As a young man, Al was a skilled artist, a potter1. He had a wife and two fine sons. One night, his oldest son developed a severe stomachache. Thinking it was only some common intestinal disorder, neither Al nor his wife took the condition very seriously. But the malady was actually acute appendicitis2, and the boy died suddenly that night.

　　Knowing the death could have been prevented if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, Al’s emotional health deteriorated under the enormous burden of his guilt. To make matters worse his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his sixyearold younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Al could handle, and he turned to alcohol to help him cope. In time Al became an alcoholic.

　　As the alcoholism progressed, Al began to lose everything he possessed — his home, his land, his art objects, everything. Eventually Al died alone in a San Francisco motel room.

　　When I heard of Al’s death, I reacted with the same disdains3 the world shows for one who ends his life with nothing material to show for it. “What a complete failure！” I thought. “What a totally wasted life！”

　　As time went by, I began to reevaluate my earlier harsh judgment. You see, I knew Al’s now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I watched Ernie with his children and saw the free flow of love between them. I knew that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.

　　I hadn’t heard Ernie talk much about his father. It is so hard to defend an alcoholic. One day I worked up my courage to ask him. “I’m really puzzled by something,” I said. “I know your father was basically the only one to raise you. What on earth did he do that you became such a special person？”

　　Ernie sat quietly and reflected for a few moments. Then he said, “From my earliest memories as a child until I left home at 18, Al came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, ‘I love you, son.’”

　　Tears came to my eyes as I realized what a fool I had been to judge Al as a failure. He had not left any material possessions behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and he left behind one of the finest, most giving men I have ever known.

　年輕時的阿爾是一個技藝嫻熟的藝術家和陶工。他有妻子和兩個健壯的兒子。一晚，他的大兒子腹痛難忍，但因為考慮到可能只是一般的腸胃不適，阿爾和妻子都沒有太在意。但是，事實上男孩患的是急性闌尾炎，當晚便突然夭折了。

　　如果當時意識到病情的嚴重性，兒子的死就能夠避免。知道了這些，沉重的負罪感使阿爾的精神狀況急劇下降。更糟糕的是，不久妻子也離開了他，留下六歲的小兒子與他相依為命。這兩件事帶來的傷痛，讓阿爾無法承受，于是他選擇了借酒澆愁。不久，阿爾就成了一個酒鬼。

　　隨著酒癮越來越大，阿爾開始失去他擁有的一切——家、土地、藝術品、一切的一切。最終，阿爾孤獨地死在了舊金山的一家汽車旅館里。

　　聽說了阿爾的死訊，我的反應像世人對未能留下遺產的人的蔑視一樣。“多么失敗的人啊！”我想，“枉度了一世！”

　　然而隨著時間的推移，我對自己之前那樣苛刻的判斷有了新的認識。你不知道，我現在認識了阿爾那個已成年的小兒子，厄尼。他是我見過的最善良、最仁愛的人。看著厄尼和他的孩子，我看到了他們之間所流露出的那種關愛。我知道那種善良和仁愛必定來自某處。

　　我不曾聽到厄尼對父親有太多的談論。畢竟為一個酒鬼辯護并不是件容易的事。一天，我鼓起勇氣問了他。“有些事我一直感到很疑惑。”我說，“我知道，你幾乎是由你父親獨自帶大的。他到底是如何教育你的，竟讓你變得如此特別？”

　　厄尼靜靜地坐著，思考了一會兒，說：“從我記事起，一直到18歲離家，阿爾每晚都會來我的房間，給我一個吻并說：‘我愛你，兒子。’”

　　當我意識到自己是多么愚蠢時，我的淚奪眶而出。我竟然說他是一個失敗者！他死后沒有留下任何物質方面的遺產，但他是一位慈愛的父親，他培養出了一個我所見過的最善良、最無私的兒子。

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