托福阅读：To Love, in Sickness and in Health疾病或健康 此爱不渝

疾病或健康 此爱不渝

【文章选自《用英语点亮人生》/ 胡敏主编】

In a corner of a room he shares with three other residents at the nursing home, a patient with a curious illness stares out the window at an empty bird feeder. Mr. Fletcher has beenbedridden for years. He can’t talk, can only moan. He can’t move other than to blink or shift his gaze. The only sign of responsiveness is that his eyes will sometimes follow stimuli, either of voice or hand movement.

弗莱彻先生待在他与其他三个病友同住的护理病房的角落里，透过窗子盯着一个空空的喂鸟器。他患有一种罕见的疾病，已经卧床多年，不能说话，只能呻吟。除了眨眼或转移目光，他无法做其他动作。能表明他仍有反应的迹象就是他的眼睛有时会跟随诸如声音或手部动作这样的刺激而转动。

 

Mr. Fletcher has what is commonly referred to as “locked-in syndrome”—the result, occasionally, of a rare form of stroke, happening viciously and suddenly, often striking down people in the prime of life after head trauma.

弗莱彻先生患有一种通常被称为“闭锁综合症”的疾病。这种疾病是一种罕见的突发中风所留下的后遗症，发病严重且突然，常使人在年富力强时受到脑损伤后一病不起。

 

Nobody knows what causes it, and treatments are essentially palliative: You really can’t do a thing for those who suffer from it other than to keep them comfortable.

没人知道这种疾病的病因，而且通过治疗基本上也只能控制病情。对于那些患有这种疾病的人，除了让他们舒服一些，你真的无能为力。

 

Mr. Fletcher has been admitted for some rehabilitation as he transitions from the hospital, after a partial bowel obstruction, back to his home. A team of therapists, nurses and aides and, most importantly, his wife, is here to care for him. I suspect that his wife, the one with the least formal training, understands him best.

肠梗阻得到部分治愈，而且他的身体确实已经有所康复之后，弗莱彻先生从医院回到家中。一个由医师、护士、助理组成的团队都在这里照顾着他，而其中最重要的则是他的妻子。我想，他的妻子这样一个几乎没受过任何正规培训的人，才是最了解他的人。

 

I’d like to tell you about her.

我想跟你们说一说她。

 

I am visiting another patient in Mr. Fletcher’s room when Mrs. Fletcher arrives and proceedsto wash him with a moistened towel. Carefully and tenderly, she alternates between wiping and drying, turning him first one way, then another. Patiently, meticulously and ever so gently, she bathes him.

当弗莱彻太太赶到病房，开始用湿润的毛巾为她的丈夫擦洗时，我正在看望与弗莱彻先生住在同一病房里的另一位病人。她细心又温柔地为他反复擦洗拭干，并帮他翻身。她那样耐心、细致又温柔地帮他擦洗着。

 

After she finishes with the bathing, she rubs her husband down with lotion, massaging it into his skin until it is supple. Then the shaving begins. She lathers his face and, with smooth, efficient strokes, manages to remove a three-day growth of stubble. You can see his eyes sparkle as she winds up her ministrations.

洗完之后，她又帮丈夫从上到下涂了乳霜，并不断按摩，直到皮肤因吸收了乳霜而变得柔软。然后，她开始为丈夫刮胡子。她在丈夫脸上涂上肥皂沫，然后平滑地、快速地刮去三天以来长出的胡须。当她做完这些事后，你会看到弗莱彻先生的眼睛明亮有神。

 

I try not to stare. It seems intrusive, to watch them together, intimate, in an interaction almost as private as making love. Being with him, cleaning him, giving of herself to him and receiving at the most a blink or grunt in return.

我努力不让自己盯着他们看，因为看着他们在一起那么亲密地交流似乎像在看别人做爱那样，侵犯了人家的隐私。尽管她这样陪伴他，帮他清洗，为他付出自己的一切，但换来的顶多是他的一次眨眼或一声咕哝。

 

Now that’s love. That’s commitment. In a time when people get divorced for the mostsuperficial of reasons, it is a tremendous encouragement to see true love in action. 我努力不让自己盯着他们看，因为看着他们在一起那么亲密地交流似乎像在看别人做爱那样，侵犯了人家的隐私。尽管她这样陪伴他，帮他清洗，为他付出自己的一切，但换来的顶多是他的一次眨眼或一声咕哝。

 

As I watch her bathe him, I reflect on what their early years together might have been like. Running on the beach, staying out till dawn, picnics, favorite restaurants and lots of dancing—they look like a couple who used to dance a lot.

看着她给他擦洗的情景，我不禁想象他们年轻时在一起该是什么样子。他们一起在海滩上奔跑，一起在户外待到黎明，一起去野餐，一起去最喜爱的餐厅，还会经常一起跳舞——他们看起来像是一对过去经常跳舞的夫妻。

 

She is so kind to him, devoted, caring. I suppose that is what the marriage vows mean when they speak of “in sickness and in health”. Here is tangible evidence of someone being faithful to that promise. I’m sure it is way more than she bargained for, but she dispatches her duties willingly, without resentment.

她那样悉心地照料他，全心全意。我想这就是他们的结婚誓言“无论疾病或健康”所包含的真正含义吧。这也有力地证明了忠于这种誓言的人是存在的。我确信弗莱彻太太的付出已经远远超出了她该做的，但她仍然毫无怨言地承担起了自己的职责。

 

When you’re young, you take your health for granted. Slowly, it is taken away from even the strongest of us. That day, Mrs. Fletcher taught me volumes about the timelessness of love and the gift of health.

年轻的时候，你会把健康看作是理所当然的事。但即使最强健的人也将慢慢失去健康。那一天，弗莱彻太太让我充分认识到了爱的恒久和健康的恩赐。

 

Vocabulary

Vocabularyresident n. 住客

bedridden a. 卧床不起的

moan v. 呻吟

responsiveness n. 反应性

stimuli n. 刺激物

locked-in syndrome 闭锁综合症

stroke n. 中风

viciously ad. 凶猛地

in the prime of life 正值壮年

trauma n. 创伤

palliative a. 缓和的

rehabilitation n. 修复

transition n. 转变

bowel obstruction 肠梗阻

therapist n. 临床医学家

proceed v. 着手

moistened a. 弄湿的

alternate v. 交替

meticulously ad. 仔细地

lotion n. 护肤液

massage v. 按摩

supple a. 柔软的

lather v. 涂以肥皂沫

stubble n. 胡子茬

wind up 结束

ministration n. 服侍

intrusive a. 侵入的

intimate a. 亲密的grunt v. 咕哝

superficial a. 肤浅的

vow n. 誓约

tangible a. 切实的

bargain for 预料到

dispatch v. 迅速完成

resentment n. 怨恨

 

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