Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition¹ for my brother and me. They don’tact in the romantic² ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too luxurious³ for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper⁴. When he’s very tired from the hard work, it is easy for him to lose his temper.

有时候，我真的怀疑父母之间是否有真爱。

他们天天忙于赚钱，为我和弟弟支付学费。他们从未像我在书中读到，或在电视中看到的那样互诉衷肠。他们认为“我爱你”太奢侈，很难说出口。更不用说在情人节送花这样的事了。我父亲的脾气非常坏。经过一天的劳累之后，他经常会发脾气。

One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently⁵ sat down beside her and looked at her.

“Mom, I have a question to ask you,” I said after a while.

“What?” she replied, still doing her work.

“Is there love between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice.

一天，母亲正在缝被子，我静静地坐在她旁边看着她。

过了一会，我说：“妈妈，我想问你一个问题。”

“什么问题?”她一边继续缝着，一边回答道。

我低声地问道：“你和爸爸之间有没有爱情啊?”

My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn’t answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.

I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a GREat embarrassment⁶ and I didn’t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:

母亲突然停下了手中的活，满眼诧异地抬起头。她没有立即作答。然后低下头，继续缝被子。

我担心伤害了她。我非常尴尬，不知道该怎么办。不过，后来我听见母亲说：

“Susan,” she said thoughtfully⁷, “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable⁸. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there. Love is inside.”

“苏珊，看看这些线。有时候，你能看得见，但是大多数都隐藏在被子里。这些线使被子坚固耐用。如果生活就像一床被子，那么爱就是其中的线。你不可能随时随地看到它，但是它却实实在在地存在着。爱是内在的。”

I listened carefully but I couldn’t understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.

我仔细地听着，却无法明白她的话，直到来年的春天。那时候，我父亲得了重病。母亲在医院里待了一个月。当他们从医院回来的时候，都显得非常苍白。就像他们都得了一场重病一样。

After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk⁹, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious¹⁰ couple. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, GREen grass and trees. The sun gently glistened¹¹ through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.

他们回来之后，每天的清晨或黄昏，母亲都会搀扶着父亲在乡村的小路上漫步。父亲从未如此温和过。他们就像是天作之合。在小路旁边，有许多美丽的野花、绿草和树木。阳光穿过树叶的缝隙，温柔地照射在地面上。这一切形成了一幅世间最美好的画面。

the doctor had said my father would recover in two months. But after two months he still couldn’t walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.

医生说父亲将在两个月后康复。但是两个月之后，他仍然无法独立行走。我们都很为他担心。

“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.

有一天，我问他：“爸爸，你感觉怎么样?”

“Susan, don’t worry about me.” he said gently. “To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life.” Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply¹².

他温和地说：“苏珊，不用为我担心。跟你说吧，我喜欢与你妈妈一块散步的感觉。我喜欢这种生活。”从他的眼神里，我看得出他对母亲的爱之深刻。

Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm..

我曾经认为爱情就是鲜花、礼物和甜蜜的亲吻。但是从那一刻起，我明白了，爱情就像是生活中被子里的一根线。爱情就在里面，使生活变得坚固而温暖。