作品原文

袁国良 《最珍贵的废书》

一天，收拾屋子，找出两本布满尘土的小学课本。女友说还不扔了？我抚摸着书半晌没说话。

书是我上高中时妈妈为我买的。妈妈是个一字不识的苗家妇女。家乡有种风俗，一个女人在去世时，口里必须含银（或金）才能入土为安。所以在贫因人家，攒钱置办一件小小的银饰便成了家庭生活的重要内容。那一年，妈妈起早摸黑喂了两头猪，终于置办了一对银手镯。

在临近高考的那段日子，妈妈时常进城给我送些吃的。她知道我复习忙，每次都是匆匆来匆匆去。有一天，妈妈去了不久却又回来，拉我到僻静处：“孩子，我替你买了两本考大学的书。”

“什么！”我心里格登一下。常听人说学校外面时常有人用假书、假资料骗那些来自山区一字不识的家长。

“人家说，只要用这书，考大学包中。”

“哪来的钱？”

“镯子换的。”

我抢过书，撕去包装，一阵巨大的绝望顿时袭上心头：两本小学课本竟然就骗走了妈妈的镯子！

“孩子，行吧？”

望着满怀期望的母亲，我强压下泪水和屈辱，“行，妈，行的！”

后来我考上了大学，妈妈高兴极了，说是两个镯子花得值。她甚至想找卖给她书的人道谢！

“你妈后来知道真相了吗？”女友问。

“没有，我永远都不会让她知道。”

作品译文

The "Useless" Books I Treasure Most
Yuan Guoliang

One day I was cleaning up my place and found two dust-covered elementary school books. "Why not discard them?" said my girlfriend. I held the books tightly in my hands, didn’t respond for a while.

Mom bought these books for me when I was in high school. She was an ordinary woman of the Miao minority who didn’t know how to read and write. In my home village, when a woman passed away, the custom was to put a piece of silver or gold in her mouth to secure peace in the world beyond. Therefore, to families of extreme poverty, it had become a very big deal in life to save enough money for a small piece of silver jewelry. One year, mom worked from dawn to dusk raising two pigs, which were sold to finally buy her a pair of silver bracelets.

As the date of my college entrance exam approached, mom often came in town to bring me food and treats. She knew that I was pressed for time to study; therefore, she’d rush in and out each time. One day however, mom returned shortly after she had left. She took me to a quiet place and said, "Son, I bought you two books to prepare for the college exam."

"What!" my heart sank at her words. I often heard that outside of our school, fake books and printed handouts were sold to illiterate parents from the mountainous areas.

"The guy said that if you use these books, you’ll have no trouble getting in college."

"Where’d you get the money?"

"I sold the bracelets."

I grabbed the books and tore away the covers; an enormous feeling of despair immediately overwhelmed me. Who would think that two elementary school books actually cheated mom out of her precious bracelets!

"Will they…work, son?"

Seeing mom with a gaze that was full of hope, I forced back tears and humiliation. "Yes mom, they sure will!"

Later on, I passed the exam and enrolled in college. Mom was overjoyed with happiness. She said it was well worth the two bracelets; she even thought of finding the guy who sold her the books and thanking him.

"Did your mom ever find out the truth?" asked my girlfriend.

"No, I will never let her know."