提要

每個人都喜歡看到別人的笑臉，如果自己就是那個帶來歡樂的人，更會心滿意足。這個故事的主角彼得，樂在工作，甚至把傳遞好心情當成自己的責任。

A clump of hair smacked across Peter's face. The wind even tried wrestling him to the ground. Instead of newspapers, it felt as if Peter's news-bag was full of potatoes.

Maybe it had to do with the news dad read before Peter left the house. The morning headlines were full of the usual sad stories.

“For goodness sakes,” dad said. “No good news again!”

CAR ACCIDENTS！ HOUSE BURNS！ STORM DAMAGE！

Peter wished he could have been able to cheer up dad. He moved quickly from house to house leaving papers on the porch or in the mailbox.

Right now Peter wished he could bring only good news to his family, also to his friendly neighbors. “There's that paper boy bringing sad news again,” they were probably saying.

“How could I make things better for everyone?” he wondered as he continued to deliver his papers.

He met Nick near the park. Peter really liked Nick, even if his words sometimes got mixed up.

Someone told him Nick was mentally challenged. But Peter didn't care. Nick was his friend.

The dog down the street barked loudly. Prince was lonely tied to his chain and Peter knew all he needed was a good friend. He always liked to pat the dog's head.

Prince's breath was warm as he licked Peter's hand.

“It's okay boy,” he told the dog.

Each time Peter left a paper by a customer's door he felt bad, such sad news. How could he make some good news? He thought about it a lot, as he made his rounds.

Peter gave his usual cheerful “Hi” to everyone on his route. Adults and children on both sides of the street yelled and waved back.

His smile was like the rising sun.

Someone was crying and he ran to where a little boy had fallen and hurt his leg. Peter calmed him down until the boy's mother arrived.

“I'm glad you're my paperboy,” she told Peter.

He continued on his route, still ten more customers to go. But, he didn't feel tired. It was fun doing what he usually did, helping others.

Now, let's see. What else could he do to cheer up people?

He raced up the street to his last customer. Peter had quite a bit of energy left, as he bounced up the stairs. Mrs. Williams saw him coming and had her usual snack waiting.

She wondered why such a lively boy always had time to chat with an old lady.

Lemonade and his favorite peanut butter cookies were a neat treat. After all, she had told him many times he was her favorite paperboy.

His own treat for his customers came from his little boy's heart. Peter was so full of joy, and it made him many friends.

Everyone looked forward to his daily trips with the newspaper, even if some of the news was sad.

Peter did have much good news to share, even if he didn't realize it. His smile and polite manners brought cheering-up news to all his customers.

Yes, Peter was a very special paperboy.

強風將彼得的一撮頭髮掃在他臉上，他攜帶的報袋沉甸甸的彷彿不是報紙，而是一大袋馬鈴薯。

離開家之前 ，聽到爸爸讀著新聞頭條說：「天哪，又沒有好消息！」

車禍！房子燒毀！風災！

都是這種新聞。

彼得多麼希望爸爸能讀到些令人振奮的事啊，邊想著，他迅速地在家家戶戶的門廊上或郵箱中送報紙。

彼得總想帶給他的家人、他的好朋友、鄰居好消息。

「那報童又送壞消息來了……」他擔心他們會這麼想。

「要怎麼做才可以讓大家好過一些？」他總是邊送報邊想著。

他在公園附近遇見了尼克。彼得真的很喜歡尼克，即使他說話有時會含混不清。

有人說，尼克是弱智。但彼得不在乎，因為尼克是他的朋友

名叫「王子」的狗在街頭大聲吠叫，彼得知道，牠整天被栓著，只是需要一個朋友。

他喜歡拍拍狗「王子」的頭，「王子」舔彼得的手，也對他呼出味道濃重的熱氣，「沒關係，」他跟狗說。

每次彼得留下一份報紙在客戶的門口，他都因為這樣不好的新聞，而感覺不妙。

能帶給人們一些好消息嗎？他想了很多，決定從自己做起。

彼得沿路頻頻打招呼說「嗨」，大人小孩在街道兩側也向他揮手致意。

他的笑容像初升的太陽般溫暖燦爛。

途中，一個小男孩摔傷了腿，彼得跑過去陪他、安慰他，直到男孩的母親趕到。

「我真高興你是我的報童」，她對彼得說。

他繼續他的路線，還有十多家要送。他不覺得感疲累，幫助別人讓他興致勃勃。

「現在，再想想，還能做什麼讓別人振奮呢？」

他奔向街尾最後一個客戶、蹦著上了樓梯。威廉斯太太看著他，準備好零食款待。

她很想知道，為什麼這樣一個活潑的男孩，總有空陪老太太聊天。

威廉斯太太為彼得準備的，是他最喜歡的檸檬汁和花生醬餅乾，正如同她一再告訴彼得的，他是她最喜歡的報童。

彼得款待大家的，是發自他充滿喜悅的心，他總是如此，讓接觸他的人都成了他的朋友。

每個人都期待他送報紙來，即使上面刊載的大多是令人悲傷的消息；但他的微笑和禮貌，卻為他所有的客戶，帶來一整天好心情。

是的，彼得就是這麼一個特別的報童。