球隊正常運轉(zhuǎn)。他是一個見多識廣的棒球迷，常常帶我到埃貝茨球場，觀看布魯克林道奇隊的比賽。他喜歡參加各種舞會和聚會，雖然在那兒他只能坐著觀看，卻也能享受一番樂趣。記得在一次沙灘聚會上，進行了一場毆斗，人人揮拳上陣，相互推撞。他不滿足只是坐著觀看，然而在松軟的沙地上如果沒人幫助，他又站不起來。于是在極度無助的情況下，他高聲喊道：“誰坐下來和我對打! 誰愿意坐下來和我對打! ”沒有人坐下來和他對打。第二天，人們和他開玩笑，說是第一次聽到拳擊手在開打之前，就有人要求他倒地服輸。如今我知道他是通過我，他唯一的兒子，間接地參與了一些事情。我打球時（球技很糟），他也“打”；后來我加入海軍，他也“加入”了。我休假回家時，他一定要讓我去參觀他的辦公室。在介紹我時，雖然沒有說出口，但他實際上在說：“這是我兒子，但也是我。如果我沒瘸，我也會和他一樣。”如今父親已去世多年，但我時常想起他。不知他當(dāng)時是否留意在我們同行時，我不愿意被人看到。若他確實注意到了，那我真慚愧當(dāng)時沒能對他說我是多么對不起他，我是多么不孝，我有多么后悔。現(xiàn)在，每當(dāng)我因一些瑣事而怨天尤人的時候，每當(dāng)我嫉妒別人運氣比我好的時候，每當(dāng)我沒有一顆“好心”的時候，我就會想起他。每逢此時，我就設(shè)想自己將手搭在他的臂上，重新找回自己的平衡，我會說：“你按你的步速走，我跟著你?！盩he Right Son at the Right TimeThe story began on a downtown Brooklyn street corner. An elderly man had collapsed while crossing the street, and an ambulance rushed him to Kings County Hospital. There, when he came to now and again, the man repeatedly called for his son. From a worn letter located in his pocket, an emergency room nurse learned that his son was a marine stationed in North Carolina. Apparently there were no other relatives. Someone at the hospital called the Red Cross office in Brooklyn, and a request for the boy to rush to Brooklyn was sent to the Red Cross director of the North Carolina Marine Corps camp. Because time was short—the patient was dying—the Red Cross man and an officer set out in an army vehicle. They found the young man walking through some marshes in a military exercise. He was rushed to the airport in time to catch the sole plane that might enable him to reach his dying father. It was dusk when the young marine walked into the entrance lobby of Kings County Hospital. A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. Your son is here, she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient39。s eyes opened. The medicine he had been given for the pain from his heart attack made his eyes weak and he could only see the shadow of the young man in Marine Corps uniform standing outside the oxygen tent. He extended his hand. The marine wrapped his strong fingers around the old man39。s limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought a chair, so the marine could sit by the bed. Nights are long in hospitals, but all through the night the young marine sat there in the dimly lit ward, holding the old man39。s hand and offering words of hope and strength. Occasionally, the nurse urged the marine to rest for a while. He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the marine was there, but he paid no attention to her and the night noises of the hospital—the banging of an oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff exchanging greetings, the cries and moans and breathing of other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son through most of the night. It was nearly dawn when the patient died. The marine placed the lifeless hand he had been holding on the bed, and went to inform the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he smoked a cigarette, his first since he got to the hospital. Finally, she returned to the nurse39。s station, where he was waiting. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the marine interrupted her. Who was that man? he asked. He was your father, she answered, startled. No, he wasn39。t, the marine replied. I never saw him before in my life.Why didn39。t you say something when I took you to him? the nurse asked. I knew immediately there39。d been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn39。t here. When I realized he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, I guessed he really needed me. So I stayed.With that, the marine turned and exited the hospital. Two days later a message came in from the North Carolina Marine Corps base informing the Brooklyn Red Cross that the real son was on his way to Brooklyn for his father39。s fune