学文网At first glance she looked like any old woman. Plodding along in the snow, alone, neglected, head bowed. People passing on the busy city sidewalk averted their eyes, lest she remind them that pain and suffering did not stop to celebrate Christmas.
A young couple, smiling,talking, laughing, arms loaded with Christmas presents, took no notice of the old woman.
A mother with two small children hurried by, on their way to grandmother's house. They took no notice.
A minister walked by proudly carrying his Bible in his right hand, like a well amred Christian soldier. But his mind was stayed on heavenly things, and he took no notice.
If these people had noticed, they would have seen that the old woman wore no shoes. She walked barefoot in the ice and snow.
With both hands the old woman gathered her worn buttonless overcoat at the collar to keep out the wind. She stopped and stood bent and bowed at the bus stop. A red and blue scarf covering her head, she waited for the downtown bus.
A gentleman carrying an important-looking briefcase waited near her, not too closely. After all, she could have something contagious .
A teenage girl also waited for the bus. She glanced repeatedly at the old woman's feet, but said nothing.
The bus arrived and the old woman slowly, painfully boarded. She sat on the side-ways seat just behind the driver. The gentleman and the teenage girl hurried to the rear. The man sharing the seat with the old woman shuffled uneasily and twirled his thumbs. "Senile," he thought.
A little boy pointed at the old woman.
"Look, Mother, that old lady is barefoot."
The embarrassed mother slapped his hand down. "Don't point at people, Andrew. It's not polite to point." She looked out the window.
"She must have grown children," a lady in a fur coat suggested. "Her children should be ashamed of themselves." She felt morally superior, because she took good care of her mother.
A teacher seated near the middle of the bus steadied the bag of gifts on her lap. "Don't we pay enough taxes to handle situations like this?" she said to a friend seated beside her.
"People have to learn to save their money," a well-dressed young college man added. "If that old woman had saved when she was young, she wouldn't be suffering now. It's her own fault."
And all these people beamed with satisfaction that their acumen had delivered such trenchant analysis.
But, a kind businessman felt offended by this murmuring detachment of his fellow citizens. He reached into his wallet and took out a crisp twenty-dollar bill. He strode proudly down the aisle and pressed the bill into the old woman's unsteady, wrinkled hand. "Here, Madam, get yourself some shoes."
The old woman nodded her head in thanks. The businessman strode back to his seat, feeling pleased with himself, that he was a man of action.
At the next stop, a young man boarded the bus. He wore a heavy blue jacket, a maroon scarf around his neck, and a gray woolen cap pulled down over his ears. A wire running under the cap and into his ear was connected to a Walkman. The young man jiggled his body in time to music only he heard. He paid his fare and plopped down on the sideways seat directly across from the old woman.
As the young man's glance caught the old woman's bare feet, his jiggling stopped. He froze. His eyes went from her feet to his. He wore his expensive, new, brand name sneakers.
The young man bent down and began to untie his sneakers. He removed his impressive new sneakers. He removed his socks. He knelt down before the old woman.
"Mother," he said, "I see you have no shoes. Well, I have shoes."
Carefully, gently, he lifted the old woman's crusty feet in his hands. He placed his socks and his fine sneakers on the old woman's feet. The old woman nodded in thanks.
Just then the bus arrived at the next stop. The young man left the bus and walked away, barefoot in the snow.
The passengers crowded at the windows to watch him as he plodded barefoot through the snow.
"Who is he?" one asked.
"He must be a prophet." said another.
"He must be a saint," someone suggested.
"He must be an angel," said yet another.
But the little boy who had pointed, said, "No, Mother, I saw him clearly, he was only a man."
乍一看，她与其他老妇人并没有什么区别。她低着头，迈着沉重而缓慢的步伐在雪中孤独地前行。走过繁华都市人行道的人们，不由自主地转移了视线，唯恐她提醒他们，痛苦和受难并不会因为圣诞节的来临而终止。
一对青年夫妇怀里抱着很多圣诞礼物，他们说笑着走过，没注意到那位老妇人。
一位母亲带着两个孩子走在去祖母家的路上，匆匆而过，也没注意到老妇人。
一位牧师趾高气昂地走过，右手拿着《圣经》，酷似一个全副武装的基督战士。但他的注意力全都集中在神圣的事情上，也没有注意到老妇人。
如果这些人稍加留意，就会看到老妇人没有穿鞋子。在冰天雪地里赤足而行。
为了抵御风寒，她双手紧捏着没有扣子、破烂不堪的外套的领口。走到汽车站，她停了下来，头上裹着红蓝相间的围巾，弓腰驼背地站在那里。她在等去市区的巴士。
一位绅士手里拿着一个看似很重要的公文包，站在她旁边等车，没有太靠近她，要知道，她或许有什么传染病。
同样在等车的一个十几岁的女孩，反复打量着老妇人的脚，但没有说话。
巴士来了，老妇人痛苦而缓慢地上了车，坐在司机身后的侧位上。绅士和那个十几岁的女孩都匆忙地跑到了车厢尾部，和老妇人坐在一起的男子局促不安起来，茫然地摆弄着大拇指。“这个讨厌的老家伙!”他或许在想。
一个小男孩指着这个老妇人。
“妈妈，您看，那个老奶奶光着脚呢!”
母亲觉得很不好意思，把孩子的手打下来，“安德鲁，用手指着别人是不礼貌的。”然后她把目光转向了窗外。
“她一定有成年子女，”一位身穿毛皮大衣的女子说道，“她的孩子应该为他们的所作所为感到愧疚，”她觉得自己的精神很可敬，因为她的母亲被她照顾得细致入微。
一位坐在汽车中部的老师，扶着膝上的礼品袋。“难道我们纳的税还不够处理这类事情吗?”她对坐在身边的朋友说。
“人们一定要学会攒钱，”一个穿着入时的年轻大学生接着说，“如果她在年青时攒了一些钱，如今就不会受这样的苦了，这怪她自己。”
人们都露出了满意的微笑，叹服自己拥有如此敏锐的观察力，能发表出如此犀利的见解。
但是一位善良的商人对这些置身事外的嘀咕感到不快。他从钱包里掏出一张崭新的20美圆钞票，骄傲地穿过过道，将钞票塞到老妇人颤抖着的、满是皱纹的手中“给您，夫人，去买双鞋穿。”
老妇人点头致谢。商人大步流星地回自己的座位，他对自己做出了实际行动感到很高兴。
在下一站，一个年轻人上了车，他穿着一件厚重的蓝夹克，脖子上围着一条栗色围巾，一顶灰色的羊毛帽遮住了耳朵。一根线在帽子下绕过直到耳朵里，另一头连着一个随身听，他的身子随着只有自己才能听得到的音乐不时地摇摆着。付过车费后，他一屁股坐在与老妇人对面的侧座上。
当年轻人看到老妇人赤着脚时，身子顿时停止了晃动，僵在那里。他看看老妇人的脚，又看看自己，他脚上穿着一双崭新的、价格不菲的名牌运动鞋。
年轻人弯下身来解他的鞋带，他把抢眼的新鞋脱掉，又脱下袜子，然后跪到老妇人面前。
“大妈，”他说，“我看到你没有鞋，那就把我的给你吧。”
他双手小心而温柔地将老妇人结满茧子的双脚抬起，把自己的袜子和鞋给她穿上。老妇人点头表达了自己的感激之情。
这时，汽车又到了一站。年轻人下了车，光着脚在雪地里走远了。
乘客们都聚到车窗前，看着他赤脚跋涉在雪地里。
“他是谁呀?”一个人问道。
“他肯定是一位先知。”另一个答道。
“他肯定是位圣人。”有人猜测说。
“他肯定是个天使。”又有人说道。
然而，那个用手指过老妇人的小男孩却说：“不对，妈妈，他只是一个普通人，我看得清清楚楚。”