品味人生篇06：Unlovely不被爱的人

生活中的我们总是过多地关注我们身边的人，我们的家人和朋友，而对于陌生的人，我们大多选择冷漠。我们已经习惯冷漠，可是，你可曾经想过那些你认为与你毫无关系的人正是别人深爱的亲人，而别人投以冷漠的人正是你的家人。
  ——题记
 
A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam¹. He called his parents from San Francisco. “Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve a favor² to ask. Ihave a friend I’d like to bring home with me.”
这是关于一个士兵的故事，越南战争结束后，他终于就要回家了。他在旧金山给他的爸爸妈妈打电话，“爸爸，妈妈，我就要回家了，不过有件事情想求你们帮忙。我有一个朋友，我想把他带回家。”

 “Sure,” they replied, “we’d love to meet him.”
 “当然可以，”他们答道，“我们见到他会很高兴的。”

“There’s something you should know ,” the son continued , “he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I wanthim to come live with us.”
 “但是，你们要知道，”儿子继续说道，“他在战争中严重受伤。他踩在地雷上，失去了一支胳膊和一条腿。他没有地方去，我想让他和我们生活在一起。”

“We’re sorry to hear that son. But, maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.”
“儿子，我们听到这些很难过。我们也许可以帮他在其他地方找到住处。”

“No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us.”
“不，爸爸妈妈，我想让他和我们生活在一起。”

“Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you’re asking. Someone with such a handicap³ would be a terrible burden⁴ to us. We have our own lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interfere⁵ with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to live on his own.”
  “孩子，”父亲说道，“你不知道你在说些什么。一个这样严重残疾的人对我们来说会是一个沉重的负担。我们有我们自己的生活，我们不能让这种事情影响了我们的生活。我觉得你回来就行了，把这个人忘了吧。他总会自己活下去的。”

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide⁶.
就在这个时候，儿子挂断了电话。爸爸妈妈再也没有得到有关儿子的任何消息。然而，几天后，他们接到了来自旧金山警察局的电话。他们被告知他们的儿子坠楼而死。警察认为是自杀。

The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror⁷ they also discovered something they didn’t know, their son had only arm and one leg.
极度悲伤的父母飞往旧金山来到市太平间辨认他们的儿子。他们认出了自己的儿子，但是，让他们惊讶的是他们也发现了一些他们不知道的事情，他们的儿子只有一支胳膊和一条腿。

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we do not like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren’t as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.
故事中的父母就像我们中的大多数一样。我们很容易喜欢相貌漂亮的或者能给我们带来快乐的人，而不喜欢那些给我们带来麻烦或者让我们感到不舒服的人。我们总是远离那些不如我们健康、美丽或聪明的人。

1 Vietnam   

n.越南

参考例句：

• Vietnam is suffering from food shortage.越南正遭受食物短缺之苦。
• Laos is on the west of Vietnam.老挝在越南西面。

2 favor   

n.好感；赞同；好事；vt.赞同，喜爱；有利于

参考例句：

• She is out of favor with her employer.她失去了雇主的欢心。
• The new teacher finds favor in the eyes of the parents.那位新老师很受家长的欢迎。

3 handicap   

n.障碍（身体或智力方面的），缺陷；vt.妨碍

参考例句：

• Losing our best player was a handicap to the team.失去最棒的运动员对我队不利。
• His physical handicap prevented him from standing.因为他身体残废，无法站立。

4 burden   

n.负担，重载，担子，责任；vt.装货于，麻烦，使负担

参考例句：

• The burden fell on the eldest son.担子落在了长子身上。
• Too much praise is a burden.太多的赞扬是一种负担。

5 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

6 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

7 horror   

n.惊骇，恐怖，惨事，极端厌恶

参考例句：

• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation.公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。
• The thought of working nights fills me with abject horror.一想到要夜间工作我就觉得惨兮兮的。