麥克唐納家有四個(gè)并不相親相愛的孩子，他們常常斗嘴、打架。在圣誕節(jié)即將來(lái)臨之際，母親如何通過(guò)一個(gè)古老的圣誕習(xí)俗——同時(shí)也是一個(gè)游戲——試圖讓孩子們學(xué)會(huì)互助互愛，從而領(lǐng)悟圣誕節(jié)真諦呢?

這是小編最近閱讀到的尤為感動(dòng)的故事之一。文章比較長(zhǎng)，為了能和讀者們分享它，小編決定在對(duì)其進(jìn)行適當(dāng)刪節(jié)后，分兩期進(jìn)行刊登。文字難度不大，大家可要耐著性子把它讀完哦。這絕對(duì)是今年最值得期待的圣

誕故事之一!

——Lavender

It was another long， winter afternoon with everyone 1)stuck in the house and the four McDonald children were at it again—2)bickering， teasing， fighting over their toys. At times like these， Mother was almost ready to believe that her children didn’t love each other， though she knew that wasn’t really true. All brothers and sisters fight， of course， but lately her little lively bunch had been particularly horrible to each other， especially Eric and Kelly， who were just a year apart. They seemed determined to spend the whole winter making each other miserable.

“3)Gimme that. It’s mine!”

“Is not， 4)fatso! I had it first!”

Mother sighed as she listened to the latest argument coming from the living room. With Christmas only a month away， the McDonald house seemed sadly lacking in Christmas spirit. This was supposed to be the season of sharing and love， of warm feelings and happy hearts. A home needed more than just pretty packages or twinkling lights on the tree to fill it with the Christmas spirit. But how could any mother convince her children that being kind to each other was the most important way to get ready for Christmas.

Mother had only one idea. Years ago her grandmother had told her about an old Christmas custom that helped people discover the real meaning of Christmas. Perhaps it would work for her family. It was worth a try. Mother gathered her four little 5)rascals together and sat them down on the stairs， smallest to tallest—Mike， Randi， Kelly and Eric.

“How would you kids like to start a new Christmas project this year?” she asked. “It’s like a game， but it can only be played by people who can keep a secret. Can everyone here do that?”

“I can!” shouted Eric， wildly waving his arm in the air.

“I can keep a secret better than he can，” yelled Kelly， jumping up and waving her arm in the air， too. If this was a contest， she wanted to make sure she beat Eric.

“I can do it!” chimed in Randi， not quite sure what was happening but not wanting to be left out.

“Me too， me too， me too，” squealed little Mike， bouncing up and down.

“Well then， here’s how the game works，” Mother explained. “This year we’re going to surprise Baby Jesus when he comes on Christmas Eve by making him the softest bed in the world. We’re going to build a little crib for him to sleep in right here in our house， and we’ll fill it with straw to make it comfortable. But here’s the 6)catch: Each piece of straw we put in the 7)manger will represent one kind thing we do for someone between now and Christmas. The more kind things we do， the more straw there will be for Baby Jesus. The secret part is—we can’t tell anyone what good things we’re doing and who we’re doing them for.”

The children looked confused. “How will Baby Jesus know it’s his bed?” asked Kelly.

“He’ll know，” said Mother. “He’ll recognize it by the love we’ve put into the crib， by how soft it is.”

“But who will we do the kind things for?” asked Eric.

“It’s simple，” said Mother. “We’ll do them for each other. Once every week between now and Christmas， we’ll put all of our names in this hat， mine and Daddy’s too. Then we’ll each draw a name and do kind things for that person for a whole week. But here’s the hard part. We can’t tell anyone whose name we’ve drawn for that week， and we’ll each try to do as many favors as we can for our special person without getting caught. And for every secret good thing we do， we’ll put another piece of straw in the crib.”

“But what if I pick someone I don’t like?” frowned Kelly.

Mother thought about that for a minute. “Maybe you could use extra fat straws for the good things you do for that person， because they might be harder to do. But just think how much faster the fat straws will fill up our crib. Then on Christmas Eve we’ll put Baby Jesus in his little bed， and he’ll sleep that night on a mattress made of love. I think he’d like that， don’t you?”

“Now， who will build the crib for us?” she asked.

Since Eric was the oldest， and the only one of the children allowed to use tools， he marched off to the basement to give it a try. For the next couple of hours loud banging and sawing noises came from the basement. Then for a long time there were no noises at all. Finally Eric climbed back up the stairs with the manger in his arms. “Here it is，” he grinned. “The best crib in the world! And I did it all myself.” For once， everyone agreed: the little manger was the best crib in the world. It had been built with love—and about a hundred bent nails—and it would certainly last a long time.

“Now we need some straw，” said Mother， and together they headed out to the car to go searching for some in the nearby fields. At last they spotted a small vacant patch of land that had been covered with tall grass in summer. Now， in mid-November， the grass had dried down to yellow stalks that looked just like real straw. Mother stopped the car and the kids scrambled out to pick handfuls of the long grass.

“That’s enough!” Mother finally laughed， when she saw that the cardboard box in the trunk was almost overflowing. So home they went， where they spread the straw carefully on a tray Mother had put on the kitchen table. The empty manger was placed gently on top.

“When can we pick names!” shouted the children.

“As soon as Daddy comes home for dinner，” Mother answered.

At the supper table that night， the six names were written on separate pieces of paper， folded up and8)shuffled around in an old baseball hat. Then the drawing began. Kelly picked first and immediately started to giggle. Randi reached into the hat next. Daddy glanced at his scrap of paper and smiled quietly. Mother picked out a name， but her face never gave away a clue. Next， little Mike reached into the hat， but since he couldn’t read yet， Daddy had to whisper in his ear and tell him which name he had picked. Eric was the last to choose， and as he unfolded his piece of paper a frown crossed his face. But he stuffed the name in his pocket and said nothing. The family was ready to begin.

The week that followed was filled with surprises. It seemed the McDonald house had suddenly been invaded by an army of invisible 9)elves， and good things were happening everywhere. Kelly would walk into her room at bedtime and find her little blue nightgown neatly laid out and her bed 10)turned down. Someone cleaned up the sawdust under the workbench without being asked. The jelly 11)blobs disappeared magically from the kitchen counter after lunch one day while Mother was getting the mail. And every morning， while Eric was brushing his teeth， someone crept quietly into his room and made his bed. It wasn’t made perfectly， but it was made. Mother noticed other changes during that week， too. The children weren’t teasing or fighting as much. An argument would start and then suddenly stop for no good reason. Even Eric and Kelly seemed to be getting along better. In fact， all the children wore secret smiles and giggled to themselves at times.

By Sunday， everyone was anxious to pick new names again， and this time there was even more laughter and 12)merriment during the picking process， except for Eric. Once again he unfolded his paper， looked at it， and stuffed it in his pocket without a word. Mother noticed， but said nothing.

(To be continued.)

又是個(gè)漫長(zhǎng)的冬日下午，大家都呆在屋子里，麥克唐納家的四個(gè)孩子又鬧了起來(lái)——他們斗嘴、挑釁，搶玩具。每當(dāng)碰到這些時(shí)候，當(dāng)母親的幾乎會(huì)相信她的幾個(gè)孩子并不相親相愛，盡管她知道事實(shí)并非如此。兄弟姐妹之間難免會(huì)打打鬧鬧的，但最近，她那群活蹦亂跳的小不點(diǎn)相互之間變得尤為恐怖，特別是只相差一歲的埃里克和凱利。他們似乎下了決心要使對(duì)方這一整個(gè)冬天都痛苦不堪。

“把那個(gè)給我。是我的!”

“才不是你的，胖子!我先拿到的!”

聽著客廳里傳來(lái)的新一輪爭(zhēng)吵，母親嘆了嘆氣。再過(guò)一個(gè)月就是圣誕節(jié)了，但悲哀的是，麥克唐納家的房子里似乎缺少了點(diǎn)圣誕氣息。這本該是個(gè)講求分享，充滿愛、溫馨和快樂的時(shí)節(jié)。要往家里注入圣誕氣息，需要的不只是漂亮的禮品盒或是圣誕樹上一閃一閃的燈。但哪位母親能說(shuō)服她的孩子們?nèi)ハ嘈乓^(guò)好圣誕節(jié)，友善相處才是最重要的。

母親只有一個(gè)主意。幾年前，她的祖母曾告訴她有個(gè)古老的圣誕習(xí)俗能幫助人們領(lǐng)悟圣誕節(jié)的真諦。說(shuō)不定那在她家也能奏效，值得一試。母親把她的四個(gè)小淘氣鬼聚集在一起，讓他們按年齡從小到大依次坐在樓梯上——邁克、蘭迪、凱利到埃里克。

“孩子們，今年你們想不想來(lái)個(gè)新的圣誕節(jié)計(jì)劃?”她問道，“這個(gè)計(jì)劃就像個(gè)游戲，但只有那些能保守秘密的人才能玩。你們都能做到嗎?”

“我能!”埃里克喊道，他激動(dòng)地?fù)]舞著手臂。

“我比他更能保守秘密?！眲P利大叫道，她也跳起來(lái)，在空中揮舞著手臂。如果這是個(gè)比賽，她要確保自己能打敗埃里克。

“我可以做到!”蘭迪插嘴道。他不確定在發(fā)生什么事，但不想自己被遺漏。

“我也能，我也能，我也能。”小邁克跳上跳下地長(zhǎng)聲尖叫道。

“噢，那么，我講講游戲規(guī)則?！蹦赣H解釋道，“今年，當(dāng)小耶穌在平安夜來(lái)我們家時(shí)，我們準(zhǔn)備給他一個(gè)驚喜——為他造一張世上最柔軟的床。我們準(zhǔn)備為他造一張小嬰兒床，讓他就睡在我們屋子里，我們要在嬰兒床里鋪上稻草，使小床躺起來(lái)更舒適。其中的挑戰(zhàn)就在于:我們放進(jìn)馬槽里的每根稻草將代表從現(xiàn)在到圣誕節(jié)這段時(shí)間內(nèi)，我們?yōu)樗俗龅囊患檬隆Ｎ覀冏龅暮檬略蕉?，小耶穌得到的稻草就會(huì)越多。要保密的是——我們不能告訴任何人我們?cè)谧鍪裁春檬?，也不能說(shuō)我們是為誰(shuí)而做的?！?/p>

孩子們看上去很困惑?！靶∫d怎么知道那是他的床呢?”凱利問道。

“他會(huì)知道的?！蹦赣H說(shuō)道，“從我們?yōu)閶雰捍餐度氲膼?，從床如此柔軟，他?huì)認(rèn)出來(lái)的?！?/p>

“可是我們要為誰(shuí)做好事呢?”埃里克問道。

“很簡(jiǎn)單?！蹦赣H說(shuō)道，“我們要互相為家人做好事。從現(xiàn)在到圣誕節(jié)這段時(shí)間里，每周一次，我們會(huì)把我們所有人的名字放進(jìn)這個(gè)帽子里，我和爸爸的名字也會(huì)放進(jìn)去。接著，我們每個(gè)人抽一個(gè)名字，然后一整周要為那個(gè)人做好事。難就難在，我們不能告訴任何人我們那周抽到了誰(shuí)的名字，并且，我們每個(gè)人要努力盡自己所能幫助那個(gè)特別的人，但又不能被發(fā)現(xiàn)。我們每次秘密地做了一件好事，就可以往嬰兒床里添上一根稻草。”

“但要是我抽到的是我不喜歡的人怎么辦?”凱利皺起了眉頭。

母親想了一會(huì)兒?！澳銥槟莻€(gè)人做了好事就可以往嬰兒床添進(jìn)更大更粗的稻草，因?yàn)檫@些好事更不容易做。但想想，粗壯的稻草使我們能更快地給嬰兒床添滿稻草。那么，到了平安夜，我們會(huì)把小耶穌放進(jìn)他的小床里，讓他睡在一張用愛編織的床墊上。我想他會(huì)喜歡的，你們說(shuō)是不是?”

“現(xiàn)在，誰(shuí)來(lái)幫忙造嬰兒床?”她問道。

因?yàn)榘＠锟耸谴蟾绺?，也是孩子中唯一被允許使用五金工具的，所以他大步邁向地下室，嘗試造張嬰兒床。接下來(lái)的幾個(gè)小時(shí)里，地下室里敲擊切鋸聲大作。接著，聲響沉寂了好一會(huì)兒。最后，埃里克從地下室樓梯里走上來(lái)，手臂里抱著那馬槽小模型。“做好了?！彼肿煨Φ?，“這是世上最好的嬰兒床!全是我自己做的!”唯一一次，每個(gè)人都同意:這個(gè)小馬槽是世上最好的嬰兒床，是用愛——和大概100顆彎釘——做成的，肯定很耐用。

“現(xiàn)在，我們需要一些稻草?！蹦赣H說(shuō)道。他們一同走出去，走到車子那邊，想開車到附近的田野找些稻草。最后，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一小塊空地，夏天里，那塊地上長(zhǎng)滿了高高的草。現(xiàn)在是11月中旬，草已經(jīng)干黃，剩下的桿子看上去就像真的稻草。母親停下車，孩子們爭(zhēng)先恐后地下車去拔一把把長(zhǎng)草。

“夠了!”母親看著車尾廂的紙箱里堆得幾乎溢出來(lái)的稻草，最后笑了。他們于是回家。母親在廚房的桌上放了一個(gè)盤，孩子們小心翼翼地把稻草鋪放到盤子里。那個(gè)空空的嬰兒床被輕輕地放在最上面。

“我們什么時(shí)候抽名字呢?”孩子們喊道。

“等爸爸回家吃飯就馬上抽?！蹦赣H答道。

那晚，在餐桌上，六個(gè)名字被寫在不同的紙片上，紙片被折好，打亂了放進(jìn)一頂舊棒球帽里。接著，抽簽開始。凱利先抽，她抽完立刻開始咯咯地笑了起來(lái)。接著是蘭迪把手伸進(jìn)了帽子里。父親看了看自己抽到的紙片，靜靜地笑了笑。母親抽出一個(gè)名字，可她的臉上從不泄露一絲線索。接著，小邁克把手伸進(jìn)帽子里，但因?yàn)樗€不會(huì)認(rèn)字，所以父親輕聲在他耳邊告訴他抽到了誰(shuí)。埃里克最后一個(gè)抽，打開那張紙片時(shí)，他臉上閃過(guò)一絲愁容。但他把名字塞進(jìn)口袋里，沒說(shuō)什么。全家人開始行動(dòng)了。

接下來(lái)的一周里充滿了驚喜。麥克唐納家仿佛突然闖進(jìn)了一隊(duì)看不見的小精靈，隨處都有好事發(fā)生。到了睡覺時(shí)間，凱利走進(jìn)她的房間，發(fā)現(xiàn)她那件藍(lán)色的睡衣擺放得整整齊齊，床單掀開了;有人主動(dòng)清理了工作臺(tái)下的鋸屑;一天午飯后，當(dāng)母親正在收郵件時(shí)，廚房灶臺(tái)上的果凍污跡神奇地消失了;每天早上，當(dāng)埃里克正在刷牙時(shí)，某人悄悄溜進(jìn)他的房間，為他整理床鋪。整理得不完美，但總算是整理過(guò)。那周，母親也留意到其他的一些改變。孩子們少了挑釁和打架。一場(chǎng)爭(zhēng)吵開始后會(huì)突然毫無(wú)緣由地停了下來(lái)。甚至埃里克和凱利似乎也相處得更好了。事實(shí)上，所有的孩子都露出了一臉神秘的笑容，還不時(shí)自己一個(gè)人在那咯咯地笑。

周日到了，每個(gè)人都急著再抽名字，而這次，在抽簽過(guò)程中，歡聲笑語(yǔ)就更多了，但埃里克除外。他又一次打開他的紙片，看了看，把它塞進(jìn)口袋里，什么也沒說(shuō)。母親留意到了，也沒說(shuō)什么。

(待續(xù))