ক্রিসমাস উপহার

আমি লিংকে দেয়া ফোরাম থেকে অনুবাদ করেছি। ওই পোস্টটা গত বছর ডিসেম্বের। প্রথম আলো দেখিনি।

মিনিস্ট্রিতে যাইতে হবে না, আমি আছি কোন কামে?

এই হলো সেই ইংরেজী: (অনুবাদে আমি কিছু পাল্টেছি)

A Sad Tale

Late last month, I was rushing around trying to get some last minute shopping done. I was stressed out and not thinking very fondly of the Christmas season right then. It was dark, cold, and wet in the parking lot as I was loading my car up with gifts that I felt obligated to buy.
I noticed that I was missing a receipt that I might need later. So mumbling under my breath, I retraced my steps to the shopping centre entrance.

As I was searching the wet pavement for the lost receipt, I heard a quiet sobbing. The crying was coming from a poorly dressed boy of about 12 years old.

He was short and thin. He had no coat. He was just wearing a ragged flannel shirt to protect him from the cold night's chill.

Oddly enough, he was holding a hundred dollar bill in his hand. Thinking that he had gotten lost from his parents, I asked him what was wrong. He told me his sad story. He said that he came from a large family. He had three brothers and four sisters. His father had died when he was nine years old. His mother was poorly educated and worked two full time jobs. She made very little to support her large family.

Nevertheless, she had managed to skimp and save two hundred dollars to buy her children Christmas presents. The young boy had been dropped off, by his mother, on the way to her second job. He was to use the money to buy presents for all his siblings and save just enough to take the bus home. He had not even entered the mall, when an older boy grabbed one of the hundred dollar bills and disappeared into the night.

"Why didn't you scream for help?" I asked.
The boy said, "I did."
"And nobody came to help you?" I wondered.
The boy stared at the sidewalk and sadly shook his head.
"How loud did you scream?" I inquired.
The soft-spoken boy looked up and meekly whispered, "Help me!"
I realized that absolutely no one could have heard that poor boy cry for help.

So I grabbed his other hundred and ran to my car.

নজরুল ভাই
ওই ফোরাটা আসলে অস্ট্রেলিয়ায় ব্রডব্যান্ড ইন্টারনেট, মোবাইল, পিসি এসব নিয়ে আলোচনার জায়গা। একজন একটা জোক বলতে গিয়ে গল্পটা বলে। আমার ভাল লেগে যায়।

হায় হায় করেন কেন? এটাই তো হয়।

অণুগল্পের প্যাঁচটাই তো থাকে শেষ লাইনে।
নাকি আমি ভুল জানি?