Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night, I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 a. m. When I arrived at the place, I saw a small woman in her eighties standing before me. I took the woman's suitcase to the car and then returned to help her. She took my arm and we talked slowly toward the car.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated."
"Oh, you're such a good man," she said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked." Could you drive me throughout the downtown?"
"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.
"Oh, I'm in no hurry," she said," I'm on my way to the hospice(收容所). I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have very long time." I quickly shut off the meter(计价器). For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, and the neighbourhood where she had lived. Sometimes she asked me to slow down in front of a special building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the day broke, she suddenly said," I'm tired. Let's go now."
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
"How much shall I give you?" she asked.
"Nothing," I said.
"You have to make a living, "she answered," Oh, it doesn't matter! I have other passengers to pick up." I answered.
Almost without thinking, I bent sown and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly and said," You gave an old woman a little moment of happiness."
