真人版"圣诞老人"主动帮陌生人买单

 　　A secret Santa brought an early Christmas gift to cash-strapped shoppers by spending $20,000 paying off their outstanding bills.

　　一个神秘的圣诞老人为囊中羞涩的人们提早送出了圣诞礼品——他用2万美元为他们买了单。

　　Staff at Walmart were stunned¹ when Greg Parady asked if he could contribute towards customer's Christmas layaway bills.

　　当格雷格·帕拉第询问他是否能帮购物的人们付清圣诞购物的货款时，沃尔玛的工作人员感到十分吃惊。

　　After overhearing another shopper say she may not be able to afford her outstanding bill, Mr Parady wandered over to the layaway department to see what he could do to help.

　　在偶然听到一个购物者说她可能没办法支付掉未付账单时，帕拉第先生走进分期付款商品保留部，他想知道自己是否能帮上一点忙。

　　After asking the manager to tally² up all the outstanding balances, Mr Parady was shocked to hear that $89,000 worth of gifts hadn't been paid for, and saddened by how many families were struggling to put presents under their tree.

　　帕拉第先生请经理结算了所有的未清商品余额，当他得知这些圣诞礼物总共还欠款8.9万美元时，帕拉第先生感到很震惊，却也很伤心，因为居然有这么多家庭为了圣诞树下的礼物而如此艰难。

　　The 40-year-old made a significant dent³ in the debt however, after swiping a variety of personal credit cards through the machine.

　　刷了好大一笔钱之后，这位40多岁的大善人当然也为了这次的大开销担上了债务。

　　'I came back here and just saw him swiping and swiping,' said his businesspartner, Cindy Nazzaro, who accompanied him on the visit.

　　“我到这儿就为了看他不停地刷卡”，和帕拉第一同前来的合伙人辛迪·纳扎罗说道。

　　He paid the bills of six shoppers who were in the store at the time, as well as paying off half of every bill over $200.

　　他为当时在商场的6个购物者买了单，也支付了每笔超过200美元的账单的一半款项。

　　Staff at the store recalled how the holiday hero swiped his card for customers who approached the till to cancel their orders, simply saying 'Merry Christmas' afterwards.

　　商场的工作人员回忆这位“节日英雄”为那些在收银台准备取消账单的购物者们刷卡买单的情形，每次刷完卡他就会说一句“圣诞快乐”。

　　'They didn't know what was happening at first,' said Wal-Mart operations manager Deb Davis.

　　“一开始他们还不知道发生了什么事”，沃尔玛的运营经理德布·戴维斯说道。

　　'This one girl in particular, she goes, "What do I owe?" My associate goes, 'That gentlemen right there just paid for you."'

　　“有个女孩子问道，‘我还欠多少？’”，我的同事说，“那位先生已经为你买好单了。”

　　Overwhelmed, the woman, began to cry and had to sit down on a bench.

　　这个女生感动得泣不成声，不得不坐在长凳上缓缓情绪。

　　His spending was so unexpected, Mr Parady's banks began to decline transactions in the fear his credit cards had been stolen.

　　由于帕拉第先生的开销如此反常，他的银行担心他的信用卡被盗，开始拒绝处理这张卡的交易行为。

　　The man used three different cards, took up two cashiers, and also made payments over the phone during the hours-long spree which employees described as the most generous they had ever seen.

　　在这个长达好几个小时的狂欢购物中，帕拉第先生付款时用了3张信用卡，2台收银机，同时也通过电话进行支付，工作人员表示这是他们见到过的最慷慨的行为了。

　　'I didn't intend for the attention but I hope it motivates other people,' he said.

　　“我并不想哗众取宠，我只是想通过这种方式来鼓励大家多做善事”，他如是说。

　　'I hope everyone will use it as a tool to give in their own way. It doesn't have to be money, it can be time, or just something kind.'

　　“我希望大家把它当做一个例子来举一反三。做好事不一定用钱，也可以是时间，或者一些好的东西。”

　　The so-called 'layaway Santas' have been popping up across the US since 2011.

　　从2011年起，所谓的“帮你买单的圣诞老人”已经在美国各地不断出现。

　　Walmart alone has noted⁴ 1,000 cases where a stranger has paid off another's bill this year, while KMart said over $1.5million had been spent by well-wishers in years past.

　　沃尔玛称今年已有1000件陌生人为购物者们买单的事情发生，同时凯马特称过去几年中“祝福者”支付的账款超过了150万美元。

1 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

2 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

3 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。