有一个这样的哥哥，诚然是一种幸福……

A friend of mine named Paul received an auto-mobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin1 was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it."Is this your car, Mister?"he asked.

Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was astounded2. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had abrother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.3

"I wish," the boy went on,"that I could be a brother like that."

Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively4 he added, 'Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"5

"Oh yes, I'd love that."

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow6, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?"

Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked.

He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled7 brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.8

"There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one just like it... then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about."

Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said:" It is more blessed to give..."9

1. street urchin: 街头顽童。

2. astound: 使震惊。

3. 但男孩所说的话给保罗极大的震动。lad: 男孩，少年；jar: 震动，使动摇。

4. impulsively: 冲动地。

5. 你想乘我的车去兜兜风吗？

6. 眼睛闪亮。aglow: 发光的。

7. crippled: 腿拐的。

8. 他把弟弟放到最下面的台阶上，然后几乎是挤靠在他的身边，指着那辆车。squeeze upagainst:〈口〉挤紧，靠拢。

9. 那个平安夜，保罗懂得了耶稣说过的那句话的含义，“给予是更幸福的事……”。