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。
Jenny"s pearl-necklace
珍妮的珍珠项链
The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.
“Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!” Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl"s upturned face.“A dollar ninety-five. That"s almost 2. If you really want them, I"ll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them yourself. Your birthday"s only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma.” As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her piggy bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more chores. She went to the neighbor, Mrs. McJames, and asked if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.
Jenny loved her pearls pretty much. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere—Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother had told her that if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.
Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny,“Do you love me?”
“Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you.”
“Then may I have your pearls?”
“Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess — the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She"s my favorite.”
“That"s okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night.” And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
About a week later, after the story time, Jenny"s daddy asked again, “Do you love me?”
“Daddy, you know I love you.”
“Then will you give me your pearls?”
“Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my Barbie Doll. The brand-new7) one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.”
“That"s okay, Honey. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you.” And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.
“What is it, Jenny? What"s the matter?”
Jenny didn"t say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. When she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, “Here, Daddy. It"s for you.” With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny"s daddy reached out with one hand to take the prized necklace. With the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case. He handed the handsome velvet case to Jenny and told her, “Thank you for giving me your most prized possession. Here Honey, I have this for you also. I wanted to trade you, but I was going to give these to you tonight either way.”
As Jenny opened the blue velvet box, she saw so nice a thing itself she"d never known. The glistening sheen of the rich white pearls struck her teary eyes.
那个快乐的女孩大约五岁，她有着一头富有弹性的金色卷发。她和妈妈一起站在收款台等候付款的时候，看见了它——一串放在粉红色金属盒中，闪闪发光的白色珍珠项链。
“噢，求你了，妈咪。我能要那个吗？求你了，妈咪，求你了！”她的妈妈快速看了一眼小金属盒子背面的价格标签，然后又看着小姑娘的蓝眼睛，她仰着头，眼睛里充满了恳求。“1美元95美分，将近2美元了。如果你真想要它，我会考虑额外分配一些家务活给你做，要不了多久，你就能攒够钱买下来。还有一个星期就到你的生日了，你还可以从奶奶那里得到一张崭新的1美元钞票。”珍妮一回到家，就把她的小猪储钱罐倒空，数出了17美分。吃过晚饭，她多做了一些家务。她还到邻居麦克詹姆斯夫人那里，问是否可以出10美分让她把花圃里的蒲公英挖掉。在她生日那天，奶奶真的给了她一张崭新的1美元钞票，她终于有足够的钱买那条项链了。
珍妮非常珍爱那条珍珠项链。那些珍珠让她觉得自己打扮得漂漂亮亮，而且让她觉得自己长大了。无论到哪里去，她都要戴着这条项链——主日学校、幼儿园甚至上床睡觉。只有在游泳或者洗泡泡浴的时候，她才会把它摘下来。因为母亲告诉过她，如果项链湿了，可能会把她的脖子染成绿颜色。
珍妮的爸爸非常疼爱她。每天晚上珍妮准备睡觉的时候，不管他当时在做什么，都会停下来，上楼为她读个故事。一天晚上，在他讲完故事之后，他问珍妮：“你爱我吗？”
“噢，是的，爸爸。你知道我爱你。”
“那我能拿走你的珍珠项链吗？”
“噢，爸爸，珍珠项链可不行。不过，你可以拿走‘公主’——我的收藏品中的那匹白马。就是那匹有一条粉红色尾巴的马。记得吗，爸爸？那是你送给我的。我可喜欢它了。”
“好吧，亲爱的。爸爸爱你。晚安。”他在她的面颊上轻轻地亲了一下。
大约过了一个星期，爸爸给珍妮讲完故事之后，又问她：“你爱我吗？”
“爸爸，你知道我爱你。”
“那么，你愿意把你的珍珠项链送给我吗？”
“噢，爸爸，我的珍珠项链可不行。不过，你可以拿走我的芭比娃娃。就是我生日那天得到的那个新的。她非常漂亮，你还可以拿走那条与她的床配套的黄毯子。”
“那好吧，亲爱的。睡个好觉。愿上帝保佑你，小家伙。爸爸爱你。”然后，他和往常一样，在她的脸颊上轻轻地亲了一下。
几天之后，当爸爸走进她的房间时，珍妮正盘腿坐在床上。他走近时，注意到她的下巴正哆嗦着，一滴泪水静静地从脸颊上流了下来。
“怎么了，珍妮？发生了什么事？”
珍妮没说话，只是向爸爸举起了小手。她张开手，里面是她的那串珍珠项链。当她终于开口说话的时候，她的声音有些发颤。她说：“给你，爸爸。这是送给你的。”泪水涌入了珍妮爸爸的眼睛。他一手接过那条珍贵的项链，另一只手伸进口袋里，掏出一个蓝色天鹅绒的盒子。他把那个漂亮的天鹅绒盒子递给珍妮，说：“谢谢你把自己最宝贵的财产送给了我 。给你，亲爱的，我也有一件礼物要送给你。我本想与你交换的，不过不论怎样今晚我都打算送给你。”
珍妮打开那个蓝色天鹅绒的盒子时，看见了一件自己从未见过的美丽绝伦的东西——一条昂贵的白色珍珠项链。珍珠反射出的亮光照耀着她泪水模糊的双眼。
A fair bride-price
合理的聘礼
A few years ago, as a college student, I journeyed to Kenya on a mission team with a social service organization. The goal for the ten of us was to construct a school classroom for a Masai village and to share crafts, games and skits with the local Masai children. None of us had ever traveled to Africa before, and the deep colors and vibrancy of the landscape and people made us a profound impression.
Our driver, Frances, was a black-skinned Masai man with a brilliant smile. One evening, Frances needed to deliver a Masai chief to the local hospital clinic and asked if anyone wanted to accompany him. I volunteered, and once our errand was completed, we began the fifty-minute journey back into town. I knew Frances was married and asked him how he had first met his wife.
“I was fifteen years old when I first met Mary,”he told me. “She was collecting water at the town well with the other women. I was with my friends and showed off in front of her as boys do, but we never spoke. The first time I saw her I thought she was an angel. She was so beautiful, and her smile lit up everything and everyone around her.”
He paused to hide a smile of his own before he went on.
“The problem was that Mary is a Kikuyu, and I am a Masai. The two bribes have a history of hatred and bloodbaths. They do not intermarry or trust each other. They do not even speak.”
