When Dad was younger， he worked for his father on the farm. His father was a farmer and sharecroppedsharecrop v.作佃农耕种 a farm for the man who owned the property.
In 1950， our family moved from the farm. Dad had gained employment at the local limestonelimestone n.石灰石 quarryquarry n.采石场， (知识、消息等的)来源 . When the quarry closed in August of 1957， he had to seek other employment.
He worked for Owens Yacht Company in Dundalk， Maryland and for Todd Steel in Point of Rocks， Maryland.
While working at Todd Steel， he was involved in an accident. His job was to roll angle iron onto a conveyor so that the welderswelder n.焊接工 farther up the production line would have it to complete their job.
父亲年轻的时候，曾在爷爷的农场工作。爷爷的农场是租来的，因此必须向农场主交纳谷物抵租。
1950年，我们全家搬离了农场，父亲又在当地的石灰石采石场谋得一职。1957年，采石场倒闭了，他只得另寻工作。
他曾在马里兰州登多克的欧文斯游艇公司当过演员，后来又在马里兰州的洛斯托德钢铁公司上班。
在托德钢铁公司上班期间，他遭遇了意外。他的工作是把有棱角的铁滚到搬运台上，然后由焊接工做进一步加工来完成整个工序。
On this particular day Dad got the third index fingerindex finger n.食指 of his left hand mashed between two pieces of steel. The doctor who operated on the finger could not save it， and Dad ended up having the tip of the finger amputatedamputate vt.切除(手臂，腿等) . He didnt lose enough of the finger where it would stop him picking up anything， but it did impactimpact vt.挤入， 撞击， 压紧， 对……发生影响 his ability to play the mandolin.
After the accident， Dad was reluctant to play the mandolin. He felt that he could not play as well as he had before the accident. When I came home on leave and asked him to play he would make excuses for why he couldnt play.
Eventually， we would wear him down and he would say “Okay， but remember， I cant hold down on the strings the way I used to” or “Since the accident to this finger I cant play as good”.
不幸的是，有一天，父亲左手中指被夹在了两片钢铁中。医生竭尽全力，也未能保住那根中指，最后父亲只好忍痛让医生切除了受伤的手指的指尖。虽然那个手指没有影响父亲拿东西的能力，但却影响了他弹奏曼陀林。
这次事故后，父亲就不大愿意弹奏曼陀林了，他总觉得自己再也无法把曼陀林弹得像从前那样好了。当我休假回家再次请求他弹奏曼陀林时，他以种种借口推诿。
最后，在我们软硬兼施的情况下，他常会说：“好吧，但是记住，我再也不能像过去一样拨弦了。”或者会说：“自从这个手指出了意外后，我再也不能弹得像过去那样好了。”
For the family it didnt make any difference that Dad couldnt play as well. We were just glad that he would play. When he played the old mandolin it would carry us back to a cheerful， happier time in our lives. “Davey， Davey Crockett， King of the Wild Frontier”， would again be heard in the little town of Bakerton， West Virginia.
In August of 1993 my father was diagnoseddiagnose v.诊断 with inoperable lung cancer. He chose not to receive chemotherapychemotherapy n.化学疗法 treatments so that he could live out the rest of his life in dignitydignity n.尊严， 高贵 .
About a week before his death， we asked Dad if he would play the mandolin for us. He made excuses but said “okay”. He knew it would probably be the last time he would play for us. He tuned up the old mandolin and played a few notes. When I looked around， there was not a dry eye in the family.
事实上，对于我们来说，父亲弹得好不好并不重要，我们特别高兴的是他终于弹奏了。当他弹起那把旧曼陀林时，熟悉的旋律就会把我们带回昔日那些无忧无虑的幸福时光。“戴维，戴维·克罗克特，荒野之国的国王”的歌声就会再次萦绕在西弗吉尼亚州的贝克顿小镇的上空。
1993年8月，父亲被诊断为不宜动手术的肺癌。他不愿接受化疗，因为他想体面地度过生命的最后时光。
大约在父亲去世前一周，我们请求他为我们弹奏曼陀林，一开始，他说了很多推诿的话，最后还是应允我们的所求。他知道这可能是他最后一次为我们弹奏了，他为老曼陀林调了调旋，然后弹起了曲子。我环顾四周，发现每个人的眼睛都湿润了。
We saw before us a quiet humblehumble adj.卑下的， 微贱的， 谦逊的， 粗陋的 man with an inner strength that comes from knowing God， and living with him in ones life. Dad would never play the mandolin for us again. We felt at the time that he wouldnt have enough strength to play， and that makes the memory of that day even stronger. Dad was doing something he had done all his life， giving. As sick as he was， he was still pleasing others. Dad is sure that he could could play that Mandolin！
在我们面前，他是一个从容、谦虚，内心充满着神奇力量的人。我们知道，父亲再也不能为我们弹奏曼陀林了，那一天，我们感到父亲一直在强撑着为我们弹奏，这使我们对那天的记忆尤为深刻。父亲一生信奉的做人准则是奉献。即使走到生命的尽头，他也仍尽力给别人带来欢乐。我坚信，父亲一定还能弹奏曼陀林的。
父亲的韧性和坚强，凝聚成无限的力量，感染着儿女们的情怀，更重要的是这种钢铁般的精神时时刻刻都会对儿女们产生巨大的影响。文中的这位父亲牺牲自己的时间和精力，带来全家的共同幸福，从中的细节描写值得体味，可以看出父亲一生都在奉献着自己，把别人的快乐当成自己的快乐，在人生这条路上留下了无悔的永恒记忆。