Father was a hardworking man who delivered bread as a living to support his wife and three children. He spent all his evenings after work attending classes, hoping to improve himself so that he could one day find a better paying job. Except for Sundays, Father hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard because he wanted to provide his family with the best money could buy.

爸爸是一個在工作中兢兢業(yè)業(yè)的人，他靠送面包來維持一家五口(老婆和三個孩子)的生計。為了得到一份收入更多的工作，他利用所有晚上的空余時間，去夜課充電。除了星期天以外，爸爸幾乎沒有時間和一家人在一起吃一頓飯。他之所以這么努力工作，這么努力學(xué)習(xí)，是為了給一家提供最好的物質(zhì)享受。

Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

每次家人抱怨爸爸陪他們的時間太少的時候，他總是解釋到，他所做的一切都是為了這個家，而他總是渴望多花點時間來陪他們。

The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Father passed, and withdistinctions too! Soon after, he was offered a good job as a senior supervisor which paid handsomely.

公布考試成績的那天，爸爸可高興啦，他通過啦而且成績還很不錯。不久他就得到了一份高級主管的工作，收入頗豐。

Like a dream come true, Father could now afford to provide his family with life’s little luxuries like nice clothing, fine food and vacation abroad.

就像夢想成真一樣，爸爸現(xiàn)在能給家人提供有點小奢侈的生活：購置略貴的衣物，買高級食品，還能夠海外旅游。

However, the family still did not get to see father for most of the week. He continued to work very hard, hoping to be promoted to the position of manager. In fact, to make himself a worthily candidate for thepromotion, he enrolled for another course in the open university.

然而，爸爸大部分時間還是不見蹤影，他一如既往地努力工作，希望能夠做到經(jīng)理的位置，事實上，為了夠格，他又開始在一所開放性大學(xué)進修另一門課程。

Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

與之前的場景如出一轍，每次家人抱怨爸爸陪他們的時間太少的時候，他總是解釋到，他所做的一切都是為了這個家，而他也渴望多花點時間來陪他們。

Father’s hard work paid off and he was promoted. Jubilantly, he decided to hire a maid to relieve his wife from her domestic tasks. He also felt that their three-room flat was no longer big enough, it would be nice for his family to be able to enjoy the facilities and comfort of a condominium. Having experienced the rewards of his hard work many times before, Father resolved to further his studies and work at being promoted again. The family still did not get to see much of him. In fact, sometimes Father had to work on Sundays entertaining clients. Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

爸爸如愿以償，升了職加了薪。高興之余，他雇了一個女傭來減輕妻子做家務(wù)的負擔。他覺得三房的公寓有點擠，如果一家人能夠住上設(shè)施齊全，安逸舒適的一個大公寓就好了。鑒于之前由于努力工作和努力學(xué)習(xí)帶來的升職加薪的甜頭以后，堅定了爸爸要更加努力學(xué)習(xí)和工作的決心。爸爸依然神龍見首不見尾，比之前有過之而無不及， 因為周末還要花陪客戶娛樂。還是和之前一樣，每次家人抱怨爸爸陪他們的時間太少的時候，他總是解釋到，他所做的一切都是為了這個家，而他依舊渴望能多花點時間來陪他們。

As expected, Father’s hard work paid off again and he bought a beautiful condominium overlooking the coast of Singapore. On the first Sunday evening at their new home, Father declared to his family that he decided not to take anymore courses or pursue any more promotions. From then on he was going to devote more time to his family.

所有的回報如期而至，爸爸的努力工作換來漂亮的公寓，在里面新加坡海岸一覽無余。在入住新家的第一個星期天的晚上，爸爸宣布以后他再也不會上任何課程，也不會再追求任何晉升。從此以后他會花更多的時間來陪伴他的家人。

But father did not wake up the next day.

但是，第二天，爸爸再也沒有醒來。