BANJO / 班卓琴

I am a music store owner. One day, when I was cleaning the instruments in my store, I saw an old man come in. His short steps dragged on the carpet. “Is 77 too old to learn the banjo?” he asked.

“It’s never too late to learn to play,” I replied, holding back my doubts. Arthritic knuckles told me I was giving false encouragement. I reached the instructor’s schedule and gave the rates, the available time and the additional information that he would need. To my surprise and delight, the old man, Carl, began banjo lessons three days later with my most patient teacher.

With nothing to do at home but practice, Carl made surprising progress. After breakfast he practiced for his required half hour. While waiting for lunch he picked up his banjo again for just a couple of minutes. Since TV was difficult for him to see and hear, he often played the banjo in the evenings. Carl was always early for lessons so it was a surprise that he didn’t arrive one Tuesday.

The next morning I listened to the answering machine with sadness. “Carl’s in hospital,” the voice recorded.

Two months later, I shared the newspaper obituary with the banjo teacher. We both shed tears for a surprisingly clever banjo student.

Several months later, an old woman came into the store carrying a plant. “This is for Carl’s banjo teacher,” she said. “I’m his wife, Mary.”

“Why did Carl want to play the banjo?” I asked. Mary took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Carl was at some show when he was 10 years old. He came close to the stage to watch the performers. When they were packing up their instruments, the banjo player said to Carl, ‘You want to see this up close?’ Carl climbed up on the stage and from then on he wanted to play the banjo.” Carl had waited 67 years to fulfill this dream! Mary gave the plant to me. “Thank you for the best six months of his life,” she said.

【助讀詞匯】

◇banjo n. 班卓琴

◇arthritic adj. 關節炎的

◇knuckle n. 指關節，膝關節

◇rate n.費用，價格

◇obituary n. 訃聞，訃告

【參考譯文】

班卓琴

我是一家樂器行的老板。一天，當我在店里清理樂器的時候，我看見一位老人走了進來。他拖著小步走過地毯，問：“77歲才學班卓琴會不會太老了？”

我抑制住自己的懷疑，說：“學習樂器，從任何時候開始都不晚。”我患關節炎的指關節告訴我，可能不該這樣鼓勵他。我伸手拿出指導老師的安排表，然后告訴他學費，上課的時段，以及一些其他需要了爭的信息。讓我意外和高興的是，老人卡爾三天后就跟我手下最有耐心的老師開始學彈班卓琴。

因為在家里除了練習沒別的事做，所以卡爾取得了驚人的進步。早飯后，他按自己的要求練習半個小時。在等午餐的時候，他又拿起琴來彈上幾分鐘。因為他看不清電視，也聽不清里面講些什么，所以他常常在晚上練琴。卡爾上課一直來得很早，所以當有一天星期四他沒有來上課時，讓大家感到很意外。

第二天我打開電話答錄機，傷心地聽到里面的聲音說：“卡爾住院了。”

兩個月后，我把報紙上的訃聞給班卓琴老師看。我們都為這個出奇聰明的學生流下了眼淚。

幾個月后，一位老女人端著一盆植物走進了樂器行。“這是送給教卡爾班卓琴的老師的，”她說，“我是他的妻子，瑪麗。”

“卡爾為什么想彈班卓琴呢？”我問。瑪麗深深吸了口氣，然后慢慢地吐了出來。“當卡爾10歲的時候，他去看表演。為了看清演奏者，他站到了在舞臺的最前面。當他們收拾樂器的時候，班卓琴的彈奏者對卡爾說：‘你想靠近來看嗎？’卡爾爬上了舞臺，從那以后他就想彈班卓琴。”卡爾等了67年才實現這個夢想！瑪麗把盆栽遞給我，說：“謝謝你讓他度過了人生中最美好的6個月。”

【人生啟迪】

生命一天沒結束，我們的奮斗就一天都不會終止。不要在人前唏噓感嘆兒時不能實現的夢想，現在開始努力去實現它也不晚。無所為的話，你和夢想就天各一方。現在就行動的話，你和夢想可能只有一步之遙。