我想告诉你一个关于一个特殊的人的故事。
I want to tell you a story, which is about a special person.

当大地还在沉睡，人们还窝在温暖的被窝中时，她就来了。暮色四合，天暗黑，我也曾遇过她无声无息的身影。她是谁，我不知道，我永远不必知道，因为在我的生活周围，她是一个和我完全不相关的人。
When the earth is sleeping and people are still in their warm beds, she is already there. When it gets dark in the evening, I have also seen her there quietly. Who is she? I don't know her name and I don't need to know, because she is an irrelevant person in my life.

她推着从路边或垃圾场捡来的破旧婴儿推车，歪斜前进，婴儿手推车俨然成为她的助行器。她总是缓缓来到我们社区外面的垃圾车旁，挑拣任何被丢弃、却可以回收卖钱的物品，日日、月月、年年，不分寒暑，她从不缺席，而且是一天报到好几次，比打卡的上班族还准时。
She uses a broken baby cart and walks unstably. The baby cart becomes her walking stick. She always walks slowly to the garbage truck outside of our community and picks all the items which were thrown away but can be sold for recycling. She is always there, every day, every month and every year, no matter summer or winter. She comes around a few times during the day, and is even more punctual than the office workers who have to punch in and out.

我们社区的垃圾之所以明显减量，她的功劳最大，大家有整洁干净的居住环境，最该感谢的人也是她。她是谁，我到现在还不知道，我找不到和她打交道的理由。一年三百六十五天，为了微薄的收入，她甘愿与垃圾、苍蝇为伍，收拾被我们无情抛弃的物品。大家总是把垃圾丢了就跑，她却不嫌肮脏，一直守候在那里，薄本、纸张和瓶瓶罐罐有条不紊地被分类好，并堆进手推车内，年老的她很努力地收集，一趟又一趟，从不发出半句怨言。
Thanks to her, the amount of garbage in our community is obviously decreased. She is the person who deserves the most of our gratitude for this cleaner and tidier living environment. Who is she? I have no idea till now. There is no reason and opportunity for us to have any personal contact. In all the 365 days of a year, she chooses to stay together with the garbage and flies and sorts the items we throw away without hesitation. People always run away after throwing away their garbage but she doesn't mind. She is always there, sorting out thin books, pieces of paper, bottles and jars in an orderly way and placing them in her cart. This old woman works hard constantly, and never complains.

她的穿着素朴陈旧，不像活在这个时代的人。一定没有人照顾她的生活，她一个人来去，有时看到她捡拾起没有坏掉的食物，蹲在垃圾车旁吃，吃不完就分给野猫吃。她不住在我们社区里面，却为大家带来整洁的居住环境。她离开的时候，并不孤单，流浪猫竖起尾巴（我看到的是这个样子）跟着她佝偻的身躯同行，她把被遗弃宠物的扰人问题一并带走。
She dresses so plainly that she doesn't seem to be living in the same era with us. It is very likely that nobody takes care of her. She comes and goes alone. Sometimes, she picks up food which hasn't gone bad and ate it near the garbage cart. When she can't finish the food, she gives it to the homeless cats. She is not a member in our community, but brings us clean and neat living conditions. When she leaves, the homeless cats accompany her with their tails erected. She even takes away the disturbing problem of abandoned pets.

日复一日，她很尽职地工作着，弯腰捡起一张张、一瓶瓶、一罐罐能卖钱的废纸及破铜烂铁，她伸出干枯且满是皱纹的双手捡拾，从不遗漏；她不高唱环保论调，也不知道她正默默地为环保奉献心力。她的这些事迹，很多人看到，却没有人关心。好几次，我忍住泪水，想过去帮她的忙；我能做的，只是把家里分类好、将要丢弃的回收物亲手交到她的手上而已。
One day after another, she works conscientiously. She bends and picks up pieces of paper, bottles, jars, and broken metal items which she could sell for money. She uses her dry and winkled hands to collect them all. She never talks about environment protection and doesn't even know that she is making contribution to our environment. Her deeds are seen by many, but no one cares. For several times, I couldn't control myself from crying and come over and help her. But all I can do is to give her the recyclable garbage which I have sorted at home.

我常常想，相关单位是时候用点心力，好好照顾这些散居在城乡各地的拾荒老人，将默默付出的拾荒老人定义为“环保模范义工”，颁给他们奖牌和奖金。
In my opinion, it’s time for the departments concerned to take care of the garbage pickers living in urban and rural areas, at least define these silent contributors as "model environmental protectors" and give them medals and prizes.


Key words:
沉睡chénshuì: sleep
婴儿车yīnɡér chē: baby cart
整洁zhěnɡjié: clean and neat
环保huánbǎo: environment protection
回收物huíshōuwù: recyclable garbage

原文链接