評論
打印
"YOU NEED TO GET HERE NOW!"
“你必須現在就到這！”
The nurse whispers anxiously over the phone. It's after midnight.
護士在電話里小聲地說著話，有些焦急，已是后半夜了。
One of our hospice patients has just died at home,
我們這所救濟院剛剛有位病人在家里離世，
and her husband is threatening to shoot himself if the funeral home shows up.
病人的丈夫威脅說，如果殯儀館出現，他就開槍自殺。
"Has the funeral home been called?" I ask.
“給殯儀館打電話了嗎？”我問。
"No," she says.
“沒有,”護士說。
It was her suggesting such a call that had set him off.
護士建議給殯儀館打電話惹怒了丈夫。
"Does he have a gun or weapon?"
“他有槍還是武器？”
"We're in the country. There are deer heads on the wall."
“我們在鄉下，墻上有鹿頭?！?/p>
The deer heads are a giveaway.
鹿頭是一種不正當的交易。
There are probably lots of guns.
可能有很多只槍。
"Has he threatened to hurt anyone else?"
“他威脅要傷害別人嗎？”
"He says he might take one of the funeral guys with him,
“他說他可能會帶一個葬禮上的人一起，
but I don't think he's serious."
但我認為他不是認真的。”
She isn't sure, though. She is the backup nurse and has never met him or the patient before.
她不確定，她是后援護士，以前從未見過這個男的，也沒見過病人。
Of course, neither have I. The patient's regular social worker is off tonight, and I am on call.
當然，我也沒有。今晚，病人的護工休息，我隨時待命。
We agree not to phone the funeral home yet.
我們同意暫時不給殯儀館打電話。
Then I jump into my car. As I drive, my mind turns to a night years ago.
然后，我跳進車里。我一邊開車，一邊回想起多年前的一個夜晚。
I was a graduate student at a bar with friends,
我剛畢業，在酒吧和朋友一起喝酒
and we were embroiled in an intense conversation about, of all things, death.
我們展開了一場關于死亡的激烈討論。
"You know what helps me when I think about death?" Claude asked.
“你知道當我想到死亡的時候，是什么幫助了我嗎？”克勞德問道。
"I think of that psalm about the valley of the shadow of death."
“我想起了那首關于死亡陰影山谷的詩篇?！?/div>
He must be joking, I thought. Claude, a professor, was an inveterate atheist.
他一定是在開玩笑，我想。克勞德是位教授，是個根深蒂固的無神論者。
He recited Psalm 23:4:"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
他背誦了詩篇23:4：“我穿行在通向死亡的陰影之谷中，
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."
但我不畏懼邪惡：因為你與我同在；你的杖，你的竿，都安慰我?！?/p>
