In 1973, I was teaching elementary school. Each day, 27 kids entered “The Thinking Laboratory.” That was the name students voted for afterdeciding that “Room 104” was too dull.
1973年，我是个小学老师。每天都有27个孩子步入这个“思想实验室”。那可是同学们经过投票得来的名字，当初他们觉得“104室”这个名字乏味透顶。
Freddy was an average student, but not an average person. He had the rare balance of fun and compassion. He would laugh the loudest over fun and be the saddest over anyone’s misfortune.
弗莱德是个中等生，但为人很不一般。他简直是个稀有动物，兼具风趣与同情。遇到有趣的事他笑得最为爽朗，当别人不幸时他会伤心断肠。
Before the school year ended, I gave the kids a special gift, T-shirts with the words “Verbs Are Your Friends” on them. I had advised the kids that while verbs may seem dull, most of the fun things they do throughout their lives will be verbs.
学年末我送给每个孩子们一件特别的礼物：上面印有“动词是你们的朋友”的字样的T恤。我告诉过孩子们，虽然动词似乎很乏味，他们毕生所做的大部分有趣的事情需要的都是动词。
Through the years, I’d run into former students who would provideupdates on old classmates. I learned that Freddy did several jobs after his graduation from high school and remained the same caring person I met forty years before. Once, while working overnight at a store, he let a homeless man sleep in his truck. Another time, he lent a friend money to buy a house.
这么多年，我遇到过以前的学生，他们经常给我讲述老同学最近的消息。我才得知弗莱德高中毕业后从事过好多工作，他跟四十年前一样仍是个热心肠的人。有一次他在商店里上夜班，就让一位无家可归的人谁在他的卡车里。还有一次，他把钱借给一位朋友买房用。
Just last year, I was conducting a workshop when someone knocked at the classroom door. A woman excused the interruption and handed me an envelope. I stopped teaching and opened it up. Inside were the “Verbs” shirt and a note from Freddy’s mother. “Freddy passed away on Thanksgiving. He wanted you to have this.”
就在去年，我正在班里上研讨课，突然有人敲门。一位妇女先致歉打断我，然后递给我一个信封。我停下来打开一看，发现里面装的是那件“动词”T恤，还有弗莱德妈妈的留言条。“弗雷德在感恩节离去了。他想让我把这个交给你。”
I told the story to the class. As sad as it was, I couldn’t help smiling. Although Freddy was taken from us, we all took something from Freddy.
我把故事讲给了全班同学。虽然很伤感，我还是情不自禁露出了微笑。虽然弗莱德从我们身边被带走了，我们从弗莱德那里呀得到了些东西。
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