阅读理解
“Can I see my baby?”the happy new mother asked.When the bundle(包裹)was laid in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped.The baby had been born without ears.
Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect.It was only his appearance that was ruined.When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother's arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a series of heartbreaks.
He cried out the tragedy.“A boy, a big boy…called me a freak.”“But you might mix with other young people,”his mother blamed him, but felt a kindness in her heart.
He grew up, handsome for his misfortune.A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that.He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music.
The boy's father had a meeting with the family doctor.“Could nothing be done?”“I believe I could graft on a pair of outer ears, if they could be got,”the doctor decided.And then the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice(牺牲)for a young man.
Two years went by.One day, his father said to the son,“You're going to the hospital, son.Mother and I have someone who will donate(捐献)the ears you need.But it's a secret.”
The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person appeared.His talents blossomed into genius, and school and college became a series of achievements.
Later he married and entered the diplomatic service.One day, he asked his father,“Who gave me the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him or her.”“I do not believe you could,”said the father,“but the agreement was that you are not to know…not yet.”
The years kept their profound secret, but the day did come.One of the darkest days that ever passed through a son.He stood with his father over his mother's casket(棺).Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to show that the mother had no outer ears.
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