这是我第一次翻译英文文章，为了使语句读起来比较通顺，我翻译得有些地方不是很忠于原文（如果按一字一句翻译的话，读起来就太痛苦而且就变成不伦不类了....)我已经很努力地尽自己最大的中文和英文水平翻译(初中水平),但我放到网上就是想让大家帮我看看,有没有什么地方需要改进的....有大家的帮忙我想我会进步的!!在这先谢谢啦!!

                           译文+原文

 AL was a potter.艾尔是一名制陶工He had a wife and two fine sons.他有一个妻子和两个可爱的儿子One night,his elder son got a stomachache.一天晚上,大儿子肚子疼。At first,Al and his wife thought the boy just got a bad cold,so they didn't take it seriously.一开始,艾尔和他的妻子觉得儿子只是得了比较严重的感冒,他们没把这当回事。But it was not a cold.但这并不是感冒。It was terrible appendicitis,and the boy died suddenly that night.而是十分严重的阑尾炎，那天夜里，男孩突然走了。Knowing the death could not happen if he had taken the ill seriously,Al was very sad and was full of guilt.艾尔才意识到如果他把孩子生病的事当真并严肃处理，孩子就不会死，艾尔十分悲伤，心里充满了罪恶感。Then his wife counldn't stand the thing so she left him alone with his six-year-old younger son.而他的妻子无法接受这个事实离开了他，留下他独自一人和一个更小的仅有六岁的儿子。

 Al lost his two favorite person.艾尔失去了他最爱的两个人。He felt no hope in the world and turned to alcohol.他开始酗酒，希望不再出现在他的世界。Then Al began an alcoholic.他成了一个酒鬼。As he drank more,Al began to lose everything he had--his home,his land and his work.随着他越喝越多，艾尔开始失去他拥有的一切——他的家庭，他的土地和他的工作。Finally Al died alone in a San Francisco room.最后也独自在房间里终了生命。

 When I heard Al's death,I thought he was a loser and he wasted his life.当我听说艾尔死去的消息时，以为他荒度中失去了自己的生命。As time went by,I began to know what I once thought was wrong.后来我才明白，我一开始就误解了他。

 I knew Al's little son,Ernie.我知道艾尔的小儿子，埃尼。He is one of the kindest,most caring,most loving men I have known.他是我所见过的最亲切，最可爱的人。I watched Ernie with his children and saw the love between them.我看见埃尼和他的孩子们，也感受到了他们之间的爱。kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.我知道这些亲切和关爱一定来自于某些地方.I never heard Ernie talk much about his father.但我从来没有听埃尼过多谈论他的父亲。

 One day I asked him,"I'm really puzzled by something.I know your father was the only one to raise you.What on earth did he do to make you become such a special person?"有天我问他“我实在很困惑，我知道只有你爸爸一个人抚养你，那他在世时为你做了什么使你成为一个这么特别的人？”Ernie sat quietly and smiled for a few moments.埃尼只是静静的坐着，笑了一下。Then he said,“When I was a child,Al came into my room every night,gave me a kiss an said,‘I love you,son.'”说道“当我还是个孩子的时候，艾尔在每天晚上都会来到我的房间，给我一个吻，然后轻轻的说‘我爱你，宝贝’”

 Tears came to my eyes.我不禁热泪盈眶。Al had not left any money behind,but he had been a kind loving father,and he left behind a legacy of love.虽然艾尔之前并没有给孩子留下一分一毫的财产,可他是一个爱着孩子的父亲,他只留下了这么一份爱的遗赠。