Anne is six years older than me. Growing up, we were very poor, and my mother worked evenings at a factory in a small mid-western town. Not seeing my mother much, Anne took over much of the maternal support, and she was awarded the authority to give me and my younger sister permission to do things. Actually, going to Anne was much better than going to a parent as she could award permission, but never had an urge to punish us when we broke the rules. Therefore, we were a bit more willing to confess our activities to Anne and sometimes benefited from her sisterly advice. During those turbulent teenage years, Anne was always there for me, not only as a big sister, but as a mother and my best friend.
When I was seventeen and had no money, I thought my only chance of going to college was that I could win a scholarship. I had an important interview for such an award. Anne at that time was struggling, surviving on a part-time job as she put herself through the local community college after serving in the army. I told her of my interview, saying that General Motors was sending me a bus ticket, and I would get to visit the city for my scholarship interview. It would be the first time I ever saw a city. I was excited about the adventure and asked her advice on what to wear. I showed her my best outfit and how I planned to be careful how I sat so that the hole in the bottom of my shoe would not be seen, but I wasn't sure what I would do if it rained. I showed her how I would stand with my arm slightly in front of me to hide the blemish from my inferior pants from the farmers' market. My best blouse was a find at a yard sale, slightly faded but still pretty.
Anne suggested that we go shopping, and we took the bus to the Penney Store. She took me to the shoe department, and we found a beautiful pair of leather shoes on sale. She told me to try them on, but I thought it was just for fun as neither of us had ever owned anything that expensive before. Sometimes we did go shopping together and tried on things just to see what they looked and felt like, but we never could afford to buy them. It was like playing dress-up. But this time was different. Anne handed me the boxed shoes and said, “Here, I'll buy these for you.”
“But...” was all I could say.
“You deserve them,” she replied. “This interview is important. I want to see you get that scholarship.”
I was speechless as I knew this was a lot of money for her, and she would probably have to eat nothing but ramen noodles for at least a month.
I went to the interview and crossed my legs so that my beautiful new shoes shone with pride. I won the scholarship and became an engineer. Although they were nice leather everyday shoes, I didn't wear them much because they were so special. I hope Anne didn't think I did not like them or something. Now, after twenty years have passed, I still have that pair of shoes with me, and I just wear them on those occasions when I need to feel special. It's kind of like having magic ruby slippers when you're homesick.
【日积月累】
-maternal adj. 母亲的，母亲般的
-permission n. 许可，允许
-turbulent adj. 好骚动的
-blemish n. 污点，瑕疵
-ramen noodle n. 拉面
【参考译文】
一双新鞋
安妮比我大6岁。我们从小都很穷。我妈妈每晚都在中西部一个小镇的工厂里上班。因为常常见不到我妈妈，大部分时间都是安妮像母亲一样带着我。我和我妹妹干什么都要有她的允许。实际上，在安妮那比在我父母那更好，因为她不会老管着我们，而且我们犯错了也不会想着要惩罚我们。所以我们更愿意告诉安妮我们的活动，还时不时从她大姐姐般的建议中受益。在那些年少叛逆的岁月中，她一直在我身边，不仅像我的大姐姐，而且还像我的母亲和好朋友。
17岁那年我没有积蓄，我想只有赢得一份奖学金才能上大学。为了奖学金，我要参加一次很重要的面试。那时安妮还在奋斗，她退役以后凭兼职赚的钱在当地的社区大学上学。我把这次面试告诉了她，说通用汽车集团寄了一张汽车票给我，所以我要进城参加面试。这将是我第一次进城。为此我一直很激动，问她该穿什么好。我给她看我最好的衣服，还告诉她我打算怎样坐才不让别人看见我鞋底的洞，但要是下雨就不一定了。还有我站着时双臂微微前摆，这样的话从农贸市场买来的那条次品裤子上的污点就被遮住了。我最好的衬衣是在旧物廉售时淘到的，虽然有点褪色但也还很不错。
安妮提议去逛街，我们便乘巴士去了彭尼零售商店。她把我带到鞋柜，在那我们发现了一双漂亮的皮鞋在打折。她叫我试穿一下，我以为试着玩玩而已，因为我们俩都没有过这么贵的东西。有时候我们会一起去购物，试衣服试鞋子看看它们上身怎么样，但是从来都买不起。那就像打扮起来玩一样。但是这次不是了。她把装好的鞋交给我说：“拿着，我买给你。”
“但是——”我只能吐出这两个字。
“你应该拥有它，”她回应道，“面试很重要。我希望你能拿到奖学金。”
我说不出话来，我知道这笔钱对她来说也很多。为此她说不定得吃至少一个月的方便面。
我去参加了面试，骄傲地翘起二郎腿亮出我漂亮闪亮的新鞋。我获得了那份奖学金，并成为了一名工程师。虽然那双鞋皮质上乘，天天都可以穿，但是我不常穿，因为它们很特别。我希望安妮不要误会说我不喜欢它们。20年过去了，我依然收着那双鞋。只有当我想感觉与众不同的时候我才穿。这就像你想家时穿上神奇的红宝石高跟鞋一样。
【人生启迪】
帮助别人常常意味着做一次牺牲，或大或小。但是与你的帮助给别人命运带来的改变相比，你的牺牲便显得有些微不足道了。相信这道数学题你不会做错。