"I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly nervous. I fumbled[1] in my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes, which had escaped[2]their search. I found one and because of my shaking hands, I could barely get it to my lips. But I had no matches, they had taken those.

"I looked through the bars at my jailer. He did not make eye contact with me. I called out to him ’Have you got a light?’ He looked at me, shrugged [3]and came over to light my cigarette. "As he came close and lit the match, his eyes inadvertently locked with mine.

At that moment, I smiled. I don’t know why I did that. Perhaps it was nervousness, perhaps it was because, when you get very close, one to another, it is very hard not to smile. In any case, I smiled. In that instant, it was as though a spark jumped across the gap between our two hearts, our two human souls. I know he didn’t want to, but my smile leaped through the bars and generated a smile on his lips, too. He lit my cigarette but stayed near, looking at me directly in the eyes and continuing to smile.

"I kept smiling at him, now aware of him as a person and not just a jailer. And his looking at me seemed to have a new dimension[4] too. ’Do you have kids?’ he asked. " ’Yes, here, here.’ I took out my wallet and nervously fumbled for the pictures of my family. He, too, took out the pictures of his family and began to talk about his plans and hopes for them. My eyes filled with tears. I said that I feared that I’d never see my family again, never have the chance to see them grow up. Tears came to his eyes, too. "Suddenly, without another word, he unlocked my cell and silently led me out. Out of the jail, quietly and by back routes, out of the town. There, at the edge of town, he released me. And without another word, he turned back toward the town.

"My life was saved by a smile." Yes, the smile—the unaffected, unplanned, natural connection between people.. I really believe that if that part of you and that part of me could recognize each other, we wouldn’t be enemies. We couldn’t have hate or envy or fear.

“一想到自己明天就沒命了，不禁陷入極端的惶恐。我翻遍了口袋，終于找到一支沒被他們搜走的香煙，但我的手緊張得不停發抖，連將煙送進嘴里都成問題，而我的火柴也在搜身時被拿走了。

“我透過鐵欄望著外面的警衛，他并沒有注意到我在看他，我叫了他一聲：‘能跟你借個火嗎？’他轉頭望著我，聳了聳肩，然后走了過來，點燃我的香煙。

“當他幫我點火時，他的眼光無意中與我的相接觸，這時我突然沖著他微笑。我不知道自己為何有這般反應，也許是過于緊張，或者是當你如此靠近另一個人，你很難不對他微笑。不管是何理由，我對他笑了。就在這一剎那，這抹微笑如同火花般，打破了我們心靈間的隔閡。受到了我的感染，他的嘴角不自覺地也現出了笑容，雖然我知道他原無此意。他點完火后并沒立刻離開，兩眼盯著我瞧，臉上仍帶著微笑。

我也以笑容回應，仿佛他是個朋友，而不是個守著我的警衛。他看著我的眼神也少了當初的那股兇氣，“你有小孩嗎？”他開口問道。 “有，你看。”我拿出了皮夾，手忙腳亂地翻出了我的全家福照片。他也掏出了照片，并且開始講述他對家人的期望與計劃。這時我眼中充滿了淚水，我說我害怕再也見不到家人。我害怕沒機會看著孩子長大。他聽了也流下兩行眼淚。 突然間，他二話不說地打開了牢門，悄悄地帶我從后面的小路逃離了監獄，出了小鎮，就在小鎮的邊上，他放了我，之后便轉身往回走，不曾留下一句話。

一個微笑居然能救自己一條命。是的，微笑是人與人之間最自然真摯的溝通方式。如果我們能用心靈去認識彼此，世間不會有結怨成仇的憾事；恨意、妒嫉、恐懼也會不復存在。