Last year around Halloween1, I was invited to participate in a carnival2 for Tuesday’s Child, an organization that helps children with the AIDS virus. I was asked to attend because I’m on a television show; I went because I care. I don’t think that most of the kids recognize me as a celebrity3. They just thought of me as a big kid who came to play with them for the day. I think I liked it better that way.
At the carnival they had all kinds of booths4. I was drawn to one in particular because of all the children that had gathered there. At this booth, anyone who wanted to could paint a square5. Later that square was going to be sewn together with the others, to make a quilt. The quilt would be presented to a man who had dedicated his life to6 this organization and would soon be retiring.
They gave everyone paints in bright, beautiful colors and asked the kids to paint something that would make the quilt beautiful. As I looked around at all the squares, I saw pink hearts and bright blue clouds, orange sunrise, green leaves and purple flowers. The pictures were all bright, positive and uplifting7. All except for one.
The boy sitting next to me was painting a heart, but it was dark, empty, lifeless. It lacked the bright, vibrant8 colors that his fellow artists had used.
At first I thought maybe he took the only paint that was left and it just happened to be dark. But when I asked him about it, he said his heart was that color because his own heart felt dark. I asked him why and he told me that he was very sick. Not only was he very sick, but his mom was very sick also. He said that his sickness was not ever going to get better and neither was his mom’s. He looked straight into my eyes and said, “There is nothing anyone can do that will help.”
I told him I was sorry that he was sick and I could certainly understand why he was so sad. I could even understand why he had made his heart a dark color. But... I told him that it isn’t true that there is nothing anyone can do to help. Other people may not be able to make him or his mom better... but we can do things like give bear hugs9, which in my experience can really help when you are feeling sad. I told him that if he would like, I would be happy to give him one so he could see what I meant. He instantly crawled into my lap and I thought my own heart would burst10 with the love I felt for this sweet little boy.
He sat there for a long time and when he had had enough, he jumped down to finish his coloring. I asked him if he felt any better and he said that he did, but he was still sick and nothing would change that. I told him I understood. I walked away feeling sad, but recommitted to this cause. I would do whatever I could to help.
As the day was coming to an end and I was getting ready to head home, I felt a tug11 on my jacket. I turned around and standing there with a smile on his face was the little boy. He said, “My heart is changing colors. It is getting brighter... I think those bear hugs really do work.”
On my way home I felt my own heart and realized it, too, had changed to a brighter color.
去年万圣节前后，我应邀参加了一个由“TUESDAY’S CHILD”主办的嘉年华会，该组织旨在帮助那些感染了艾滋病病毒的儿童。我之所以受邀是因为我是一个电视节目的主持人；我之所以参加是因为我也很关注他们。我想绝大多数孩子并不会把我当作一位名人。他们只会把我当作一个在这里陪他们玩的大孩子而已。我想我更喜欢这样。
在嘉年华会上，孩子们有各种各样的小亭子。我看到所有孩子都聚在一个亭子下面，我也被他们吸引了过去。在这个小亭子下，只要愿意，任何人都可以在一个小方格上画点什么。然后，这些小方格拼在一起缝成一床被子，送给一位毕生奉献给该组织即将退休的老人。
举办者把色彩鲜艳的颜料发给孩子们，叫他们在这床被子上画点什么让它更漂亮。我看了看所有的画，发现有红色的心、湛蓝的云彩、橘黄的日出、翠绿的叶子和紫色的花朵。所有的图案都是那么明亮、乐观和向上。但有一幅例外。
坐在我旁边的一个男孩正在画一颗心，可这颗心暗淡、空洞、毫无生气。它没有伙伴们作品的那种明亮而富有活力的色彩。
起初，我还以为是颜料发完了，他只领到黑色的颜料。但当我问他时，他说他的心就是这种颜色，因为他感到生活暗淡。问他为什么，他说他病了，而且他妈妈病情也很重。他说自己和妈妈的病都不可能好。他注视着我的双眼说：“没有人帮得上忙。”
我对他说听到他生病我很难过。我非常理解他的悲伤，甚至也明白他为什么把心绘成黑色的原因。但是……我告诉他不是“谁都无能为力了”。别人也许不能让他或他妈妈的身体好起来，但我们可以做一些自己力所能及的事情，比如一个温暖的拥抱，特别是当人们感到悲伤时，在我看来，一个拥抱能起意想不到的作用。我告诉他如果他愿意的话，我会很高兴拥抱他一下，这样他就会明白我的意思。他立即爬到我的腿上。我感到心里充溢着对这个可爱小男孩的爱。
他在我腿上坐了好久，心满意足后，才跳下去完成涂色。我问他是否感觉好了一点，他说是，可自己的病还是没有好，一切都无法改变。我说我理解。我离开时心情很悲伤，但我会再为这件事做些努力的，尽自己的一切力量帮助他。
活动结束时，我正准备回家。这时，我感到有人拽我的夹克，回头一望，原来是那个小男孩，站在那里，稚嫩的脸上挂着灿烂的微笑。他说：“我心里的颜色在变，它正变得越来越亮……我想那紧紧的拥抱起作用了。”
回家的路上，我触摸着我的心，感觉到它的颜色也变得更亮了。
1. Halloween n. （西方风俗）万圣节前夕（指10月31日，是夜儿童可以纵情玩闹）
2. carnival n. 嘉年华会，狂欢节
3. celebrity n. 名人
4. booth n. 隔开的空间；亭子
5. square n. 方形，方格子
6. dedicate one’s life to... 把某人的一生献给…
7. uplifting adj. 令人振作的
8. vibrant adj. 有活力的
9. bear hugs 紧紧的拥抱
10. burst v. 充满，胀裂
11. tug n. 猛拉，拖