Part I
It was a family adventure trip. My wife, Judith, our two-year-old daughter, Leila, and I had rented a small camper and were traveling through Baja California. The day before our return to San Diego, we parked the camper near a beach for one last night in nature.
In the middle of the night I was awakened by Judith poking me with her elbow and yelling at me to get up. My first impressions were of nosie and banging. Fairly disoriented, I jumped down out of our little loft-bed, and standing stark naked, faced the windshield.
What I saw woke me quickly out of my half-dazed state. The van was surrounded by masked men banging on the windows.
I dove for the driver's seat and turned the ignition. The camper had started perfectly at least 50 times that trip. Now it tried to turn over, sputtered a few times, and died. There was the sound of breaking glass, and a hand reached in through the driver's side window. I smashed the hand.
My hand was bleeding from the broken glass. I figured I had one more chance to start the car. Having played hero successfully a thousand times in fantasy, I never doubted I would do it. I turned the key. The engine sputtered to life... and died. Then someone jammed a rifle into my throat. I remember this thought:“ You mean I don't save the family?” I was really quite surprised.
One of the bandits, who spoke a little English, was yelling, “ Money! Money!” The rifle still at my throat, I reached under the driver's seat and handed one of them my wallet through the broken window. I was hoping this was the end of it.
It wasn't.
（未完待续）
[参考译文]那是一次家庭探险之旅。我和妻子朱迪丝以及我们2岁的女儿莱拉租了一辆小型野营车,在加利福利亚州的巴加旅行。在我们返回圣迭戈的前一天,我们在海滨附近停下车,度过我们在大自然中的最后一晚。
夜半时分,朱迪丝用肘推醒了我,并大声叫我起床。我的最初感觉就是喧哗声和撞击声。几乎是糊里糊涂地,我从小高架床上跳了下来,光着身子,甚至都没想到穿上衣服,面向挡风玻璃站着。
我所看到的一切很快使我从半睡眠的状态中清醒过来。车子被一群正在猛烈敲打车窗的蒙面人团团围住了。
我冲向司机座,开动引擎。野营车在那次旅途中已经顺利启动至少50次了。现在它再次启动,响了几声,却熄火了。这时传来了玻璃破碎的声音,一只手从司机座边的窗户伸了进来。我向那只手猛击。
我的手碰到了碎玻璃上,血流了出来。我想我还有机会启动汽车。曾经在想象中千百次成功地扮演了英雄的角色,我从不怀疑我能成功。我转动钥匙。引擎轰鸣着启动……又熄灭了。接着有人用枪顶着我的喉咙。我记得当时的想法是:“你认为我不能救我的家人吗?”我确实很惊讶。
其中有个会说一点英语的匪徒,大声叫着:“钱!钱!”枪仍然顶着我的喉咙,我将手伸进司机座下面,取出我的钱包,从破窗口递给了其中一个匪徒。我希望这件事就到此结束。
但并非如此。
Part II
Releasing the latch through the broken window, they opened the door. The man with the rifle pushed me hard and sent me sprawling onto the floor. They entered the camper.
They looked remarkably like Mexican bandits from a grade-B movie. They had standard-issue bandannas over their faces. There were four: the one with the rifle, one with a rusty carving knife, one with a huge machete and one unarmed. I was half surprised they weren't wearing bulletfilled bandoleers slung over the shoulders. Maybe their weapons were really props from Central Casting.
While one man held me to the floor with the rifle against my neck, the bandits started tearing the camper apart, yelling in Spanish.
While one aspect of me was busy fantasizing horrendous scenes of rape and murder, a clear, quiet space opened inside that was intrigued by this new possibility. These too are children of God. How many times have I declared that my purpose is to serve others? Well, here they are!
I looked at the bandits from this more heartfelt awareness. “ Wait a minute! These aren't bandits! They're kids!”
I turned to the young man who spoke English and said, “ Hey, you're missing some of the best stuff! Under that pile over there is a very nice camera.”
He gave me a peculiar look.
He yellled something in Spanish to one of the other young men, who found the camera buried where I had pointed.
The next thing we knew, it was show and tell. “ Nice guitar!” I demonstrated a few chords. “ Who plays? Here, do you want it? ...Sony Walkman, headsets, batteries, some tapes! Who wants it?” I thought about the Native American give away of the giveaway. I began to enjoy the feeling of gifting them. I tried to think which of our possessions they would most enjoy.
Then I found myself spontaneously asking, “ Would you like something to eat?” The English-speaking young man translated. Four pairs of incredulous eyes looked at me as I pro ceeded to open the refrigerator. Now we had a cultural problem. I saw a nice red Delicious apple. “ Okay, that's normal food.” I took out the apple and held it out toward the man with the machete. This felt like an important moment. In most cultures, the sharing of food is a kind of communion, an acknowledgment of friendship, or declaration of peace. As I continued to hold out the apple toward him, I sensed him struggling for a moment, in his own way letting go of the roles in which we had met. For an instant he smiled, then took hold of the apple.
未完待续
[参考译文]他们从破窗户里伸手进来拉开了车闩,打开了门。拿枪的那个人猛力地推我,将我推倒在地。他们进了野营车。
他们看起来非常像B级电影中的墨西哥匪徒。脸上蒙普通的大花巾。共有4个人:一个带着枪,一个拿着锈迹斑斑的切肉刀,一个拿着一把大砍刀,一个没带武器。我有点奇怪他们没有在肩膀上挎着子弹带。也许他们的武器其实不过是道具。
一个人用枪顶着我的脖子,我被迫躺在地上。这些强盗们开始在车上到处乱翻,并不时用西班牙语大声叫喊着。
当我脑海里一方面不停地想象着可怕的强奸和谋杀景象,一个新想法却在另一面打开了一片宁静而清新的天地。他们也是上帝的子民。我曾有多少次宣称我的目标是为了服务他人?现在,他们就在这里!
我看着那些匪徒心中真切地涌动这个想法：“等等!他们不是匪徒!他们是孩子!”
我对那个说英语的年轻人说:“嗨,你没找到最好的东西!在那堆东西下面有一架很好的照相机。”
他奇怪地看了我一眼。
他用西班牙语对另一个年轻人说了几句话,那人在我指的地方找到了照相机。
接下去发生的事情,就是—面向他们展示一面对他们说:“好吉他!”我演示着弹了几下琴弦。“谁来弹?这儿,你想要吗?……索尼随身听、耳机、电池、几盘磁带!你想要吗?”我想真正的地道的美国人会放弃那些该放弃的东西。我开始喜欢送礼物给他们的感觉了。我试着想在我的所有物品中,他们最喜欢什么呢。
于是我不由自主地问道:“你们想吃点什么吗?”
那个说英语的年轻人作了翻译。四双惊讶的眼睛看着我打开了冰箱。现在我们有一个文化上的问题。我看见了一个漂亮的可口的红苹果。“好,这是普通的食物。”我取出了苹果,递给了拿着大砍刀的人。这似乎是一个重要的时刻。在许多文化中,分享食物是一种交流的方式,友谊的信号,或和平的宣告。当我坚持把苹果递给他时,我觉得他踌躇了一会。以他自己的方式放弃了我们初次见面时彼此所扮演的角色。他微笑了一下,接过了苹果。
