When Ben delivered milk to my cousin's home that morning, he wasn't as happy as usual. The slight2, middle-aged man seemed in no mood for3 talking.
It was late November 1962, and as a newcomer to Lawndale, California, I was delighted that milkmen still brought bottles of milk to doorsteps. In the weeks that my husband, kids and I had been staying with my cousin while house hunting4, I had come to enjoy Ben's sunny personality and comments.
Today, however, he was very unhappy as he placed the bottles on the doorstep. It took slow, careful questioning to extract5 the story from him. With some embarrassment, he told me two customers had left town without paying their bills, and he would have to cover the losses. One of the debtors owed only $10, but the other was $79 in arrears6 and had left no forwarding address7. Ben was upset for allowing this bill to grow so large.
“She was a pretty woman,” he said, “with six children and another on the way. She was always saying, ‘I'm going to pay you soon, when my husband gets a second job.’ I believed her. What a fool I was! I thought I was doing a good thing, but I've learned my lesson. I've been cheated!”
All I could say was, “I'm so sorry.”
The next time I saw him, his anger seemed worse.
I repeated how sorry I was about his loss of income. But when Ben left, I found myself caught up8 in his problem and longed to help. I worried that this might turn a cheerful person into a bitter one, I thought of how to help him. Then, remembering that Christmas was coming, I thought of what my grandmother used to say: “When someone has taken something from you, give it to them, and then you can never be robbed.”
The next time Ben delivered milk, I told him I had a way to make him feel better about the $79.
“Nothing will do that,” he said, “but tell me anyway.”
“Give the woman the milk. Make it a Christmas present to the kids who needed it.”
“Are you kidding?” he replied. “I don't even get my wife a Christmas gift that expensive.”
“The Bible says, ‘I was a stranger and you took me in.’ You just took her in with all her little children.”
“Don't you mean she took me in? The trouble with you is, it wasn't your $79.”
I let the subject drop, but I still believed in my suggestion.
We'd joke about it when he'd come. “Have you given her the milk yet?” I'd ask.
“No,” he quickly replied, “but I'm thinking of giving my wife a $79 present, unless another family moves house without paying me.”
Every time I'd ask the question, he seemed a little happier.
Then six days before Christmas, it happened. He arrived smiling. “I did it! I gave her the milk as a Christmas present. It wasn't easy, but what did I have to lose? It was gone, wasn't it?”
“Yes,”I said, rejoicing9 with him, “but you've got to really mean it in your heart.”
“I know,”he said. “I do. And I really feel better. That's why I have this good feeling about Christmas. Those kids had lots of milk on their cereal10 just because of me.”
The holidays came and went. On a sunny January morning two weeks later, Ben almost ran up the walk. “Wait till you hear this,” he said, grinning11.
He explained he had been on a different route, helping another milkman who was ill. He heard his name being called, looked over his shoulder and saw a woman running down the street, waving money. He recognized her immediately—the pretty woman with all the kids, the one who hadn't paid her bill. She was carrying a baby in a tiny blanket.
“Ben, wait a minute!” she shouted. “I've got money for you.”
Ben stopped the truck and got out.
“I'm so sorry,” she said. “I really have been meaning to pay you.” She explained that her husband had come home one night and announced he'd found a cheaper apartment. He'd also started a night job. With all that had happened, she'd forgotten to leave a forwarding address. “But I've been saving,” she said. “Here is $20 toward the bill.”
“That's all right,” Ben replied. “It's been paid.”
“Paid!”she exclaimed. “What do you mean? Who paid it?”
“I did.”
She looked at him as if he were the Angel Gabriel12 and started to cry.
“Well,” I asked when Ben had finished recounting the story, “what did you do?”
“I didn't know what to do, so I put an arm around her. Before I knew what was happening, I started to cry, and I didn't have the foggiest13 idea what I was crying about. Then I thought of all those kids having milk on their cereal, and you know what? I was really glad you talked me into14 this.”
“You didn't take the $20?”
“Heck15 no,” he replied indignantly16. “I gave her the milk as a Christmas present, didn't I?”
那天早上，本送牛奶到我表姐家时，不像往常那么开心。这个瘦弱的中年男人显得没有心情与人交谈。
那是1962年11月下旬，我刚刚搬到加州洛德尔镇，很高兴地看到还有送奶工把瓶装牛奶送到各家门口。那几个星期，我们还没找到房子，我和丈夫、孩子一直住在表姐家里。我渐渐地喜欢上本那种快乐的性格和充满阳光的话语。
然而今天，他往门口放奶瓶时，很不开心。我很费了些时间，小心翼翼地询问他，他才勉强把事情的原委告诉我。他有些难为情，说有两户人家没有为他们的牛奶付账就搬走了，他不得不自己承担损失。其中一位欠账者只欠10美元，但另外一位则有79美元，并且在离开时没有留下转投地址。本为这么大一笔欠账而苦恼不堪。
他说：“她是一位漂亮的女人，有6个孩子，而且另一个也快出生了。她总是说：‘等我丈夫找到另一份工作，我很快就付你钱。’我相信了她！我真是个大傻瓜！我以为我做了一件好事，结果却得到一个教训。我被骗了！”
我只能对他说：“我感到难过。”
第二次我看到他时，他的愤怒显得更厉害了。
我再次为他的损失表示很难过。不过本走了之后，我发现自己老想着他的烦恼，渴望能够帮他一把。我担心这件事会让本这样一个快乐的人从此变得痛苦不堪，所以我琢磨着该如何帮他。想到圣诞节就要到了，我记起了祖母过去常说的一句话：“如果有人从你这儿拿走了什么，你就送给他们，这样你就不会感到失去了什么。”
本再次来送牛奶时，我告诉他，我有办法让他为那79美元感觉好受一些。
“这绝不可能，”他说，“但不妨说来听听。”
“就当是把牛奶送给那个女人了。就当作圣诞礼物送给她的孩子好了，她的孩子需要那些牛奶。”
“你这不是开玩笑吗？”他回答说，“我连妻子都没有送过那么贵重的圣诞礼物。”
“《圣经》上说：‘我是个陌生人，但你接受了我。’你就把她连同她的孩子一起接受了吧。”
“难道你不认为她骗了我？你的问题在于，那79美元不是你的。”
我打住了这个话题，但我仍然相信我的建议会起作用。
后来他每次来，我们都就这事开玩笑。我经常问他：“你把牛奶送给她了吗？”
“没有，”他会立马回答，“不过我在考虑送我妻子一件79美元的礼物，前提是，不会出现另外一户人家搬走时不付奶钱。”
每次我问这个问题，他都显得比上回高兴了一点。
离圣诞节还有6天，奇迹发生了。这次他送奶时满面微笑。“我做到了！我把牛奶作为圣诞礼物送给她了。这不太容易，但我还有什么可失去的呢？事情都已经发生了，不是吗？”
“是的，”我一边说，一边为他高兴，“可你必须发自内心这样想。”
“我知道。”他说，“我是当真的。我感觉好多了。这正是圣诞节我有这份好心情的缘故。那些孩子因为我才可以有许多牛奶放进麦片粥里。”
圣诞节到了，又转瞬逝去。两星期后一个阳光灿烂的早晨，本沿着走道几乎是跑了过来。“等等，我有话讲给你听。”他咧嘴笑着说。
他解释说，他替一位生病的送奶工到另一条线上去送奶。他听到有人叫他的名字，回头一看，发现有位女人沿着街道跑过来，手里挥舞着钱。他一眼便认出了她——那位有很多孩子、没有付账的漂亮女人。此刻，她怀里还用一条小绒毯抱着一个婴儿。
“本，请等一下！”她大声叫道，“我给你钱。”
本停下卡车，走了出来。
“我非常抱歉！”她说，“我真的一直打算付你钱的。”她解释说，有天晚上她丈夫回家后，说他找到了一套更加便宜的公寓，也找到了一份晚上干的活。由于这一切来得太突然，她竟忘了给他留下转投地址。“但我一直在攒钱，”她说，“先付你20美元。”
“没关系。账单已经付过了。”本回答。
“付过了！”她惊叫起来，“你说什么？谁付的账？”
“我付的。”
她看着他，就好像他是专门替上帝传递好消息的天使加百列。接着她开始哭。
“喔，你后来是怎么做的呢？”本讲完他的故事后，我问。
“我不知道该怎么办，于是我用一只手搂住了她。我不知道我是怎么了，我也开始哭，而且我完全不知道自己为什么而哭。然后我想到了那些孩子，他们吃麦片时可以喝上牛奶，你知道吗？我真的很高兴，你说服我做了这件事。”
“你没拿那20美元吗？”
“见鬼去吧，没有。”他生气地答道，“我不是把牛奶作为圣诞礼物送给她了吗？”
1. doorstep n. 门阶
2. slight [slait] adj. 纤细的，瘦小的
3. in no mood for sth. 不想做某事
4. house hunting 找房子
5. extract v. （克服困难后）取得，获取
6. in arrears 拖欠 arrear [?藜?謖ri?藜] n. 应付欠款
7. forwarding address 转递地址
8. catch up 把…卷入，把…迷住
9. rejoice v. 感到高兴
10. cereal n. 谷类食物（一般指燕麦片、玉米片等早餐食品）
11. grin [grin] v. 裂嘴而笑
12. Gabriel n. 加百列（替上帝把好消息报告给世人的天使）
13. foggy adj. 朦胧的，模糊的
14. talk sb. into sth. 说服某人做某事
15. heck 地狱hell的委婉说法，用以加强语气。
16. indignantly adv. 愤怒地，愤慨地