Phyllis Volkens（菲莉斯·佛肯斯）

Every afternoon when I came on duty as the evening nurse, I would walk the halls of the nursing home, pausing at each door to chat and observe. Often, Kate and Chris, their big scrapbooks in their laps, would be reminiscing over the photos. Proudly, Kate showed me pictures of bygone years: Chris---tall, blond, handsome; Kate pretty, dark-haired, laughing. Two young lovers smiling through the passing seasons. How lovely they looked now, sitting there, the light shining on their white heads, their time-wrinkled faces smiling at the memories of the years, caught and held forever in the scrapbooks.

作为值夜班的护士，我每天下午上班，都要走过养老院的过道，在每个门口停下来看一看，聊一聊。凯特和克里斯通常会把剪切薄放在他们的膝盖上，通过照片进行回忆。凯特会骄傲地向我展示过去岁月的照片：克里斯不仅个头高，头发金黄，人也帅气。凯特则是人长得漂亮，满头黑发，面带笑容。一对年轻的情侣一路面带着微笑共同经历了无数春秋。现在，他们看起来很可爱，坐在一处，光线照在他们的华发上，历经岁月磨难而布满皱纹的脸面对着往事的回忆而微笑着，这一切都被捕捉并永远储存在了剪切薄里。

How little the young know of the loving, I’d think. How foolish to think they have a monopoly on such a precious commodity. The old know what loving truly means; the young can only guess.

我认为，现在的年轻人根本就不懂得什么是爱。而他们认为自己对这一珍贵的物品拥有垄断权又是多么愚蠢。只有老年人才知道爱的真正含义，年轻人仅仅是猜测。

Kate and Chris were always together---in the dining room, the lounge, strolling around the big porches and lawns, always holding hands. As we staff members ate our evening meal, sometimes Kate and Chris would walk slowly by the dining-room doors. Then conversation would turn to a discussion of the couple’s love and devotion, and what would happen when one of them died. We knew Chris was the strong one, and Kate was dependent upon him.

凯特和克里斯经常在一起——比如在餐厅、在休闲室、绕着大走廊和草坪漫步，而且总是手拉着手。我们工作人员吃晚饭时，凯特和克里斯有时会慢慢走过餐厅门口。接着谈话内容就会转向对小两口爱情和热爱的讨论，以及万一其中的一个死了，会发生什么事。我们知道克里斯身体还算硬朗，凯特对他很是依赖。

How would Kate function if Chris were to die first? We often wondered.

我们常常想：如果克里斯先去世，凯特该怎么活呢？

Bedtime followed a ritual. When I brought the evening meditation, Kate would be sitting in her chair, in nightgown and slippers, awaiting my arrival. Under the watchful eyes of Chris and myself, Kate would take her pill, then carefully Chris would help her from the chair to the bed and tuck the covers in around her frail body.

有件事必须在睡之前做的。每当我拿着晚上服用的药过去，凯特准保会坐在她的椅子里，穿着睡衣和拖鞋，等着我的到来。在克里斯和我的监视下，凯特服了药，接着克里斯会仔细地帮她从椅子里站起来再到床上去，并且还要用被子盖好她脆弱的身体。

Observing this act of love, I would think for the thousandth time, good heavens, why don’t nursing homes have double beds for married couples? All their lives they have slept together, but in a nursing home, they’re expected to sleep in single beds. Overnight they’re deprived of a comfort of a lifetime.

目睹了这种爱的表达方式，我就会不止一次的想，上帝呀，养老院为什么不给结婚的人提供双人床呢？他们已经在一起生活了一辈子，但是到了养老院，他们却不得不睡单人床。整个晚上，他们都被剥夺了享受了一生的舒适和安逸。

How very foolish such policies are, I would think as I watched Chris reach up and turn off the light above Kate’s bed. Then tenderly he would bend, and they would kiss gently. Chris would pat her cheek, and both would smile. He would pull up the side rail on her bed, and only then would he turn and accept his own medication. As I walked into the hall, I could hear Chris say, “Good night, Kate,” and her returning voice, “Good night, Chris,” while the space of an entire room separated their two beds. I had been off duty two days and when I returned, the first news I heard was, “Chris died yesterday morning.”

看到克里斯走上来并关掉凯特床上方的电灯，我就会想，这种政策真是愚蠢透顶了。接着，他会体贴地弯下腰，然后轻轻地亲吻。克里斯轻抚她的脸颊，两人都会微笑起来。他把她床边的扶手弄好，然后才转过身来服用自己的药。我走进大厅时，就能听到克里斯说，“凯特，晚安，”凯特的回答是，“克里斯，晚安，”然而，一间房大小的空间却把他们两人的床给分开了。等休了两天班再回来，我听到的第一条消息就是，“昨天早上，克里斯死了。”

“How?”

“怎么死的？”

“A heart attack. It happened quickly.”

“心脏病。来得很突然。”

“How’s Kate?”

“凯特怎么样了？”

“Bad.”

“情况很糟。”

                                         （To be Continued)(未完待续)