I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly nervous. I [1] fumbled in my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes, which had [2] escaped 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, [3]shrugged 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. 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.
　　“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.

fumble  v. 摸索
jailer  n. 狱卒
inadvertently  adv. 不注意地
generate v. 产生
unaffected  adj. 不矫揉造作的
envy  (v.) n. 嫉妒

一想到自己明天就没命了，我不禁陷入极端的惶恐。我翻遍了口袋，终于找到一支没被他们搜走的香烟，但我的手紧张得不停发抖，连将烟送进嘴里都成问题，而我的火柴也在搜身时被拿走了。 我透过铁栏望着外面的警卫，他并没有注意到我在看他，我叫了他一声：“能跟你借个火吗？”他转头望着我，耸了耸肩，然后走了过来，点燃我的香烟。 当他帮我点火时，他的眼光无意中与我的相接触，这时我突然冲着他微笑。就在这一刹那，这抹微笑如同火花般，打破了我们两个灵魂和心灵间的隔阂。我的笑容穿越铁栅，牵动了他唇边的笑意，虽然我知道他原无此意。他点完火后并没立刻离开，两眼盯着我瞧，脸上仍带着微笑。
“你有小孩吗？”他开口问道。“有，你看。”我拿出了皮夹，手忙脚乱地翻出了我的全家福照片。他也掏出了照片，并且开始讲述他对家人的期望与计划。这时我眼中充满了泪水，我说我害怕再也见不到家人了，我害怕没机会看着孩子长大。他听了也眼泛泪光。突然间，他二话不说地打开了牢门，悄悄地带我从后面的小路逃离了监狱，出了小镇，就在小镇的边上，他放了我，之后便转身往回走，不曾留下一句话。
微笑拯救了我的生命。是的，微笑是人与人之间最自然真挚的沟通方式。如果我们能用心灵去认识彼此，世间不会有结怨成仇的憾事；恨意、妒嫉、恐惧也会不复存在。

增值英语

1. fumble：我们总是能看到爱抽烟的男人在自己的身上到处摸烟的镜头，用动词fumble（乱摸、摸索）来形容他们的动作是再恰当不过了；下文中提到的“nervously fumbled for the pictures”也是借用fumble来形容主人公非常紧张地在钱包搜索照片的情景；现在如果你看到某人在“哗啦啦”地翻书寻找他想要的内容，你就可以用fumble来描述他的动作，可以说 “he fumbled the pages looking for the place ”。

2. escape是个很调皮的词汇，总是“逃离这儿，逃离那儿”， 此处的“escaped their search”字面上就表示“（烟）逃离了他们的搜查”，也就是“没有被他们搜走（的烟）”；再看看看“I’m afraid your name escapes me”看起来是“你的名字逃离了我”，也就是“我恐怕想不起你的名字了”。老师在课堂上可能会很严肃地警告捣蛋的学生一句：“Nothing escaped my attention”，（什么都逃不过我的注意）。

3. shrug表示的动作是“耸耸肩”，比如你把一个消息告诉给自己的好友时，“她听到消息后只是耸耸肩”，你就可以描绘成“She shrugged her shoulders at the news”。