Prior to Holly’s birthday，Susan had been a regular visitor in our home. The girls did theirhomework together and went to bed at a reasonable hour. Now I realized it had been nearlythree weeks since we’d even heard mention of Susan’s name. I missed her warm smile andeager-to-please ways.
A rustle at the front door told me Holly had arrived home from school. “Susan invited meto come over to her house after school tomorrow，” she announced as she plunked her booksdown on the kitchen table. Although her voice carried a so-what attitude，I sensed she waspleased by the invitation.
“She wants you to come，too，so you can meet her foster mom.” The words “foster mom”
dangled in the air like a spent birthday balloon. Susan never talked about her home life，andwe didn’t find it necessary to pry.
Arrangements were made. As I negotiated the winding country road that led to her house，Susan babbled nervously about her foster mom and the seventeen cats she had taken in andcared for with Susan’s help. Several of these foster kitties scattered as we pulled into thegravel driveway.
A tall angular woman stood in the doorway to greet us as we approached the smallfarmhouse. “Excuse the mess，” she apologized while we threaded our way through stuff thatseemed to be everywhere.
Susan ushered us throughthe house. It seemed to be alivewith four-legged fur balls roamingunderfoot and sprawling across thebacks of the dingy sofa and chairs.
She proudly showed us her room，which was sparsely but neat. Atarnished picture frame sitting ona crate beside the bed containedpictures of Susan’s parents andsiblings from whom，we laterlearned，she had long since beenseparated.
I followed Susan’s foster mominto the kitchen. After clearinga small area Her hand trembledslightly as she poured us each a cupof steaming black coffee. She beganto relax as we sipped our coffee andchatted about her cats.
A warm glow shone in her eyesas she revealed to me her fondnessfor Susan. But her expressionturned pensive when she referredto the girl’s past. In a short time，I came to respect this generousheartedwoman who had opened herhome to a young girl and attemptedto make a difference in her life.
Holly sat quietly in the car onthe way home. Stealing a glance，I noticed her back was ramrodstraight.
No sooner had we cometo a stop in the driveway thanshe flung open the car door andwalked purposefully toward theside gate. Curious，I shifted intopark and followed. A lump caughtin my throat as I observed mydaughter standing next to the trashcan peering inside. Her shouldersslumped as she shuffled into thehouse.
After pulling the car into thegarage，I went inside and headedfor the hall closet. By this time，Holly was sitting at the kitchentable staring out the window.
“Is this what you were lookingfor？” I placed the piece of carpet onthe table in front of her.
“Thanks，Mom.” A tear or twoslipped from her eye and splashedonto the dark blue remnant that，asif by magic，had become the mostprecious birthday present in thewhole world.
殷明 译
当霍莉打开最好的朋友苏珊送的礼物时，她的前额皱起困惑的涟漪。
虽然苏珊吞吞吐吐地解释：“我想总能用到它”，但我们还是不明白一张长18英尺宽12英尺的深蓝色毯子的角料会被拿来当做生日礼物。
大一，离家进入新学校，霍莉很难适应，在遇到苏珊之前，她很少结识到新朋友。
霍莉喃喃地说了声谢谢，声音小得勉强能听见。她努力不让内心的失望流露出来。
霍莉对此事的失望一直掩藏得很好，直到第二天晚上她下楼来说晚安时。“我想我们都清楚了我在我最好的朋友心中的分量了，对吧，妈妈？”她试图以轻描淡写的语气表达，但惨淡告败。
次日清晨，我看到苏珊送的毯子被扔放到其他废弃物的那块儿。犹豫了一小会儿，我伸手将它从垃圾里捡起来。简单洗过之后，我把它拿进屋，塞进客厅的柜子里。忙于每日生活的琐事，我不久就忘了毯子的事。
在霍莉生日之前苏珊是家中常客。两个女孩一起做作业，差不多同一时间睡觉。现在我发现差不多有三个星期没听到苏珊的名字被提及了。我怀念她那张温暖的笑脸和她的彬彬有礼。
门前传来沙沙的声音，我知道霍莉放学回来了。“苏珊邀请我明天放学去她家。”
她边说边将书扔到厨房桌子上。尽管她语气中带着点不屑一顾，但我可以感受到她因这份邀请而雀跃。
“她希望你也能去，那样你就可以见见她的养母了。”“养母”两个字如同一只瘪了的生日气球一样飘荡在空气里。苏珊从未说过她的家庭生活，我们便也觉得无需打探。
事情就那样定了下来。当我穿过通往她家的蜿蜒的乡间小路时，苏珊紧张含糊地说着她的养母。她养母收留了17只小猫，苏珊帮着她一起照顾。当我们驶入砾石铺成的车道上时，几只被收养的小猫四散逃走。
当我们走向那间小农舍，一个高大瘦削的妇人站在门口和我们打招呼。我们在琳琅满目的杂物中穿行，她抱歉地说：“有点乱，请见谅。”
苏珊引我们参观房子。四脚的小毛球在脚下游晃，笨拙地爬上脏沙发和椅子背，似乎给房子增添了活力。她骄傲地向我们展示她的房间，房间简陋但很整洁。床边一个板条箱上摆着一个晦暗的相框，相片上是苏珊的爸妈和兄弟姐妹。后来我们得知，她和家人分开好久了。
我跟着苏珊的养母走进厨房。她清理出一小块地方，在给我们各自倒上一杯热气腾腾的黑咖啡时，她手轻微地颤抖。喝着咖啡，聊着她养的猫，她开始放松起来。
她向我讲述着对苏珊的喜爱，眼睛里闪烁着温暖的光芒。但当她提及苏珊的过去时，表情就变得忧郁。那一刻，我开始敬佩这位拥有慷慨博爱之心的女人。她为一个女孩打开家门并努力让她的生命变得有意义。
回家路上，霍莉静静坐在车上。我偷偷瞟了她一眼，发现她的背挺得笔直。车在车道上还没停稳，她就推开车门，有方向地朝侧门走去。出于好奇，我转道走进花园跟着她。看到她站在垃圾桶旁边往里看时，我如骨鲠在喉。她耷拉着肩膀，拖着脚步回到家里。
把车停进车库后，我进屋，走向客厅的橱柜。这时霍莉正坐在厨房桌子旁边，凝视着窗外。
“你是在找这个吗？”我将一块毯子放到她面前的桌子上。
“谢谢你，妈妈。”一两滴泪从她眼中滑落，落在那深蓝色的毯子角料上。仿佛是奇迹-那块毯子变成了全世界最珍贵的生日礼物。
英语文化小知识
Teach a fish how to swim.
你听说过有不会游泳的鱼吗？你听说过鱼因不会游泳而淹死的事吗？如果谁有这样的担忧，就和那个被嘲笑了几千年的担心天会塌下来的杞国人没什么差别了，必定会成为人们茶余饭后的笑料。
作为一种本能，鱼儿天生就是会游泳的，完全适应水底生活。如果有人想教鱼儿“how toswim”，这和在鲁班门前卖弄使斧头的功夫，在孔老夫子面前卖弄写文章的本领又有什么差异呢？因此，“teach a fish how to swim ”的含义就是“班门弄斧”，“在孔夫子面前卖文章”。
英语中类似的表达还有：teach a dog to chase rabbits；teach the Pope how to pray；useChinese maxims in front of Confucius.
