An Extra Ten Minutes 再待10分钟
An Extra Ten Minutes 再待10分钟
◎ Mary Marcdante
On Monday afternoons at two o’clock, Beau and I would arrive at the Silver Spring Convalescent Center on Milwaukee’s northeast side of town for an hour of pet therapy with the seniors who lived there. We’d walk the hall-ways greeting everyone on our way to the hospitality room, where residents would come to pet Beau and bask in the adoration of this beautiful, happy, ten-year-old, ninety-nine-pound Doberman pinscher. You’d never know this was the same dog that arrived at my doorstep eight years earlier so beaten, scarred and scared that as soon as he made eye contact with you, he’d lie down on his back with his feet up in the air and pee until you petted and soothed him into feeling safe.
每星期一下午两点，我和博都要去密尔沃基东北方向的银泉康复中心，为住在那里的老人进行一小时的宠物治疗。我们经过过道来到接待室，一路上和每个人打招呼。在接待室，休养的人抚摩博，大家都沉浸在对这只漂亮幸福、10岁大、99磅重的德国种短毛猎犬的爱慕中。你怎么也想不到，8年前，就是这只狗，伤痕累累遍体鳞伤地出现在我家台阶上，由于惊吓过度，一见人就仰卧着，翘起腿撒尿，直到你去抚摩它，安慰它，它才感到安全。
On our first visit, as we walked through the canary-yellow Hallway One, I heard an elderly man’s excited voice, thick with a German accent, streaming out of room 112. “Ma, Ma, the German dog is here! The German dog is here!”
我们初次访问康复中心，经过金丝楠木1号走廊时，从112号房间传出一位老人激动的声音，那声音带有浓重的德国口音。“玛，玛，那德国狗来了！那德国狗来了！”
No sooner did I hear the voice than a wrinkle-faced, six-foot tall, white-haired pogo stick of a man was greeting us at the door, swooping his big, open hand and strong arm across the doorway, inviting us in. “ I’ m Charlie. This is my wife, Emma. Come in, come in.”
在我听到声音不久，我看到一个满脸皱纹，6英尺高、白头发、拄着单高跷拐杖的男人在门廊边摇晃着他的大手和强壮的臂膀，邀请我们进屋。“我叫查利，这是我妻子，埃玛。请进，请进。”
When Beau heard Charlie’s friendly, enthusiastic voice, his entire body went into his customary wagging frenzy and leanagainst-your-thigh position, waiting for a petting, which was immediately forthcoming from Charlie.
博听见查利友好、热情的声音，身子立刻激动得习惯性地晃个不停，摆出要贴靠你大腿的姿势，等着你去抚摩它。查利这时便满足了它的愿望。
As we walked into the room, a frail but lively eightyish, violet-haired Emma sat in bed, smiling, patting her hand on the bed. All she had to do was pat once, and Beau, leashed and always obedient, was up on the bed lying down beside her, licking her face. Her eyes teared up as Charlie told us that he and Emma had immigrated to the United States from Germany during World War II and had to leave their beloved Doberman, Max, behind. Max, according to Charlie, was the spitting image of Beau.
我们进了屋子，看见80多岁、紫色头发的埃玛坐在床上，瘦弱但充满活力；她面带微笑，用手拍着床。她只需拍一下，拴着皮带、向来顺从的博就会跳上床，躺在她旁边，舔她的脸。第二次世界大战期间，他们俩从德国移民来美国时，不得不把心爱的德国种短毛猎犬马克斯留在德国。查利对我们说这话的时候，埃玛的眼中满含泪水。据查利说，博长得简直和马克斯一模一样。
The next door, room 114, was home to Katherine, a woman in her seventies who had stopped talking for a few months earlier and had been living in a catatonic state in her wheelchair for the past month. No amount of love, hugs, talking or sitting had been able to stir her. When Beau and I walked into her room, a small light was on next to her bed and the shades were pulled. She was sitting in her wheelchair, her back toward us, slouched over, facing the viewless window.
隔壁114房间住的是70多岁的凯瑟琳。几个月以前她就开始一言不发了，近一个月时间，她一直坐在轮椅上，处于精神分裂状态。对她的任何爱护、拥抱、交谈或陪伴都无法打动她。我和博走进她的房间，她的床边有一盏小灯，遮阳窗帘拉着。她坐在她的轮椅上，背对着我们，面对着看不到任何景色的窗户。
Beau was pulling ahead of me with his leash. Before I could get around to kneel down in front of her, he was at her left side, with his head in her lap. I pulled a chair up in front of her and sat down, saying hello. No response. In the fifteen minutes that Beau and I sat with Katherine, she never said a word and never moved. Surprising as that may be, more surprising was that Beau never moved either. He stood the entire fifteen minutes, his long chin resting on her lap.
博用皮带拖着我，走在我的前面。我还没来得及在凯瑟琳面前蹲下，博就已经站在她的左边，把脑袋靠在她的膝盖上了。我拖了把椅子在她面前坐下，问了声好。没有任何回应。在我和博与凯瑟琳坐在一起的15分钟里，她一语未发，一步未动。这可能很奇怪，但更奇怪的是博也一动不动。它整整站了15分钟，一直把它长长的下巴放在凯瑟琳的膝盖上。
If you knew Beau, you’d know that even ten seconds was an eternity to wait for a petting. Not here. He was as frozen as Katherine, head glued to her lap. I became so uncomfortable with the lack of life in this woman that, much as I wished I felt differently, when the clock chimed 2:30 P.M., I rushed to say good-bye, stood up and pulled the reluctant Beau out.
你要是了解博，就会知道对期待着爱抚的它来说，哪怕10秒钟也像是很长时间。可这次却不一样。它和凯瑟琳一样僵在那儿，脑袋靠在她膝盖上。和这个没有一丝生机的女人在一起，我觉得很不舒服，希望这种尴尬场面快点儿结束。两点半一到，我匆忙说了声“再见”，就抽起身来，拉着不情愿的博走了出去。
I asked one of the nurses why Katherine was catatonic. “We don’t know why. Sometimes it just happens when elderly people have family who show no interest in them. We just try to make her as comfortable as possible.”
我问其中的一个护士凯瑟琳为什么会得精神分裂症。“我们也不知道原因。有时候老年人得不到家里人的关注时，就会一下子得这种病。我们只能使她感到尽可能的舒适。”
All the wonderful people and animals who blessed my life flashed in front of my eyes, and then they were gone. I felt what I imagined Katherine must be feeling: lonely, lost and forgotten. I was determined to find a way through to her.
我眼前闪现出所有给我的生活带来幸福的人和动物，他们一闪而过。我可以感受到凯瑟琳现在的心情：孤单、失落、被人遗忘。我决定寻找通往她心灵深处的那条路。
Every Monday thereafter, Beau and I made our rounds to the hospitality room, stopping to make special visits in room 112 to visit Charlie and Emma, and in room 114 to sit with Katherine. Always the same response—Charlie waving us in and Emma patting the bed, waiting for Beau’s licks, both so alive. And then on to Katherine, sitting desolately, no sign of life except for her shallow breathing.
从那以后的每个星期一，我和博都照例去接待室，还专门拜访112房间的查利和埃玛，在114号房间陪凯瑟琳坐着。每次情况都一样——查利挥手请我们进屋，埃玛用手拍着床，等待博去舔她，两个人都那么愉悦。然后去凯瑟琳的房间，她毫无生气地坐在那里，除了浅弱的呼吸声外，没有一丝生命迹象。
Each visit I attempted to engage Katherine in conversation. No response. I grew more and more frustrated with Katherine, not content with just “being” with her. Yet here was Beau, meditative dog-monk, teaching me how to “be” and love quietly, assuming “the position” for the fifteen minutes we sat at each visit.
每次拜访，我都试图和凯瑟琳聊天，可她始终没有反应。我越来越觉得沮丧，不满足于只是跟她待在一起。可是还有博，每次拜访，这只狗“和尚”就摆出姿势“坐禅”一刻钟，教我如何“陪”凯瑟琳及表示无声的爱。
On our fourth visit, I was ready to bypass Katherine’s room, but Beau had other plans. He pulled me into Katherine’s room and took his familiar pose on her left side, head on lap. I acquiesced, but since I had a business meeting later in the afternoon with which I was preoccupied, I decided to cut short our usual fifteen minutes with Katherine to five. Instead of talking, I remained quiet, focusing inwardly on my upcoming meeting. Surely she’d never notice or care. As I stood up to walk out and began to pull Beau away, he wouldn’t budge.
我们第四次拜访这里的时候，我已经决定绕过凯瑟琳的房间，可是博却另有它的想法。它把我拉进凯瑟琳的房间，像往常一样，待在她左边，头放在她膝盖上。我默许了，可是我心里想着当天下午晚些时候的商务会议，因此决定把陪凯瑟琳的时间从以前的15分钟缩短到5分钟。我没开口，只是安静地坐在那里，心里想着即将召开的会议。凯瑟琳肯定不会注意也不会在意我们提前结束。可是我起身拉着博走的时候，它却一丝不肯让步。
And then the most miraculous thing happened. Katherine’s hand went up to the top of Beau’s head and rested there. No other movement, just her hand. Instead of Beau’s customary response of nose nuzzling and increased body wagging, he continued to stand like a statue, never moving from his spot.
然后最不可思议的事情发生了。凯瑟琳的手抬到博的头顶就放在那儿。没有别的动作，就只是她的手。博既没像平常那样习惯性地用鼻子蹭，也没有使劲地摇晃身体，仍然像座雕塑一样站在那里。
I sat back down in silent shock, and for the next ten precious minutes, reveled in the stream of life flowing between Katherine’s hand and Beau’s head. As the clock chimed half past two, marking the end of our fifteen minutes, Katherine’s hand gently slid back into her lap, and Beau turned to walk out the door.
我坐回去，暗自惊讶着。之后的10分钟，我感受着凯瑟琳的手和博的头之间那种生命之源的流淌。时钟敲过两点半，15分钟到了，这时，凯瑟琳的手慢慢滑落到膝上，博转身走出房间。
It’s been ten years since that visit and eight years since Beau died in my arms from a stroke. Love has many ways of showing its face. Each time I am ready to walk away from a person on whom I’ve given up, I am reminded of the power of Beau’s loving persistence with Katherine and with me. If Beau can give an extra ten minutes, surely I can too.
那次拜访离现在已经有10年之久，博因为中风去世在我怀里也已经有8年时间了。爱有多种表达方式。每次，当我想要离开我已对其绝望的人时，我就想起博对凯瑟琳和对我那份始终如一的爱的力量。如果博能耐心再待10分钟，那么我也能。
