A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.
As his car passed, one child appeared, and a brick smashed into the Jag's side door. He slammed on the brakes and spun the Jag back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown.
He jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, “What was all that about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?”
Building up a head of steam, he went on, “That's a new car and that brick you threw is gonna cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?”
“Please, mister, please. I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do!” pleaded the youngster.
“It's my brother,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up.”
Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.”
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He lifted the young man back into wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be okay.
“Thank you, sir. And God bless you,” the grateful child said to him. The man then watched the little boy pushing his brother to the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long walk back to his Jaguar...a long, slow walk. He never did repair the side door. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention.
一位年轻有为的总经理开着一辆崭新的捷豹行驶在临近的一条街上，他开得有点儿快。他密切注意着路况，生怕万一有孩子从停在路上的车中间冲出来。他觉得自己看到了什么，就把车速降下来。
他的车经过的时候，有个小孩冒出来，一块砖砸在了捷豹的侧门上。他猛踩了一脚刹车，把车倒回砖头扔出来的地方。
他跳下车，抓住那个孩子，一把把他推靠在一辆停着的车上，大喊道：“这是怎么回事，你是谁？你搞什么鬼？”
他越想越气，继续说：“我这是辆新车，你这砖一扔，就得赔很多钱，你图什么呀？”
“求您，先生，求求您。我很抱歉。可我也没别的办法呀！”小孩恳求道。
“是我哥哥出了事，”他说，“他坐着轮椅从路牙子上滚了下来，又从轮椅上跌了下来，我一个人抬不动他。”
男孩呜咽起来，他恳求这位总经理：“您能帮我把他搀到轮椅上去吗？他受伤了，我抬不动他。”
总经理听了十分感动，一度哽咽得说不出话来，他努力平复着自己的情绪。他把男孩的哥哥扶上轮椅，掏出手绢来给他把擦伤和碰破的地方擦干净，看他伤得要不要紧。
“谢谢您，先生。上帝会保佑您的。”男孩充满感激地说。之后，这位总经理一直看着小男孩推着哥哥走上人行道，朝家的方向走去。
走回捷豹汽车的路好像很长……他走得很慢，走了很久。他没有去修侧门。他留着这道凹痕时刻提醒自己：不要匆匆忙忙地过一生，还得有人向你扔砖头才能让你回过神来。
-executive [ɪɡˈzekjətɪv] n. 经理，主管
-dart [dɑːt] v. 飞奔
-dent [dent] n. 凹痕
“Sometimes, this is your choice: listen to the whispers of your soul or wait for the brick!”(有时候，你只有两个选择：要么倾听心灵的声音，要么等着砖头袭来！)