读者文摘:为妻子祈祷的马路天使（在线收听）

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 exhale, 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 sob. "I don't know ... I don't think so. Come quick." I sprint 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 randomly 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 remains 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 standing on the corner crying, covered in tiny shards 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 choirs 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 wreck 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 wrecked 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。”