第43章难忘的腌菜罐（1）
ThePickleJar
A。W。科布A。W。Cobb
AsfarbackasIremember，thelargepicklejarsatonthefloorbesidethedresseris’bedroom。Whereadyforbed，Dadwouldemptyhispodtosshistothejar。AsasmallboyIwasalwaysfasatedatthesoundstheadeastheyweredroppediheylahamerryjihejarty。Theonesgraduallymutedtoadullthudasthejarwasfilled。Iusedtosquatonthefloorinfrontofthejarahedsilvercirclesthatglie’streasurewhenthesuhroughthebedroomwindow。
&hejarwasfilled，Dadwouldsitatthekittableandrollthesbefthemtothebank。Takiothebankwasalrodu。Staeatlyinasmallcardboardbox，theswereplacedbetweenDadaheseatofhisoldtruck。Eadeverytime，aswedrovetothebank，Dadwouldlookatmehopefully。“Thosesaregoiofthetextilemill，stodobetterthahisoldmilltown’snotgoingtoholdyouback。”Also，eadeverytime，asheslidtheboxofrolledsacrosstheteratthebanktowardthecashier，hewouldgrinproudly。“Theseareformyson’scollegefund。He’llthemillallhislifelikeme。”
ayscelebrateeachdepositbystoppingforanicee。Ialwaysgotchocolate。DadalwaysgotvaheclerkattheicecreamparlorhandedDadhisge，hewouldshowmethefewestledinhispalm。“Whehome，we’llstartfillingthejaragain。”
Healwaysletmedropthefirstptyjar。Astheyrattledaroundwithabrief，happyjingle，wegriher。“You’llgettopennies，nickels，dimesandquarters，”hesaid。“Butyou’llgetthere。I’llseetothat。”
Theyearspassed，andIfinisheddtookajobiown。Ois，Iusedthephoheirbedroom，ahepicklejarwasgohadserveditspurposeandhadbeenremoved。AlumproseinmythroatasIstaredatthespotbesidethedresserwherethejarhadalwaysstood。Mydadwasamanoffewwords，auredmeonthevaluesofdetermination，perseverandfaith。Thepicklejarhadtaughtmeallthesevirtuesfarmoreeloquentlythafloweryofwordscouldhavedone。
WheoldmywifeSusanaboutthesignifitpartthelowlypicklejarhadplayedinmylifeasaboy。Inmymind，itdefihananythingelse，howmuchmydadhadlovedme。Nhthingsgotathome，Daduedtodoggedlydrophistothejar。EventhesummerwhenDadgotlaidofffromthemill，andMamahadtoservedriedbeaimesaweek，notasiakenfromthejar。Orary，asDadlookedacrossthetableatme，pybeahemmorepalatable，hebeiomakeawayoutforme。“Whenyoufinishcollege，sooldme，hiseyesglistening，“you’llbeansagainunlessyouwantto。”