生命的奇迹(二)

 　　Upon hearing her evaluation¹ I became furious for I thought, "Who is she to tell me what I can or cannot do. She does not even know me. I am a very determined² and stubborn person!" I believe it was at that very moment that I decided³ I would somehow, someday return to college.

　　她的这番结论让我怒不可遏，“她是谁，凭什么告诉我能做什么或不能做什么。她根本不了解我。我是很坚强而固执的人!”我相信就在那时我决定无论如何，总有一天我会返回学校的。

　　It took me a long time and a lot of hard work but I finally returned to the University of Texas in the fall of 1983 - a year and a half after almost dying. The next few years in Austin were very difficult for me, but I truly believe that in order to see beauty in life you have to experience some unpleasantness. Maybe I have experienced too much unpleasantness, but I believe in living each day to the fullest, and doing the very best I can.

　　在经历了一年半垂死挣扎的生活后，在漫长的等待和艰辛的付出后，终于在1983年的秋天，我返回了德克萨斯大学。在奥斯汀接下来的几年里我生活得非常艰难，但我确信为了看到生活中的真善美你必须要经历一些苦难。也许我经历的苦难太多了，但我有一个信念——充实地过每一天，尽力做到最好。

　　And each new day was very busy and very full, for besides attending classes at the University I underwent therapy three to five days each week at Brackenridge Hospital. If this were not enough I flew to Houston every other weekend to work with Tom Williams, a trainer and executive who had worked for many colleges and professional teams and also had helped many injured athletes, such as Earl Campbell and Eric Dickerson. Through Tom I learned: "Nothing is impossible and never, never give up or quit."

　　日子过的很繁忙、很充实，除了读书，每周我还在要在布莱肯瑞吉医院接受三到五次的治疗。如果这还不够忙的话，我还要隔周和汤姆·威廉斯飞到奥斯汀工作。汤姆是一个教练兼主管，他曾效力于许多大学校队和职业联队，并帮助过许多受伤的运动员，如：厄尔·坎贝尔 和 艾立克·迪克森。从汤姆的身上我学到“没有什么是不可能的，千万千万不要放弃，永不放弃。”

　　Early, during my therapy, my father kept repeating to me one of his favorite sayings. I have repeated it almost every day since being hurt: "Mile by mile it's a trial; yard by yard it's hard; but inch by inch it's a cinch."

　　早在我接受治疗的时候，父亲总是重复他最爱的那句话，每天当我感到痛苦的时候我也对自己重复那句话，那就是“脚踏实地，切勿急功近利。”

　　I thought of those words, and I thought of Tom, my family and Sharon who believed so strongly in m

　　e as I climbed the steps to receive my diploma from the Dean of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas on that bright sunny afternoon in June of 1986. Excitement and pride filled my heart as I heard the dean announce that I had graduated with "highest honors", been elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and been chosen as one of 12 Dean's Distinguished⁴ Graduates out of 1600 in the College of Liberal Arts.

　　1986年六月那个阳光明媚的午后，当我步履蹒跚地走上德克萨斯大学迪安文学院的台阶接受文凭的时候，我思索着这些话，想到汤姆、父母还有沙伦，他们都那么坚定地给予了我信任。当我听到院长宣布我以最高荣誉毕业时，我的心中充满了骄傲和自信。接着他还宣布我被选入美国大学优等生荣誉学会，并在1600名毕业生中当选为12名迪安文学院的杰出毕业生之一。

　　The overwhelming emotions and feelings that I experienced at that very moment, when most of the audience gave me a standing⁵ 17)ovation, I felt would never again be matched in my life-not even when I graduated with a masters degree in social work and not even when I became employed full time at the Texas Pain and Stress Center. But I was wrong!

　　当场有许多观众站起来为我鼓掌，那一刻令我心潮澎湃、百感交集。我甚至觉得生命中不可能再经历那样的感慨和激情，这种想法一直延续到我获得社会学的硕士学位，成为德克萨斯止痛减压中心的一名全职工作人员。但幸运之神再次眷顾了我!

　　On May 24, 1987, I realized that nothing could ever match the joy I felt as Sharon and I were married. Sharon, my high school sweetheart of nine years, had always stood by me, through good and bad times. To me, Sharon is my miracle, my diamond in a world filled with problems, hurt, and pain. It was Sharon who dropped out of school when I was hurt so that she could constantly be at my side. She never wavered or gave up on me.

　　1987年5月24日，我觉得再没有什么能与此时的快乐相提并论，我和沙伦结婚了。沙伦是我高中时代的女友，风风雨雨九年来，她一直陪在我身旁。对我来说，她是我的奇迹，是我在这个充满困惑和伤痛的世界上拥有的一颗钻石。为了能日夜守侯在我的身旁，沙伦在我受伤的时候放弃了学业。她的爱从未动摇过，她从未抛弃过我。

　　It was her faith and love that pulled me through so many dark days. While other nineteen year old girls were going to parties and enjoying life, Sharon devoted⁶ her life to my recovery. That, to me, is the true definition of love.

　　是她的忠诚和爱伴着我度过了无数个黑暗的日子。当别的十九岁的女孩子参加舞会、享受生活的时候，沙伦把青春献给了病床上的我，等待我的康复。对我来说，这就是爱的真谛。

　　After our beautiful wedding I continued working part time at the Pain Center and completed my work for a masters degree. We were extremely happy, but even happier when we learned Sharon was pregnant.

　　在那个美满的婚礼之后，我继续在止痛中心做着兼职的工作，并获得了我的硕士学位。我们非常的幸福，而沙伦怀孕的消息更让我们恩爱有加。

　　On July 11, 1990 at 12:15 a.m. Sharon woke me with the news: "We need to go to the hospital… my water just broke." I couldn't help but think how ironic⁷ it was that my life almost ended in a convenience store and now on the date "7-11" we were about to bring a new life into this world. This time it was my turn to help Sharon as she had helped me over those past years.

　　1990

　　年7月11日12点15分，沙伦把我从梦中唤醒：“我们得去医院了…… 我羊水破了。”我忍不住想命运真让人啼笑皆非，它几乎让我在那家便利店里丢了性命，而在一个命名为“7·11”的日子里它却让我迎来新生命的出世。多年来沙伦帮我度过了一次又一次难关，这次该我来帮助她了。

　　She was in labor⁸ for 15 hours. At 3:10 p.m. Sharon and I experienced the birth of our beautiful daughter, Shawn Elyse Segal!

　　沙伦经历了15个小时的分娩。在3点10分的时候，沙伦和我一起迎来了我们美丽的女儿——萧恩·艾丽斯·斯高。

　　Tears of joy and happiness came to my eyes as our healthy, alert, wonderful daughter entered this world. We anxiously counted her 10 fingers and her 10 toes and watched her wide eyes take in the world about her. It was truly a beautiful picture that was 18)etched in my mind forever as she lie in her mother's waiting arms, just minutes after her birth. At that moment I thanked God for blessing⁹ us with the greatest miracle of all-Shawn Elyse Segal.

　　当我看到美丽的女儿健康地来到这个世上，喜悦和幸福化作泪水夺眶而出。我们迫不及待地数着她的十个手指和十只脚趾，看着她大大的眼睛注视着她的世界。初生的婴儿躺在妈妈柔软的怀里如一副优美的图画将永驻我的心中。那一刻，我感谢上帝赐予我们如此最伟大的奇迹——我的萧恩·艾丽斯·斯高。

1 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

5 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。

6 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

7 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。