A woman in front of me rummaged through her purse looking for a gift card to complete the remaining $14 of her grocery purchase, which was just over $30.
我前面的一位女士买了些杂货，她这一单花了30多美元，不过还有14美元没付清，所以她在钱包里翻找她的礼品卡。

When she found her gift card and the cashier swiped it, the card was empty.
当她找到了那张礼品卡并给收银员刷了后，发现这张卡是空的。

I slid $14 to the cashier.
我偷偷塞给了收银员14美元。

She tried the gift card one more time, then acted as if the transaction had gone through successfully.
她又试着刷了刷礼品卡，然后假装已经刷成功了。

The woman got the groceries that she needed without finding out that I’d paid the remainder of her bill.
这位女士买到了她需要的杂货，而并不知道其实是我付清了剩下的款项。

I felt happy, although she didn't thank me or even know it was me who paid that $14.
我觉得很开心，虽然她并没有感谢我也并不知道那14美元是我付的。

This day became a better day for her. And I knew that there was my contribution in it.
它的这一天变得更美好了。而我知道这其中有我出的一份力。

That was enough for me.
这对于我来说就够了。

I could do something to make the world a better place. And that was already a grand reward for me.
我有能力让这个世界变得更美好一点。这已经是莫大的犒赏了。

 

（翻译：能猫）