转眼菜园里该采收了，蔬菜被装罐腌制后储藏，学校也开学了。再不久， 树叶飘零，海湾吹起阵阵寒风。鲁本在街头徘徊，努力寻找着被他视为宝物的麻袋。
他经常是饥寒交迫，疲惫不堪，但是一想到商店橱窗里的那样东西，他就又有劲儿坚持下去了。有时妈妈会问 ：“鲁本，你上哪儿啦？我们等你吃饭呢！”
“玩去啦，妈妈。对不起。”
这时候，多拉总会瞧着他的脸，无奈地摇摇头，心想：男孩就是男孩。
春天终于来了，带来片片绿意，鲁本的精神也随之振奋。是时候了！他跑到谷仓，爬上草垛，打开铁罐，倒出所有硬币清点起来。
他又数一遍，还差20美分。镇上哪儿还会有丢弃的麻袋吗？他必须在今天结束之前再找4条去卖掉。
鲁本沿着沃特街走着。
鲁本赶到工厂，厂房的影子已被夕阳拉得很长了。收购麻袋的人正要锁门。
“先生！请先不要关门。”
那人转过身来，看到了脏兮兮、汗涔涔的鲁本。
“明天再来吧，孩子。”
“求您了，先生，我必须现在把麻袋卖掉——求您啦。”那人感觉到鲁本的声音在颤抖，知道他快要哭了。
“你为什么这么急着要这点儿钱？”
“这是秘密。”
那人接过麻袋，手伸进口袋，掏出4个硬币放在鲁本手里。鲁本轻轻说了声“谢谢”就往家跑。
接着，他紧紧搂着铁罐，直奔那家商店。
“我有钱啦！”他一本正经地告诉店主。
店主走向橱窗，取出鲁本梦寐以求的东西。
他掸去灰尘，用牛皮纸把它小心包好，然后把这个小包放到鲁本手上。
鲁本一路狂奔到家，冲进前门。妈妈正在厨房擦洗灶台。“瞧，妈妈！瞧！”鲁本一边跑向她一边大叫着。他把一个小盒子放在她因劳作而变得粗糙的手上。
为了不损坏包装纸，她小心翼翼地把它拆开，一个蓝色天鹅绒的首饰盒映入眼帘。多拉打开盒盖，泪水顿时模糊了她的双眼。
在一个小巧的心状胸针上刻着金字：母亲。
那是1946年的母亲节。
多拉从未收到过这样的礼物；除了结婚戒指外，她没有别的饰物。哽咽无语，她把儿子一把揽入怀中，脸上洋溢着动人的光彩。
Growing Roots
When I was growing up， I had an old neighbor named Dr.Gibbs.He didn，t look like any doctor I，d ever known.He never yelled at us for playing in his yard.I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than circumstances warranted.
When Dr. Gibbs wasn，t saving lives， he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres， and his life，s goal was to make it a forest.
The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant husbandry. He came from the “No pain， no gain” school of horticulture. He never watered his new trees， which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them， and that if you water them， each successive tree generation will grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out the weenie trees early on.
He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots， and how trees that weren，t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.
So he never watered his trees. He，d plant an oak and， instead of watering it every morning， he，d beat it with a rolledup newspaper. Smack！ Slap！ Pow！ I asked him why he did that， and he said it was to get the tree，s attention.
Dr. Gibbs went to glory a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again， I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I，d watched him plant some twentyfive years ago. They，re granite strong now. Big and robust. Those trees wake up in the morning and beat their chests and drink their coffee black.
I planted a couple of trees a few years back. Carried water to them for a solid summer. Sprayed them. Prayed over them. The whole nine yards. Two years of coddling has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot. Whenever a cold wind blows in， they tremble and chatter their branches. Sissy trees.
Funny things about those trees of Dr. Gibbs，. Adversity and deprivation seemed to benefit them in ways comfort and ease never could.
Every night before I go to bed， I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies， the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I，ve been thinking that it，s time to change my prayer.
This change has to do with the inevitability of cold winds that hit us at the core. I know my children are going to encounter hardship， and I，m praying they won，t be naive. There，s always a cold wind blowing somewhere.
So I，m changing my prayer. Because life is tough， whether we want it to be or not. Too many times we pray for ease， but that，s a prayer seldom met. What we need to do is pray for roots that reach deep into the Eternal， so when the rains fall and the winds blow， we won，t be swept asunder.
成长的树根
在我还是小孩子的时候，我有一个老邻居叫吉布斯医生。他不像我所认识的任何一个医生。我们在他的院子里玩耍，他从不对我们大喊大叫。我记得他是一个非常和蔼的人。
吉布斯医生不拯救人性命的时候就去种树。他的住所占地10英亩，他的人生目标就是将它变成一片森林。
这个好医生对于如何持家有一番有趣的理论。他来自一个“不劳无获”的园艺学校。他从不浇灌他新种的树，这显然与常理相悖。有一次我问为什么，他说浇水会毁了这些树，如果浇水，每一棵成活的树的后代会变得越来越娇弱。所以你得把它们的生长环境变得艰苦些，尽早淘汰那些弱不禁风的树。
他还告诉我用水浇灌的树的根是如何的浅，而那些没有浇水的树的根必须钻入深深的泥土获得水分。我将他的话理解为：深根是十分宝贵的。
所以他从不给他的树浇水。他种了一棵橡树，每天早上，他不是给它浇水，而是用一张卷起的报纸抽打它。“啪！噼！砰！”我问他为什么这样做，他说是为了引起树的注意。
在我离家两年后，吉布斯医生就去世了。我常常经过他的房子，看着那些25年前我曾看着他种下的那些树。如今它们已是像石头般硬朗了。枝繁叶茂、生气勃勃。这些树在早晨醒过来，拍打着胸脯，啜饮着苦难的汁水。
几年前我也种下两三棵树。整整一个夏天我都坚持为它们浇水。为它们喷杀虫剂，为它们祈祷。整整9平方码大的地方。两年的悉心呵护，结果两棵树弱不禁风。每当寒风吹起，它们就颤抖起来，枝叶直打战。娇里娇气的两棵树。
吉布斯医生的树真是有趣。逆境和折磨带给它们的益处似乎是舒适和安逸永远无法给予的。
每天晚上睡觉前，我都要看看两个儿子。我俯视着他们那幼小的身体，生命就在其中起落沉浮。我总是为他们祈祷，总是祈祷他们的生活能一帆风顺。但后来我想是该改变我的祈祷词的时候了。
这改变是因为将吹在我们要害的不可避免的寒风。我知道我的孩子们将遇到困难，我祈祷他们不会幼稚而脆弱。在某些地方总会有寒风吹过。
所以我改变了我的祈祷词。因为不管我们愿不愿意，生活总是艰难的。我们已祈祷了太多的安逸，但却少有实现。我们所需要做的是祈祷深植我们的信念之根，这样我们就不会被雨打风吹所伤害。
Every Woman Is Beautiful
A little boy asked his mother，“Why are you crying？”
“Because I，m a woman，” she told him.
“I don，t understand，” he said.
His mum just hugged him and said， “And you never will.”
Later the little boy asked his father，“Why does mother seem to cry for no reason？”
“All women cry for no reason，” was all his dad could say.
The little boy grew up and became a man， still wondering why women cry.
Finally he put in a call to God； and when God got on the phone， he asked，“God， why do women cry so easily？”
God said： “When I made the woman， she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world； yet， gentle enough to give comfort.
“I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.
“I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up， and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.
“I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances， even when her child has hurt her very badly.
“I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.
“I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife， but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.
“And finally， I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed.
“You see， the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears， the figure that she carries， or the way she combs her hair.
“The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes， because that is the doorway to her heart， the place where love resides.”
Every Woman is beautiful.
每一个女人都漂亮
一个男孩问他的妈妈：“ 你为什么要哭呢？”
妈妈说：“因为我是女人啊。”