After much thought and practice (“ You can do whatever you have to do.” ), one night last winter, I sat down by his bed and remembered for an instant those terrifying dark holes in another house 35 years before. I told my fatherhow much I loved him. I described all the things people were doing for him. But, I said, he kept eating poorly, hiding in his room and violating the doctor's orders. No amount of love could make someone else care about life, I said; it was a two-way street. He wasn't doing his best. The decision was his.
通过深思熟虑与亲身体验(“凡是你必须做的事你都能做到”),去年冬天的一个夜晚,我坐在老爸床边,忽然想起35年前那另一栋房子里可怕的黑洞。我告诉老爸我有多爱他。我向他讲述了人们为他所做的一切。而我又说,他总是吃得太少,躲在房间里,还不听医生的劝告。我说,再多的爱也不能使一个人自己去热爱生命:这是一条双行道,而他并没有尽力,一切都取决于他自己。
He said he knew how hard my words had been to say and how proud he was of me. “ I had the best teacher,” I said. “ You can do whatever you have to do.” He smiled a little. And we shook hands, firmly, for the last time.
他说他明白要我说出这些话多不容易,他是多么为我自豪。“我有位最好的老师,”我说,“凡是你必须做的事你都能做到”。他微微一笑,之后我们握手,那是一次坚定的握手,也是最后的一次。
Several days later, at about 4 A.M., my mother heard Dad shuffling[拖着] about their dark room. “ I have some things I have to do,” he said. He paid a bundle of bills. He composed for my mother a long list of legal and financial what-to-do's “ in case of emergency.” And he wrote me a note.
几天后,大约凌晨四点,母亲听到父亲拖着脚步在他们漆黑的房间里走来走去。他说:“有些事我必须得做。”他支付了一叠帐单,给母亲留了张长长的条子,上面列有法律及经济上该做的事,“以防不测”。接着他留了封短信给我。
Then he walked back to his bed and laid himself down. He went to sleep, naturally. And he did not wake up.
然后,他走回自己的床边,躺下。他睡了,十分安详,再也没有醒来。