读者文摘:为妻子祈祷的马路天使

The phone rings. I wait for the answering machine to get it, but for some reason, it's not picking up.

电话响了。我等着电话答录机来接，但由于某种原因，电话没有接通。

I exhale¹, annoyed because I know the call is either going to be for my wife, Susan

我愤怒地呼气，因为我知道这电话不是打给我老婆苏珊的，

(she's the only one who receives calls on the home line, and she left to take Alyce to school ten minutes ago),

（她是唯一会接到打到家里电话的人，而且她十分钟前就去送爱丽丝去学校了），

or it's the latest of 300 attempts to sell me something I have absolutely no interest in.

就是最近三百次向我销售我完全不感兴趣的东西的骚扰电话。

"Hello ,I say, an edge in my voice." Daddy, it's me." It's Alyce, my 12-year-old daughter.

我用尖锐的声音说了你好。爸爸，是我。打电话的是我12岁的女儿爱丽丝。

"Mommy was just in a car accident." My heart stops and then begins pounding. "Are you all right?""Yes.""Is Mommy?"

“妈妈刚出了车祸。”我的心脏停了一下，然后开始跳动。“你还好吗？”“是的。你妈妈呢？”

A deep sob². "I don't know ... I don't think so. Come quick." I sprint³ a few blocks to what looks like a shoot for a disaster movie.

一声沉重的啜泣。“我不知道...我认为不太好。你快点过来吧。”我快步跑过几个街区，来到一个像是灾难片拍摄的地方。

Fire engines, police cars, and ambulances are randomly⁴ parked in the street; helicopters circle.

消防车、警车和救护车任意停放在街上；直升机在盘旋。

A city bus is on the wrong side of the road. In front of it are the smashed remains⁵ of Susan's car.

一辆公车走错了方向。它前面是苏珊被撞毁的汽车。

Susan is pinned under the dash-board. There is no front windshield—no front end, for that matter.

苏珊被亚在仪表板下面。这里早已没了前挡风玻璃，也没有前端。

Alyce is standing⁶ on the corner crying, covered in tiny shards⁷ of glass but uninjured.

爱丽丝站在角落哭泣，她身上都是小的玻璃碎片，但是没有受伤。

Inconceivable. Susan isn't so lucky. But she is alive. It turns out she has broken nearly every bone in her body, and she will spend almost three months in the hospital.

难以置信。苏珊没那么幸运。但是她还活着。后来发现她几乎撞断了身体的每一根骨头，她将在医院度过近三个月的时间。

More than two years later, Susan and I were at an event at our syna-gogue celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Our temple's cantor and musical director, Danny, rushed up to us.

超过两年后，苏珊和我在参加我们的犹太教会堂的一次纪念马丁·路德·金的活动。我们教堂的指挥家和音乐总监丹尼向我们冲了过来。

He said excitedly, "There's a woman here tonight from one of the church choirs⁸ who you have to meet!"

他激动地说道，“这里有一位来自一个教堂唱诗班的女人，你们一定要见见她！”

He returned with an African American woman with a bright, glowing smile.

他回来时边上多了一位有着灿烂笑容的非裔美国女性。

She told us she lived in the apartment building by where the wreck⁹ had happened.

她告诉我们她住在车祸地址旁边的那幢公寓楼里。

That morning, she had rushed to the street, still in her bath-robe, and seen Alyce standing by the side of the wrecked¹⁰ car, crying.

那天早上，她穿着浴袍就冲到了街上，看到爱丽丝站在毁坏的汽车旁边哭泣。

She approached her, asking, "Is that your mom in there?" Alyce nodded, and the woman said, "Let's pray together."

她走近爱丽丝，问道。“那是你母亲吗？”爱丽丝点点头，这个女人说道，“让我们一起祈祷。”

Sweet, innocent Alyce looked at this woman wearing a cross around her neck and said, "OK, but you should know I'm Jewish."

甜美纯真的爱丽丝看见这名女性戴着的十字架，“好的，但是你知道我们是犹太人。”

The woman smiled. She took Alyce's hand, held it to her chest, and said, "That's OK. In here we're all the same."

这名女性笑了。她握着爱丽丝的手，放到自己的胸膛，“没有关系。在这里我们都一样。”

Alyce told her that she needed to call me, but her backpack with her phone was trapped inside the crushed vehicle.

爱丽丝告诉她需要给我打电话，但是装着手机的书包被压在毁坏的汽车里。

So the woman lent Alyce her phone. After the accident, she said, she had continued to pray for our family.

所以这个女性把她的手机借给爱丽丝。她说，车祸之后，她还继续为我们的家庭祈祷。

We had our picture taken together, and as were saying goodbye, she hugged us all warmly.

我们一块拍了照片，道别时，她热情地抱了我们。

We realized we had never been formally introduced, so she said to me, "I'm sorry, I never got your name."

我发现我们从未正式介绍过彼此，所以她对我说，“抱歉，我还不知道你的名字。”

I told her it was Doug, and she paused, as if maybe she hadn't heard me. I repeated, "Doug, like Douglas."

我告诉她我叫道格，她顿了一下，好像没听过这个名字一样。我重复了一遍，“道格，就是道格拉斯。”

She looked at us and said, "Wait, your name is Susan?" Susan nodded.

她看着我们说道，“等下，你的名字是苏珊？”苏珊点了头。

"And your name is Douglas?" The woman put her hand over her heart. "Oh my goodness," she said. "My name is Susan Douglas."

“你的名字是道格拉斯？”这名女性把她的手放在了头上。她说，“我的天啊，我叫苏珊·道格拉斯。”

1 exhale   

v.呼气，散出，吐出，蒸发

参考例句：

• Sweet odours exhale from flowers.花儿散发出花香。
• Wade exhaled a cloud of smoke and coughed.韦德吐出一口烟，然后咳嗽起来。

2 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

3 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

4 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 shards   

n.（玻璃、金属或其他硬物的）尖利的碎片( shard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyewitnesses spoke of rocks and shards of glass flying in the air. 目击者称空中石块和玻璃碎片四溅。 来自辞典例句
• Ward, Josh Billings, and a host of others have survived only in scattered shards of humour. 沃德、比林斯和许多别的作家能够留传下来的只是些幽默的残章断简。 来自辞典例句

8 choirs   

n.教堂的唱诗班( choir的名词复数 )；唱诗队；公开表演的合唱团；（教堂）唱经楼

参考例句：

• They ran the three churches to which they belonged, the clergy, the choirs and the parishioners. 她们管理着自己所属的那三家教堂、牧师、唱诗班和教区居民。 来自飘（部分）
• Since 1935, several village choirs skilled in this music have been created. 1935以来，数支熟练掌握这种音乐的乡村唱诗班相继建立起来。 来自互联网

9 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

10 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞