心灵之歌

When she was very little, he would pick her up, hum a tune¹ and dance with her around the room, and he would tell her, "I love you, little girl."

When the little girl was growing up, the great man would hug her and tell her, "I love you, little girl." The little girl would pout² and say, "I'm not a little girl anymore." Then the man would laugh and say, "But to me, you'll always be my little girl."

The little girl who-was-not-little-anymore left her home and went into the world. As she learned more about herself, she learned more about the man. She saw that he truly was great and strong, for now she recognized his strengths. One of his strengths was his ability to express his love to his family. It didn't matter where she went in the world, the man would call her and say, "I love you, little girl."

The day came when the little girl who-was-not-little-anymore received a phone call. The great man was damaged. He had had a stroke. He was aphasic³, they explained to the girl. He couldn't talk anymore and they weren't sure that he could understand the words spoken to him He could no longer smile, laugh, walk, hug, dance or tell the little girl who-was-not-little-anymore that he loved her.

And so she went to the side of the great man. When she walked into the room and saw him, he looked small and not strong at all. He looked at her and tried to speak, but he could not.

The little girl did the only thing she could do. She climbed up on the bed next to the great man. Tears ran from both of their eyes and she drew her arms around the useless shoulders of her father.

Her head on his chest, she thought of many things. She remembered the wonderful times together and how she had always felt protected and cherished⁴ by the great man. She felt grief⁵ for the loss she was to endure, the words of love that had comforted her.

And then she heard from within the man, the beat of his heart. The heart where the music and the words had always lived. The heart beat on, steadily⁶ unconcerned about the damage to the rest of the body. And while she rested there, the magic happened. She heard what she needed to hear.

His heart beat out the words that his mouth could no longer say …
I love you! I love you! I love you!
Little girl! Little girl! Little girl!
And she was comforted.

1 tune
n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音 ，调节 ，调整
参考例句：
He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。 The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子 。

2 pout
v.撅嘴；绷脸；n.撅嘴；生气 ，不高兴
参考例句：
She looked at her lover with a pretentious pout.她看着恋人，故作不悦地撅着嘴 。 He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted.他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚 、撅嘴。

3 aphasic
n. adj.患失语症者失语症的
参考例句：
Aphasic examination revealed aphasia in 17 cases with dominant thalamic stroke. 17例优势侧丘脑卒中有不同程度的失语 ，而非优势侧丘脑卒中无失语表现 。 来自互联网 He was aphasic, they explained to the girl. 他们对女孩说他患了失语症 。 来自互联网

4 cherished
v.珍爱( cherish的过去式和过去分词 )；怀有；爱护；抚育
参考例句：
Children need to be cherished. 儿童需要无微不至的爱护。 She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer. 她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心 。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 grief
n.悲伤，悲痛 ，悲伤的事 ，悲痛的缘由
参考例句：
Don't allow yourself to sink into grief,it can do no good.不要使自己陷入悲哀之中，这样一点好处也没有。 After her mother died,she abandoned herself to grief.母亲死后 ，她沉浸于悲痛之中 。

6 steadily
adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地
参考例句：
The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。 Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了 。