在平日的学习、工作和生活里，大家一定都接触过散文吧？散文是抒发作文真情实感，写作方式灵活的记叙类文学体裁。那么，你知道一篇好的散文要怎么写吗？如下是编辑给家人们收集的经典英语散文【精选8篇】，希望对大家有所帮助。
On mother's day in the early morning, my sister went out and brought home a bunch of pretty flowers. right after my mother got up out of bed, we said ”happy mother's day"! to her and gave her the flowers. my mother was very happy; she smiled and said, 'how wonderful the flowers look! thank you! also, we told her we were going to do all the housework for our beloved mother, and she could take a rest for a day. in the beginning, we were excited about all the work we can do at home.
before long, we found that the housework seemed to be endless, there was cooking and washing, and cleaning to do, and there was shopping to do, too . during the dinner hour, the kitchen seemed so busy. my father was making a salad, my sister was baking a pie for dessert, and i was washing rice and vegetables, and there were many other things to do. finally, the dinner was ready; it was two hours behind the usual schedule. the food was not as delicious as my mother's. nevertheless, my mother and father enjoyed it, and felt very proud of their daughter and and son.
Solitude
孤独
I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the be in company,even with the best, is soon wearisome. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows. 'The really diligent student in one of the crowded hives of Cambridge College is as solitary as a dervish in the desert. The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day, hoeing or chopping，and not feel lonesome. beacause he is employed; but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone, at the mercy of his thoughts, but must be where he can ”see the folks,“ and recreate, and,as he thinks. remunerate himself for his day's solitude; and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without ennui and ”the blues“; but he does not realize that the student, though in the house, is still at work in his field, and chopping in his woods, as the farmer ire his. and in turn seeks the same recreation and society that the latter does, though it may be a more condensed form of it.
大部分时候，我发现独处都是有益于健康的。有人陪伴，即使是最好的同伴，不久也会心生厌烦，兴致将消散。我爱独处。我没有遇见比孤独更好的伴侣了。我们置身国外，立行人群之中，通常比独处室内更加寂寞。一个思考着的或工作着的人总是孤独的，就让他去他想去的地方吧。孤独不是以和同伴之间的距离里程来衡量的。真正勤奋的学生，在剑桥学院一个拥挤的蜂房里，就像沙漠中的苦行僧一样孤单。农夫可以整日在田间或林中独自工作，耕地或者伐木，却并不感到寂寞，因为他有活儿干；可是当他晚上回到家中，却不能在房间坐下独自思考，而必须去“能看到乡亲”的地方消遣娱乐，正如他所想的，去补偿他五天的孤寂；因此他不明白学生如何可以整日整夜地独坐在家里，而不感到倦怠和“优郁”;但他没有意识到，学生虽然身处室内，却依然在自己的田野上耕耘，在自己的森林中采伐。就像农夫在他的田地林间工作一样，之后学生也和农夫一样要去寻求消遣，山要去交朋结友，只是娱乐方式可能更加简明一些。
Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old mushy cheese that we are. We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war.We meet at the post office, and at the sociable,and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other's way, and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another. Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications. Consider the girls in a factory-never alone, hardly in their dreams. It would be better if there were but one inhabitant to a square mile, as where I live.The value of a man is not in his skin.
社会交际往往极其廉价。我们相聚的时间十分短暂，没有足够的时间让彼此获得任何有价值的新事物。我们在一日三餐的时候见面，我们就如陈腐的奶略，却让彼此相互品尝出新味道。我们必须一致同意若干条规则，也就是我们所谓的礼节和礼貌，使这种经常的聚会相安无事，我们还要一致同意我们没有争吵的必要。我们在邮局碰面，在社交场合碰面，每天晚上在炉火边碰面；我们生活得很拥挤，相互干扰，彼此牵绊，我想，我们因此失去了对彼此的尊重。当然，所有重要的、真诚的沟通，次数少一些就足够了。想一想工厂里的女工——永远不会独处，甚至在梦中也难得是独自一人。如果一平方英里只有一个居民，就像我这样，那要好多了。一个人的价值不在于他的外在。
Thc happy door
快乐之门
Happiness is like a pebble dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-widening circle of ripples. As Stevenson has said, being happy is a duty.
快乐就像一块为了激起阵阵涟漪而丢进池塘的小石头。正好史蒂文森所说，快乐是一种责任。
There is no exact definition of the word happiness. Happy people are happy for all sorts of reasons. The key is not wealth or physical well-being, since we find beggars, invalids and so-called failures, who are extremely happy.
快乐这个词并没有确切的定义，快乐的人快乐的理由多种多样。快乐的关键并不是财富或身体健康，因为我们发现有些乞丐，残疾人和所谓的失败者也都非常快乐。
Being happy is a sort of unexpected dividend. But staying happy is an accomplishment, a triumph of soul and character. It is not selfish to strive for it. It is, indeed, a duty to ourselves and others.
快乐是一种意外的收获，但保持快乐却是一种成就，一种灵性的胜利。努力追寻快乐并不自私，实际上，这是我们对自己和他人应尽的责任。
Being unhappy is like an infectious disease. It causes people to shrink away from the sufferer. He soon finds himself alone, miserable and embittered. There is, however, a cure so simple as to seem, at first glance, ridiculous; if you don’t feel happy, pretend to be!
不快乐就像传染病，它使得人们都躲避不快乐的人。不快乐的人很快就会发现自己处于孤独，悲惨，痛苦的境地。然而，有一种简单得看似荒谬的治病良方：如果你不快乐，就假装你很快乐！
It works. Before long you will find that instead of repelling people, you attract them. You discover how deeply rewarding it is to be the center of wider and wider circles of good will.
这很有效。不久你就会发现，别人不再躲着你了，相反，你开始吸引别人了。你会发觉，做一块能激起好意涟漪的小石头有多么值得。
Then the make-believe becomes a reality. You possess the secret of peace of mind, and can forget yourself in being of service to others.
然后假装就变成了现实。你拥有了使心灵平静的'秘密，会因帮助他人而忘我。
Being happy, once it is realized as a duty and established as a habit, opens doors into unimaginable gardens thronged with grateful friends.
一旦你认识到快乐是一种责任并使快乐成为习惯，通向不可思议的乐园的大门就会向你敞开，那里满是感激你的朋友。
We've all heard the quote, 'Be Kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.'
我们都听过这句话：“要善良，因为你遇到的每个人都在经历某种痛苦。”
My husband and son died within two years of each other. From my personal experience, I believe that if we aren't careful, grief can become a rather self-involved process in which we can become so focused on our own suffering that we miss the opportunity to connect with, and possibly bring comfort to, someone else who may be going through a similar experience.
我的丈夫和儿子两年内相继去世。从我的个人经验来看，我相信我们一不小心就会被伤痛左右，以自己为中心，我们会变得过于关注自己的痛苦，而错失和正经历相似痛苦的人接触的机会，也无法给予他们安慰。
Six months after my husband died, I was sinking in the quicksand of grief. I could not pull myself out of the misery.
那时，我真的认为自己的生活要比身边任何人都不容易。生活给我上了完美的一课，通过这次不幸我认清了一个事实：顾影自怜使我看不到别人，只看到自己。
In that moment, I actually believed that my life was more difficult than anyone else around me. Life handed me a perfectly wrapped lesson that opened my eyes to the fact that through my suffering I had allowed myself to become blinded by my self-pity.
我在健康出现问题时吸取了这个教训。我的外科手术引发了并发症，最终住院4天。那段时期我极其痛苦，身体的疼痛和精神上的伤痛把我夹在中间，我的生活一团糟。
The lesson presented itself in a health crisis. I had complications from a surgical procedure and ended up being hospitalized for four days. I was in an extreme amount of pain during this time. Between the physical pain and the emotional pain of grief, I was an absolute mess.
我也应该告诉你我是一名注册护士。对护士而言，很难接受自己成为病人并进行药物治疗这种事。
I should also tell you that I am a Registered Nurse. As a nurse, it is hard to be on the receiving end of medicine as the patient.
住院的前三个晚上同一位护士护理我。她挺年轻，可能快30岁。头两个晚上几乎不怎么跟我说话，除了定期来给我送药。很明显她不知道我精神上有多痛苦。问问你的病人感觉怎么样能有多难？我认定她是不合格的护士，缺乏同情心，而且我依然沉浸在自己精神和身体的痛苦中。
The first three nights that I was in the hospital, the same nurse took care of me. She was young, maybe in her mid to late 20s, and she hardly interacted with me at all the first two nights, other than to give my medications as scheduled. She obviously had no idea how much emotional pain I was in. How hard is it to ask your patient how she's feeling? I wrote her off as a bad nurse who had little empathy, and remained absorbed in my own emotional and physical pain.
第三天晚上这个年轻的护士开始打开了话匣子，她问我感觉怎样(终于问了！)。我告诉她我正挣扎于沮丧和痛苦之中，因为我丈夫死于一场飞机事故。
The third night the young nurse was a little more talkative. She asked me how I was feeling (finally!). I told her that I was struggling with depression and grief because my husband had died in an airplane accident.
她看着我，跟我说她丈夫就在两个月前刚刚去世。我有点不知所措，说不出话，我被惊到了！
She looked at me and told me that her husband had died too, just two months earlier. I was stunned. Speechless. Shocked.
Never, in any of the possibilities that my mind entertained of why this nurse was so stand-offish with me, did I even consider that she might be in the same pain I was. Not only was she grieving as I was, but she was having to take care of me, instead of caring for herself and her family.
我从未想过她对我如此冷淡会是因为这个，我甚至都没想过她可能会有同样的痛苦。她不仅和我一样悲痛，而且还要照顾我，而不是照顾她自己和家人。
我们继续讨论分享我们丈夫和孩子的事，我觉着我们那天晚上都给了彼此一点帮助。
We went on to talk and share our stories about our late husbands and children. I like to think that we helped each other a bit that night.
我们之间的共同点比我想的要多，我们都成了单亲妈妈，孩子都还小，而且都是护士。但也就这些了，她丈夫没有保险，家里经济来源很少，她就靠着一点工资养活家里的男孩儿们。我觉着自愧不如，我意识到自己该有多知足。坦白说，这次经历改变了我对生活的看法。
We had much more in common than I would have believed. We were both widowed single moms with young children, and nurses. But, that was where the similarities ended. Her husband had no insurance policy. She had very little family support. She was working paycheck to paycheck to support her boys. I was humbled. I realized how much I had to be grateful for. And, frankly, I never saw life the same way after this experience.
这次的经历改变了我的生活，之前我总是对自己的同情心引以为傲，但现在我意识到了我根本没理解同情的真谛。
This experience was a life-changing event for me. I had always prided myself on being an empathetic person, but I realize now that I had not really understood what being empathetic meant.
想要具备真正的同情心，你的眼光必须超越你自己的伤痛，以局外人的角度看待自己的痛苦。从那之后，我看待别人的`眼光也不一样了。
To truly be empathetic, you must be able to see beyond your own pain to be witness to the pain. I never looked at another person in the same way after this experience.
杂货店的收银员结账时有点粗鲁，好像还很着急？谁知道他今天、或者这周、或者这一生发生了什么呢？可能他最近失去了爱人或孩子，可能他蒙受了很多损失，我无法知晓他经历了什么。我是谁呀，怎么能去评判他呢？
The cashier checking me out at the grocery store who seemed rude and in a hurry? Who knows what was going on in his day, week, life? Maybe he recently lost a spouse or a child. Maybe he has experienced compounded losses. I had no way of knowing what this man was going through. Who was I to judge him?
有些事情我要感谢死亡，它教会了我同情身边人，使我知道了我们都经受着某种痛苦，而有些是别人看不到的。这些都是死亡馈赠给我的，我会永远心存感激。
I thank death for very few things. The gift of empathy for my fellow man, and understanding that we all suffer in ways that aren't always visible, are presents from death that I will always be grateful for.
Always take the time to be kind. Even when you're suffering with your own pain. And don't assume that someone else has it easier than you. You never know the battles someone else is fighting.
我所追求的生活
That must be the story of innumerable couples，and the pattern of lifeof life it offers has a homely grace.It reminds you of a placid rivulet，meandering smoohtly through green pastures and shaded by pleasant trees，till at last it falls into the vasty sea;but the sea is so calm，so silent，so infifferent，that you are troubled suddently by a vague uneasiness.Perhaps it is only by a kink in my nature，strong in me even in those days，that i felt in such an existence，the share of the great majority，something amiss.I recognized its social value.I saw its ordered happiness，but a fever in my blood asked for a wilder course.There seemed to me something alarming in such easy delights.In my heart was desire to live more dangerously.I was not unprepared for jagged rocks and treacherous，shoals it I could only have change-change and the exicitement of unforeseen.
这一定是世间无数对夫妻的生活写照，这种生活模式给人一种天伦之美。它使人想起一条平静的溪流，蜿蜒畅游过绿茵的草场，浓荫遮蔽，最后注入烟波浩渺的汪洋大海；但是大海太过平静，太过沉默，太过不动声色，你会突然感到莫名的不安。也许这只是我自己的一种怪诞想法，在那样的时代，这想法对我影响很深：我觉得这像大多数人一样的生活，似乎欠缺了一点儿什么。我承认这种生活有社会价值，我也看到了它那井然有序的幸福，但我血液里的冲动却渴望一种更桀骜不驯的旅程。这样的安逸中好像有一种叫我惊惧不安的东西。我的心渴望一种更加惊险的生活。只要生活中还能有变迁———以及不可知的刺激，我愿意踏上怪石嶙峋的山崖，奔赴暗礁满布的海滩。
Today I begin a new life.
Today I shed my old skin which hath, too long, suffered the bruises of failure and the wounds of mediority.
Today I am born anew and my birthplace is a vineyard where there is fruit for all.
Today I will pluck grapes of wisdom from the tallest and fullest vines in the vineyard,for these were planted by the wisest of my profession who have come before me,generation upon generation.
Today I will savor the taste of grapes from these vines and verily I will swallow the seed of success buried in each and new life will sprout within me.
The career I have chosen is laden with opportunity yet it is fraught with heartbreak and despair and the bodies of those who have failed, were they piled one atop another, would cast a shadow down upon all the pyramids of the earth.
Yet I will not fail, as the others, for in my hands I now hold the charts which will guide through perilous waters to shores which only yesterday seemed but a dream.
Failure no longer will be my payment for struggle. Just as nature made no provision for my body to tolerate pain neither has it made any provision for my life to suffer failure. Failure, like pain, is alien to my life. In the past I accepted it as I accepted pain. Now I reject it and I am prepared for wisdom and principles which will guide me out of the shadows into the sunlight of wealth, position, and happiness far beyond my most extravagant dreams until even the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides will seem no more than my just reward.
Time teaches all things to him who lives forever but I have not the luxury of eternity. Yet within my allotted time I must practice the art of patience for nature acts never in haste. To create the olive, king of all trees, a hundred years is required. An onion plant is old in nine weeks. I have lived as an onion plant. It has not pleased me. Now I wouldst become the greatest of olive trees and, in truth, the greatest of salesman.
And how will this be accomplished? For I have neither the knowledge nor the experience to achieve the greatness and already I have stumbled in ignorance and fallen into pools of self-pity. The answer is simple. I will commence my journey unencumbered with either the weight of unnecessary knowledge or the handicap of meaningless experience. Nature already has supplied me with knowledge and instinct far greater than any beast in the forest and the value of experience is overrated, usually by old men who nod wisely and speak stupidly.
In truth, experience teaches thoroughly yet her course of instruction devours mens years so the value of her lessons diminishes with the time necessary to acquire her special wisdom. The end finds it wasted on dead men. Furthermore, experience is comparable to fashion; an action that proved successful today will be unworkable and impractical tomorrow.
Only principles endure and these I now possess, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained in the words of these scrolls. What they will teach me is more to prevent failure than to gain success, for what is success other than a state of mind? Which two, among a thouand wise men, will define success in the same words; yet failure is always described but one way. Failure is mans inability to reach his goals in life, whatever they may be.
圣诞前的快乐
A light drizzle was falling as my sister Jill and I ran out of the Methodist Church, eager to get home and play with the presents that Santa had left for us and our baby sister, Sharon. Across the street from the church was a Pan American gas station where the Greyhound bus stopped. It was closed for Christmas, but I noticed a family standing outside the locked door, huddled under the narrow overhang in an attempt to keep dry. I wondered briefly why they were there but then forgot about them as I raced to keep up with Jill.
天上下着毛毛细雨，我和姐姐吉尔跑出卫理公会教堂，满心只想着快点回到家玩圣诞老人给我们和小妹妹莎伦准备的'礼物玩具。教堂的对面是泛美油站，灰狗长途汽车会在那里中途停站。因为是圣诞节，那天油站没开，不过我发现在紧锁的站门外站着一家人，他们挤在狭小的檐篷下，想尽量不被雨淋湿。我闪过一个疑问，他们为什么站在那里呢？但在我赶上吉尔的时候也就把这个疑团抛诸脑后了。
Once we got home, there was barely time to enjoy our presents. We had to go off to our grandparents' house for our annual Christmas dinner. As we drove down the highway through town, I noticed that the family was still there, standing outside the closed gas station.
回到家后其实根本没时间让我们尽情把玩礼物，因为我们马上又得去爷爷奶奶家共进一年一度的圣诞大餐。在开车经过刚才那条大路时，我看到那一家人仍然站在紧闭的油站门外。
My father was driving very slowly down the highway. The closer we got to the turnoff for my grandparents' house, the slower the car went. Suddenly, my father U-turned in the middle of the road and said, “I can't stand it!”
在那主干道上爸爸的车开得很慢。越接近去爷爷奶奶家的分岔路口，车子就越慢。突然，爸爸在半路中途来了个180度转弯，把车子原路驶回，他说：“我实在不忍心！
”What?“ asked my mother.
”什么？“妈妈问他。
”It's those people back there at the Pan Am, standing in the rain. They've got children. It's Christmas. I can't stand it.“
”那几个在雨中站在泛美油站外的人。他们还带着小孩呢。圣诞节当前，我真的不忍心啊。“
When my father pulled into the service station, I saw that there were five of them: the parents and three children - two girls and a small boy.
爸爸把车开到油站旁停下，我看见那一家总共有5个人：父母俩和三个孩子--两个女孩跟一个小男孩。
My father rolled down his window. ”Merry Christmas,“ he said.
爸爸摇下车窗对他们说：”圣诞快乐！“
”Howdy,“ the man replied. He was very tall and had to stoop slightly to peer into the car. Jill, Sharon, and I stared at the children, and they stared back at us.
”你好，“那个男人回了一句。他长得很高，要稍微弯下腰来往我们车里瞧。我和吉尔、莎伦盯着那几个小孩，他们也瞪眼看着我们。
”You waiting on the bus?“ my father asked.
”你们在等汽车吗？“爸爸问他们。
The man said that they were. They were going to Birmingham, where he had a brother and prospects of a job.
男人回答说是，他们准备去伯明翰，他有个哥哥在那边，而且期望能谋到一份工作。
”Well, that bus isn't going to come along for several hours, and you're getting wet standing here. Winborn's just a couple miles up the road. They've got a shed with a cover there, and some benches,“ my father said. ”Why don't y'all get in the car and I'll run you up there.“
”汽车起码要好几个小时后才到这里，站在这儿等车你们都会淋湿的。往前几英里就是温邦站，那儿有个棚屋，有地方避雨，还有些板凳。不如上车我送你们到那里吧。“
The man thought about it for a moment, and then he beckoned to his family. They climbed into the car. They had no luggage, only the clothes they were wearing.
男人想了一下然后示意他家人过来。他们钻进车里，除了身上穿着的衣服，他们没有任何行李。
Once they settled in, my father looked back over his shoulder and asked the children if Santa had found them yet. Three glum faces mutely gave him his answer.
等他们坐好了，爸爸转过头来问那几个孩子，圣诞老人找到他们没有。三张忧郁的脸无声地回答了他。
”Well, I didn't think so,“ my father said, winking at my mother, ”because when I saw Santa this morning, he told me that he was having trouble finding all, and he asked me if he could leave your toys at my house. We'll just go get them before I take you to the bus stop.“
”我看不是吧，“爸爸边说边向妈妈眨眼暗示，”早上我碰到圣诞老人了，他说找不到你们，想把给你们的礼物暂时放到我们家里来。现在咱们就去拿礼物吧，待会儿我再送你们去车站。
All at once, the three children's faces lit up, and they began to bounce around in the back seat, laughing and chattering.
三个孩子的脸顿时阴霾尽散，还在后排座位蹦蹦跳跳，笑笑嚷嚷起来。
When we got out of the car at our house, the three children ran through the front door and straight to the toys that were spread out under our Christmas tree. One of the girls spied Jill's doll and immediately hugged it to her breast. I remember that the little boy grabbed Sharon's ball. And the other girl picked up something of mine. All this happened a long time ago, but the memory of it remains clear. That was the Christmas when my sisters and I learned the joy of making others happy.
到了我家一下车，那三个孩子穿过大门就直奔摆在圣诞树下的礼物。其中一个小女孩发现了吉尔的洋娃娃礼物，马上把它抱入怀中。我记得那小男孩抓走了莎伦的小球，而另外一个女孩就挑走了一件我的东西。这些都是很久很久以前的事了，然而回忆起来还是那么清晰，因为在那个圣诞日我和我的姐妹领会到了让别人快乐而获得的愉悦。
My mother noticed that the middle child was wearing a short-sleeved dress, so she gave the girl Jill's only sweater to wear.
妈妈看到他们家老二穿着的裙子是短袖的，便把吉尔仅有的毛衣给了她穿。
My father invited them to join us at our grandparents' for Christmas dinner, but the parents refused. Even when we all tried to talk them into coming, they were firm in their decision.
爸爸邀请他们一起去爷爷奶奶家吃圣诞大餐，但他们两夫妇拒绝了。就算怎么游说，他们还是坚拒了我们的好意。
Back in the car, on the way to Winborn, my father asked the man if he had money for bus fare.
回到车里在去温邦的路上爸爸问那男人有没有钱买车票。
His brother had sent tickets, the man said.
他说哥哥寄了车票来。
My father reached into his pocket and pulled out two dollars, which was all he had left until his next payday. He pressed the money into the man's hand. The man tried to give it back, but my father insisted. “It'll be late when you get to Birmingham, and these children will be hungry before then. Take it. I've been broke before, and I know what it's like when you can't feed your family.”
爸爸从口袋里掏出仅有的两美元，本来是我们要熬到下次发工资的，他却把这钱塞到了男人的手里。男人想把钱推回来，但爸爸硬要他收下。“等你们到伯明翰就已经很晚了，路上孩子们会饿的。收下吧，我以前也曾一贫如洗，让家人挨饿的滋味不好受，我知道的。”
We left them there at the bus stop in Winborn. As we drove away, I watched out the window as long as I could, looking back at the little gihugging her new doll.
把他们送到温邦的车站后，我们就开车离开了。我从车窗回望良久，凝望着那小女孩拥着她的新洋娃娃。
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。