價值$20美金的時間 USD 20 Worth of Time

一位爸爸下班回家很晚了，很累並有點煩，發現他五歲的兒子靠在門旁等他。 A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

「爸，我可以問你一個問題嗎 ?」 “Daddy, may I ask you a question?” 「當然可以，什麼問題?」父親回答 “Yes sure, what is it?” replied the man

「爸，你一小時可以賺多少錢?」 “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” 「這與你無關，你為什麼問這個問題?」父親生氣的說著 “that’s none of your business, why do you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily. 「我只是想知道，請告訴我，你一小時賺多少錢?」小孩哀求著 “I just want to know, please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.

「假如你一定要知道的話，我一小時賺20塊美金」 “if you must know, I make $20 an hour” 「喔！」小孩低著頭這樣回答。小孩跟著說︰ “Oh,” the little boy replied, with his head down, looking up, he said, 「爸，可以借我10塊美金嗎?」 “dad, may I please borrow $10?”

父親發怒了 「如果你問這問題只是要借錢去買毫無意義的玩具或東西的話，給我回到你的房間並上床好好想想為什麼你會那麼自私。」 「我每天長時間辛苦工作著，沒時間和你玩小孩子的遊戲」 The father was furious, “if the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a sill toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed, think about why you are being so selfish.” “I work long hard hours everyday and don’t have time for such this childish behavior.”

小孩安靜地回自己房並關上門 The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. 這位父親坐下來還對小孩的問題生氣 The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions.

他怎麼敢只為了錢而問這種問題 ? How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? 約一小時後，他平靜下來了，開始想著他可能對孩子太兇了 After about an hour or so, the had calmed down, and started to think hey may have been a little hard on his son. 或許他應該用那10塊錢美金買小孩真正想要的，他不常常要錢用 Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn’t ask for money very often.

父親走到小孩的房門並打開門 The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. 「你睡了嗎孩子?」他問著 “are you asleep, son?” he asked. 「爸，還沒睡，我還醒著」小孩回答著 “no daddy, I’m awake” replied the boy. 「我想過了，我剛剛可能對你太兇了」父親說著 “I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man.

「我將今天的悶氣都爆發出來了。這是你要的10塊錢美金」 “It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $10 you asked for.” 小孩笑著坐直了起來，「爸，謝謝你」小孩叫著 The little boy sat straight up, smiling. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled. 接著小孩從枕頭下拿出一些被弄皺了的鈔票 Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

這父親看到小孩已經有錢了，快要再次發脾氣 The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. 這小孩慢慢地算著錢，接著看著他的爸爸 The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father. 「為什麼你已經有錢了還需要更多?」父親生氣的說著 “Why do you want more money if you already have some?” the father grumble.

「因為我之前不夠，但我現在足夠了」小孩回答 “because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied. 「爸，我現在20塊錢美金了，我可以向你買一個小時的時間嗎? 明天請早一點回家，我想和你一起吃晚餐。」 “daddy, I have $20 now, can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow, I would like to have dinner with you.”

這個故事與你所喜歡的人分享，但更重要的，與你所愛的人分享這價值20塊錢美金的時間。 Share this story with someone you like…..but even better, share $20 worth of time with someone you love.

這只是提醒辛苦工作的各位 Its just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. 我們應該花一點時間來陪那些在乎我們，關心我們的人而不要讓時間從手指間溜走…… We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.