Ishana Verma

I love the power of a storm. It is oneof the most amazing shows of nature andwhen it passes， it leaves behind a light thatis nothing short of magnificent1. That waswhy I went for a walk after the storm.

In the middle of my walk， I saw twoboys and a little girl bouncing2 across thestreet like rabbits， dragging3 a bag behindthem. I didnt know what the matter wasand didnt care to know. I kept walking andwatched the kids disappear into a lane4.

A few minutes later， I saw thechildren again. They were collectingmangoes that had fallen on the streetsfrom the trees in the storm. I watched thechildren as they went from one mango treeto another. One of the kids soon realizedthat I was observing5 them. He got a littlenervous for a moment but then he decidedto ignore6 me and kept picking themangoes off the street. I walked up tothem and asked，“What are you doing？”

Startled7， the two boys said nothingbut the little girl said excitedly， “We arecollecting mangoes.”

I smiled and they kept collectingthe mangoes.

Not all the mangoes were in goodshape. After all， they had fallen from thetrees onto the concrete8. The childreninspected9 each mango they found. If itwas any good， they put it in their bag; ifnot， they threw it away.

was also walking along with them，though I kept a comfortable distance10.

Time passed. I looked at their bagand realized that they had more thanenough for themselves and yet， they weresearching for more mangoes. I noticedanother strange thing—they hadnt eateneven a single mango from the bag.

“Dont you think you have enoughmangoes for yourselves？”I asked.

They looked at me but said nothing.After a moment， the little girl said，“Weare not collecting them for ourselves. Weare going to sell them.”

One of the boys elbowed11 her atonce. It was clear that they did not want totell their plan to me.

After a while， when the boys went alittle further to pick the mangoes， the littlegirl walked up to me slowly and told metheir secret.

“We are going to sell these mangoes sothat we can buy gift for our mother. Todayis her birthday. We spent all morningthinking about what we could give her， butwe had no answer until the storm hit. Oneof my brothers came up with the idea ofpicking up the fallen mangoes and sellingthem to get the money for her gift.”

I was impressed12 by her words.

The little girl went back to join herbrothers to inspect and pick up themangoes， and I stood there processing theinformation I had just received.

They were young children. The oldestwas probably ten years old， the younger boymaybe eight and the little girl couldnt bemore than six. What could I do？

After some more streets and a lot moremangoes， the children decided that they hadenough and went towards the market. I hadbeen with them in their journey. So Idecided to stay a little longer and watch theculmination13 of their efforts.

I watched them as they put down thebag on the side of the road， poured thecontents14 onto the grass， divided themangoes according to their quality andsize and then put them carefully on thebag. Their prices were low.

The mangoes sold quite quicklybecause of their cheap price. Only a fewmangoes remained now—they were so fewthat people didnt even stop to look at them.

I decided to step forward and offeredto buy them all. “Well， I need somemangoes too. How much are these？”

The little girl smiled at me and theboys said，“Eight rupees15.”

I took out a ten-rupee note and gaveit to them. They started to fumble16 intheir bag to give me change.

“Dont worry， keep the change，”Isaid. But they refused to listen to me andgave me a two-rupee coin.

“So， have you decided what gift youwant to buy for your mother？”I asked.

The boys glared17 at their sister—ithad been their secret and she hadnt beenable to keep it to herself.

Finally， one of the boys said，“Wehavent decided yet. We will count themoney and then see what we can afford.”

They poured out all their money onthe bag and counted it. It was a little overa hundred rupees. By the looks theyexchanged， it was more than they hadexpected. Then they started to discusswhat they should buy. The three of themdidnt make any meaningful progress for along time， until the little girl found anumbrella salesman.

“Mom could use an umbrella. Shealways came home soaking18 wet，”sug -gested the little girl. Her brothers agreed.

I stood there watching them as theyran towards the umbrella salesman andstarted sifting19 through different patternsand colors， but the little girl was veryinterested in a beautiful white umbrellawith red flowers all over it.

She pointed to it and said， “I wantthat one.”

But that umbrella was out of theirprice range20. No matter how much theumbrella salesman tried to explain that toher， she wouldnt understand. It looked asif she was about to cry.

I couldnt just stand and watch anymore. The children were facing theumbrella salesman and had their backstowards me. I pulled out a fifty-rupee notefrom my pocket and waved it at theumbrella salesman. He glanced21 at me. Iplaced my finger on my lips and gestured22for him to be quiet too. He understoodwhat I meant. He gave them the umbrellaand took whatever money they gave him.

As the children went on their waywith their gift， the umbrella salesmanslowly walked up to me， took the fiftyrupeenote from me and walked away.

I know that many would call what Idid “charity23”， but it wasnt. What reallygives money its value is the need thatsomeone has for it. For me， the value of afifty-rupee note is a chocolate bar or maybea bag of chips. But to those kids， that samefifty -rupee note was a way to show theirmother the appreciation they had for herlove and care. They had just increased thevalue of my fifty-rupee note a million fold.

After that day， I looked for thosechildren whenever I walked past themarket， hoping never to see them sellingfruits by the side of the road again.

I never saw them again.

我喜欢暴风雨的威力。这是大自然最令人惊叹的表演之一，而暴风雨过后，会留下壮丽的光。这就是我在暴风雨后去散步的原因。

在我走到半路的时候，我看到两个男孩和一个小女孩像兔子一样蹦蹦跳跳地穿过街道，身后拖着一个袋子。我不知道发生了什么事，也没有在意。我继续走着，看着孩子们消失在一条小巷里。

几分钟后，我又见到了孩子们。他们正在收集暴风雨中从树上掉到街上的芒果。我看着孩子们从一棵芒果树走到另一棵。其中一个孩子很快意识到我在观察他们。他顿时有点紧张，但后来他决定不理我，继续捡街上的芒果。我走到他们面前问：“你们在干什么？”

驚愕之余，两个小男孩什么也没说，但小女孩兴高采烈地说：“我们正在收集芒果。”

我微笑着，而他们继续收集芒果。

并非所有的芒果都完好无损。

毕竟，它们是从树上掉到混凝土地面上的。孩子们检查了他们找到的每一个芒果。如果是还有一点用处的芒果，他们就把它放在袋子里；如果是一点用处也没有的芒果，他们就把它扔掉。

我也和他们一起走着，不过我保持了舒适的距离。

时间一点点过去。我看了看他们的袋子，发现芒果已经足够他们吃了，但他们还在寻找更多的芒果。我注意到另一件奇怪的事———他们连袋子里的一个芒果都没吃。

“你们不觉得芒果已经足够你们吃了吗？”我问。

他们看着我，但什么也没说。过了一会儿，小女孩说：“我们不是为自己收集的。我们打算把它们卖掉。”

其中一个男孩立即用胳膊肘推了推她。很明显，他们不想向我透露他们的计划。

过了一会儿，当男孩们走远一点去捡芒果时，小女孩慢慢地走到我身边，告诉了我他们的秘密。

“我们打算卖掉这些芒果，那样我们就可以给妈妈买礼物了。

今天是她的生日。我们整个上午都在想我们能送什么给她，但直到暴风雨来临，我们才得出答案。

我的一个哥哥想出了一个主意，那就是捡掉落的芒果，然后卖掉，挣到为她买礼物的钱。”

她的话给我留下了深刻的印象。

小女孩回去和她的哥哥们一起检查和捡拾芒果，而我站在那里消化刚刚听到的内容。

他们都是小孩子。最大的可能十岁，小一点的男孩可能八岁，而小女孩不会超过六岁。我能做些什么呢？

在又走了几条街捡了更多芒果之后，孩子们认为他们有足够多的芒果了，就去了市场。一路上，我一直和他们在一起。所以我决定多待一会儿，看看他们努力的成果。

我看着他们把袋子放在路边，把里面的东西倒在草地上，根据芒果的品质和大小将芒果分开，然后小心翼翼地把它们放在袋子上。这些芒果的价格很低。

由于价格便宜，这些芒果卖得很快。现在只剩下几个芒果了———它们太少了，人们甚至都不会停下来看它们。

我决定挺身而出，把它们全部买下来。“嗯，我也需要一些芒果。这些多少钱？”

小女孩对着我微笑，而男孩们说：“八卢比。”

我拿出一张十卢比的钞票给了他们。他们开始在袋子里摸索着要给我找零钱。

“别担心，不用找零。”我说。但他们不听我的话，给了我一枚两卢比的硬币。

“那么，你们决定要给妈妈买什么礼物了吗？”我问。

男孩们怒视着他们的妹妹———这是他们的秘密，而她没能保守秘密。

最后，其中一个男孩说：“我们还没有决定。我们会数数钱，然后看看我们能买得起什么。”

他们把所有的钱都倒在袋子上，数了数。那是一百卢比多一点。从他们交换的眼神来看，这比他们预想的要多。然后他们开始讨论应该买什么。他们三人在很长一段时间内没有取得任何有意义的进展，直到小女孩发现了一个雨伞销售员。

“妈妈可以用一把伞。她总是浑身湿透地回到家。”小女孩建议道。她的哥哥们同意了。

我站在那里看着他们跑向雨伞销售员，开始在不同图案和颜色的雨伞中挑选，但小女孩却对一把布满红花的漂亮白色雨伞感兴趣。

她指着它说：“ 我想要那一把。”

但这把雨伞超出了他们的价格范围。无论雨伞销售员如何向她解释，她都不明白。她看上去快要哭了。

我不能再袖手旁觀了。孩子们正面朝着雨伞推销员，背对着我。

我从口袋里掏出一张50 卢比的钞票，向雨伞销售员挥了挥。他瞥了我一眼。我还把手指放在嘴唇上，示意他不要声张。他明白了我的意思。他把雨伞给了他们，收下了他们给他的所有的钱。

当孩子们带着礼物上路时，雨伞销售员慢慢走到我身边，从我手中接过50 卢比的钞票，然后走开了。

我知道很多人会把我所做的称为“慈善”，但事实并非如此。真正赋予金钱价值的是人对它的需求。对我来说，50 卢比纸币的价值是一根巧克力棒或一袋薯片。但对那些孩子来说，同样的50 卢比纸币是他们向母亲表达对她爱和关心的感激的一种方式。他们刚刚把我50 卢比纸币的价值提高了一百万倍。

那天之后，每当我走过市场时，我都会寻找那些孩子，希望再也不会看到他们在路边卖水果。

我再也没见过他们。

英语原文选自：kidsworldfun.com

Notes

1. magnificent. 宏伟的；壮丽的

2. bounce . 跳动；蹦；蹦蹦跳跳地去

3. drag  . 拖；拽

4. lane  . 小路

5. observe .观察；注视

6. ignore. 不理睬；忽视

7. startle  . 使吓一跳

8. concrete . 混凝土

9. inspect . 检查；审视

10. distance . 距离

11. elbow . 用肘推挤

12. impress. 使留下深刻印象

13. culmination . 终点；高潮；结局

14. content . 所含物；容纳的东西

15. rupee . 卢比；货币

16. fumble . 胡乱摸找

17. glare . 怒视；瞪眼

18. soaking .湿透的

19. sift . 筛

20. range. 范围；界限

21. glance . 一瞥

22. gesture . 打手势；用动作示意