雙語(yǔ)對(duì)照 ● 愛(ài)的港灣 Where Love Lands

愛(ài)的港灣 Where Love Lands

◎ Diana Chapman

No one knows where love’s wings will land. At times, it turns up in the most unusual spots. There was nothing more surprising than when it descended upon a rehabilitation[69] hospital in a Los Angeles suburb—a hospital where most of the patients can no longer move of their own accord.

愛(ài)的羽翼會(huì)在哪里停歇，沒(méi)有人知道。偶爾，它會(huì)出現(xiàn)在最不尋常的地方。最令人難以置信的是，它出現(xiàn)在洛杉磯郊區(qū)的一家康復(fù)醫(yī)院里——那兒的大多數(shù)病人都喪失了最基本的身體機(jī)能。

When the staff heard the news, some of the nurses began to cry. The administrator was in shock, but from then on, Harry MacNarama would bless it as one of the greatest days in his entire life.

當(dāng)醫(yī)院的工作人員聽(tīng)到這個(gè)消息時(shí)，有幾個(gè)護(hù)士哭了。院長(zhǎng)震驚了，從那一刻開(kāi)始，哈利把它當(dāng)作人生中最偉大的日子，并為它祈禱。

Now the trouble was, how were they going to make the wedding dress? He knew his staff would find a way, and when one of his nurses volunteered, Harry was relieved. He wanted this to be the finest day in the lives of two of his patients—Juana and Michael.

現(xiàn)在的問(wèn)題是，怎么給他們縫制結(jié)婚禮服呢？他知道他的員工會(huì)找到辦法的。一個(gè)護(hù)士提出自愿效勞時(shí)，哈利放心了。他希望這將是兩位病人——朱安娜和邁克一生中最美好的時(shí)光。

Michael strapped in his wheelchair and breathing through his ventilator[70] , appeared at Harry’s office door one morning.

一天早上，邁克出現(xiàn)在哈利的辦公室門口，他的身體用帶子縛在輪椅上，還需要借助呼吸器呼吸。

“Harry, I want to get married,” Michael announced.

“哈利，我想結(jié)婚。”邁克大聲宣布。

“Married?” Harry’s mouth dropped open. How serious was this? “To whom?” Harry asked.

“結(jié)婚？”哈利張大了嘴巴，他說(shuō)這話是認(rèn)真的嗎？他接著問(wèn)道：“跟誰(shuí)呢？”

“To Juana,” Michael said. “We’re in love.”

“跟朱安娜，我們相愛(ài)了。”邁克答道。

Love. Love had found its way through the hospital doors, over two bodies that refused to work for their owners and penetrated their hearts—despite the fact that the two patients were unable to feed or cloth themselves, required ventilators just to breath and could never walk again. Michael had spinal muscular atrophy; Juana had multiple sclerosis.

愛(ài)情。愛(ài)情穿越了醫(yī)院的大門，降臨在兩個(gè)癱瘓的人身上，并住進(jìn)他們的心里——雖然這兩位病人衣食無(wú)法自理，需要借助呼吸器呼吸，再也無(wú)法行走。邁克得了骨髓肌肉萎縮癥，朱安娜患了多發(fā)性硬化病。

Just how serious this marriage idea was, became quite apparent when Michael pulled out the engagement ring and beamed as he hadn’t done in years. In fact, the staff had never seen a kinder, sweeter Michael, who had been one of the angriest men Harry’s employees had ever worked with.

結(jié)婚的念頭究竟有多認(rèn)真，當(dāng)邁克拿出訂婚戒指，露出多年不見(jiàn)的笑容時(shí)，態(tài)度就更加明顯了。其實(shí)，此時(shí)的邁克是工作人員見(jiàn)過(guò)的最和善、最溫柔的時(shí)刻。之前他一直是公認(rèn)的脾氣最暴躁的人。

The reason for Michael’s anger was understandable. For twenty-five years, he had lived his life at a medical center where his mother had placed him at age nine and visited him several times a week until she died. He was always a raspy sort of guy, who cussed out his nurses routinely, but at least he felt he had family at the hospital. The patients were his friends.

邁克的暴躁是可以理解的。25年來(lái)，他一直生活在醫(yī)療中心。9歲時(shí)，他媽媽將他送到那兒后，每周來(lái)看幾次，直到她去世。他經(jīng)常大發(fā)雷霆，常把護(hù)士趕走。但是，他始終覺(jué)得醫(yī)院是他的家，病人們都是他的朋友。

There even had been a girl once who went about in a squeaky wheelchair who he was sure had eyed him. But she hadn’t stayed long at the center. And after spending more than half his life there, now Michael wasn’t going to get to stay either.

曾經(jīng)有個(gè)女孩，坐在咯吱作響的輪椅上，邁克以為她注意到自己了，可是她并沒(méi)有在那兒待多久。邁克在那兒度過(guò)了大半輩子后，現(xiàn)在也不想待下去了。

The center was closing, and Michael was shipped to live at the rehabilitation hospital, far from his friends and worse, far from Juana.

醫(yī)療中心要關(guān)門了，他被轉(zhuǎn)到康復(fù)醫(yī)院，遠(yuǎn)離了那些朋友。更糟糕的是，他遠(yuǎn)離了朱安娜。

That’s when Michael turned into a recluse. He wouldn’t come out from his room. He left it dark. His friends drove more than two hours to see him. But Michael’s spirits sagged so low, no one could reach him.

邁克開(kāi)始變得孤僻，喜歡待在黑暗的房間里，整天足不出戶。他的朋友驅(qū)車2個(gè)多小時(shí)來(lái)看他，但邁克依舊情緒低落，沒(méi)有人能走進(jìn)他的心。

And then, one day, he was lying in bed when he heard a familiar creaking sound coming down the hall. It sounded like that same, ancient, squeaky wheelchair that girl, Juana, had used at the center where he used to live.

有一天，他躺在床上，走廊傳來(lái)一陣熟悉的吱吱聲。古老的輪椅咯吱作響，就像以前他住的那個(gè)醫(yī)療中心遇見(jiàn)的女孩——朱安娜所坐的輪椅發(fā)出的聲音。

The squeaking stopped at his door, and Juana peered in and asked him to come outdoors with her. He was intrigued and from the moment he met Juana again, it was as though she breathed life back into him.

那個(gè)吱吱聲在他的門口停住了，朱安娜盯著他，問(wèn)他能否和她一起外出。他立即興奮起來(lái)，再次見(jiàn)到她的那一刻，他的生命似乎重新被她帶了回來(lái)。

He was staring at the clouds and blue skies again. He began to participate in the hospital’s recreation programs. He spent hours talking with Juana. His room was sunny and light. And then he asked Juana, who’d been living in a wheelchair since age twenty-four, if she would marry him.

他再次仰望藍(lán)天白云，參加醫(yī)院的娛樂(lè)活動(dòng)。他會(huì)花好幾個(gè)小時(shí)和朱安娜聊天。他的房間充滿了陽(yáng)光和歡笑。于是，他向從24歲起就在輪椅上生活的朱安娜求婚，問(wèn)她是否愿意和自己一起生活。

Juana had already had a tough life. She was pulled out of school before finishing the third grade, because she collapsed and fell a lot. Her mother, thinking she was lazy, slapped her around. She lived in terror that her mother wouldn’t want her anymore, so on the occasions when she was well enough, she cleaned house “like a little maid”.

朱安娜也曾有過(guò)一段艱辛的日子。還沒(méi)念完三年級(jí)，她就被趕出了學(xué)校，只因?yàn)樗眢w虛弱，很容易暈倒。媽媽以為她偷懶，老是打她。她生活在恐懼中，總是擔(dān)心媽媽會(huì)拋棄自己。所以，身體好些時(shí)，她就“像個(gè)小女傭似的”打掃房間。

Before the age of twenty-four, like Michael, she had a tracheotomy just to breathe and that was when she was officially diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. By the time she was thirty, she had moved into a hospital with round-the-clock care.

24歲之前，她和邁克一樣經(jīng)歷過(guò)一次氣管切開(kāi)手術(shù)，只是為了讓呼吸更順暢。也就是在那個(gè)時(shí)候，她被確診為患有多發(fā)性硬化癥。30歲時(shí)，她被送進(jìn)醫(yī)院里接受全天24小時(shí)的護(hù)理。

So when Michael asked her the big question, she didn’t think she could handle the pain if he was teasing.

所以，當(dāng)邁克問(wèn)她這個(gè)“重大”問(wèn)題時(shí)，她想，如果他只是戲弄自己的話，對(duì)她來(lái)說(shuō)那將是無(wú)法忍受的痛苦。

“He told me he loved me, and I was so scared,” she said. “I thought he was playing a game with me. But he told me it was true. He told me he loved me.”

“他說(shuō)愛(ài)我時(shí)，我非常害怕，”她說(shuō)，“我以為他是跟我開(kāi)玩笑。但是他告訴我，他是認(rèn)真的，他愛(ài)我。”

On Valentine’s Day, Juana wore a wedding dress made of white satin, dotted with pearl beads and cut loose enough to drape around a wheelchair and a ventilator. Juana was rolled to the front of the room, assisted by Harry, who proudly gave the bride away. Her face streamed with tears.

情人節(jié)那天，朱安娜穿著一件白色的綢緞婚紗，上面綴著珍珠。婚紗很大，足以蓋住輪椅和呼吸器。哈利自豪地把她推到房門前，她激動(dòng)地淚流滿面。

Michael wore a crisp white shirt, black jacket and a bow tie that fit neatly over his tracheotomy. He beamed with pleasure.

邁克穿著筆挺的白襯衣和黑夾克，動(dòng)了手術(shù)的脖子上還打了一個(gè)精美的蝴蝶結(jié)，臉上洋溢著幸福的微笑。

Nurses filled the doorways. Patients filled the room. An overflow of hospital employees spilled into the halls. Sobs echoed in every comer of the room. In the hospital’s history, no two people—living their lives bound to wheelchairs—had ever married.

護(hù)士和病人擠滿了走廊和房間，甚至連醫(yī)院的大廳都擠滿了醫(yī)護(hù)人員。房間的每個(gè)角落里都能聽(tīng)到哽咽聲。有史以來(lái)，醫(yī)院還沒(méi)有兩個(gè)生活在輪椅上的人結(jié)合的先例。

Janet Yamaguchi, the hospital’s recreation leader, had planned everything. Employees had donated their own money to buy the red and white balloons, matching flowers, and an archway dotted with leaves. Janet had the hospital chef make a three-tiered, lemon-filled wedding cake. A marketing consultant hired a photographer.

醫(yī)院的娛樂(lè)帶頭人珍妮特早已安排好了一切活動(dòng)。醫(yī)護(hù)人員用捐來(lái)的錢買了紅色和白色的氣球，樹(shù)葉纏繞的拱門上插滿了鮮花。珍妮特請(qǐng)醫(yī)院的廚師做了一個(gè)三層高的檸檬味的婚禮蛋糕。一位市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷顧問(wèn)還請(qǐng)來(lái)了攝影師。

Janet negotiated with family members. It was one of the most trying and satisfying times of her life to watch the couple get married.

珍妮特和家人談起這件事情?？粗@對(duì)有情人終成眷屬，這是她這輩子最下功夫、最滿意的時(shí)刻。

She thought of everything.

她考慮到了所有事情。

The final touch—the kiss—could not be completed. Janet used a white satin[71] rope to tie the couple’s wheelchairs to symbolize the romantic moment.

最后的程序——接吻——無(wú)法完成。珍妮特用一根白色綢緞將兩人的輪椅綁在一起，以象征這個(gè)浪漫時(shí)刻。

After the ceremony, the minister slipped out trying to hold back her tears. “I’ve performed thousands of weddings, but this is the most wonderful one I’ve done so far,” the minister said. “These people have passed the barriers and showed pure love.”

婚禮結(jié)束后，牧師強(qiáng)忍著淚水走了出去。“我主持過(guò)成千上萬(wàn)次的婚禮，但這次是最激動(dòng)人心的。”牧師說(shuō)，“這些人跨過(guò)了障礙，尋得了最純潔的愛(ài)情。”

That evening, Michael and Juana rolled into their own room for the first time together. Michael and Juana knew they had moved many people with their love, and they had been given the greatest gift of all. They had the gift of love. And it’s never known where it will land.

那天晚上，邁克和朱安娜一齊步入他們的新房。他們知道，他們真摯的愛(ài)情打動(dòng)了許多人，他們也因此收獲了最珍貴的禮物——愛(ài)情。愛(ài)情會(huì)在哪里停歇，你永遠(yuǎn)都不會(huì)知道。

超多雙語(yǔ)閱讀，盡在聽(tīng)力課堂