Nobody Knows the Difference（在线收听）

School ¹⁾volunteers don’t get paid money, but sometimes we receive special gifts. One morning, just before Christmas vacation, I was selling tickets to our grade school’s last evening performance of The Nutcracker. The evening before had been a ²⁾sellout. People had lined the walls of the ³⁾auditorium. Some had even ⁴⁾peeked in from outside to watch the show.

One of my customers that day was a parent. “I think it’s awful that I have to pay to see my own child perform,” she announced, ⁵⁾yanking a wallet from her purse.

“The school asks for a voluntary ⁶⁾donation to help pay for scenery and costumes,” I explained, “but no one has to pay. You’re welcome to all the tickets you need.”

“Oh, I’ll pay,” she ⁷⁾grumbled. “Two adults and a child.”

She ⁸⁾plunked down a ten-dollar bill. I gave her the change and her tickets. She stepped aside, ⁹⁾fumbling with her purse. That’s when the boy waiting behind her emptied a pocketful of change onto the table.

“How many tickets?” I asked.

“I don’t need tickets,” he said. “I’m paying.” He pushed the coins across the table.

“But you’ll need tickets to see the show tonight.”

He shook his head. “I’ve already seen the show.”  

I pushed the pile of ¹⁰⁾nickels, ¹¹⁾dimes and ¹²⁾quarters back. “You don’t have to pay to see the show with your class,” I told him. “That’s free.”

“No,” the boy insisted. “I saw it last night. My brother and I arrived late. We couldn’t find anyone to buy tickets from, so we just walked in.”

Lots of people in that crowd had probably “just walked in.” The few volunteers present couldn’t check everyone for a ticket. Who would argue, anyway? As I’d told the parent ahead of this boy, the donation was voluntary.

He pushed his money back to me. “I’m paying now, for last night,” he said.

I knew this boy and his brother must have squeezed into the back of that crowd. And being late to boot, they couldn’t possibly have seen the whole show. I hated to take his money. A pile of coins in a kid’s hand is usually carefully saved ¹³⁾allowance money.

“If the ticket table was closed when you got there, you couldn’t pay,＂ I reasoned.

“That’s what my brother said.”

“Nobody knows the difference,” I assured him. “Don’t worry about it.”

Thinking the matter was settled, I started to push the coins back. He put his hand on mine.

“I know the difference.”

For one silent moment our hands bridged the money.

Then I spoke. “Two tickets cost two dollars.”

The pile of coins added up to the correct amount. “Thank you,” I said.

The boy smiled, turned away and was gone.

“Excuse me.”

I looked up, surprised to see the woman who had bought her own tickets moments earlier. She was still there, purse open, change and tickets in hand.

“Why don’t you keep this change,” she said quietly. “The scenery is beautiful, and those costumes couldn’t have been cheap.” She handed me a few dollar bills, closed her purse and left.

Little did that boy know that he had given us both our first gift of the Christmas season. CE

14、没人知道其中不同

当学校义工是没有报酬的，但有时我们会收到特别的礼物。圣诞假期前的一天早上，我为学校最后一晚的演出《胡桃夹子》卖票。票在前一天晚上全卖光了。礼堂内的观众甚至有靠墙站着看的，有的甚至还从礼堂外往内窥望。

那天，有一位家长向我买票。“我觉得这太糟糕了，来看自己的孩子表演竟然还得掏钱，”她嚷嚷着，边从手提袋中猛地拽出钱包来。

“学校募集自愿捐款来支付演出布景和服装的费用，”我解释道，“但付款不是强制性的。你想要什么票可以随便拿。”

“噢，我还是买吧，”她嘟囔着说，“两个大人一个小孩。”

她扔下一张十元的钞票。我找了她零钱并给了票。她走到一边，翻着袋子。正在这时，一个在她后面等着的男孩将一口袋的零钱全倒出在桌面上。

“几张？”我问。

“我不买票，”他说，“我是来交钱的。”他把硬币推过桌子这边。

“可今晚看演出是要票的。”

他摇摇头：“我已经看过演出了。”

我推回那一堆硬币角子。“你和同学看演出是不要钱的，”我告诉他，“那是免费的。”

“不，”男孩坚持着，“昨晚我就看过演出了。弟弟和我来晚了。我们找不到卖票的人，就自己走了进去。”

好多观众或许都是“自己走进去”的。义工寥寥可数，没法查每个人的票。又有谁会为此争论呢？就像我对这男孩前面的那位家长说的一样，捐款是自愿性质的。

他把钱推回给我。“现在我为昨晚看演出付钱，”他说。

我知道这男孩和他弟弟一定是拼力才挤到观众后头。迟到的他们不可能看到完整的演出。我极不愿意收他的钱。小孩子手里的硬币一般都是从零花钱里辛辛苦苦才省出来的。

“如果你到的时候售票处已经关了门，你就不用付钱了，”我劝他。

“我弟弟也是这么说的。”

“没人会知道这有什么不同，”我安抚他，“别担心。”

我以为该说的都说清楚了，便把硬币推了回去。他把手放在我的手上，说：

“我知道有不同。”

在好一会儿的沉默中，我们将钱推来搡去。

然后我说∶“两张票是两美元。”

那堆硬币正好够这个数。“谢谢，”我说。

男孩微笑着转身走了。

“打扰了。”

我抬起头来，惊讶地看到是前面买了票的妇女。她还在那儿，手提袋开着，手里拿着零钱和票。

“不如你留着这些零钱吧，”她静静地说，“布景很漂亮，再说那些服装也不会便宜。”她给我递来几块钱，然后合起袋子离开了。

那男孩并不知道，他送给了我们俩第一份圣诞礼物。CE