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Okay, so I believed her. Sort of. Who, in her supposed condition, could cover a baseball team without the best equipment and help? I was curious, so I asked if I could drive over to see her. She agreed, giving me detailed directions involving farm roads and streets with no names.
不錯(cuò)，我就這么相信了她。有幾分信吧。在像她所稱的那種情況下，有誰能沒有最好的設(shè)備和幫助而報(bào)道一個(gè)棒球隊(duì)呢？我很好奇，所以我問她我能不能開車過去看她。她同意了，并詳細(xì)告訴我路怎么走，其中提到鄉(xiāng)下的泥路和沒有名字的街道。
I drove east across the stark Texas landscape. On a winding dirt road dotted with potholes the size of small animals, I spotted what looked like an old tool shed.
我開車向東駛?cè)ィ┻^得克薩斯的荒涼地帶。在一條蜿蜒曲折布滿小動(dòng)物大小的坑洼的泥路上，我看到了樣子像舊工具棚的屋子。
But it wasn't a shed. It was a house, a decaying shanty surrounded by tall grass and junk.
但這不是一個(gè)工具棚，這是一所房子，一個(gè)被高高的雜草和廢棄物包圍的正在朽爛的小棚屋。
Could this be right?
是不是這個(gè)地方呢？
A woman in an old T-shirt and skirt emerged.
一位身著舊T恤衫和裙子的婦女從棚屋里走了出來。
“I'm Sarah's mother,” said Lois Morris, grabbing my smooth hand with a worn one. “She's waiting for you.”
“我是薩拉的母親，”洛伊·莫里斯一邊說一邊用她那粗糙的手握著我光滑的手。“她在等你呢。”
I walked out of the sunlight, opened a torn screen door and moved into the shadows, where an 87-pound figure was curled up in a wheelchair.
我從太陽光下走進(jìn)去，打開一扇破爛的屏門，走進(jìn)了陰暗的棚子，棚子里蜷縮在輪椅上的是一個(gè)87磅重的軀體。
Her limbs twisted. Her head rolled. We could not hug. We could not even shake hands. She could only stare at me and smile.
她的四肢扭了一扭。她的頭轉(zhuǎn)了一轉(zhuǎn)。我們無法擁抱，甚至也無法握手。她只能張大眼睛看我，向我微笑。
But that smile! It cut through the gloom of the battered wooden floor, the torn couch and the cobwebbed windows.
可她那微笑里充滿了光芒！它穿透了由破爛的木地板、舊躺椅和結(jié)滿蜘蛛網(wǎng)的窗戶圍起來的黑暗空間。
I could bear to look at nothing else, so I stared at that smile, and it was so clear, so certain, it even cut through most of my doubts. But still, I wondered. This is Sarah Morris?
我不忍心看別的任何東西，所以我的眼睛只盯住她那微笑，它是那么清晰，那么自信，它甚至令我的多數(shù)懷疑一掃而光。但我還是要問，這就是莎拉·莫里斯嗎？
She began shaking in her chair, emitting sounds. I thought she was coughing.
她開始在輪椅里搖晃，嘴里發(fā)出聲音。我以為她在咳嗽。 She was, instead, speaking. Her mother interpreted. “I want to show you something,” Sarah said.
可實(shí)際上，她是在說話。她的母親為她翻譯。“我要給你看點(diǎn)東西，”薩拉說。
Lois rolled her up to an old desk on cinder blocks. On the desk was a computer. Next to it was a TV. Her mother fastened a head pointer around her daughter's temples.
洛伊把她推到搭在煤灰磚上的一張舊書桌前。桌子上放著一臺(tái)電腦。電腦旁是一臺(tái)電視機(jī)。她的母親將一根小棒綁在她女兒的太陽穴上。
Sarah leaned over the computer and used her pointer to call up a story on the Dodger Place website. Peck by peck, she began adding to that story.
薩拉趴在電腦上，用綁在她頭上的小棒調(diào)出道奇地網(wǎng)站上的一篇報(bào)道。她開始一啄一啄地在這篇報(bào)道上添字加句。
She looked up and giggled. I looked down in wonder — and shame.
她抬起頭看我并發(fā)出咯咯的笑聲。我低頭看她，心里充滿了驚奇—還有羞愧。
This was indeed Sarah Morris. The great Sarah Morris.
這真的就是薩拉·莫里斯。這個(gè)偉大的薩拉·莫里斯。
