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《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 92 (219):標準的預言家

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padding-bottom: 100%;">《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 92 (219):標準的預言家

A regular Nostradamus, that Susan.

標準的預言家,這個蘇珊。

By the next morning, when I checked my e-mail, $700 had already been pledged. The next day, donations passed what I could afford to match.

隔天早上我查看電子郵件,已籌到七百塊錢。再隔一天,捐款已超過我拿得出來的相當款項。

I won't go through the entire drama of the week, or try to explain what it feels like to open e-mails every day from all over the world that all say, "Count me in!" Everyone gave. People whom I personally knew to be broke or in debt gave, without hesitation. One of the first responses I got was from a friend of my hairdresser's girlfriend, who'd been forwarded the e-mail and wanted to donate $15. My most wise-ass friend John had to make a typically sarcastic comment, of course, about how long and sappy and emotional my letter had been ("Listen—next time you feel the need to cry about spilled milk, make sure it's condensed, will ya?"), but then he donated money anyway. My friend Annie's new boyfriend (a Wall Street banker whom I'd never even met) offered to double the final sum of whatever was raised. Then that e-mail started whipping around the world, so that I began to receive donations from perfect strangers. It was a global smothering of generosity. Let's just wrap up this episode by saying that—a mere seven days after the original plea went out over the wires—my friends and my family and a bunch of strangers all over the world helped me come up with almost $18,000 to buy Wayan Nuriyasih a home of her own.

我不去細說那個禮拜的整個戲劇化過程,或去說明我每天打開來自世界各地傳來"算我一份"的信件時,心中的感受。每個人都願意給予。我個人所知的破產或負債之人都毫不遲疑地捐錢過來。我最先收到的迴應之一,是來自我的美髮師的女友的一個朋友,她收到轉寄的信後捐了十五元。我那最自以爲是的朋友約翰,自然會先發表一套諷刺的言論,說我的信多麼冗長、感傷、情緒化("聽着——下回你覺得必須爲打翻的牛奶哭泣時,先確定是濃縮牛奶,好嗎?"),但他還是捐了款。我的朋友安妮的新男友(一位華爾街銀行業者,我甚至沒碰過面)願意捐助最後籌得款項的兩倍。而後,這封電子郵件開始繞行全世界,於是我開始從完全不相識的人那兒收到捐款。這個全球性的慷慨之舉令人窒息。我們簡單下個總結吧——從最初透過電郵發送出去的懇求,僅過七天——全世界各地的親朋好友和一羣陌生人幫我籌得了大約一萬八千元款項,將要捐給大姐買房子。

I knew that it was Tutti who had manifested this miracle, through the potency of her prayers, willing that little blue tile of hers to soften and expand around her and to grow—like one of Jack's magic beans—into an actual home that would take care of herself and her mother and a pair of orphans forever.

我知道讓奇蹟出現的人是圖蒂,透過她強有力的祈禱,竭盡所能讓她那一小塊藍色瓷磚在她四周軟化擴展——猶如傑克的魔法豌豆——變成一座實體的家,永遠照顧她自己、她的母親和一對孤兒。

One last thing. I'm embarrassed to admit that it was my friend Bob, not me, who noticed the obvious fact that the word "Tutti" in Italian means "Everybody." How had I not realized that earlier? After all those months in Rome! I just didn't see the connection. So it was Bob over in Utah who had to point it out to me. He did so in an e-mail last week, saying, along with his pledge to donate toward the new house, "So that's the final lesson, isn't it? When you set out in the world to help yourself, you inevitably end up helping . . . Tutti." Eat, Pray, Love

最後還有一件事可以說說。我必須滿懷羞愧地承認,是我的朋友鮑伯(而不是我自己)發現了一個顯而易見的事實:"圖蒂"在意大利語當中,意指"每一個人"。我怎麼沒早些留意到這件事?我還在羅馬待過幾個月!我並未看見這個關聯。必須等到猶他州的鮑伯向我指出這一點,我才恍然大悟。他在上週的電郵來信中允諾捐款購新屋的同時,指出:"這可真是最後的一課,對吧?當你前往世界幫助自己,最後卻免不了幫上……每一個人。"