11 活著真幸運(yùn)(doc)
11. Lucky to Be Alive Maria, a gentle, soft-spoken woman of seventy, had always managed to view the world with a child's sense of wonderment1. She greeted the dawn of each new day with the brightness of the sun itself and found joy in the smallest of things: a dove perched on her birdfeeder, the fresh morning dew, the sweet scent of jasmine2 in her garden. A widow, Maria lived alone in a run-down3 neighborhood in Deerfield Beach, Florida. One day while out tending the small garden in front of her modest home, Maria had been injured in a drive-by shooting. The bullet had pierced through4 her skin with a ferocious5 bite and lodged itself in the old woman's right thigh. Crying out in agony6, she had dropped to the sidewalk. When the mailman found her unconscious nearly an hour later, her injured leg had been bleeding profusely7. She'd made it to the hospital just in time and later, the doctor had told Maria she was lucky to be alive. 　　Returning home, Maria didn't feel so lucky. Before the shooting, the elderly woman had always been grateful that she was healthy for her age. Now just getting the daily mail required a Herculean8 effort. In addition, her medical bills were mounting alarmingly, straining her meager9 income. And although she had watched the neighborhood deteriorate10, somehow things had seemed safe in the daylight--but not anymore. For the first time in her life, Maria felt frightened, alone and vulnerable11. 　　“ I feel defeated,” she had told her friend Vera. “ I'm just an old woman with nothingto do and nowhere to go.” 　　When Vera came to pick up Maria for her checkup at the medical center, she hardly recognized her old friend. Maria's soft brown eyes held a haunting sadness and her face was gaunt12 and haggard13. All the curtains were drawn and her hands shook with fear as she hobbled14 out onto the front porch, a cane stabilizing her injured leg. They were a little early for Maria's appointment, so to try to cheer up Maria, Vera took a longer, more scenic route. They were stopped at a red light when Maria suddenly shrieked15. “ Look at that cat! It's trying to run across the street!” Vera looked up to see a small black-and-white cat bounding16 out into the middle of traffic. Both women screamed as they saw one car, then another, and finally a third, hit the cat. The cat lay motionless17, its small body flung onto the grass. Cars slowed, but no one stopped to help. 　　“ We must save that poor creature,” said Maria. Vera pulled over, got out of the car and went to the hurt animal. Miraculously18, it was still alive, but badly injured. 　　“ Take my jacket and wrap the kitty in it,” said Maria. Vera carefully put the cat on the seat between them. It looked up at Maria and gave her a plaintive19, barely audible20 meow. 　　“ Everything will be all right, my little friend,” Maria said tearfully. 　　Finding an animal clinic, they went inside and told the receptionist what had happened. 　　“ I'm sorry,” she said, “ but we cannot accept stray21 animals.” 　　It was the same at the next clinic. Finally, at the third clinic, a kind veterinarian22, Dr.Susan Shanahan, agreed to help and quickly started working on the cat. 　　“ This little guy is lucky to be alive,” she told Maria and Vera. “ If you hadn't been there for him, he never would have made it.” 　　The vet took Maria aside.“ The cat's injuries are very serious,” she said. “ He has severe head trauma23, crushed paws and a cracked collarbone. He'll need a lot of expensive medical attention. Today's bill alone will cost at least ＄ 400.” 　　Maria gasped. But taking her worn cloth wallet out of her handbag, she gave the doctor all the money she had after paying her bills--＄ 50. 　　“ It's all I have right now, but I promise I will pay you the rest over time. Please don't put that kitty to sleep,” she pleaded. “ I'll take him home. We need each other.” 　　Sensing how important this was,Dr. Shanahan kneeled and took Maria's hands in hers.“ I could get into trouble with my boss for doing this,” she said gently.“ You see, I really shouldn't have helped the cat in the first place, but, don't worry...I will personally pay for this.” 　　While the cat was at the clinic, Maria went to check on him every day. She spoke softly to him and gently stroked24 his chin with her little finger. As the days passed, the cat began to purr25 and the sparkle returned to Maria's eyes. 　　The day arrived for the cat to come home. As excited as a little girl on Christmas morning, Maria smiled brightly as she walked into the clinic to pick him up.“ What have you decided to name the cat?” asked Dr.Shanahan. 　　Cradling26 the cat in her arms, Maria answered happily,“ I'm going to call him Lucky, because together we have found a new life.” 活著真幸運(yùn) 70歲的瑪麗亞性情溫和，說話輕聲細(xì)語(yǔ)。她總是用孩子般的新奇目光觀察世界?，旣?亞以歡快的心情迎接每一天的到來，她善于從生活中最細(xì)微的事情中尋得歡樂：從棲息 在食糟上的鴿子、清新的晨露、到花園里茉莉花的芳香。 　　寡居的瑪麗亞獨(dú)自一人住在佛羅里達(dá)州迪爾菲爾德市一個(gè)破敗的街區(qū)。有一天，她 正在那間簡(jiǎn)樸的屋前侍弄著她的小花園，一顆流彈擊中了她。子彈穿過皮肉，射入她的 右腿，一陣鉆心的疼痛?，旣悂喭纯嗟亟泻爸?，倒在人行道上。被郵遞員發(fā)現(xiàn)時(shí)，她已 經(jīng)失去知覺近一個(gè)小時(shí)，受傷的腿流血不止。她被及時(shí)地送進(jìn)了醫(yī)院。事后醫(yī)生說她能 活下來真是幸運(yùn)。 　　出院回家后，瑪麗亞并不覺得有多么幸運(yùn)。遭槍擊前，這位高齡的婦女一直慶幸她 這么大的年紀(jì)還很健康。可是現(xiàn)在每天出屋取一趟郵件都要費(fèi)好大的勁。況且，她那微 薄的收入已經(jīng)不敷支付紛至沓來的醫(yī)院帳單。雖然從前她眼看著她所在的地區(qū)世風(fēng)日下 ，但不管怎樣白天治安情況還算可以，可現(xiàn)在卻不行了?，旣悂営猩詠淼谝淮胃械胶?怕、孤獨(dú)和脆弱。 　　“我垮了，”瑪麗亞告訴她朋友薇拉說，“我只是個(gè)老太太，無事可干，也無處可去。 ” 　　薇拉來接她去醫(yī)院檢查，她幾乎沒認(rèn)出她的老朋友?，旣悂喣菧\棕色眼睛顯露一絲 令人難忘的憂慮，她面容瘦削，憔悴。屋里的窗簾全拉著。她拄著拐棍支撐那條傷腿， 一瘸一拐地朝前廊挪動(dòng)，兩手因恐懼而不停地顫抖。 　　離預(yù)約的時(shí)間還早了些，為了讓瑪麗亞心情好點(diǎn)，薇拉繞遠(yuǎn)經(jīng)過景致宜人的街區(qū)。 在等紅燈的時(shí)候，瑪麗亞突然尖叫著說，“瞧那只貓!它想過馬路!”薇拉抬頭看見一只黑 白相間的小貓從路邊向車流跳去。先是一輛，然后另一輛，接著第三輛，連著三輛車撞 了小貓，薇拉和瑪麗亞同時(shí)尖聲喊叫。小貓給甩在草地上，躺在那兒一動(dòng)不動(dòng)。來往汽 車都減速了，可是沒人停車相助。 　　“咱們得救救那可憐的小東西。”瑪麗亞說道。薇拉把車靠在路邊，下車走向那受傷 的小貓。它還奇跡般地活著，但傷得很厲害。 　　“用我的上衣裹上它?！爆旣悂喺f道。薇拉小心翼翼地把貓放在她們倆之間的座位上 。小貓?zhí)ь^瞧著瑪麗亞，痛苦地發(fā)出輕到幾乎聽不見的一聲“喵”。 　　瑪麗亞含著淚水說，“小家伙，一切都會(huì)過去的?！?　　她們找到了一家動(dòng)物診所，進(jìn)去告訴接待員所發(fā)生的事。 　　“我很抱歉，”接待員說道，“我們不接待無主的動(dòng)物?！?　　在第二家診所也是同樣的遭遇。最后，在第三家，心地善良的獸醫(yī)蘇珊·沙納漢同意 相助，立即動(dòng)手搶救。 　　“這小家伙能活著真幸運(yùn)，”她告訴瑪麗亞和薇拉說，“你們要是不救它，它就沒命了 ?！?　　獸醫(yī)把瑪麗亞領(lǐng)到一邊?！靶∝垈煤苤?，”她說，“頭部有傷，爪子壓斷，鎖骨骨折 。治療費(fèi)用會(huì)很昂貴。光今天一筆花銷就得400塊錢?！?　　瑪麗亞聽了倒抽一口氣，可她還是從手提袋里拿出舊布錢包，給了醫(yī)生50塊錢。這 是她付了自己的醫(yī)療費(fèi)后僅剩的錢。 　　“我的錢全在這兒了，不過我答應(yīng)你過后還清其余的錢。請(qǐng)你不要讓它安樂死，”她 哀求道，“我打算帶它回家。我需要它，它也需要我?！?　　沙納漢醫(yī)生意識(shí)到救活那只貓有多么重要，她彎下身來，握住瑪麗亞的雙手，溫和 地說道，“老板要是知道我這么做，我就會(huì)有麻煩了。其實(shí)，一開始我就不該搶救這只貓 ，不過，別擔(dān)心……我自己掏腰包先把錢付了?！?　　小貓待在診所的日子里，瑪麗亞每天都去看望它。她輕聲細(xì)氣地跟它說話，用小指 輕輕撫摸小貓的下巴。日子一天天過去，小貓開始嗚嗚做聲，瑪麗亞的眼睛又閃爍著喜 悅的光。 　　小貓回家的日子到來了。激動(dòng)得如同圣誕節(jié)早上的小女孩，瑪麗亞滿面春風(fēng)地走進(jìn) 診所接小貓?！澳憬o它想好名字了嗎?”沙納漢醫(yī)生問道。 　　瑪麗亞懷里抱著小貓，高興地回答說，“我打算管它叫‘幸運(yùn)’，因?yàn)槲覀儌z一起獲得 新的生命?！?1.wonderment[5ωΘνδΕμΕντ] n.好奇，驚奇 2.jasmine [ 5δ
11 活著真幸運(yùn)(doc)