The smile

　　"I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly nervous. I fumbled [1] in my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes, which had escaped[2] their search. I found one and because of my shaking hands, I could barely get it to my lips. But I had no matches, they had taken those. "I looked through the bars at my jailer. He did not make eye contact with me. I called out to him 'Have you got a light?' He looked at me, shrugged [3]and came over to light my cigarette. "As he came close and lit the match, his eyes inadvertently locked with mine. At that moment, I smiled. I don't know why I did that. Perhaps it was nervousness, perhaps it was because, when you get very close, one to another, it is very hard not to smile. In any case, I smiled. In that instant, it was as though a spark jumped across the gap between our two hearts, our two human souls. I know he didn't want to, but my smile leaped through the bars and generated a smile on his lips, too. He lit my cigarette but stayed near, looking at me directly in the eyes and continuing to smile.
　　 "I kept smiling at him, now aware of him as a person and not just a jailer. And his looking at me seemed to have a new dimension[4] too. 'Do you have kids?' he asked. " 'Yes, here, here.' I took out my wallet and nervously fumbled for the pictures of my family. He, too, took out the pictures of his family and began to talk about his plans and hopes for them. My eyes filled with tears. I said that I feared that I'd never see my family again, never have the chance to see them grow up. Tears came to his eyes, too. "Suddenly, without another word, he unlocked my cell and silently led me out. Out of the jail, quietly and by back routes, out of the town. There, at the edge of town, he released me. And without another word, he turned back toward the town.
　　 "My life was saved by a smile." Yes, the smile―the unaffected, unplanned, natural connection between people.. I really believe that if that part of you and that part of me could recognize each other, we wouldn't be enemies. We couldn't have hate or envy or fear.

　　 微 笑

　　“一想到自己明天就没命了，不禁陷入极端的惶恐。我翻遍了口袋，终于找到一支没被他们搜走的香烟，但我的手紧张得不停发抖，连将烟送进嘴里都成问题，而我的火柴也在搜身时被拿走了。 “我透过铁栏望着外面的警卫，他并没有注意到我在看他，我叫了他一声：‘能跟你借个火吗？’他转头望着我，耸了耸肩，然后走了过来，点燃我的香烟。 “当他帮我点火时，他的眼光无意中与我的相接触，这时我突然冲着他微笑。我不知道自己为何有这般反应，也许是过于紧张，或者是当你如此靠近另一个人，你很难不对他微笑。不管是何理由，我对他笑了。就在这一刹那，这抹微笑如同火花般，打破了我们心灵间的隔阂。受到了我的感染，他的嘴角不自觉地也现出了笑容，虽然我知道他原无此意。他点完火后并没立刻离开，两眼盯着我瞧，脸上仍带着微笑。
　　“我也以笑容回应，仿佛他是个朋友，而不是个守着我的警卫。他看着我的眼神也少了当初的那股凶气，‘你有小孩吗？’他开口问道。 “‘有，你看。’我拿出了皮夹，手忙脚乱地翻出了我的全家福照片。他也掏出了照片，并且开始讲述他对家人的期望与计划。这时我眼中充满了泪水，我说我害怕再也见不到家人。我害怕没机会看着孩子长大。他听了也流下两行眼泪。 “突然间，他二话不说地打开了牢门，悄悄地带我从后面的小路逃离了监狱，出了小镇，就在小镇的边上，他放了我，之后便转身往回走，不曾留下一句话。
　　“一个微笑居然能救自己一条命。”“是的，微笑是人与人之间最自然真挚的沟通方式。如果我们能用心灵去认识彼此，世间不会有结怨成仇的憾事；恨意、妒嫉、恐惧也会不复存在。
　　背景介绍：
　　《微笑》是法国作家安东尼·圣艾修伯里的作品，圣艾修伯里是名飞行员，二次大战对抗纳粹时被击落身亡，之前他也曾参加西班牙内战打击法西斯分子。他根据这次经验写了一篇精彩的故事――《微笑》。他的代表作《小王子》是美国人都很熟悉的童话故事。

　　注释：
　　1. fumble：我们总是能看到爱抽烟的男人在自己的身上到处摸烟的镜头，用动词fumble（乱摸、摸索）来形容他们的动作是再恰当不过了；下文中提到的nervously fumbled for the pictures也是借用fumble来形容“主人公非常紧张地在钱包搜索照片”的情景；现在如果你看到某人在“哗啦啦”地翻书寻找他想要的内容，你就可以大胆地用fumle来描述他的动作，可以说He fumbled the pages looking for the place.
　　2. escape是个很调皮的词汇，总是“逃离这儿，逃离那儿”， 此处的escaped their search字面上就表示出“（烟）逃离了他们的搜查”，也就是“没有被他们搜走（的烟）”； 再看看I'm afraid your name escapes me. 看起来是“你的名字逃离了我”，也就是“我恐怕想不起你的名字了”。如果你是位老师，在课堂可能就会很严肃地对那些捣蛋的学生说上一句：Nothing escaped my attention.（什么都逃不过我的注意），这下，那些学生该乖乖地听课了吧。
　　3. shrug表示的动作是“耸耸肩”，比如你把一个消息告诉给自己的好友时，“她听到消息后只是耸耸肩”，你就可以描绘成She shrugged her shoulders at the news. 因为我们也经常用“耸肩”的动作来表示“不感兴趣“或“无所谓”等心态，所以shrug可以引申地表示“冷漠、无所谓、不屑一顾”等意思。比如说在法庭上，法官已经对某个贪污犯进行了判决，但是此人仍然暴跳如雷地表示抗议，那么People only shruggled at his protests.看来“人们对他的抗议只是轻蔑地耸耸肩而已了”。
　　4. dimension：如果你已经知道dimension是用来表示“尺寸、面积、大小”的，那么你就会很疑惑此处的a new dimension是什么意思。不过你要是联想一下，既然dimension表示事物的“长、宽、高”等各因素，这也就相当于事物的“各个方面”了，所以此处的a new dimension也就相当于“一个新的方面”，联系上下文，可推断出这个“新的方面”就是jailer对“主人公”态度的转变，从最初的“凶”到现在的“友好”；如果你发现了男朋友身上的一个新特点，就可以对他说到 I found a new dimension of your personality. 我保证他一定要求你把his new dimension说出来的。

人生在于完整

　　once a circle missed a wedge. the circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. but because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. it chatted with worms. it enjoyed the sunshine. it found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. so it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching. then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. it was so happy. now it could be whole, with nothing missing. it incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll. now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice the flowers of talking to the worms. when it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.
　　the lesson of the story, i suggested, was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something. the man who has everything is in some ways a poor man. he will never know what if feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourish his soul with the dream of something better. he will never know the experience of having someone who loves him give him something he has always wanted or never had.
　　there is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so. there is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive, she can lose someone and still feel like a complete person.
　　life is not a trap set for us by god so that he can condemn us for failing. life is not a spelling bee, where no matter how many words you’ve gotten right, you’re disqualified if you make one mistake. life is more like a baseball season, where even the best team loses one-third of its games and even the worst team has its days of brilliance. our goal is to win more games than we lose.
　　when we accept that imperfection is part of being human, and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciate it, we will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to. that, i believe, is what god asks of us---not “be perfect”, not “don’t even make a mistake”, but “be whole.”
　　if we are brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, generous enough to rejoice in another ‘s happiness, and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all, then we can achieve a fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know.

Translation:
　　从前有一只圆圈缺了一块楔子。圆圈想保持完整，便四处寻找失去的那块楔子。由于它不完整，所以只能滚动很慢。一路上，它对花儿露出羡慕之色。它与蠕虫谈天侃地。它还欣赏到了阳光之美。圆圈找到了许许多多不同的配件，但是没有一件能完美地与它相配。所以，它将它们统统弃置路旁，继续寻觅。终于有一天，它找到了一个完美的配件。圆圈是那样地高兴，现在它可以说是完美无缺了。它装好配件，然后滚动起来。既然它已成了一个完整的圆圈，所以滚动得非常快，快得以至于无暇观赏花儿，也无暇与蠕虫倾诉心声。圆圈快奔急骋，发现眼中的世界变得如此不同，于是，它不禁停了下来，将找到的那个配件留在路旁，又开始了慢慢地滚动。
　　我觉得这个故事告诉我们，从某种奇妙意义上讲，当我们失去了一些东西时反而感到更加完整。一个拥有一切的人其实在某些方面是个穷人。他永远也体会不到什么是渴望、期待以及对美好梦想的感悟。他也永远不会有这样一种体验：一个爱他的人送给他某种他梦寐以求的或者从未拥有过的东西意味什么。
　　人生的完整性在于一个人知道如何面对他的缺陷，如何勇敢地摒弃那些不现实的幻想而又不以此为缺憾。人生的完整性还在于一个男人或女人懂得这样一个道理：他（她）发现自己能勇敢面对人生悲剧而继续生存，能够在失去亲人后依然表现出一个完整的人的风范。
　　人生不是上帝为谴责我们的缺陷而给我们布下的陷阱。人生也不是一场拼字游戏比赛。不管你拼出多少单词，一旦出现了一个错误，你便前功尽弃。人生更像是一个棒球赛季。即使最好的球队比赛也会输掉1/3，而最差的球队也有春风得意的日子。我们的目标就是多赢球，少输球。
　　我们接受了不完整性是人类本性的一部分，我们不断地进行人生滚动并能意识到其价值，我们就会完整人生的过程。而对于别人来讲，这只能是一个梦想。我相信这就是上帝对我们的要求：不求“完美”，也不求“永不犯错误”，而是求得人生的“完整”。
　　如果我们勇敢得能够去爱，坚强得能够去宽容，大度得能够去分享他人的幸福，明智得能够理解身边充满爱，那么我们就能取得别的生物所不能取得的成就。