My father used to work in the city and seldom stayed at home. But he would come back help to harvest(收割) rice every year.

One autumn, he promised to help our neighbor, who lost his arms in a traffic accident in 1999, to harvest his rice. After Father harvested our town, his little rice picker broke. What's worse, he had to return to work the next day because his partner was ill in hospital. It meant that Father wouldn't be back in a few days. It now seemed impossible to help out the neighbor.

Father told us that be wouldn't let the neighbor's rice rot( 糜烂) in the field. He decided to harvest it by hand without a machine. “If tonight's weather is clear, I think I can do it." added my father. In fact, he was rather tired after a day's harvest work.

After dinner, Father had a short rest and made his way to the field. A full moon was glowing (发光) in the sky and the weather was cold but clear. He spent the whole night keeping his word.

I would never forget the image(画面)：Father was cutting rice in the light of the harvest moon. Behind him, row after row of rice stocks(秸秆) stood at attention, showing respect for a man who kept his word.