Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 AM. When I arrived to collect, I found the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.
20年前，我以开出租车为生。一天晚上，凌晨2:30我去接一位乘客。当我到达地点时，屋子很暗，只有一楼窗户上透出一丝光亮。
I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute,” answered a weak, elderly voice.
我走到门口，敲了敲门，“等一下，”一个微弱的、上了年纪的声音回答。
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.
过了很长时间，门开了。一位80多岁的小个老妇人站在我面前，身边有一只小箱子。
I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the car.
我把箱子拿到车上，然后回来帮那个老妇人。她挽着我的胳膊，我们慢慢地向汽车走去。
She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”
她不停地感谢我的好意。“没什么，”我告诉她，“我只是试着像对待我母亲那样对待我的乘客。”
“Oh, you’re such a good man,” she said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”
“哦，你真是个好人，”她说。上了出租车后，她给了我一个地址，然后问：“你能开车穿过市中心吗？”
“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.
“这可不是最近的路，”我很快回答。
“Oh, I’m in no hurry,” she said. “I’m on my way to a hospice. I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.” I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
“哦，我不着急，”她说，“我要去临终医院，我没有家人了，医生说我快不行了。”我悄悄地伸手关掉了计价器。
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
接下来的两个小时里，我们开车穿过这座城市。她向我展示了她曾经工作过的大楼，她居住过的社区，以及曾经是一座舞厅的一家家具店，她小时候在那跳过舞。
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
有时她会让我在某栋楼前放慢脚步，然后坐在那里凝视着黑暗，沉默不语。
At dawn, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.” We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
黎明时分，她突然说：“我累了。我们走吧。”我默默地开车去她给我的地址。
“How much do I owe you?” she asked.
“我得给你多少钱？”她问道。
“Nothing.” I said.
“不要钱。”我说。
“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.
“你需要谋生，”她说。“哦，还有其他乘客，”我回答。
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. Our hug ended with her remark, “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy.”
我几乎不假思索地弯下腰，给了她一个拥抱，她紧紧地抓住我。我们的拥抱在她的话语中结束：“你给了一位老妇人一点快乐。”