英语美文：How selfless real love is 无私的爱

 星期一的早晨，我送女儿上学。看着光头的Sindu向着教室走去别有一番味道。“先生，您女儿真的是很了不起！”一位女士从车里走出来，接着说道：“和您女儿一起走着的光头男孩是我儿子，叫 Harish。他得了…白血病。Sinduja上周来看望了他，并且向他许诺她会处理同学们嘲笑他这件事。但是我万万没想到她会因为我儿子而牺牲掉自己漂亮的头发。”

　　My wife called, 'How long will you be with that newspaper? Will you come here and make your darling daughter eat her food?

　　I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter, Sindu, looked frightened; tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with curd¹ rice. Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age.

　　I cleared my throat and picked up the bowl. 'Sindu, darling, why don't you take a few mouthful of this curd rice? Just for Dad's sake, dear'.

　　Sindu softened² a bit and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. 'Ok, Dad. I will eat - not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this. But, you should...' Sindu hesitated. 'Dad, if I eat this entire curd Rice, will you give me whatever I ask for?'

　　How selfless real love is 无私的爱

　　'Promise'. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with mine, and clinched³ the deal. Now I became a bit anxious. 'Sindu, dear, you shouldn't insist on getting a computer or any such expensive items. Dad does not have that kind of money right now. Ok?'

　　'No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive'. Slowly and painfully, she finished eating the whole quantity. I was silently angry with my wife and my mother for forcing my child to eat something that she detested⁴. After the ordeal⁵ was through, Sindu came to me with her eyes wide with expectation. All our attention was on her. 'Dad, I want to have my head shaved off, this Sunday!' was her demand.

　　'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'A girl child having her head shaved off? Impossible!'

　　'Never in our family!' My mother rasped. 'She has been watching too much of television. Our culture is getting totally spoiled with these TV programs!'

　　'Sindu, darling, why don't you ask for something else? We will be sad seeing you with a clean-shaven head.'

　　'Please, Sindu, why don't you try to understand our feelings?' I tried to plead with her.

　　'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice'. Sindu was in tears. 'And you promised to grant me whatever I ask for. Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who told me the story of King Harishchandra, and its moral that we should honor our promises no matter what?'

　　It was time for me to call the shots. 'Our promise must be kept.'

　　'Are you out of your mind?' chorused my mother and wife.

　　'No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honour her own. Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled.'

　　With her head clean-shaven, Sindu had a round-face, and her eyes looked big and beautiful.

　　On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to watch my hairless Sindu walking towards her classroom. She turned around and waved. I waved back with a smile. Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and shouted, 'Sinduja, please wait for me!' What struck me was the hairless head of that boy. 'May be, that is the in-stuff', I thought.

　　'Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!' Without introducing herself, a lady got out of the car, and continued, 'that boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son Harish. He is suffering from... leukemia'. She paused to muffle⁶ her sobs⁷. 'Harish could not attend the school for the whole of the last month. He lost all his hair due to the side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of the schoolmates. Sinduja visited him last week, and promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue. But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son!

　　Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your daughter.'

　　I stood transfixed and then, I wept. 'My little Angel, you are teaching me how selfless real love is!'

　　The happiest people on this planet are not those who live on their own terms but are those who change their terms for the ones whom they love !!

1 curd   

n.凝乳；凝乳状物

参考例句：

• I'd like to add some pepper to the bean curd.我想在豆腐里加一点辣椒粉。
• The next one is bean curd with crab roe.下一个是蟹黄豆腐。

2 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

3 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句

4 detested   

v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They detested each other on sight. 他们互相看着就不顺眼。
• The freethinker hated the formalist; the lover of liberty detested the disciplinarian. 自由思想者总是不喜欢拘泥形式者，爱好自由者总是憎恶清规戒律者。 来自辞典例句

5 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

6 muffle   

v.围裹；抑制；发低沉的声音

参考例句：

• Mother made an effort to muffle her emotions.母亲努力控制自己的感情。
• I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my words,so only my friend could hear. 我把手挡在嘴上，遮住声音，仅让我的朋友听到。

7 sobs   

啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She was struggling to suppress her sobs. 她拼命不让自己哭出来。
• She burst into a convulsive sobs. 她突然抽泣起来。