最伟大的礼物

　　THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL

　　最伟大的礼物

　　At one stopover in a town, a huge banner was written in bold letters: FAMINE INAFRICA~PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY TO SAVE THE STARVING PEOPLE. A large crowdwas queuing to hand over their donations.

　　Near the door of the town hall stood a beautiful young girl, poorly but neatly dressed. Withshy glances she watched the people before her. She saw a merchant who laid a bag of gold on thetable. Then came a rich lady with haughty looks who offered a variety of jewels; some othershanded cash, clothing and foodstuff.

　　The girl was reluctant to take her turn but at last, summoning up her courage, she steppedforward. “But... it is so small I am ashamed to offer it. It seems worthless, but it is all I have,” shesaid. “We are grateful for even the smallest offering,” the man at the counter replied kindly. “Hereit is, I have nothing else to give,” she added timidly. She drew under her cloak two long thickplaits of her golden hair. As she did so, the hood of her cloak fell back, showing the beautifullyyoung head shorn of its golden glory.

　　The generosity of this beautiful girl to donate her most priceless possession, her golden locksof hair, overshadowed all the glittering gold or jewels of the other donors.

　　镇上的一处集聚点挂起了巨大的横幅，上面用粗体写着一行字：“非洲正闹饥荒——请您伸出援手救救饥饿的人们。”有一大群人排着队纷纷捐钱捐物。

　　镇办公大厅门边站着一个漂亮的小姑娘，衣着朴素却很整洁。她害羞地看着队伍前面的人们，只见一个商人在桌上放下了一袋金子，一个阔气的女士一脸傲慢地过来捐了各式珠宝；还有的人捐现金、衣物还有食品。

　　轮到小姑娘了，她开始有点勉强，但最后还是鼓起勇气走上前去。“呃……我捐的东西微不足道，我都不好意思拿出来。它可能看上去不值钱，但我只有这个了。”她说。“您捐什么我们都感激您，多不起眼都没关系。”柜台上的人亲切地回答。“给你，我只有这个了。”她胆怯地说。只见小姑娘从披风里扯出两根粗粗的金色发辫，披风的帽子瞬间滑落下来，露出了小姑娘刚剪的一头漂亮的金色短发。

　　这位漂亮姑娘慷慨捐赠自己的无价之宝，她金色的头发比其他人捐出的耀眼的金子和珠宝还要光彩夺目。

 

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