提要
「Chain」是鍊子、連接。連接善意、善行，意思是隨時隨地的伸出援手，幫助需要的人，不必考慮功過得失，也不計較是否可得到報酬。文中雖窮困但仍然願意盡心力幫助別人的人，要求的回報只是「幫助下一個需要的人」，好心有好報，理所當然。
He was driving home one evening, on a two-lane country road. Work in this small mid-western community, was almost as slow as his beat-up Pontiac. But he never quit looking. Ever since the factory closed, he'd been unemployed and with winter raging on, the chill had finally hit home.
It was a lonely road. Not very many people had a reason to be on it,unless they were leaving. Most of his friends had already left. They had families to feed and dreams to fulfill. But he stayed on. After all, this was where he buried his mother and father. He was born here and he knew the country. He could go down this road blind and tell you what was on either side and with his headlights not working, which came in handy.
It was starting to get dark and light snow flurries were coming down.
He'd better get a move on. He almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road. But even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe, he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.
He said, "I'm here to help you ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Brian".
Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Brian crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.
As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through.
She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid. Brian just smiled as he closed her trunk. She asked him how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She had already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped.
Brian never thought twice about the money. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past... He had lived his whole life that way and it never occurred to him to act any other way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed and Brian added"...and think of me".
He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.
A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The cash register was like the telephone of an out of work actor—it didn't ring much.
Her waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair, she had a sweet smile. The lady noticed that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Brian.
After the old lady finished her meal and the waitress went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, the lady slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. She wondered where the lady could be,then she noticed something written on the napkin under which was six $100 bills.
There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: "You don't owe me anything, I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of kindness end with you".
Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day.
That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard. She knew how worried her husband was and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything's gonna be all right; I love you, Brian."
解說
某一個晚上，一名外出求職的男子，沿著雙線道的鄉村小路開車回家，在這個中西部小社區找工作的速度，幾乎像他的破舊龐蒂亞克車一樣慢。但他一直沒有放棄尋找，自從他原來工作的工廠關閉後，失業與冬天的寒意，同時向他襲來。
那是一條荒涼的道路，沒特別的事，沒有人會由此路過。他的朋友們大多已去別的地方養家活口、實現夢想。但他留下了，畢竟這是他的出生地，也是安葬父母的地方。他對這條路熟悉的程度，甚至可以閉著眼睛告訴你，路的兩旁是什麼景象，這樣也好，因為他的車前大燈也快要不亮了。
夜幕漸漸低垂、而且開始飄雪。
在昏暗的光線中，他幾乎看不清滯留在公路邊老太太，但他仍可察覺她需要幫助。於是，他靠邊停在她的賓士車前、下車查看。雖然他的臉上堆滿笑容，但當他走近時，老太太的表情還是顯得很擔心，她心想：「過去的一個小時，沒有人停下來幫助我。他會不會傷害我呢？他看起來又窮又餓，似乎不怎麼安全！」
他看得出來，她被嚇壞了，困在那寒冷又陌生地方，更增添恐懼。
他說，「我是來幫助您的，夫人，你何不在溫暖的車上等待？」「順便告訴你，我的名字是布萊恩。」
只不過是一個輪子爆胎了，但對一個老太太來說，那已經是夠糟的了。布萊恩爬進車底，找地方架好千斤頂、活動活動指關節，然後迅速地換好了輪胎。代價是一身油膩髒汙、手也受了傷。
正當他在鎖最後一個螺絲時，她按下車窗告訴他，她來自聖路易斯，只是剛好路過。
想到若不是他幫忙，就可能發生的可怕的事情……老太太對他的熱心幫助感激莫名，布萊恩笑笑地把工具放回她的車後行李箱。她問他，該給他多少錢，任何金額都沒問題。
這不算是工作，而是幫助有需要的人，所以當然也不必索取酬勞。天曉得過去有多少人曾經幫助過他……布萊恩想都不想就告訴老太太，如果她真的想回報他，下一次看到需要的人時，請她幫助他們。「而且，」布萊恩補充說：「請想到我」。
等老太太走了，布萊恩也在昏暗光線中開車回家，又過了沒找到工作的一天；但幫助別人，讓他感覺很好。
老太太打算回家前吃點東西、去除寒意，順著路走了幾英里之後，她看到一個小餐館，一個灰濛濛、乏人問津的老房子。外面的兩個老加油機，讓這場景更顯荒涼。
女服務生拿來乾淨的毛巾，讓她擦拭被融雪弄溼的頭髮。她的臉上堆滿甜美的笑容。老太太發現，女服務生懷了八個多月的身孕，但她絲毫不讓緊張和疼痛，改變她的服務態度。「真難以想像，擁有這麼少的人，卻可以對陌生的人給予這麼多！」這時，老太太想起了布萊恩。
餐畢，待女服務生拿百元鈔去結賬找錢時，這位老太太溜出了門。
女服務生回來，四處找不到老太太，卻發現一張寫了字的餐巾紙，下面有六張百元美鈔。
她噙著淚水讀餐巾紙上的字：「妳不必還我錢，我這麼做，是因為有人先幫了我。如果真的想回報我，妳可以讓這『善意的傳遞』繼續下去。」
女服務生完成了一天的工作之後，晚上下班回家、爬上了床，想著老太太寫的話，「夫人怎麼會知道，我們家多麼需要錢？寶寶下個月就要出生，丈夫是多麼地擔心……」，躺在丈夫旁邊，她給了他一個輕柔的吻，低聲的說：「一切都會好起來的，我愛你，布萊恩」。