英语PK台 第713期:生活就是再好不过了

 Allergic¹ to what?

《我对子弹过敏》

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

杰里是那种让人又爱又恨的家伙。他总是心情不错，总是说积极的事情。当有人问他近况如何时，他总会回答：“再好不过了！”

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

作为餐厅经理，他是独一无二的，尽管他换过好几家餐厅，但总是有那么几名服务员追随他左右。之所以这样，只有一个原因，那就是他对待事物时的积极态度。他是一个与生俱来的激励者。如果某一天某个员工不太顺，杰里就会出现在他面前，告诉他如何去看待事情的积极方面。

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

他的这种处事风格令我很是好奇，于是有一天我走到杰里面前，问他：“我不太明白，一个人不可能始终保持积极的心态，可你又是怎么做到的呢？”

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

杰里回答说：“每天清晨我醒来时都会对自己说：‘杰里，你今天有两种选择。你可以选择心情愉快，也可以选择心情不好。’我会选择心情愉快。每次发生不好的事情时，我可以选择成为受害者，也我可以选择从中吸取经验。我会选择从中吸取经验。每当有人来找我抱怨时，我可以选择接受这样的抱怨，也可以选择指出生活中的积极方面。我会选择指出生活中的积极方面。”

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

“是的，没错，但这没那么容易。”我断言道。“是的，”杰里说，“生活其实就是选择。只要你摒弃一切负面的东西，每一种情况都是一种选择。你可以选择如何对各种情况做出反应；你可以选择其他人如何影响你的心情；你可以选择心情好或心情不好。归根结底，你怎样去生活是你自己的选择。”

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

杰里的话对我触动很深。不久后，我离开了餐饮业，开启了自己的事业。我们失去了联系，但每当我在生活中做出选择，而不是简单地对生活做出反应时，我还是会经常想到他。

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.

几年后，我听说杰里做了一件餐厅生意中绝对不应该做的事情——一天早晨，他没有关餐厅的后门，遭到了三名武装劫匪的持枪抢劫。在试图打开保险箱时，他的手因为紧张而颤抖，输错了保险箱的密码。劫匪们在慌乱中，向他开了枪。

Luckily, Jerry was found relatively² quickly and rushed to the local trauma³ centre. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

幸运的是，遭到枪击后，杰里被及时发现，并被送往了当地的创伤中心。经过18个小时的手术和几个星期的重症监护，杰里出院了，但体内仍残留了一些弹片。

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

这件事发生六个月后，我见到了杰里。当我询问他的状况时，他回答说：“再好不过了。想看看我的伤疤吗？”我拒绝看他的枪伤，但询问了遭到抢劫时，他都想到了什么。

"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

“我想到的第一件事就是我本应该锁上后门，”杰里回答说，“然后，当我躺在地板上时，我记起我有两种选择——我可以选择活下去，也可以选择死亡。我选择了活下去。”“你当时不害怕吗？你有没有失去知觉？”我问道。

Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' "I knew I needed to take action."

杰里继续说道：“护理人员很棒。他们一直告诉我我会好起来的。但当他们把我推进急症室，我看到医生和护士脸上的表情时，我真的害怕了。我从他们的目光中读到：‘这个人死定了'。我知道自己应该做点什么。”

"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. She asked if I was allergic to anything. "Yes," I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, "Bullets!" Over their laughter, I told them: "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

“你做了什么？”我问。“有一位身材魁梧的护士大喊着问我问题，”杰里说，“她问我是否对什么东西过敏。‘是的，’我回答说。此时，医生和护士都停下手中的工作，等待着我的回答。我深深地吸了一口气，喊道：‘子弹！’在他们的笑声中，我告诉他们：‘我选择活下去。给我做手术吧，你们就死马当活马医。”

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully⁴. Attitude, after all, is everything.

杰里能够成功挺过这个生死关头，多亏了医生们的高超医术，但也绝离不开他令人赞叹的生活态度。我从他身上学到了：我们每天都可以选择活得充实。毕竟，生活态度才是最重要的。

1 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。