Reggie couldn"t hear a thing. He was a normal boy， but he had been born deaf. He was well known to everyone in town， and they were all very fond of him. Unfortunately， though， he always seemed to end up being treated differently from everyone else. Children worried that they would hurt him， that maybe he wouldn"t hear the ball being hit in his direction. Adults acted like he was incapable of understanding them， as though he was some kind of baby.
Reggie didn"t like this very much. But the person who disliked it the most was his friend Michael， who decided one day that things had to change. Michael"s father was the town"s Mayor， and Michael managed to convince him that this year， in honour of Reggie， they should dedicate1） one day of the festival to deaf people. During that whole day everyone in town would have to wear earplugs2）.
People liked the idea， because everyone loved Reggie. The day became known as the Day of Silence， and when it arrived everyone stuck plugs3） in their ears， in a spirit of great fun. That morning was filled with practical jokes， mischief4） and laughter. But， as the hours passed， people became more and more aware of how difficult life was when you couldn"t hear anything. However， learning about how life was more difficult for the deaf was nothing compared to the greatest discovery of the day： Reggie was amazing！
On that day no one was thinking of Reggie as just a deaf person. This meant he could be treated just like any other little boy， and people saw a whole new side of him. Not only that， but Reggie had a bright and sharp mind. On that day， using his usual gestures， Reggie was the one who could communicate best with everyone. This meant that people paid more attention to what he was saying， and they were surprised by his intelligence， his creativity， and his ability to find solutions to almost any problem. They realised that he had always been like that， and that in normal life all Reggie needed was a little more time than others to communicate. That was the only difference.
So the Day of Silence was the day Reggie"s true nature became known. And it was the day everyone realised you have to give people a chance to show how valuable they are. People in town wanted to make sure that others would learn this lesson. So， from that day on， whenever a visitor came to town， they were welcomed joyfully and a helmet5） was plunked6） on their head. A helmet with great thick earflaps7）； a helmet which meant you couldn"t hear the slightest thing. 雷吉什么也听不见。他和别的男孩没什么两样，只不过他天生失聪。小镇上的人都认识雷吉，而且也都非常喜欢他。但令人遗憾的是，人们对待雷吉总是和对待其他人不一样。孩子们担心会伤到他，担心他可能听不到球正朝他飞去。大人们表现得好像他不能明白他们的意思，好像他是个婴孩似的。
雷吉非常不喜欢这样，不过最不喜欢这种情况的人却是他的朋友迈克尔。有一天，迈克尔决心一定要改变这种现状。迈克尔的爸爸是这个小镇的镇长，迈克尔设法说服了他爸爸，小镇上的人今年应该为了雷吉拿出一天节假日给耳聋的人过节。在这一整天，小镇上的每一个人都必须戴着耳塞。
人们非常喜欢这个主意，因为大家都很喜欢雷吉。那一天被定为“安静日”。当“安静日”到来时，每个人都抱着好玩的心态在耳朵里塞了耳塞。那天上午到处都是恶作剧和笑声。但是，随着几个小时慢慢过去，人们越来越意识到听不到任何声响的生活是多么艰难。然而，与这一天最伟大的发现相比，发现耳聋人的生活更为不易就算不上什么了。那个伟大的发现就是：雷吉真了不起！
在那天，没有人将雷吉当做聋人看待。这也就是说他们对待雷吉就像对待其他小男孩一样。人们看到了雷吉全新的一面。不仅如此，人们还发现雷吉非常机灵，而且思维敏捷。那一天，雷吉利用他惯用的手势，成为与大家交流得最好的人。这意味着人们将更多的注意力放在了他所“说”的话上，人们被他的智慧、他的创造力以及他几乎能为任何问题找到解决办法的能力惊呆了。他们意识到其实雷吉一直都是这样的，在日常生活中他所需要的只是比别人稍微多一点的沟通时间。那就是他与别人唯一的不同。
于是，在“安静日”那天，人们才了解了真正的雷吉。也就是在那一天，小镇上的人们都才意识到必须给别人展示自身价值的机会。小镇上的人们希望能让其他人也意识到这一点。因此，从那天起，每当有人来到这个小镇，都会受到人们快乐的欢迎，人们还会给来访者戴上一顶帽盔。那顶帽盔的耳罩非常厚，戴上它你连最轻的声音都听不到。
1. dedicate [?ded?ke?t] vt. 把（时间、精力等）用于
2. earplug [???pl?ɡ] n. （防水、隔音、御寒的）耳塞
3. plug [pl?ɡ] n. 塞子
4. mischief [?m?st??f] n. 恶作剧，胡闹，捣蛋
5. helmet [?helm?t] n. 帽盔
6. plunk [pl??k] vt. （蓦地）重重放下
7. earflap[????fl?p] n. 御寒用之耳罩
