A Kindness Returned 友好的报答
A Kindness Returned 友好的报答
◎ Virginia Hall Graves
At the time my son was born in 1956, I shared a hospital room with a young woman who bore a son on the same day. Partly because my parents owned a flower shop, the room was soon filled with the lovely smell of roses.
1956年，儿子出生时，我与一位年轻女人共住一间病房，那天，她也同样生了一个儿子。也许是我父母拥有一家花店的缘故，我们的病房很快就充满了可爱的玫瑰馨香。
However, when the seventh bunch of flowers was brought in, I was beginning to feel uncomfortable, for no flowers had arrived for my roommate, Ann. She sat on her bed, admiring the latest flowers in my vase. She was a pretty young woman, yet there was something about her large, brown eyes that made me think she had known too much struggling, too much sadness for one so young. I had the feeling that she had always had to admire someone else’s flowers.
然而，当我第七次收到花束时，我开始不安起来，因为我的室友——安从没收到过。她坐在床边，身子向前倾，欣赏着刚刚送来的鲜花。她是个漂亮的少妇，但是，那双棕色的大眼睛里总闪烁着忧伤，让我觉得她经历了太多的人生苦难，如此年轻的生命有着太多忧伤。我觉得她似乎总是只能欣赏别人的花。
“I’m enjoying every minute of this,” she said as though she had read my thoughts. “Wasn’t I the lucky one to get you for a roommate?”
“我在这里一直很愉快，”她似乎读懂了我的心思，说道，“我能和你共处一室，不是很幸运吗？”
I still felt uncomfortable, however. If only there were some magic button I could push to take away the sadness in her eyes. Well, I thought, at least I could see that she had some flowers. When my parents came to see me that day, I asked them to send her some.
不过，我仍觉得有些不安。如果能有一种神奇的按钮，一按就能消除她眼中的悲伤就好了。好吧，我想，至少我能让她拥有一些鲜花。当我的父母再来看望我时，我便要他们那天也送安一些花。
The flowers arrived just as Ann and I were finishing supper.
我和安刚吃完晚饭，鲜花就送来了。
“Another bunch for you.” she said, laughing.
“又一束送你的鲜花。”她笑着说。
“No, not this time.” I said, looking at the card.
“不，这次不是。”我看着那张卡片，说道。
Ann stared at the flowers for a long time, not saying anything.
良久，安默默地凝视着鲜花，一言不发。
“How can I ever thank you?” she said, laughing.
然后微笑着说道，“我该怎么感谢你呢？”
The son born to my husband and me that day in 1956 turned out to be our only child. For nearly 21 years he filled our lives with love and laughter, making us feel complete. But on Easter morning, in April 1977, after a long, painful battle with cancer, he died quietly in our arms.
1956年出生的儿子成了我们夫妇的独生子。近21年来，他让我们的生活充满了爱和欢笑，让我们感到心满意足。但是，1977年4月，复活节的那个早晨，在与癌症进行了漫长而痛苦的搏斗后，他静静地死在我们怀里。
At the funeral home I was alone with my son in a room filled with the smell of roses, when a man brought in a small vase with some flowers in it. I didn’t read the card until later, as we rode to the cemetery. “To W. John Graves,” the card said, “From the boy who was born with you at Memorial Hospital, and his mother.”
殡仪馆内，我单独与儿子待在一间弥漫着玫瑰花香的屋里。一个人送来了一小束鲜花，直到后来，我们乘车去墓地的路上，我才看到卡片：“献给约翰·格雷夫斯——与你同天出生在纪念医院的孩子和他的母亲谨上。”
Only then did I recognize the vase I had given to a young woman so many years ago, now once again filled with roses, Ann and I had lost touch for a long time. She had never known our son, nor his illness. She must have read about his funeral in a newspaper. I passed the card on to my mother sitting beside me. She, too, remembered.
直到那时，我才认出这个靴形瓷瓶是很多年前我送给一位忧郁的年轻女子的。如今它再一次插满了玫瑰。我和安很早以前就失去了联系。她根本不认识我们的儿子，也不知道他得了病。她一定是在报纸上看到讣告了。妈妈坐在我身边，我把卡片递给她，她也想起来了。
“A kindness returned.” mother said.
“这是一种友好的报答。”妈妈说。
A few days later, my husband and I, with several members of our family, went to clear John’s grave. The vase with roses in it stood at its foot.
几天后，我和丈夫以及家人去公墓给约翰扫墓。那瓶玫瑰还在高高的花圈和枝丫上伫立着。
“How strange that someone would send something like that to a funeral,” someone said. “It seemed better for a birth.”
“真奇怪，谁会送这些东西作为葬礼，”有人说道，“它看起来更像是祝贺新生的。”
“There was a birth,” said my husband quietly, “John was born to Heaven.” I looked at him with surprise, knowing those words were difficult for a man who had never spoken openly about such matter.
“它是祝贺新生的，”丈夫静静地说，“约翰诞生在永恒的国度了。”我惊讶地看着他，我知道，他从不坦率地谈及此事，说出这话来该有多么不容易。
He emptied the vase and handed it to me. I held it, just as Ann had done, thinking of all the messages it contained: friendship, thanks, and the hope that John was born to Heaven, which comforts us now.
他拿出鲜花，递给我那个靴形瓷瓶。我捧着它，就像当年安所做的那样，抚摸着它，思索着它所蕴涵的所有意义：友谊，感激之情，还有新生的希望——正是这些在慰藉着我们的心灵。
