■ 爱的遗赠　A Legacy of Love

◎ Bobbie Gee

As a young man, Al was a skilled artist, a potter. He had a wife and two fine sons. One night, his oldest son developed a severe stomachache. Thinking it was only some common intestinal disorder, neither Al nor his wife took the condition very seriously. But the malady was actually acute appendicitis, and the boy died suddenly that night.

年轻时的阿尔是一个技艺娴熟的画家和陶工。他有一个妻子和两个健壮的儿子。一天晚上，他的大儿子腹痛难忍，但考虑到可能只是一些常见的肠胃不适，阿尔和妻子都没有太在意。但是，事实上男孩患的是急性阑尾炎，那个晚上便夭折了。

Knowing the death could have been prevented if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, Al’s emotional health deteriorated under the enormous burden of his guilt. To make matters worse his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Al could handle, and he turned to alcohol to help him cope. In time Al became an alcoholic.

如果当时意识到病情的严重性，儿子的死就能够避免。意识到这些，沉重的负罪感使阿尔的精神状况每况愈下。更糟糕的是，不久妻子也离开了他，留下6岁的小儿子与他相依为命。这两件事带来的伤痛让阿尔无法承受，于是他选择了借酒浇愁。不久，阿尔就成了一个酒鬼。

As the alcoholism progressed, Al began to lose everything he possessed—his home, his land, his art objects, everything. Eventually Al died alone in a San Francisco motel room.

随着酒瘾越来越大，阿尔开始失去他所拥有的一切——他的家、他的农地、他的艺术品，一切的一切。最终，阿尔孤独地死在旧金山的一家汽车旅馆里。

When I heard of Al’s death, I reacted with the same disdains the world shows for one who ends his life with nothing material to show for it. “What a complete failure!” I thought, “What a totally wasted life!”

听说了阿尔的死讯，我的反应像世人对未能留下遗产的人的鄙视一样。“多么彻底的失败啊！”我想，“枉度了一生！”

As time went by, I began to reevaluate my earlier harsh judgment. You see, I knew Al’s now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I watched Ernie with his children and saw the free flow of love between them. I knew that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.

随着时间的推移，我对自己之前的苛刻判断开始有了新的认识。你不知道，我现在认识了阿尔那个已成年的小儿子，厄尼。他是我见过的最亲切、最善良、最仁爱的人。看着厄尼和他的孩子们，我看到了他们之间自由流动的那种关爱。我知道那种善良和仁爱必定来自某处。

I hadn’t heard Ernie talk much about his father. It is so hard to defend an alcoholic. One day I worked up my courage to ask him. “I’m really puzzled by something.” I said, “I know your father was basically the only one to raise you. What on earth did he do that you became such a special person?”

我从未听到厄尼对父亲有太多的谈论。毕竟，为一个酒鬼辩护并不是件容易的事。一天，我鼓起勇气问了他。“有些事我一直感到很疑惑。”我说，“我知道，你几乎是由你父亲独自带大的。他到底是如何教育你的，竟让你变得如此特别？”

Ernie sat quietly and reflected for a few moments. Then he said, “From my earliest memories as a child until I left home at 18, Al came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, ‘I love you, son.’”

厄尼静静地坐在那里，思考了一会儿，然后说：“从我记事起，一直到18岁离家，阿尔每晚都会来我的房间，给我一个吻并说，‘我爱你，儿子。’”

Tears came to my eyes as I realized what a fool I had been to judge Al as a failure. He had not left any material possessions behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and he left behind one of the finest, most giving men I have ever known.

当我意识到自己是多么愚蠢时，我的泪水夺眶而出。我竟然说他是一个失败者！他死后没有留下任何物质方面的遗产，但他是一位慈爱的父亲，他培养出了一个我所见过的最善良、最无私的儿子。

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