登录以后才能看到帖子详情哦！
您需要 登录 才可以下载或查看，没有账号？立即注册
×
The Senator’s Savior 参议员的救赎
Iwas once a pessimist. I’m not that man anymore. And that change started with about of misfortune and the sudden appearance of a little boy. 我曾经是一个悲观主义者，但现在的我已经转变了。这一转变要从一连串不幸经历和一个小男孩的突然出现开始说起。
Ona Saturday morning, January 21, 2012, my left arm went numb, and I started tofeel dizzy. After I called my doctor, an ambulance arrived in front of my home,in Highland Park, Illinois. An MRI quicklyrevealed that the lining of my carotid artery had peeled off, preventing bloodfrom flowing to my brain. The doctor said I had a stroke on the way and that wewould just have to let it come. There was no stopping it. I stayed atNorthwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago for a few days, waiting for thestroke to hit as waves of paralysis came over me. As I slowly lost control ofmy body, I thought about how unbelievable it was. I was 52. I didn’t even knowanyone who’d had this happen to him. 在2012年1月21日——一个周六的早晨，我左边的手臂突然没有了知觉，而我也开始感到头晕。我与我的医生通话之后，一辆救护车停在了位于伊利诺斯州的高地公园①的我家门前。很快，磁共振成像表明我颈动脉错位，使血液无法流向我的脑部。医生说我在路上中了一次风，而他们对此也束手无策。没有方法可以遏制中风症状。我在芝加哥的西北纪念医院呆了几天，等待着中风如海浪般向我打来。当我的身体逐渐不受控制时，我依旧不敢相信这是真的。我当时是52岁。我甚至没听说过还有谁和我有相同经历。
Afterthe stroke (and the two operations that relieved the swelling in my brain), Iwas transferred to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) on February10. Though I had lost the use of my left arm and leg and couldn’t seeout of my left eye, the only thought on my mind was that I needed toleave the hospital and return to my job serving the citizens of Illinois. Butthe reality was that I needed to relearn how to stand and see first. So there Iwas, with blood clots forming in my legs, held upright by a track and aharness, trying with all my strength to take one tiny step forward. I hadalways been a glass-half-empty kind of guy, andthis just made me feel like recovery was impossible, like I would never againreturn to the Senate. 在中风之后（以及两次消除我脑部肿胀的手术），我于2月10日被转移到芝加哥康复中心（RIC）。虽然当时我已经无法使用左手和左腿了，并且也不能通过左眼看东西了，但我脑中唯一的想法就是我要离开医院，并迅速投入到为伊利诺斯州人民服务的工作中。可是我的当务之急却是重新学会“站立”和“看东西”。因此我拖着一条带有血块的腿，系着治理背带在小道上练习直立行走，使出全身的力量向前挪出一小步。我曾经是一个悲观的家伙，这件事就让我感到康复无望，似乎我再也没法回到参议院工作了。
Afew days after my first discouraging physical therapy session, my stepmother,Bev, came into my room with a letter. She had the job of poring over countlesscards and notes from fellow politicians and strangers alikeand was struck by one. It was a neatly typed letter, and the author was anine-year-old boy named Jackson Cunningham from the centralIllinois town of Champaign,my hometown. In the note, Jackson told me about the stroke he’d had only a yearearlier. He, too, had been paralyzed on his left side and had made greatstrides at RIC. But, beyond telling mewhat he had lost, Jackson shared what I would gain. “Here’s some advice,”Jackson wrote. “Do not give up on yourself. All the hard work is worth it.” 在第一次不理想的物理治疗阶段之后的几天，我的继母，贝芙，拿着一封信进入我的房间。她的工作是阅读无数份来自政治伙伴以及陌生人的卡片或信件，而她被其中的一封吸引了。那是一封打印得很整齐的信件，写信人是一个名叫杰克逊-坎宁安的九岁小男孩，他来自伊利诺州中部的一个城镇-尚佩恩，而这也是我的故乡。在信中，杰克逊告诉了我在一年前他也中过一次风。相同地，他也是左侧失去了知觉，不过他在芝加哥康复中心（RIC）取得了突飞猛进的成效。杰克逊并没有给我讲述他失去了什么，而是告诉了我，我会获得什么。”我有一些建议，”杰克逊在信中这样写道。”不要放弃自己。所有的努力都是值得的。”
Andthe advice kept on coming. He told me to attend therapy onthe hospital’s“grown-up” floor, where “they make you work hard and you get lotsof things back fast.” He even had recommendations for his favorite local pizzaplaces, just in case I had a craving. Here I was, a grown man and a senator ofIllinois, getting advice from a young boy I had never met. But his words wereexactly what I needed. He gave me such strength. I used my dwindling energy towrite him back by pen. 他继而给了我许多建议。杰克告诉我尽量去参加医院“成人”楼层的康复理疗，因为在那里“他们会促使你努力，使你很快见到成效。”他甚至还推荐了当地他最喜欢的披萨店，以备我的不时之需。于是就这样，我一个成年男人，一个伊利诺斯州的参议员，从一个素未谋面的小男孩那里听取建议。但他所提供的信息恰好是我所需要的。他给予了我力量。于是我也用我日渐衰微的力气给他手写了一封回信。
Aftera few weeks of correspondence, I arranged for us to meet in the RIC cafeteria. He seemed nervous at first ashe sat across from me with his parents, Craig and Judy, but all the awkwardnessquickly melted away. Jackson showed me how he could run, and I immediately feltinspired. It made me believe that one day, I would run again too. I felt soemotional seeing him face to-face, this kindred spirit of mine. I thought backto when I was his age, and I could see a lot of myself in him. One thing Iimmediately admired was the energy and dignity radiating from him. Looking atJackson for the first time, I saw a young boy who could have been my son. 在通信了几周后，我开始为我们在芝加哥康复中心自助餐厅的见面做准备。他和他的父母克雷格和朱迪坐在了我的对面。起初他看起来十分紧张，但是很快所有的尴尬都消失了。杰克逊向我展示了他如何快速跑动，我很快便受到了鼓舞。这一切让我相信，总有一天我也可以再次跑起步来。能够和杰克逊面对面交流我感到很激动，他和我的志趣十分相投。这个小男孩让我回想起了在他这个年龄时候的自己，并且在他身上我看到了很多自己的影子。而最让我敬佩的就是他身上折射出的能量和尊严。第一眼看到杰克逊，我就仿似看到了自己的孩子。
As for my recovery, it came just as Jacksonsaid it would. After a year of intense physical therapy, I climbed to the topof the Capitol and returned to work on January 3, 2013. With every step I took,I thought of Jackson and his strength. He helped me climb those steps that day. 至于我的恢复情况，果真被杰克逊言中了。经过一年紧张的物理理疗，我攀上了国会大厦的最高层，并且在2013年1月3日回到了工作岗位。这其中的每一步都会令我想起杰克逊和他给予我的力量。是他帮助我走过了那段日子。
Backin Washington, DC, I could feel Jackson affecting my every day. Whenever I wastired or discouraged, I thought of him, the world’s strongest boy. I had alwaysbeen proud to represent the state of Illinois, but I felt even more passionateknowing that I was representing him. When Jackson visited the Capitol a fewmonths after my return, we climbed those big steps together. It felt so specialto see DC through his eyes. Here he was, my battle buddy, and we had fought ourstrokes together. As I showed him around, we made a pact that there would be afootrace between us in the tunnel that connects my office to the Capitol. Thenext thing I’ll really have to think about is how I’m going to beat him. 回到了华盛顿特区后，每一天我都可以感受到杰克逊的影响。无论是我疲倦了或是气馁了，我都会想起他，这个世界上最强大的男孩。我常常很骄傲能够代表伊利诺斯州，但更让我感到激动的是我在代表杰克逊。在我回归正常生活几个月后杰克逊曾来到国会大厦看望我，我们一起登上了那些高大的台阶。与他并肩从国会大厦顶层俯瞰华盛顿别有一番感受。这就是他，我的战友，我们一同与中风作过斗争。在我带着他四处游览时，我们做了个约定——以我的办公室和国会大厦之间的地下道为赛道进行一次赛跑。我得马上开始考虑如何打败他了。
Itmight sound strange, but I’m almost grateful for my stroke because it gave methe opportunity to meet Jackson and to count him as a friend. He is my hero,and I am so excited to see what becomes of him. When we talk today, Jackson,now 11, tells me about his highest video game scores—he is obsessed with“slaying zombies”—and how he has been moving his left arm (I’m quite jealous).The one topic we can’t discuss: girls, though I think that might changesomeday. I tell him that I can read and walk again, that I’m coming back tolife. I also tell him that if he doesn’t listen to his physical therapist,he’ll have to testify before Congress. 虽然听上去有些怪，但我大概真的要感谢这次中风经历，因为它使我有机会认识了杰克逊并且能够和他成为朋友。他是我的英雄，能看到他今天所取得的成就我很激动。今天在我们聊天时，杰克逊，如今已经11岁了，告诉我他在电视游戏上取得了最高分——他十分痴迷于“猎杀僵尸”这款游戏——他还告诉我他是如何移动他的左手的（我还是蛮嫉妒的）。有一个话题是我们无法讨论的：女孩。虽然我认为这种情形总有一天是会改变的。我告诉他我又可以阅读和走路了，我的生活正步入正轨。我还告诉他，如果他不听他的物理理疗专家的指导，他也许要在国会前做声明了。
WhenI think of his future, which I do often, I hope that he has alife of advocacy on behalf of disabled individuals. And I hope that hefinds strength in knowing that there’s a guy in Washington who will always bein his corner. After visiting me in DC, he expressed some interest in politics.I asked him if he’d like to be the president of the United States someday. Hejust shrugged and said, “Eh. More like a senator.” 我时常会考虑他的未来，我希望他能够作为残疾人士的代表并维护其权益。而且他知道在华盛顿有一个家伙将会永远的支持他，我希望这一点能够为他带来力量。在华盛顿见过面后，他对政治表现出了兴趣。我问他是否愿意在未来的某一天成为美国总统，他只是耸耸肩，然后回答道”呃……我更想成为一位参议员。”
注释： ①高地公园（也可译为海兰帕克）是一个在美国伊利诺斯州富裕的郊区市湖县,大约26英里(42公里)芝加哥市中心以北。根据2010年的人口普查结果，人口是29763。高地公园是位于芝加哥市区的北岸的几个大城市之一 。
翻译：prince 校对：gabriellaz 终校：小郭 树屋字幕组-文翻组 翻译仅供学习交流，严禁用于商业用途
PDF下载：
| 
发表于 2015-8-18 13:11:45
