Ishana Verma

I love the power of a storm. It is oneof the most amazing shows of nature andwhen it passes， it leaves behind a light thatis nothing short of magnificent1. That waswhy I went for a walk after the storm.

In the middle of my walk， I saw twoboys and a little girl bouncing2 across thestreet like rabbits， dragging3 a bag behindthem. I didnt know what the matter wasand didnt care to know. I kept walking andwatched the kids disappear into a lane4.

A few minutes later， I saw thechildren again. They were collectingmangoes that had fallen on the streetsfrom the trees in the storm. I watched thechildren as they went from one mango treeto another. One of the kids soon realizedthat I was observing5 them. He got a littlenervous for a moment but then he decidedto ignore6 me and kept picking themangoes off the street. I walked up tothem and asked，“What are you doing？”

Startled7， the two boys said nothingbut the little girl said excitedly， “We arecollecting mangoes.”

I smiled and they kept collectingthe mangoes.

Not all the mangoes were in goodshape. After all， they had fallen from thetrees onto the concrete8. The childreninspected9 each mango they found. If itwas any good， they put it in their bag; ifnot， they threw it away.

was also walking along with them，though I kept a comfortable distance10.

Time passed. I looked at their bagand realized that they had more thanenough for themselves and yet， they weresearching for more mangoes. I noticedanother strange thing—they hadnt eateneven a single mango from the bag.

“Dont you think you have enoughmangoes for yourselves？”I asked.

They looked at me but said nothing.After a moment， the little girl said，“Weare not collecting them for ourselves. Weare going to sell them.”

One of the boys elbowed11 her atonce. It was clear that they did not want totell their plan to me.

After a while， when the boys went alittle further to pick the mangoes， the littlegirl walked up to me slowly and told metheir secret.

“We are going to sell these mangoes sothat we can buy gift for our mother. Todayis her birthday. We spent all morningthinking about what we could give her， butwe had no answer until the storm hit. Oneof my brothers came up with the idea ofpicking up the fallen mangoes and sellingthem to get the money for her gift.”

I was impressed12 by her words.

The little girl went back to join herbrothers to inspect and pick up themangoes， and I stood there processing theinformation I had just received.

They were young children. The oldestwas probably ten years old， the younger boymaybe eight and the little girl couldnt bemore than six. What could I do？

After some more streets and a lot moremangoes， the children decided that they hadenough and went towards the market. I hadbeen with them in their journey. So Idecided to stay a little longer and watch theculmination13 of their efforts.

I watched them as they put down thebag on the side of the road， poured thecontents14 onto the grass， divided themangoes according to their quality andsize and then put them carefully on thebag. Their prices were low.

The mangoes sold quite quicklybecause of their cheap price. Only a fewmangoes remained now—they were so fewthat people didnt even stop to look at them.

I decided to step forward and offeredto buy them all. “Well， I need somemangoes too. How much are these？”

The little girl smiled at me and theboys said，“Eight rupees15.”

I took out a ten-rupee note and gaveit to them. They started to fumble16 intheir bag to give me change.

“Dont worry， keep the change，”Isaid. But they refused to listen to me andgave me a two-rupee coin.

“So， have you decided what gift youwant to buy for your mother？”I asked.

The boys glared17 at their sister—ithad been their secret and she hadnt beenable to keep it to herself.

Finally， one of the boys said，“Wehavent decided yet. We will count themoney and then see what we can afford.”

They poured out all their money onthe bag and counted it. It was a little overa hundred rupees. By the looks theyexchanged， it was more than they hadexpected. Then they started to discusswhat they should buy. The three of themdidnt make any meaningful progress for along time， until the little girl found anumbrella salesman.

“Mom could use an umbrella. Shealways came home soaking18 wet，”sug -gested the little girl. Her brothers agreed.

I stood there watching them as theyran towards the umbrella salesman andstarted sifting19 through different patternsand colors， but the little girl was veryinterested in a beautiful white umbrellawith red flowers all over it.

She pointed to it and said， “I wantthat one.”

But that umbrella was out of theirprice range20. No matter how much theumbrella salesman tried to explain that toher， she wouldnt understand. It looked asif she was about to cry.

I couldnt just stand and watch anymore. The children were facing theumbrella salesman and had their backstowards me. I pulled out a fifty-rupee notefrom my pocket and waved it at theumbrella salesman. He glanced21 at me. Iplaced my finger on my lips and gestured22for him to be quiet too. He understoodwhat I meant. He gave them the umbrellaand took whatever money they gave him.

As the children went on their waywith their gift， the umbrella salesmanslowly walked up to me， took the fiftyrupeenote from me and walked away.

I know that many would call what Idid “charity23”， but it wasnt. What reallygives money its value is the need thatsomeone has for it. For me， the value of afifty-rupee note is a chocolate bar or maybea bag of chips. But to those kids， that samefifty -rupee note was a way to show theirmother the appreciation they had for herlove and care. They had just increased thevalue of my fifty-rupee note a million fold.

After that day， I looked for thosechildren whenever I walked past themarket， hoping never to see them sellingfruits by the side of the road again.

I never saw them again.

我喜歡暴風雨的威力。這是大自然最令人驚嘆的表演之一，而暴風雨過后，會留下壯麗的光。這就是我在暴風雨后去散步的原因。

在我走到半路的時候，我看到兩個男孩和一個小女孩像兔子一樣蹦蹦跳跳地穿過街道，身后拖著一個袋子。我不知道發(fā)生了什么事，也沒有在意。我繼續(xù)走著，看著孩子們消失在一條小巷里。

幾分鐘后，我又見到了孩子們。他們正在收集暴風雨中從樹上掉到街上的芒果。我看著孩子們從一棵芒果樹走到另一棵。其中一個孩子很快意識到我在觀察他們。他頓時有點緊張，但后來他決定不理我，繼續(xù)撿街上的芒果。我走到他們面前問：“你們在干什么？”

驚愕之余，兩個小男孩什么也沒說，但小女孩興高采烈地說：“我們正在收集芒果?！?/p>

我微笑著，而他們繼續(xù)收集芒果。

并非所有的芒果都完好無損。

畢竟，它們是從樹上掉到混凝土地面上的。孩子們檢查了他們找到的每一個芒果。如果是還有一點用處的芒果，他們就把它放在袋子里；如果是一點用處也沒有的芒果，他們就把它扔掉。

我也和他們一起走著，不過我保持了舒適的距離。

時間一點點過去。我看了看他們的袋子，發(fā)現芒果已經足夠他們吃了，但他們還在尋找更多的芒果。我注意到另一件奇怪的事———他們連袋子里的一個芒果都沒吃。

“你們不覺得芒果已經足夠你們吃了嗎？”我問。

他們看著我，但什么也沒說。過了一會兒，小女孩說：“我們不是為自己收集的。我們打算把它們賣掉?！?/p>

其中一個男孩立即用胳膊肘推了推她。很明顯，他們不想向我透露他們的計劃。

過了一會兒，當男孩們走遠一點去撿芒果時，小女孩慢慢地走到我身邊，告訴了我他們的秘密。

“我們打算賣掉這些芒果，那樣我們就可以給媽媽買禮物了。

今天是她的生日。我們整個上午都在想我們能送什么給她，但直到暴風雨來臨，我們才得出答案。

我的一個哥哥想出了一個主意，那就是撿掉落的芒果，然后賣掉，掙到為她買禮物的錢?！?/p>

她的話給我留下了深刻的印象。

小女孩回去和她的哥哥們一起檢查和撿拾芒果，而我站在那里消化剛剛聽到的內容。

他們都是小孩子。最大的可能十歲，小一點的男孩可能八歲，而小女孩不會超過六歲。我能做些什么呢？

在又走了幾條街撿了更多芒果之后，孩子們認為他們有足夠多的芒果了，就去了市場。一路上，我一直和他們在一起。所以我決定多待一會兒，看看他們努力的成果。

我看著他們把袋子放在路邊，把里面的東西倒在草地上，根據芒果的品質和大小將芒果分開，然后小心翼翼地把它們放在袋子上。這些芒果的價格很低。

由于價格便宜，這些芒果賣得很快?，F在只剩下幾個芒果了———它們太少了，人們甚至都不會停下來看它們。

我決定挺身而出，把它們全部買下來?！班牛乙残枰恍┟⒐?。這些多少錢？”

小女孩對著我微笑，而男孩們說：“八盧比?！?/p>

我拿出一張十盧比的鈔票給了他們。他們開始在袋子里摸索著要給我找零錢。

“別擔心，不用找零?！蔽艺f。但他們不聽我的話，給了我一枚兩盧比的硬幣。

“那么，你們決定要給媽媽買什么禮物了嗎？”我問。

男孩們怒視著他們的妹妹———這是他們的秘密，而她沒能保守秘密。

最后，其中一個男孩說：“我們還沒有決定。我們會數數錢，然后看看我們能買得起什么?！?/p>

他們把所有的錢都倒在袋子上，數了數。那是一百盧比多一點。從他們交換的眼神來看，這比他們預想的要多。然后他們開始討論應該買什么。他們三人在很長一段時間內沒有取得任何有意義的進展，直到小女孩發(fā)現了一個雨傘銷售員。

“媽媽可以用一把傘。她總是渾身濕透地回到家。”小女孩建議道。她的哥哥們同意了。

我站在那里看著他們跑向雨傘銷售員，開始在不同圖案和顏色的雨傘中挑選，但小女孩卻對一把布滿紅花的漂亮白色雨傘感興趣。

她指著它說：“ 我想要那一把?！?/p>

但這把雨傘超出了他們的價格范圍。無論雨傘銷售員如何向她解釋，她都不明白。她看上去快要哭了。

我不能再袖手旁觀了。孩子們正面朝著雨傘推銷員，背對著我。

我從口袋里掏出一張50 盧比的鈔票，向雨傘銷售員揮了揮。他瞥了我一眼。我還把手指放在嘴唇上，示意他不要聲張。他明白了我的意思。他把雨傘給了他們，收下了他們給他的所有的錢。

當孩子們帶著禮物上路時，雨傘銷售員慢慢走到我身邊，從我手中接過50 盧比的鈔票，然后走開了。

我知道很多人會把我所做的稱為“慈善”，但事實并非如此。真正賦予金錢價值的是人對它的需求。對我來說，50 盧比紙幣的價值是一根巧克力棒或一袋薯片。但對那些孩子來說，同樣的50 盧比紙幣是他們向母親表達對她愛和關心的感激的一種方式。他們剛剛把我50 盧比紙幣的價值提高了一百萬倍。

那天之后，每當我走過市場時，我都會尋找那些孩子，希望再也不會看到他們在路邊賣水果。

我再也沒見過他們。

英語原文選自：kidsworldfun.com

Notes

1. magnificent. 宏偉的；壯麗的

2. bounce . 跳動；蹦；蹦蹦跳跳地去

3. drag? . 拖；拽

4. lane? . 小路

5. observe .觀察；注視

6. ignore. 不理睬；忽視

7. startle? . 使嚇一跳

8. concrete . 混凝土

9. inspect . 檢查；審視

10. distance . 距離

11. elbow . 用肘推擠

12. impress. 使留下深刻印象

13. culmination . 終點；高潮；結局

14. content . 所含物；容納的東西

15. rupee . 盧比；貨幣

16. fumble . 胡亂摸找

17. glare . 怒視；瞪眼

18. soaking .濕透的

19. sift . 篩

20. range. 范圍；界限

21. glance . 一瞥

22. gesture . 打手勢；用動作示意