雙語(yǔ)故事·窗戶 The Window

讀雙語(yǔ)故事，看百味人生。閱讀是一生的功課，無(wú)論順境逆境，我們總能在文字里找到共鳴。以下是小編整理的窗戶 / The Window的內(nèi)容，讀一下吧，也許恰好是你喜歡的那一篇。

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn’t seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.

The following morning, the nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

【助讀詞匯】

◇drain vt. 排走

◇fluid n. 流體

◇on end連續(xù)地

◇picturesque adj. 繪聲繪色的

◇ferment vt. 發(fā)酵

◇brood vi. 沉思

◇prop vt. 支撐

◇strain  盡力

【參考譯文】

兩個(gè)病重的男人住在同一個(gè)病房。其中一個(gè)每天可以在床上坐一個(gè)小時(shí)排除肺里的液體，他的床靠著病房唯一的窗戶。而另一個(gè)則只能整天都躺在床上。

兩個(gè)男人可以連續(xù)說(shuō)上幾個(gè)小時(shí)。他們討論他們的妻子和其他家庭成員，他們的家、工作、參軍的事和度假時(shí)曾經(jīng)去過(guò)的地方。每天下午，當(dāng)靠窗的男人可以坐起來(lái)時(shí)，他就會(huì)向室友描述他從窗外可以看到的一切事物。

另一張病床上的男人幾乎每天就是為這一小時(shí)而活，因?yàn)橥饷媸澜缢械幕顒?dòng)和色彩讓他的世界變寬了，也有活力了。從窗戶可以俯瞰一個(gè)公園，公園里有一個(gè)動(dòng)人的湖，這都是那個(gè)男人說(shuō)的。鴨子和天鵝在水里嬉戲，而孩子們則玩著他們的模型船。情人們手挽手散步，擁有著彩虹般顏色的花兒開(kāi)得絢爛多姿。巨大的老樹(shù)讓景色更加優(yōu)美，還可以將遠(yuǎn)處整個(gè)城市的輪廓盡收眼底。當(dāng)窗邊的男人描繪著所有這些美妙的細(xì)節(jié)時(shí)，另一個(gè)男人就會(huì)閉上眼睛并想象這如畫(huà)般美好的景色。

一個(gè)溫暖的下午，窗邊的男人又一次為室友描述了一個(gè)經(jīng)過(guò)的游行。雖然另一個(gè)男人聽(tīng)不見(jiàn)外面的樂(lè)隊(duì)，他可以在自己的腦海中看到窗邊的男人用生動(dòng)的語(yǔ)言描繪的這一切。突然，一個(gè)非常陌生的想法進(jìn)入了他的腦海：為什么他可以擁有可以看見(jiàn)一切的所有樂(lè)趣而我卻從來(lái)都看不到呢？這不公平。當(dāng)這個(gè)想法剛剛騷動(dòng)時(shí)，這個(gè)男人還為此感到羞愧。但是隨著時(shí)間的流逝，他渴望看到更多景色，于是嫉妒變成了忿恨。他開(kāi)始沉思并開(kāi)始失眠。他應(yīng)該睡靠窗的那張床——這個(gè)想法現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)控制了他的生活。

一天深夜，當(dāng)他躺在床上看著屋頂時(shí)，窗邊的男人開(kāi)始咳嗽。他肺里的液體讓他感到窒息。另一個(gè)男人在昏暗的房間里看著窗邊的男人掙扎著摸索求救按鈕，他在房間的另一頭聽(tīng)著，卻沒(méi)有動(dòng)，他沒(méi)有按下本可以把護(hù)士叫過(guò)來(lái)的按鈕。不到五分鐘，咳嗽聲和窒息聲停止了，跟著停止的還有呼吸聲。現(xiàn)在房間里只有安靜——死一般的安靜。

第二天早上，護(hù)士搬來(lái)了水給他們洗澡。當(dāng)她發(fā)現(xiàn)窗邊的男人已毫無(wú)生命跡象時(shí)，她感到非常傷心，并叫來(lái)了專職護(hù)士把尸體運(yùn)走——沒(méi)有說(shuō)話，也沒(méi)有混亂。一到適合的時(shí)機(jī)，男人便問(wèn)護(hù)士是否可以換到靠窗的病床上去，護(hù)士很樂(lè)意。在確定他沒(méi)有感到什么不舒服之后，護(hù)士就讓他一個(gè)人待著了。

慢慢地，他困難地用一個(gè)手肘把自己撐起來(lái)，去看第一眼。終于他就要能夠感受到親眼看到一切的樂(lè)趣了。他盡量慢慢地把頭轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)去往床邊的窗戶望出去。卻發(fā)現(xiàn)看到的是一堵什么都沒(méi)有的墻。

【人生啟迪】

費(fèi)盡心思想要得到快樂(lè)，卻失去了自己唯一的快樂(lè)，還讓那樣一個(gè)好人無(wú)辜死去。可是一切都晚了。我們可以想象這個(gè)男人在看到那堵墻時(shí)的心理，那一定是百感交集的吧。其實(shí)快樂(lè)只是一種選擇，一種心態(tài)。只要我們隨時(shí)都保持一種積極的心態(tài)，那么生活中處處都充滿著陽(yáng)光，那個(gè)靠窗的男人不就是一個(gè)很好的例子嗎？