The Fourth Tuesday

第四个星期二

We Talk About Death (23)

我们聊了聊死亡

"Let's begin with this idea," Morrie said.

“让我们先来以这样一个构思为出发点，”莫瑞说道。

"Everyone knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it."

“每个人都知道人终有一死，但没人愿意真的相信这件事。”

He was in a businesslike mood this Tuesday.

莫瑞这周二处于一种高效且有条理的心情。

The subject was death, the first item on my list.

我们（对话）的主题是死亡，列在我名单上的首条。

Before I arrived, Morrie had scribbled a few notes on small white pieces of paper so that he wouldn't forget.

在我到他家之前，莫瑞在一些小白纸片上草草写下了不少笔记以防止忘记。

His shaky handwriting was now indecipherable to everyone but him.

他颤颤巍巍的笔迹现在除了他自己别人已经无法辨认了。

It was almost Labor Day, and through the office window I could see the spinach-colored hedges of the backyard and hear the yells of children playing down the street, their last week of freedom before school began.

那时已经快到劳工节（在美国和加拿大为九月的第一个星期一）了，透过办公室的窗户可以看到后院里菠菜色的树篱，听见孩子们在大街上玩耍的喊叫声，那是他们学校开学前的最后一周自由时光了。

Back in Detroit, the newspaper strikers were gearing up for a huge holiday demonstration, to show the solidarity of unions against management.

在底特律，报纸行业的罢工工人们风风火火地为大规模的节假日游行示威做准备，来展示工会对抗资方的团结决心。

On the plane ride in, I had read about a woman who had shot her husband and two daughters  as they lay sleeping, claiming she was protecting them from “the bad people.” 

坐飞机的途中，我读到一则报道，一个趁丈夫和两个女儿熟睡的时候把他们全部枪杀的女士声称她这么做是为了保护他们免遭“坏人”伤害。

In California, the lawyers in the O.J.Simpson trial were becoming huge celebrities.

在加利福尼亚州，O.J辛普森一案的律师们变成了红极一时的“网红名人”。

Here in Morrie's office, life went on one precious day at a time.

在这里，莫瑞的办公室，生活也同时继续着宝贵的又一天。

Now we sat together, a few feet from the newest addition to the house: an oxygen machine.

现在我们正在一起坐着，离房子里一件最新添加的东西几步之遥：一台氧气机。

It was small and portable, about knee-high.

这台氧气机是小型可移动的，大约到膝盖那么高。

On some nights, when he couldn't get enough air to swallow, Morrie attached the long plastic tubing to his nose, clamping on his nostrils like a leech.

有些夜晚，当他喘不上气的时候，莫瑞就得把长长的塑料管子连接在鼻子上，就像一条水蛭紧紧夹住鼻孔。

I hated the idea of Morrie connected to a machine of any kind, and I tried not to look at it as Morrie spoke.

我痛恨这种将莫瑞与任何类型的机器产生联系的印象，莫瑞说话的时候我努力不去看那台机器。

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