珍貴的硬幣

Mahatma Gandhi was on an expedition[旅行，考察] to collect funds from various cities and villages for Charkha Sangh[（印度）手紡車聯(lián)合會(huì)]. He went to several places and reached Orissa， where he made a speech.

After the speech， an old woman with bent back， faltered[搖搖欲墜] clothing and white hair showed up. She was trying to reach Gandhi on the stage， but the volunteers stopped her， yet she finally managed to reach Gandhi.

She touched the feet of Gandhi， and took out a copper coin kept in her saree[紗麗服] and placed it at his foot. Then she left.

Gandhi took the coin very carefully. The in-charge of the Sangh asked Gandhi for the copper coin， but he refused.

“I keep cheques[支票] worth thousands of rupees[盧比] for the Charkha Sangh，” the in-charge said， “yet you dont trust me with a copper coin.”

Gandhi said， “This copper coin is worth much more than those thousands. If a man has several lakhs[十萬(wàn)盧比] and he gives away a thousand or two， it doesnt mean much.”

Yes， the coin was the only thing the poor old woman possessed[擁有]. She could not afford proper clothes or food， yet she gave everything she had. It was indeed the greatest offer ever made.

莫罕達(dá)斯·甘地正在為手紡車聯(lián)合會(huì)去到各個(gè)城市及鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)進(jìn)行籌款。在到訪幾個(gè)地方之后，他來(lái)到奧里薩邦，并在那里進(jìn)行了一場(chǎng)演講。

演講結(jié)束后，一名衣衫襤褸、白發(fā)蒼蒼的駝背老婦出現(xiàn)了。她想走近臺(tái)上的甘地，但志愿者阻止了她，然而她最終還是來(lái)到甘地面前。

她摸了摸甘地的雙足，從她的紗麗服中掏出一枚銅幣，放在甘地腳上，然后離開(kāi)了。

甘地非常小心地拿起硬幣。聯(lián)合會(huì)負(fù)責(zé)人讓甘地把硬幣給他，可甘地拒絕了。

“我為手紡車聯(lián)合會(huì)保管著好幾千盧比的支票，”負(fù)責(zé)人說(shuō)，“可你連一個(gè)硬幣都不信任我?！?/p>

甘地說(shuō)：“這個(gè)硬幣的價(jià)值比那幾千盧比要高得多。如果一個(gè)有幾十萬(wàn)盧比的人捐出一兩千，也不算多?！?/p>

是的，那枚硬幣是那位可憐的老婦人的全部財(cái)產(chǎn)。她無(wú)法負(fù)擔(dān)像樣的衣服和食物，卻捐出了自己的一切。這確實(shí)是最偉大的捐贈(zèng)。