I hired a carpenter to help me restore an old farmhouse,and after h e had just finished a rough first day on the job,a flat tire made him l ose an hour of work,his electric saw quit and now his ancient pickup tr uck refused to start.While I drove him home,he sat in stony silence.O n arriving,he invited me in to meet his family.
As we walked toward the front door,he paused briefly at a small tre e,touching tips of the branches with his hands.
When opening the door,he underwent an amusing transformation.His t anned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children a nd gave his wife a kiss.
After leaving the happy family,I passed the tree and my curiosity g ot the better of me.I asked him,who walked me to the car,"Before we went in,why did you stop by the tree earlier?"
"Oh,that's my trouble tree," he replied.
"I know I can't help having troubles on the job and in my life,bu t those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and children.I know I can control one thing for sure.I can hang them up on the tree ev ery night when I come home.Then in the morning I pick them up again bef ore I leave for work."
"Funny thing is," he smiled,"when I come out in the morning to p ick them up,there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the n ight before."
我雇了一位木匠幫我修繕舊農舍。第一天的工作很糟糕，剛開始是他的汽車輪胎癟了，耽誤了整整1個小時；後來電鋸又壞了；現在忙了一天後他的舊卡車竟不能啟動。我隻好開車送他回家。一路上，他像石頭一樣沉默不語。到達目的地之後，他邀我進去見見他的家人。
當我們走到門口，他先在一棵小樹前停了一會兒，用手碰了碰幾根樹枝。
門開了，他一進去就像變成了另外一個人似的，棕色的臉龐溢滿了微笑，他高興地擁抱兩個孩子，然後深情地吻了吻妻子。