評論
打印
The doctor at my side explained and commented upon the old man's story, "We still hare a handful of patients here who are being kept alive by constant care. The others died as a result of their injuries, or else committed suicide . "
站在我身邊的大夫對老人的話作了補充說明：“我們這兒還有一些病人是靠不斷的護理醫治才得以維持生命的。另有一些病人因傷重不治而死，還有一些自殺身亡。”
"Why did they commit suicide?"
“他們干嗎要自殺呢?”
"It is humiliating to survive in this city. If you bear any visible scars of atomic burns, your children will encounter prejudice on the part of those who do not. No one will marry the daughter or the niece of an atomic bomb victim. People are afraid of genetic damage from the radiation." The old fisherman gazed at me politely and with interest.
“因為在這座城市里茍延殘喘是一種恥辱。假如你身上有著明顯的原子傷痕，你的孩子就會受到那些沒有傷痕的人的歧視。男人們誰也不愿娶一個原子彈受害者的女兒或侄女為妻。他們害怕核輻射會造成遺傳基因病變。” 那位老漁民彬彬有禮、興致勃勃地定睛望著我。
Hanging over the patient was a big ball made of bits of brightly colored paper, folded into the shape of tiny birds. "What's that?" I asked.
他的病床上方懸掛著一個由許多疊成小鳥形狀的五顏六色的紙片結成的大紙團。“那是什么?”我問道。
"Those are my lucky birds. Each day that I escape death, each day of suffering that helps to free me from earthly cares, I make a new little paper bird, and add it to the others. This way I look at them and congratulate myself of the good fortune that my illness has brought me. Because, thanks to it, I have the opportunity to improve my character."
“那是我的吉祥鳥。每當我從死神那兒掙脫出來的那一天，每當病痛將我從塵世煩惱中解放出來的那一天，我都要疊一只新的小紙鳥，加到原有的紙鳥群里去。我就這樣看著這些紙鳥，慶幸病痛給自己帶來的好運。因為正是我的病痛使我有了怡養性情的機會。”
Once again, outside in the open air, I tore into little pieces a small notebook with questions that I'd prepared in advance for interviews with the patients of the atomic ward. Among them was the question: Do you really think that Hiroshima is the liveliest city in Japan? I never asked it. But I could read the answer in every eye.
從醫院出來，我又一次地撕碎了一個小筆記本，那上面記著我預先想好準備在采訪原子病區的病人時提問的一些問題，其中有一個問題就是：你是否真的認為廣島是日本最充滿活力的城市?我一直沒問這問題，但我已能從每個人的眼神中體會出這個問題的答案。
