晨读英语美文 Friendship

Friendship

[00:09.52]One family, which had emigrated from Japan 

[00:19.80]and settled at the turn of the century near San Francisco, 

[00:22.75]had established a business in which they grew roses 

[00:25.27]and trucked them into San Francisco three mornings a week.

[00:28.22]The other family was a naturalized family

[00:30.67] from Switzerland who also marketed roses, 

[00:33.36]and both families became modestly successful, 

[00:35.88]as their roses were known

[00:36.93] in the markets of San Francisco for their long vase-life.

[00:41.13]For almost four decades the two families were neighbors, 

[00:45.17]and the sons took over the farms, 

[00:47.03]but then on December 7, 1941, 

[00:49.98]Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. 

[00:51.84]Although the rest of the family members were Americans, 

[00:55.02]the father of the Japanese family 

[00:56.24]had never been naturalized. 

[00:58.52]As they planned to leave the country,

[01:00.55] his neighbor made it clear that, 

[01:02.78]if necessary, he would look after his friend's nursery. 

[01:05.96]It was something each family had learned in church: 

[01:09.02]Love thy neighbor as thyself. 

[01:10.88]You would do the same for us, 

[01:12.41]he told his Japanese friend.

[01:13.94]It was not long before the Japanese family 

[01:16.68]was transported to a barren landscape in Canada. 

[01:19.84]A full year went by. Then two. Then three. 

[01:23.78]While the Japanese neighbors were in Canada, 

[01:26.08]their friends worked in the greenhouses, 

[01:28.27]the children before school and on Saturdays, 

[01:31.11]and the father's work often stretched to 16 and 17 hours a day. 

[01:35.70]And then one day, when the war in Europe had ended, 

[01:39.31]the Japanese family packed up and boarded a train. 

[01:42.16]They were going home.

[01:43.69]What would they find? 

[01:45.76]The family was met at the train station by their neighbors, 

[01:49.05]and when they got to their home, 

[01:50.03]the whole Japanese family stared. 

[01:52.44]There was the nursery, intact, scrubbed

[01:54.46] and shining in the sunlight  

[01:56.27]neat, prosperous and healthy.

[01:58.12]And the house was just as clean

[02:00.29] and welcoming as the nursery. 

[02:02.18]And there on the dining room 

[02:03.70]was one perfect red rosebud, 

[02:05.45]just waiting to unfold the gift of one neighbor to another.