It was a few years ago.
这是几年前的事情。

A friend had sent me a restaurant gift card for Christmas
一个朋友送给我一张餐厅礼品券作为圣诞节的礼物。

and I had picked a pretty, sunny Sunday afternoon to use it.
我选择了一个美好，阳光灿烂的周日下午使用它。

It felt good
这种感觉真好

taking my two grown sons and daughter
带着我长大成人的儿子和女儿

to a nice sit-down restaurant
来到一个很棒的堂食餐厅

instead of the fast food places we usually ate at.
而不是我们平时经常去的那种快餐站

The meal was delicious
食物很美味

and we all had a good time
我们度过了一段愉快的时光

just being together.
仅仅因为我们在一起这就足已

When the waitress brought the check
当侍者把账单递给我时

I looked down at it.
我低头看了一眼

The gift card covered almost all of it.
礼品券几乎抵消了全部的费用

I reached into my wallet
我拿出钱包

to get enough cash to cover the rest.
想取出现金支付剩余的费用

I saw two bills in the front of it.
我在钱包里发现了两张支票

The first would cover the rest of the bill
第一张可以支付剩余的餐费

and give the waitress a nice tip.
还可以给侍者一份丰厚的小费

The second bill was much larger
第二张支票的数额比第一张大得多

 so I reached down to pick out the first one.
所以我躬身先拿出了第一张

At that moment
在这一刻

my mind flashed back to 30 years before.
我的思绪回到了三十年前

I was working as a [en]busboy
in a restaurant[/en]
那时我在一家餐厅当勤杂工

much like the one we were in now.
那家餐厅与我们现在身处的餐厅十分类似

It was long hours of hard work for low pay.
那时我终日干活，工作艰辛，报酬却很低

I went home
下班回家时

just barely making enough to feed my young family.
所挣的钱只能刚刚够养活我的妻子和幼小的孩子

I also remembered
我还记得

how more than once I saw the waitresses counting their [en]meager
tips[/en]
自己如何眼巴巴的看着其他服务员清点微薄的小费，不止一次

while worrying about
与此同时替她们担心

how they were going to pay the rent
这些钱如何能够付清房租

 and buy their kids the things they needed.
还要为她们的孩子购买所需要的生活用品

I remembered the pain in their eyes
我记得她们眼中的苦痛

and saw the sadness in their faces at the end of the day.
一天结束时，我总看到她们脸上带着忧愁

I blinked
我眨了眨眼睛

and was back in the present
思绪回到现实

again
再一次

my fingers touching the smaller bill in my wallet.
我的手指轻轻抚摸着钱包里那张金额小一些的支票

I smiled,
我微笑

pushed it back down,
把它放回钱包

and picked out the much larger bill.
拿起那张金额大得多的支票

I folded it around the gift card
我把它折起来，用它包住礼品券

and covered both of them with the check.
把它们都藏在账单里

As we all got up from the table
我们从桌前起身

I handed them to the hard working waitress.
我把它们交给了那位正在辛勤干活的服务员

“You keep the change.”
不用找了

I said with a smile and a happy heart.
我说时，脸上挂着微笑，内心充满幸福

We are all one family in this world.
在这个世界上，我们都是一个大家庭的成员

We are all children of the same earth.
我们都是地球母亲的孩子

We live together, rejoice together, and suffer together.
我们生息与共，欢乐与共，患难与共

Do your best to be kind then.
所以请尽可能的友善吧

Do your best to be a good person
尽全力让自己成为一个好人

and loving child of nature.
成为自然母亲的充满爱的孩子

Do your best to replace the suffering with joy.
尽你所能，让人类的苦痛变成欢乐吧