滴水之恩，涌泉相报；结草衔环，以德报恩。中国绵延多少年的古老成语，告诉我们人要心存感恩之情。但是，这样的古训有时并没有渗进我们的血液。 蜜蜂从花丛中采完蜜，还知道嗡嗡地唱着道谢；树叶被清风吹得凉爽，还知道飒飒地响着道谢。但是，我们有时还不如蜜蜂和树叶。
美国曾经流传这样一个故事。在一个村子里，一家人围坐在餐桌前准备吃饭，母亲端上来的却是一盆稻草，全家都很奇怪，不知道这究竟是怎么回事。母亲说：“我给你们做了一辈子的饭，你们从来没有说过一句感谢的话，或者称赞一下饭菜好吃，这和吃稻草有什么区别？”连世上最不求回报的母亲都渴望听到一点感谢或其他的话，而我们中的一些人就和故事里那些家人一样，遗忘、淡漠、麻木，乃至忘恩负义。
我想起两年前在报纸上看到这样一则消息，湖南洞庭湖畔有两姐妹曾经落水，被一个好心人救起，那人没有留下姓名便走了。两姐妹和她们的父母觉得生命是人家救上来的，却连一声谢谢的话都没有说，发誓一定要找到这个恩人。他们找了整整20年，其间两姐妹的父亲去世了，她们和母亲接着千方百计地寻找。水滴石穿，心诚则灵，她们终于找到了这位恩人。当两姐妹跪拜在地上向恩人道谢的时候，在场的所有人都禁不住落下了眼泪。
我也很难忘记几年前的一件事情。那天，我在北京崇文门地铁站等候地铁，一个大约四五岁的小男孩从站台的另一边跑了过来。因为是冬天，羽绒服把小男孩撑得圆鼓鼓的，他走路都很困难，整个人像个小皮球一样骨碌地滚了过来。他向我打听到雍和宫坐地铁哪边近。
我帮他指明了方向，他便高兴地跑了回去，我看见那边有他的妈妈在等着他。空旷的站台上没有几个人。等了半天，地铁也没有来，我等不及，准备从地铁站上去打车。我已经快走到楼梯最上面的出口了，忽然听见刚才那个小男孩在后面“叔叔，叔叔”地叫我。
我不知道他要干什么，就站在那里等，看着他一级级地顺着楼梯爬上来，一脑门子热汗珠儿地跑到我的面前。我问他：“有事吗？”他气喘吁吁地说：“我刚才忘了跟您说谢谢了。妈妈问我说谢谢了没有，我说忘了。妈妈就让我追上来告诉您。”小男孩不好意思地摸摸头。
是他们教我永远不要忘记，对世界上不管什么人给予自己的，哪怕是再微不足道的帮助和关怀，也不要忘了说一声谢谢。
A little favor should be rewarded with a greater one; a debt of gratitude should be repaid with goodness. The two ancient Chinese idioms mean that we should be grateful to helping hands. However, gratefulness hasn’t become a deep-rooted maxim in some people’s minds.
After gathering nectar from flowers, bees buzz as if saying thanks; kissed by cool fresh winds, leaves whisper as if expressing gratitude. Nonetheless, sometimes we aren’t better than bees and leaves.
There is a well-known story in America. In a village, when a family was sitting at the table for dinner, Mother served them a pot of straw. The whole family felt very surprised and wondered what had happened. Mother said, “I have been cooking meals for you all my life, but never before have you said a single word in gratitude or compliments. It isn’t so differently as you eat straw, is it?” Even Mother, the last person to claim a reward, longs to hear thanks or whatever. And like the family in the story, some of us have an unreliable memory, have a soulless, hardened heart and are even ungrateful to our benefactors.
I read a piece of news in the newspaper two years ago. In Hunan, two drowning sisters were plucked from Dongting Lake by a kind-hearted person. The rescuer left and didn’t leave his name. The two sisters and their parents thought they should have said thanks to him for saving their life. So they swore to find him. Afterwards, they spent a good space of 20 years seeking him. Meanwhile, the two sisters were bereft of their father, but they still made every attempt to find the unnamed rescuer along with their mother. Thanks to their persistence and sincerity, they eventually found him. When the two sisters knelt down and expressed gratitude to their saviour, all other people present couldn’t help being tearful.