A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home from the war. He called his parents from San Francisco.这是一个最终从战场归来的士兵的故事。他从旧金山打电话给他的父母：
8220;Mom and Dad, I 8217;m coming home, but I 8217;ve a favor to ask. I have a friend I 8217;d like to bring home with me. 8221;“爸爸妈妈，我回来了，可是我有个请求。我想带一个朋友和我一起回家。”
8220;Sure! 8221; they replied, 8220;We 8217;d love to meet him 8221;“当然好啊!”他们回答，“我们会很高兴见到他的。”
8220;There 8217;s something you should know, the son continued, he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. 8220;He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us. 8221;“有些事情你们应该了解到，”儿子又继续说道，“他在战场上受了重伤。由于踩到了地雷，他失去了一只胳膊和一条腿，他现在没地方可去，我想请他和我们一起生活。”
8220;I 8217;m sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live. 8221;“儿子，听到那个我很难过，或许我们可以帮他找个安身之处。”
8220;No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us. 8221;“不行，爸爸妈妈，我想让他和我们一起生活。”
8220;Son, 8221; said the father, 8220;you don 8217;t know what you 8217;re asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can 8217;t let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He 8217;ll find a way to live on his own. 8221;“儿子，”父亲又接着说，“你不知道自己在说些什么。像他这样的残疾人会对我们的生活造成很大的负担。我们还要过自己的生活，不能让这样的事情干扰我们的生活。我认为你应该先回家然后忘了他，他会找到自己的一片天空的。”
At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him.就在此时儿子挂断了电话，他的父母再也没有他的消息了。
A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son.然而几天后，他们接到了旧金山的警察打来的电话，被告知他们儿子已经坠楼身亡了。警方相信这是一起自杀案件。于是这对伤心欲绝的父母飞往旧金山，被带到停尸间去辨认儿子的遗体。
They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn 8217;t know, their son had only one arm and one leg.他们认出了他，但令他们感到惊骇的是，他们发现了之前不知道的一些事情：他们的儿子居然只有一只胳臂和一条腿。