温馨夜读 PART1 08 A Simple Gesture 举手之劳（在线收听）

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[00:00.88]A Simple Gesture 举手之劳

[00:08.64]Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed that

[00:13.35]the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying,

[00:18.16]along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder.

[00:23.20]Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles.

[00:27.35]Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry part of the burden.

[00:31.62]As they walked Mark discovered that the boy’s name was Bill, 

[00:35.36]that he loved video games, baseball and history,

[00:38.73]that he was having a lot of trouble with his other subjects 

[00:42.24]and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.

[00:44.97]They arrived at Bill’s home first 

[00:47.60]and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television.

[00:51.42]The afternoon passed pleasantly with a few laughs 

[00:55.26]and some shared small talk, then Mark went home.

[00:58.53]They continued to see each other around school, 

[01:01.71]had lunch together once or twice,

[01:04.03]then both graduated from junior high school.

[01:06.98]They ended up in the same high school

[01:09.30]where they had brief contacts over the years.

[01:12.67]Finally the long awaited senior year came, and three weeks before graduation, 

[01:17.49]Bill asked Mark if they could talk.

[01:19.67]Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met.

[01:24.16]“Do you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?”asked Bill.

[01:29.08]“You see, I cleaned out my locker 

[01:31.95]because I didn’t want to leave a mess for anyone else.

[01:34.77]I had stored away some of my mother’s sleeping pills 

[01:38.18]and I was going home to commit suicide.

[01:40.25]But after we spent some time together talking and laughing,

[01:44.40]I realized that if I had killed myself, 

[01:46.77]I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow.

[01:50.52]So you see, Mark, when you picked up my books that day, 

[01:54.31]you did a lot more. You saved my life.”

[01:57.53]Every little hello, every little smile,

[02:01.30] every helping hand saves a hurting heart.

[02:04.43]There’s a miracle called Friendship that dwells in the heart.

[02:08.14]Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed.

[02:11.53]They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.

[02:15.03]They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, 

[02:18.90]and they always want to open their heart to us.

[02:21.49]Show your friends how much you care...