卖菜的阿婆
An Older Lady Who Sells Vegetables——《Touch My Heart》
前些日子,每到了星期天一早,依照惯例和妈妈上市场买菜,从远方就看见熟悉的身影,她的摊位仅有装满青菜的红蓝麻袋和一把矮凳子,不在喧闹的市场里,而是在街道旁的一隅。岁月的痕迹刻印在她的额头上,年过花甲却要上街卖菜。我们是她的老主顾,每次看到她,她总是很和蔼地对我们点头微笑,那微笑,很深遂、很柔和,却又显得很坚强。
Some time ago, I'd like to go to the market and did some green grocery shopping with my mother every Sunday morning. I could usually spot her familiar figure from a distance, where there were only a red and blue gunny sack full of greens and a stool, and who, occupying a corner of the street instead of the advantageous site in the bustling market. Age had left traces on her forehead. Although she was more than sixty years old, she still had to sell vegetables in the street. As her frequent customers, we could always encounter her amiable smile whenever we turned to her. Her smile was so soft and deep, but also reflected a tough character. 几次从妈妈与她的谈话中得知,阿婆的儿子常年在外,不肯回来探视她,为了生计,她也只好自己种菜来卖,靠着微薄的津贴和卖菜的钱过生活。每天起个大早的她,到只种了几把菜的田地里拔菜。日复一日,如此也过了四、五年了。有时谈到儿子,她也不禁红了眼眶,思念和盼望也随着日子一天天地累积着。日子虽苦,但阿婆收起眼泪,笑笑地回答:"这都是命啦!"
My mother had several conversations with her, from which I got to know that her son was away from home all the year round and refused to visit her. Therefore, she had to feed herself with the meager money by growing and selling vegetables. She needed to get up really early and picked vegetables in her plot for nearly four or five years. Her eyes often went tearful when talking of her son — she missed him terribly. Though life was hard for her, she could always hide her sorrow but smiled. "It's my fate." She would say so. 来日何远?又有多少年能等闲?从阿婆的眼里,看见了不舍却又无可奈何的忧愁。做人儿女,却如此无声无息地消失,让一个年迈的母亲怎么承担得起。为了过活,拖着身子还是得做;为了儿子归来,她用生命的最后等待。之后好几个礼拜,都没看见阿婆的身影,问了其他摊家,大家也都不知情,而她种的菜就这样只能依存在我们的记忆中。
How many days had been left for her? How many years could she wait for? I could perceive her hope but helpless sadness in her eyes. How could an old mother bear the ignorance by her own son, who just disappeared out of her life without any trace? She had to work very hard despite her failing health, and she was still waiting for the homecoming of her son in her last years. Since then, I haven't seen her for several weeks. We asked other vendors about her, all of whom had no clue. Therefore, now she only existed as a memory in our lives. 在此,我看到阿婆的勤俭和知足。人活在世上,有许多要学习的事物,同样是过一生,有贪念的人就需要花费很多力气来满足自己:知足者,相对的,烦恼自然减少。
Form this old lady, I can feel her thriftiness and contentment. There are many things to learn throughout one's life. Those who have many desires have to try everything to satisfy themselves, but those with few wishes would be more contented with the life as it is.
人生就像一个舞台,自己演好自己的角色,就像卖菜的阿婆,虽然平凡,但在她的平凡人生中,我看到她的伟大和智慧,就像她卖的菜一样,那么甘甜,那样美丽。
Life is a stage, on which everyone has to play his role well. Ordinary as the old lady who sells vegetables, she is quite wise and great with her simple and innocent heart, which is just as sweet and beautiful as the vegetables she sells.