At noon that day， I drove back to the villa. Just as I entered the living room， I heard a slight sound coming from the bedroom upstairs—it was the sound of my favorite violin.

一天中午，我開(kāi)車(chē)回到別墅。我剛走進(jìn)客廳，就聽(tīng)到樓上臥室傳來(lái)輕微的聲響——是我最?lèi)?ài)的小提琴的聲音。

“Thief！”

I dashed upstairs. Sure enough， as expected， a boy of about 12 years old was petting my violin. The boy had disheveled hair and a thin face， his unfitting coat bulging， seemingly stuffed with something. At first glance， I found a new pair of shoes at the bed missing. It seemed that he was surely a thief.

“一定是小偷！”

我趕緊沖上樓，正如我所料，一個(gè)12歲左右的男孩正在撫摸我的小提琴。他頭發(fā)凌亂，臉龐消瘦，不合身的衣服鼓了起來(lái)，好像塞著什么東西。一看床邊，我的一雙新鞋不見(jiàn)了?？磥?lái)他真的是個(gè)小偷。

Then， I saw his eyes full of fear and despair. My anger was immediately replaced by a smile， I asked， “Are you Mr. Ram’s nephew Rubens？ I’m his butler. Two days ago I heard Mr. Ram say he has a nephew living in the countryside to come. It must be you. You’re really like him！”

這時(shí)，我從他眼神中看到了恐懼和絕望。我的憤怒瞬間消逝，并微笑著對(duì)他說(shuō)：“你是拉姆先生的侄子魯賓斯嗎？我是他的管家。兩天前聽(tīng)他說(shuō)有個(gè)鄉(xiāng)下的侄子要來(lái)，肯定就是你了，你和拉姆先生長(zhǎng)得真像！”

On hearing my words， the boy was first stunned， but then quickly said， “Has my uncle gone out？ I think I’d better first go out for a walk and visit him again in a while.”

I nodded and asked the boy who was preparing to put down the violin， “Do you like to play the violin so much？”

“Yes， but I’m so poor that I can’t afford it，” the boy replied.

男孩聽(tīng)到我的話先是一怔，然后趕忙說(shuō)：“我叔叔出去了嗎？那我還是先出去走走，一會(huì)兒再來(lái)拜訪他吧?！?/p>

我點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭，看到男孩準(zhǔn)備放下小提琴，便問(wèn)道：“你很喜歡小提琴嗎？”

“是的，但是我太窮了買(mǎi)不起小提琴?！蹦泻⒒卮鸬?。

“Then， I give this violin to you.” The boy looked at me questioningly， but he picked up the violin. Going out to the living room， he suddenly saw on the wall my huge color photo I performed in the Grand Theatre of Sydney. He involuntarily shivered for a moment and ran out without looking back.

“那么，我就把這把琴送給你吧。”男孩疑惑地看看我，但還是拿起了小提琴。走到客廳時(shí)，他突然看到墻上的一幅巨大的彩色照片，那是我在悉尼大劇院演奏小提琴時(shí)照的。他不由得打了個(gè)寒顫，然后頭也不回地跑出去了。

I was sure that the boy had understood what happened because no master would decorate the living room with the butler’s photo.

A few years later， at a music competition of senior high school students in Melbourne， I was invited to judge the final. Finally， a violin player called Merritt won the first prize with his solid strength！

我想男孩肯定是知道真相了，因?yàn)闆](méi)有人會(huì)用管家的相片裝飾客廳。

幾年后，我被墨爾本的一所高中邀請(qǐng)去給學(xué)生音樂(lè)比賽做決賽評(píng)委。最后，一名叫做梅里特的小提琴選手憑他的雄厚實(shí)力贏得了比賽的第一名。

After the award， Merritt ran to me holding a violin box， his face crimson， asked， “Mr. Brian， do you still know me？ You have given me a violin， which I have been treasuring until today！ Today， I can give back this violin to you without regret...”

It turned out that he was “Mr. Ram’s nephew Rubens”！

Tears welled up in my eyes.

頒獎(jiǎng)后，梅里特抱著小提琴盒跑過(guò)來(lái)，臉上紅撲撲的，對(duì)我說(shuō)：“布萊恩先生，您還記得我嗎？您送了我一把小提琴，直到今天我一直都很珍愛(ài)它！現(xiàn)在，我可以毫無(wú)遺憾地把它歸還給你了……”

原來(lái)他就是“拉姆先生的侄子魯賓斯”！

淚水涌出了我的眼眶。

villa n. 別墅

dash v. 猛沖；猛撞

pet v. 撫摸

disheveled adj. 凌亂的；不整活的

butler n. 男管家

stun v. 使目瞪口呆；使大吃一驚

questioningly adv. 疑惑地

treasure v. 重視；珍惜；珍視

well up 涌出