There was a story many years ago of a school teacher -- Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she oved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn’t play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.
许多年前有一个关于学校老师汤普森夫人的故事。见面的第一天她就告诉孩子们，她爱他们，一视同仁，但那是个谎言。前排有一个叫泰迪·斯托达德的小男孩，他和其他孩子相处不好，总是要洗澡。她不喜欢他。

Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother’s perfume.
后来汤普森夫人知道泰迪在他母亲去世之前其实是个很好的孩子，汤普森太太有些羞愧。和其他学生一样，泰迪也给她带来了圣诞礼物，那是他母亲的香水，她更羞愧了。

Teddy said, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to.” After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.
泰迪说：“汤普森夫人，今天你身上的味道和我妈妈以前一样。”孩子们离开后，她哭了至少一个小时。就在那天，她不再教读写和数学，相反，她开始教孩子们。

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. The boy’s mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
汤普森夫人特别关注泰迪，泰迪的思维似乎活跃起来。她越鼓励泰迪，泰迪进步越快。到六年级期末，泰迪已经成为班上最聪明的孩子之一。

Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. He went to college. Mrs. Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed. Theodore F. Stoddard, M.D..
六年以后，她收到了泰迪的一张便条。他写道，他已经高中毕业，在班上名列第三，而她仍然是他一生中最好的老师。他上了大学，汤普森夫人又收到了两封他的信，最后一封是署名为医学博士西奥多·F·斯托达德。

The story doesn’t end there. On his wedding day, Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference.”
故事并没有就此结束。在泰迪结婚那天，斯托达德博士在汤普森夫人耳边低声说：“谢谢你，汤普森夫人，谢谢你对我的信任。你让我觉得自己很重要，让我知道我可以有所作为。”

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference, I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”
汤普森夫人泪流满面，低声回答说：“泰迪，你错了。是你教会了我，我可以有所改变，直到遇见你，我才知道如何教书。”