It’s now been thirty years since I was sent to America to pick up a computer that my company had ordered. Back then, getting a computer was a big deal: my coworkers and I were to receive three weeks of training before returning with the machine.
說起來，這已是三十年前的事了，當時，我被派到美國去接收一架電腦，三十年前，這是一件大事，我們要受訓三星期之久。
Not long after my arrival, I noticed an elderly woman who seemed to be a permanent resident at the hotel. My coworkers and I felt a great curiosity about this woman. We knew how expensive it is to stay in a hotel long-term, but she didn’t seem like a rich woman. There was no haughtiness or sense of superiority about her; on the contrary, she showed deference to everyone. She’d even thank the waiter every time he came to her table.
我去了不久後，就注意到旅館裡有一位長住的老太太。我們幾位同事對這位老太太很感興趣，我們知道長期住旅館是相當昂貴的，可是這位老太太卻又不像是有錢人，她一點架子都沒有，而且對大家還特別客氣，每次侍者給她加菜，她一定左謝右謝。
One night at about 11:30, we were awakened by a commotion. It seemed the elderly woman had gone missing: the door of her room was wide open, but she was nowhere to be found. Every young man in the hotel was mobilized to search for her.
有一天晚上，大概十一點半左右，我們被滿旅館的嘈雜人聲弄醒了，原來老太太不見了，她房間門大開，旅館年輕男旅客都被抓起來找她。
Little Chen and I headed right out to the main road, where, sure enough, we saw the muddleheaded old woman walking in the middle of the street. We returned to a hero’s welcome. The hostess was immensely relieved to see her elderly guest return. Still smiling and thanking everybody, when she saw the hostess, the old woman exclaimed, “Thank you so much! You don’t even know me, but you’re so kind to me. You let me live here without paying a cent—without you, I don’t know where I’d go.” The host nearly fainted at what she said. Unable to control her emotions, she retreated into the next room, crying hard.
小陳和我沿著右邊轉彎到大路上去，就這麼巧，果然看糊塗老太太在路上走。我們像英雄似的回到了旅館，老闆娘看到老太太平安歸來，如釋重負。老太太仍然笑瞇瞇地不斷謝謝大家，她看到了老闆娘，對她說，「真要謝謝妳，妳根本不認識我，還對我這樣好，讓我住在這裡，從來不向我要房租，要不是妳，我真不知道要到那裡去住。」老闆娘聽了這番話，幾乎昏倒了過去，後來索性走到隔壁房間去放聲大哭。
Little Chen and I were deeply puzzled by her reaction. Later, as we were eating breakfast the following day, the hostess came in, partly to thank us and partly to explain who the elderly woman was. She was actually the hostess’s mother, but because she had Alzheimer’s disease, she no longer recognized her daughter. The hostess was a stranger to her, which was why she was so grateful for her kindness. She smiled because she considered herself blessed—her life was free from worry because a stranger had been kind enough to take care of her in her declining years. But despite the old woman’s happiness, her daughter was chronically miserable. It hurt to have her mother so close without once being able to call her “Mother”. Little wonder she had almost fainted with sorrow at what her mother had said.
我和小陳對老闆娘的這種反應，深感不解。第二天在吃早餐的時候，老闆娘來找我們，一方面謝謝我們，一方面解釋這位老太太究竟是誰。原來老太太其實是老闆娘的母親，只是她得了老年癡呆症，忘了這位女兒，以為老闆娘是陌生人，因此對老闆娘心存感激，她老是笑咪咪地，也是因為她認為她真有福氣，晚年有陌生人供給吃住，使她無憂無慮地生活，雖然老太太自己很高興，她的女兒心裡總是難過，眼看著自己母親，卻不能叫一聲母親，難怪她聽了老太太那番話以後，會難過得幾乎昏了過去。
Three years later, the elderly woman had passed away. I asked the hostess if it still hurt that her mother had never recognized her. She said it did at first, but the hurt went away as she realized that her mother wouldn’t have been so happy had not Alzheimer’s prevented her from recognizing anyone. After her mother’s death, she had begun a new life for herself. The remainder of her days, she decided, would be devoted to volunteering for strangers, because she knew that doing so would bring great happiness to many.
三年以後，老闆娘告訴我，她母親過世了。我問老闆娘有沒有很遺憾，自己的媽媽始終不認識她。她說剛開始確實如此，後來想開了，就因為媽媽得了老年癡呆症，一直以為她是由陌生人奉養，母親才會如此地快樂。自從她母親去世以後，老闆娘開始她新的生涯，她決定把餘生奉獻給陌生人，做一個好的義工，因為她知道這樣做，會使很多人非常快樂。
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