More than I realized, Dad has helped me keep my balance.一起没发现，原来爸爸帮我找到了内心那份平衡。

When I was growing up, I was embarrassed to be seen with my father. He was severely crippled and very short, and when we walked together, his hand on my arm for balance, people would stare. I would inwardly struggle at the unwanted attention. If he ever noticed or was bothered, he never let on.当我慢慢长大，我感觉被别人看到我跟爸爸一起很尴尬。他严重残疾而且长得很矮。每当走在一起，他的手就会搭在我的手臂上来保持平衡，这时人们就会盯着我们看。而引起这样的注意，让我内心很挣扎。如果他注意到我的尴尬，或为止感到困扰，他就不会继续这样了。

It was difficult to coordinate our steps — his halting, mine impatient — and because of that, we didn't say much as we went along. But as we started out, he always said, "You set the pace. I will try to adjust to you."保持我们步调一致很困难，他蹒跚，我没耐心，也为止，我们走在一起的时候话很少。即便是这样，当我们开始走的时候，他总会说你先走，我会试着跟上你的步调。

Our usual walk was to or from the subway on which he traveled to work. He went to work sick, and despite nasty weather. He almost never missed a day, and would make to the office even if others could not. A matter of pride.我们走的那段路，都是出发前往他上班坐的那趟地铁或从地铁那里回来。无论是生病或遇到恶劣天气，他都坚持工作，他几乎一天没落下，尽管别人没及时走到他也可以。这是挺值得骄傲的一件事情。

When snow or ice was on the ground, it was impossible for him to walk, even with help. At such times my sisters or I would pull him through the streets of Brooklyn, N.Y., on a child's wagon with steel runners to the subway entrance. Once there, he would cling to the hand-rail until he reached the lower steps that the warmer tunnel air kept free of ice. In Manhattan the subway station was the basement of his office building, and he would not have to go outside again until we met him in Brooklyn on his way home. 当地面上覆盖着冰雪的时候，即使是有别人帮助，他还是不能行走。我和姐妹们就会把他放到装了钢轮的儿童车上穿过纽约布鲁克林的大街，推到地铁站的入口。一到那里，他就可以抓着扶手，直到够得到下面低一点的台阶，在那里隧道的暧风会驱走冰雪。在曼哈顿，地铁站位于他们办公楼的地下室，因此，他就不用再走到外面去了，一直到我们去布鲁克林接他才走出来。

When I think of it now, I am amazed at how much courage it must have taken for a grown man to subject himself to such shame and stress. And at how he did it—without bitterness or complaint.

现在我想起那些，都学得很惊讶，像他这样一个成年人，要面对这些羞辱和压力，得需要多大的勇气。没有表现出任何痛楚，也没对此抱怨过，他是如果做到这样的？

He never talked about himself as an object of pity, nor did he show any envy of the more fortunate or able. What he looked for in others was a "good heart", and if he found one, the owner was good enough for him.他从未把自己说成是可怜的人，也没有对那些比他幸运或行动自如的人表示出妒忌。他总是寻找别人好的一面，如果找到了，那这个人必定是他认为的好人。

Now that I am older, I believe that is a proper standard by which to judge people, even though I still don't know precisely what a "good heart" is. But I know the times I don't have one myself. 现在，我长大了，尽管我不知道怎么才算一个善良的人，但这应该有一个标准来衡量吧。但是我却知道，以前我并不是这样一个拥有着善心的人（应该是指在对待父亲这件事情上，我做得不够好吧）。

Unable to engage in many activities, my father still tried to participate in some way. When a local baseball team found itself without a manager, he kept it going. He was a knowledgeable baseball fan and often took me to Ebbets Field to see the Brooklyn Dodgers play. He liked to go to dances and parties, where he could have a good time just sitting and watching.尽管有很多事情做不了，但是父亲还是尝试着用其他方法去完成。当地的一个棒球队缺了一名经理，父亲接了这个职位。他是一名知识渊博的棒球迷，他经常带我去埃贝茨球场看布鲁克林躲闪队的比赛。他很喜欢跳舞和参加各种派对，尽管坐在轮椅上观看，他还是很高兴。

On one occasion a fight broke out at a beach party, with everyone punching and shoving. He wasn't content to sit and watch, but he couldn't stand unaided on the soft sand. In frustration he began to shout, "I'll fight anyone who will sit down with me! I'll fight anyone who will sit down with me!"沙滩派对上曾经发生过一起斗殴事件，每个人都在挥拳猛击。他不想坐以待毙，但没有别人帮助他在沙滩上又站不起来。他沮丧地大叫起来：谁愿意和我一起坐下来，我就跟他决斗！

Nobody did. But the next day people kidded him by saying it was the first time any fighter was urged to take a dive before the fight began.没有人那样做。但是第二天，人们就开始嘲笑他，这是第一次战士在没有比赛就被迫认输了。

I now know he participated in some things through me, his only son. When I played ball (poorly), he "played" too. When I joined the Navy, he "joined" too. And when I came home on leave, he saw to it that I visited his office. Introducing me, he was really saying, "This is my son, but it is also me, and I could have done this, too, if things had been different." Those words were never said aloud.现在我懂了，他是通过我这个唯一的儿子参与了一些事情。当我打球（打得很烂）的时候，他也在“打球”，当我参加海军的时候，他也“参加”。 当我休假回家去他办公室看望他的时候，他是这样介绍我的：这是我的儿子，但也是我。如果情况有所不同，我也可以做这些。这些话他都不会大声说出来。

He has been gone many years now, but I think of him often. I wonder if he sensed my reluctance to be seen with him during our walks. If he did, I am sorry I never told him how sorry I was, how unworthy I was, how I regretted it. I think of him when I complain about trifles, when I am envious of another's good fortune, when I don't have a "good heart." At such times I put my hand on his arm to regain my balance, and say, "You set the pace. I will try to adjust to you.

他已经去世很多年了，但我常常想起他。我不知道他是否感觉到我不愿意让别人看到我跟他走在一起。如果他知道了，我很想告诉他我很抱歉，很可恶，很后悔。当我为因为一些小事情抱怨的时候，当我嫉妒别人运气好的时候，当我不够善良的时候，我会想起父亲。在那时，我就可以把手放在他的手臂上让自己获得平衡，然后对他说，你先走，我尽量跟上你的步伐。