讀李家同學英文 6: 李花村 (2版)

〈來自遠方的孩子The Boy from a Distant Land〉
他老是一個人。在美國，雖然個人主義流行，但並不提倡孤獨主義，青少年老是呼朋引伴而行。
He was always alone—in America, individualism may be fashionable, but being a loner isn’t. Young people tend to travel in groups.

〈李花村 Plum Blossom Village〉
我行醫已經快四十年了，以目前情況來看，我相信孩子存活的機會非常小，可是我仍安排他住進加護病房，孩子臉上罩上了氧氣罩，靜靜地躺著。我忽然跪下來作了一個非常誠懇的祈禱，我向上蒼說，我願意走，希望上蒼將孩子留下來。理由很簡單，我已六十五歲，這一輩子活得豐富而舒適，我已對人世沒什麼眷戀，可是孩子只有六歲，讓他活下去，好好地享受人生吧！

I’ve been a doctor for nearly forty years; judging by the look of things, I knew that the boy’s chances of survival were very slim. In spite of that, however, I had him put in the ICU. He lay there quietly, an oxygen mask covering his face. Suddenly I knelt down and said an unusually earnest prayer. “I’m willing to die, but I hope You will preserve this boy,” I said to God. “The reason is simple: I‘m 65 years old. I’ve lived a full and comfortable life; now I’m ready to take my leave of this world. But this boy is only six! Please let him live. Let him enjoy what life has to offer.”

〈深河Deep River〉
恆河代表上蒼無盡的愛，富人和窮人，他們的骨灰，都進入了恆河，正如上蒼一樣，上蒼接受富人，更接受窮人。
The Ganges represents God’s infinite love. The ashes of rich and poor alike find their final resting place there—like God, the Ganges accepts them both.

〈飆車Train Surfing〉
對我而言，我飆車的原因是可以肯定自己的價值，我一直覺得有些自卑感，因為我不識字，而且一輩子也不會被人尊重，可是飆車的時候，我感到我好厲害。我相信我的飆車夥伴一定也是和我一樣，要藉由飆車讓人家瞧得起我們。
My personal reason for train surfing is to affirm that I have value. Not being able to read makes me feel sort of inferior. I know that others will never respect me, but when I’m surfing a train, I feel like I’m awesome. I suppose my fellow train surfers are the same: they do it to gain others’ respect.

〈我是我I’m Me〉
我不要人家檢查我的DNA是不是希特勒的DNA，我不是希特勒，我是我，希特勒心中充滿仇恨，我從來沒有，希特勒有極為病態的種族偏見，我卻一直致力於不同種族之間的諒解。
I didn’t want anyone inspecting my DNA to see if it was the same as Hitler’s. I’m not Hitler—I’m me. Hitler’s heart was full of hate, but mine has never been. Hitler was a pathological racist, but I’ve always promoted interracial understanding.

〈瓷娃娃 Porcelain Doll〉
我坐在火車裡，不禁一直想著，有些人什麼都有，卻失落了自己的靈魂。
As I sat inside the train, I couldn’t help reflecting: some people have everything, but they’ve forgotten all about their souls.