【赫临译笔】肺腑之言 - 心云驛站

多数人都需要听到“我爱你”这三个小小的字眼，有时他们刚好能够及时听到。

我是在康尼住进安养院那天遇到她的，我在那里做义工。当她被从轮床上转移到病床上时，他丈夫比尔在一旁紧张地站着。尽管康尼到了癌症晚期，但她在顽强地斗争，意识清醒，心情愉快。我们把她安顿好。我在她需要的所有医院用品上填上她的名字，然后问她还需要什么。

“啊，是的，”她说：“请告诉我怎样使用电视。我非常喜欢看肥皂剧，不想错过剧情。康尼是个浪漫的人，她爱看肥皂剧、浪漫小说和剧情是美好爱情故事的电影。随着我们越来越熟，她向我透露让她十分沮丧的一件事是她嫁了三十二年的那个男人总是叫她傻女人。

“噢，我知道比尔爱我，”她说：“但他从没和表白过，也没送过卡片。”她叹了口气，朝窗外望去，目光停留在院子里的树上。“如果他能说句我爱你，我愿付出一切，但这不是他的个性。”

比尔每天都来看康尼。开始时，他坐在床边，而她在看电视。后来，她的睡眠时间增加了，他就在房间外的走廊里踱来踱去。很快，她不再看电视了，清醒时间也越来越少了。我开始把大部分义工时间和比尔一起度过。

他谈到他当过木匠，他喜欢钓鱼。他和康尼没有孩子，退休后两个人一直在旅游，直到康尼生病。提到康尼病危，他无法表达自己的感受。

一天，我们在自助餐厅喝咖啡时，我把话题引到女人身上，我谈到我们一生中多么需要浪漫，多想得到柔情的卡片和情书。

“你告诉过康尼你爱她吗？”我问道（我知道他的回答是什么），他看着我，好像我疯了一样。

“我敢肯定她知道，“我说，伸手触摸到他那双粗糙的木匠的手，他双手紧握杯子，好像这是他唯一能够把握的东西。“比尔，但她需要听到，需要听到这些年来她对你意味着什么，请三思。”

我们走到康尼的房间，比尔进去了，我去照看另一个病人。后来，我看见比尔坐在床边。康尼在睡，她握着康尼的手。那一天是二月十二日。

两天后的中午，我正朝着安养院的病房走时，看到比尔站在那里，斜靠着墙，眼睛盯着天花板。我已从护士长那得知安康于十一点去世。

比尔一看到我，就扑到我怀里，让我抱了很久。他的脸湿湿的，沾满泪痕，身子在颤抖。最后，他又靠到墙上，深吸了一口气。

“我必须得说点什么，”他说：“我得告诉你和她表白后我的感觉有多好。”他停下来，揩了下鼻涕。“我对你的话想了很久，今天早上我告诉了她我有多爱她……我多么珍惜和她结婚。你真的应该看看她的笑容！”

我走进房间，亲自和康尼告别。在床边的桌子上有一张比尔送的大大的情人节卡片。你知道，是充满柔情蜜意的那种，上面写着：“致我最棒的妻子，我爱你。”

Most people need to hear those "three little words"- I love you. Once in a while, they hear them just in time.

I met Connie the day she was admitted to the hospice ward, where I worked as a volunteer. Her husband, Bill, stood nervously nearby as she was transferred from the gurney to the hospital bed. Although Connie was in the final stages of her fight against cancer, she was alert and cheerful. We got her settled in. I finished marking her name on all the hospital supplies she would be using, then asked if she needed anything.

"Oh,yes," she said, "Would you please show me how to use the TV? I enjoy the soaps so much and I don't want to get behind on what's happening."Connie was a romantic. She loved soap operas, romance novels and movies with a good love story. As we became acquainted, she confided how frustrating it wasto be married 32 years to a man who often called her "a silly woman".

"Oh, I know Bill loves me," she said, "but he has never been one to say he loves me, or send cards to me.” She sighed and looked out the window at the trees in the courtyard. "I’d give anything if he'd say 'I love you,' but it's just not in his nature."

Bill visited Connie every day. In the beginning, he sat next to the bed while she watched the soaps. Later, when she began sleeping more, he paced up and down the hallway outside her room. Soon, when she no longer watched television and had fewer waking moments, I began spending more of my volunteer time with Bill.

He talked about having worked as a carpenter and how he liked to go fishing. He and Connie had no children, but they'd been enjoying retirement by traveling, until Connie got sick. Bill could not express his feelings about the fact that his wife was dying.

One day, over coffee in the cafeteria, I got him on the subject of women and how we need romance in our lives; how we love to get sentimental cards and love letters.

"Do you tell Connie you love her?" I asked (knowing his answer), and he looked at me as if I was crazy.

"I'm sure she knows," I said, reaching over and touching his hands rough, carpenter'shands that were gripping the cup as if it were the only thing he had to hang onto "but she needs to hear it, Bill. She needs to hear what she has meant to you all these years. Please think about it."

We walked back toConnie’s room. Bill disappeared inside, and I left to visit another patient.Later, I saw Bill sitting by the bed. He was holding Connie's hand as she slept. The date was February 12.

Later I walked down the hospice ward at noon. There stood Bill, leaning up against the wall in the hallway, staring at the floor. I already knew from the head nurse that Connie had died at 11 A.M.

When Bill saw me,he allowed himself to come into my arms for a long time. His face was wet with tears and he was trembling. Finally, he leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath.

"I have to say something," he said. "I have to say how good I feel about telling her." He stopped to blow his nose. "I thought a lot about what you said,and this morning I told her how much I loved her... and loved being married toher. You should have seen her smile!"

I went into the room to say my own good bye to Connie. There, on the bedside table, was a large Valentine card from Bill. You know, the sentimental kind that says, "To my wonderful wife... I love you."

丛中笑发表于 2014-2-8 18:47
“如果他能就句我爱你，我愿付出一切，但这不是他的个性。” “就”字是否？ ...