【www.haohaowg.com--人生感悟】
（一）双语故事:"石油之王"的复杂人生
Marc Rich, who died yesterday, aged 78, was one of the most controversial business figures of the late 20th century. He was a gifted, aggressive commodity trader with a global network of business interests and contacts – and an amoral attitude to pursuing them that empire-building 18th century merchants would have both recognised and applauded.
马克?里奇(Marc Rich)于周三去世，终年78岁。他是二十世纪末最具争议的商业人物之一，作为一名富有天分、作风激进的大宗商品交易员，他建立起了一个由商业利益和人脉资源交织而成的全球网络，并以一种无视道德观念的态度追逐利益——十八世纪开拓帝国的商人们或许会认可及赞赏这种方式。
But while his dealings with regimes outlawed by the US – from Iran to Cuba – fed his fortune, they irreversibly tainted his reputation.
虽然与伊朗、古巴等被美国宣布为非法政权的国家进行交易增加了他的财富，但这也无可挽回地玷污了他的名誉。
Rich would have dearly wished it otherwise. But his life – if not his legacy – hinged on two events: his indictment by the US in 1983 on charges that included tax evasion and illegally trading with Iran, and his 2001 pardon, one of Bill Clinton’s last acts as president, which Rich himself hoped would set his record straight.
里奇或许曾经真心实意地希望事情按另一条轨迹发展。但他的人生——同时也是他留下的遗产——主要被两件事情决定：1983年他被美国政府以逃税、与伊朗进行非法交易等罪名起诉，以及2001年他所得到的赦免，这是比尔?克林顿(Bill Clinton)在总统任期内所做的最后几件事情之一。里奇希望这次赦免能够洗刷自己的污点。
The reverse turned out to be true. The pardon – for which Rich’s friends, allies and ex-wife had secretly lobbied – not only polluted Mr Clinton’s own legacy, it reignited interest in Rich’s own case, raising his carefully-sheltered profile and obscuring his other achievements as a pioneer in the commodities business. It made it impossible for him to return to the US.
但事情的结果却正好相反。这次赦免——里奇的朋友、支持者以及前妻为此曾秘密展开游说——不仅污损了克林顿自己的政治遗产，还重新激起了人们对于里奇原本案情的兴趣，抬高了他刻意压低的曝光率，同时掩盖了他作为大宗商品交易领域先驱者所取得的其他成就。这一切使得里奇无法再返回美国。
Rich’s resentment at being, in his eyes unjustly, handed the role of fugitive from US justice had deep roots. Born Marcell David Reich in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1934, Rich’s early mentor and employer was his father, who had himself been driven from the family home on the border of what is now Poland and Ukraine by anti-Jewish pogroms after the first world war. As the Nazis advanced on Belgium in 1940, the Reich family fled to the US, via Vichy France. Rich later claimed to have attended 12 different primary and secondary schools in as many years.
在里奇看来，自己被美国司法部门不公正地扣上了逃犯的帽子，他的这种不满情绪有着很深的根源。里奇于1934年出生于比利时的安特卫普，原名马塞尔?大卫?赖克(Marcell David Reich)。里奇早期的导师和雇主是他的父亲。第一次世界大战后，里奇的父亲在反犹大屠杀的威胁下被迫离开了现在位于波兰和乌克兰边境的家乡。随着纳粹于1940年侵入比利时，里奇一家经由维希法国(Vichy France)逃到了美国。里奇后来宣称，自己在那些年间先后在12所不同的小学以及中学就读。
But the proving ground for the business skills he acquired while working for his father was Philipp Brothers – Phibro – the oil, grain and metals trader. There, in the 1950s, Rich met his business partner Pincus “Pinky” Green (who was also later pardoned by Mr Clinton).
直到里奇开始为菲布罗（Philipp Brothers,简称Phibro）工作时，他才开始展现出他在自己父亲手下干活时学到的商业技巧。菲布罗是一家经营石油、谷物和金属的大宗商品交易商。二十世纪五十年代，里奇在菲布罗遇到了自己的商业伙伴、绰号“Pinky”的平卡斯?格林（Pincus Green，其后也被克林顿赦免）。
They set out on their own in 1974, forming Zug-based Marc Rich + Co just as the price of oil was surging as a result of the Arab embargo, and then building on the growing appetite of a globalising world for commodities.
两人于1974年自立门户，在瑞士楚格(Zug)成立了马克里奇公司(Marc Rich + Co)。当时正值石油价格因阿拉伯国家的禁运限制大幅飙涨之际。全球化导致的大宗商品国际需求上升也为该公司带来了发展动力。
Rich’s key insight was that oil – and other raw materials – could be traded with less capital, and fewer assets, than the big oil producers thought, if backed by bank finance. It was this highly leveraged business model that became the template for modern traders, including Trafigura, Vitol, and Glencore – which was born from a buyout of his interest in the commodity trading arm of Marc Rich + Co – and this year merged with Xstrata.
里奇最主要的观点是，如果有银行融资的支持，进行石油以及其他原材料的交易所需的资本和资产比大型石油生产商所设想的少得多。这种高度杠杆化的商业模式成为了托克(Trafigura)、维多(Vitol)以及嘉能可(Glencore)等现代大宗商品交易商的经营模板。其中，嘉能可是在马克里奇公司大宗商品交易部门的管理层收购了里奇的全部权益之后诞生的，并在今年完成了与斯特拉塔(Xstrata)的合并交易。
In the process, Rich also fostered a generation of highly loyal, highly paid individual traders – many of whom became millionaires in their own right. They included Ivan Glasenberg, GlencoreXstrata’s chief executive, who was once a coal trader for Rich. Yesterday, Mr Glasenberg paid tribute to him as “a friend and one of the great pioneers of the commodities trading industry”.
在发展业务的过程当中，里奇培养出了一代高忠诚度、高收入的个人交易员——其中很多人凭借自己的能力成为了百万富翁。这批人中包括合并后的嘉能可与斯特拉塔的首席执行官伊凡?格拉森伯格(Ivan Glasenberg)，他曾是里奇手下的一名煤炭交易员。里奇逝世当天，格拉森伯格发言悼念里奇，称他是“一位朋友，以及大宗商品交易领域的伟大先行者之一。”
While Rich is sometimes credited with having invented the crude oil spot market, traders say it is more accurate to say that – by operating faster, and with greater determination and skill than competitors – he perfected the modern system of trading oil independently of the majors.
虽然里奇有些时候被认为是原油现货交易市场的开创者，但交易员们指出，说里奇完善了独立于其他主要品种、专门交易石油的现代交易系统更为准确——里奇提高了石油交易系统的运行速度，并展现出了相对于竞争对手来说更大的决心以及更高的商业技巧。
But his model would have been merely a bright idea without the highly aggressive, risk-hungry style with which he implemented it.
但如果没有那种极其激进、高度风险偏好的执行风格，里奇的交易系统模型将仅仅只是一个聪明的构想。
When the Shah of Iran was toppled in 1979 – and with him many of Marc Rich + Co’s oil industry contacts – Rich was able to use the political neutrality of his company’s Swiss base to continue trading through the ensuing US hostage crisis and consequent business sanctions.
当伊朗国王于1979年被推翻时——马克里奇公司在石油领域的很多人脉也随之被切断——里奇利用了自己公司总部所在地瑞士的政治中立性，在紧接着发生的美国人质危机以及对伊朗商业制裁期间继续进行交易活动。
Paradoxically, as journalist Daniel Ammann recounted in his 2009 biography The King of Oil, Rich’s willingness to trade with everyone – including apartheid South Africa, Fidel Castro’s Cuba and the Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran – also made him the obvious intermediary to maintain the supply of oil to Israel.
而根据记者丹尼尔?阿曼恩(Daniel Ammann)在2009年出版的里奇传记《石油之王》(The King of Oil)中的叙述，里奇愿意与任何人进行交易——包括种族隔离制度之下的南非、菲德尔?卡斯特罗(Fidel Castro)治下的古巴，以及阿亚图拉?霍梅尼(Ayatollah Khomeini)控制的伊朗——也使他显而易见地成为了维持以色列石油供应的中间商。
Meanwhile, he was diversifying into other sectors, buying 20th Century Fox in 1981 with industrialist Marvin Davis (a stake later sold to Rupert Murdoch).
与此同时，里奇还进入其他领域开展多元化经营。他与实业家马文?戴维斯(Marvin Davis)联手，于1981年收购了二十世纪福克斯(20th Century Fox)。后来，他的股份被出售给了鲁珀特?默多克(Rupert Murdoch)。
In 1983, however, the period that colleagues described as a “golden age” for Marc Rich + Co came to an end, when Rudolph Giuliani, then US attorney in Manhattan, indicted Rich and Mr Green. They fled the US for Switzerland. He avoided arrest by US agents, but at great personal cost: for instance, he reluctantly decided not to join his daughter in the US hospital where she was dying from cancer in 1996 for fear he would be arrested.
但到了1983年，被员工们称作是马克里奇公司“黄金时代”的日子戛然而止，当时美国曼哈顿律师鲁道夫?朱利安尼(Rudolph Giuliani)向里奇和格林提起诉讼。两人离开美国逃往瑞士。里奇躲开了美国特工们的追捕，但他自己也付出了巨大代价：例如，1996年当他的女儿因癌症而奄奄一息时，他极不情愿地决定不去美国医院看望女儿，因为担心会遭逮捕。
Rich never returned to the US, even after his pardon, and continued to point out until his death that his Swiss company’s business with Iran was legal under Swiss law. He told hisbiographer he was an “easy target, one individual, very successful, making a lot of money, and Jewish” and he had not returned to defend himself after 1983, because he was afraid he would not get a fair trial.
里奇再也没有回到过美国，即使在得到了赦免之后。他生前曾不断地指出，自己在瑞士成立的公司与伊朗之间的商业往来符合瑞士法律。他对自己的传记作家表示，自己“很容易成为靶子，作为个体，非常成功，赚了大把钞票，而且还是犹太人”。在1983年以后，里奇也从未回到美国为自己辩护，因为他担心自己不会得到一场公正的审判。
Latterly, Rich had devoted an increasing amount of time and money to philanthropy. His family company’s website says four foundations he established have donated more than $150m to various causes over the past two decades. Israel, repaying his long association in business and charitable ventures, granted him a series of honours and he is expected to be buried in Tel Aviv tomorrow.
近些年来，里奇投入了越来越多的时间和金钱用于慈善事业。来自他的家族企业网站的信息显示，他所创立的四个基金会在过去二十年中向多个项目捐款超过1.5亿元。以色列为了回报他长期以来的商业往来以及慈善事业，授予了他一连串荣誉称号。里奇将在以色列的特拉维夫(Tel Aviv)下葬。
In a later interview in 2011 with the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche, Rich described himself as a success in business – Forbes reported his net worth in 2012 as $2.5bn – but a failure in his private life, having divorced twice.
里奇在2011年接受瑞士《国际周报》(Die Weltwoche)采访时表示，自己在商业上是一名成功人士——据《福布斯》(Forbes)杂志报导，2012年里奇的资产净值为25亿美元——但在私人生活上则是一个失败者，曾经两次离婚。
He is survived by his daughters, Ilona Schachter-Rich and Danielle Kilstock Rich.
他还有两个女儿伊诺娜?沙赫特-里奇(Ilona Schachter-Rich)和丹妮尔?基尔斯托克?里奇(Danielle Kilstock Rich)在世。
Although he had renounced his US citizenship, at the time of his death Rich held Belgian, Israeli and Spanish passports – symbols of his contradictory, controversial, multinational career. His official biography concludes, simply: “Marc Rich excels as a skier and patron of the arts”. The reality was far more complex.
里奇曾经声明放弃自己的美国公民身份，在去世之时他拥有比利时、以色列以及西班牙三国护照——这是他充满矛盾和争议、横跨多个国家的职业生涯的缩影。他的官方传记的结尾非常简单：“马克?里奇是一位出色的滑雪者以及艺术赞助人。”但现实的复杂程度远甚于此。
Additional reporting by John Aglionby and James Shotter
约翰?阿格里昂比(John Aglionby)和詹姆斯?肖特(James Shotter)补充报道
（二）双语故事:相助 The Help
But one night he working late at the Scanlon-Taylor mill, lugging two-by-fours to the truck, 1splinters slicing all the way through the glove. He too small for that kind a work, too skinny, but he needed the job. He was tired. It was raining. He slip off the loading dock, fell down on the drive. Tractor trailer didn't see him and crushed his lungs fore he could move. By the time I found out, he was dead.
一天晚上，他在斯坎伦-泰勒轧机厂干到很晚，拖着的木料往货车上装，木刺划破手套，扎得满手都是。他太瘦，个头又小，干不了那重活儿，可他需要那份工作。他累得支撑不住，天又下雨，他滑倒了，从装卸月台上摔下来，一头栽进车道。拖车司机没瞧见他，他还没来得及挪身，车就从他身上碾过去了。等我找到他的时候，他已经断气了。
That was the day my whole world went black. Air look black, sun look black. I laid up in bed and stared at the black walls a my house. Minny came ever day to make sure I was still breathing, feed me food to keep me living. Took three months fore I even look out the window, see the world still there. I was surprise to see the world didn't stop just cause my boy did.
从那天起，我整个世界都黑了。空气是黑的，太阳是黑的。我躺在床上直愣愣地盯着屋里黑的墙壁。明尼每天都来看我，以确保我还有气息，她喂我进食，让我残喘地活下去。整整三个月后，我才抬眼看窗户外头，看外头的世界是否照旧。我惶惑地发现整个世界竟然没有因为我儿子的死停下半分。
Five months after the funeral, I lifted myself up out a bed. I put on my white uniform and put my little gold cross back around my neck and I went to wait on Miss Leefolt cause she just have her baby girl. But it weren't too long before I seen something in me had changed. A bitter seed was planted inside a me. And I just didn't feel so accepting anymore.
葬礼之后又过了五个月，我起身下床。我穿上白色制服，又把小小的金十字架戴回脖子上，随后前去服侍李弗特小姐，她刚生下个女娃。但没过多久我便发现我的心已不复从前。苦涩的种子在我体内悄然埋下，我不再那么容易敞开胸怀了。
"GET THE HOUSE straightened up and then go on and fix some of that chicken salad now," say Miss Leefolt.
"把屋子规整规整，再去把鸡肉沙拉准备好。"李弗特太太呼喝着。
It's bridge club day. Every fourth Wednesday a the month. A course I already got everthing ready to go—made the chicken salad this morning, ironed the tablecloths yesterday. Miss Leefolt seen me at it too. She ain't but twenty-three years old and she like hearing herself tell me what to do.
每个月的第四个礼拜三是她们的桥牌聚会日。我已经将里里外外拾掇停当——一大早做好了鸡肉沙拉，桌布也在昨天熨烫平整。李弗特太太亲眼瞧着我做完这些。她不过才二十三岁，却很喜欢对我指手画脚，差使我做这干那。
She already got the blue dress on I ironed this morning, the one with sixty-five pleats on the waist, so tiny I got to squint through my glasses to iron. I don't hate much in life, but me and that dress is not on good terms.
她已经把我今早熨好的蓝裙子穿上了，那条在腰上密匝匝打了六十五个小褶的裙子，我得戴起眼镜眯上眼才能把那些绿豆大的褶给烫准了。我对家常日子没啥抱怨的，可我和那条裙子实在处不到一块儿去。
"And you make sure Mae Mobley's not coming in on us, now. I tell you, I am so burned up at her—tore up my good stationery into five thousand pieces and I've got fifteen thank-you notes for the Junior League to do…"
"还有，你要管住梅·莫布利，别让她来烦我们。我告诉你吧，她可是把我惹火了，她把我好端端的信纸撕个粉碎，我可还有十五封青年联盟会的感谢信要写呐……"
I arrange the-this and the-that for her lady friends. Set out the good crystal, put the silver service out. Miss Leefolt don't put up no dinky card table like the other ladies do. We sat at the dining room table. Put a cloth on top to cover the big L-shaped crack, move that red flower centerpiece to the sideboard to hide where the wood all scratched. Miss Leefolt, she like it fancy when she do a luncheon. Maybe she trying to make up for her house being small. They ain't rich folk, that I know. Rich folk don't try so hard.
我还在忙着为她的那些太太小姐们准备这个支应那个。我搬出花哨的玻璃杯盏，摆上银质刀叉。李弗特太太没能像其他阔太太那样添置上一张小巧精致的牌桌，我们只得坐在餐桌前打牌。我们在桌上铺上桌布遮住L型的裂隙，又把红色镂花桌饰挪到橱柜那儿，好挡住坑坑洼洼剥落掉渣的木柜。李弗特太太大概想弥补屋子狭小的不足，着意把餐会拾掇得富贵体面。我知道他们不太富裕，富庶人家可不会这么费劲。
I'm used to working for young couples, but I spec this is the smallest house I ever worked in. It's just the one story. Her and Mister Leefolt's room in the back be a fair size, but Baby Girl's room be tiny. The dining room and the regular living room kind a join up. Only two bathrooms, which is a relief cause I worked in houses where they was five or six. Take a whole day just to clean toilets. Miss Leefolt don't pay but ninety-five cents an hour, less than I been paid in years. But after Treelore died, I took what I could. Landlord wasn't gonna wait much longer. And even though it's small, Miss Leefolt done the house up nice as she can. She pretty good with the sewing machine. Anything she can't buy new of, she just get her some blue material and sew it a cover.
我过去常帮年轻夫妇操持家务，可我揣度着这家是我见过门户最小的人家。整套房子上下不过一层，她和李弗特先生的后屋尚且宽敞，可是梅的房间小得立不住脚。餐厅连着起居室混作一处。他们只有两个卫生间，这倒为我省下不少事，我从前碰上的人家通常都有五六间，光为他们清理厕所就得花上我整整一天。李弗特太太每个钟点只付我九十五美分，我早不止这个价了，但打崔劳死后，我也顾不上挑肥拣瘦，我已经拖欠不起房租了。尽管屋子小得转不开身，可李弗特太太还是费心尽力把它装点得光鲜体面。她很擅长缝连补缀，一旦买不起新家什，她便扯些蓝布头，自裁自缝出个布套子把旧家什装扮上。
（三）英语故事:苏格拉底的"三重筛选测试"
One day, an acquaintance met Socrates and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"
一天，苏格拉底遇到一位熟人，熟人问：“你知道我刚刚听说你朋友发生什么事情了吗？”
"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple-filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
“等等，”苏格拉底答道。“在你说出我朋友的事之前，何不稍等片刻，让我对你想说的内容进行过滤。我把它叫做‘三重筛选测试’。第一重滤网是‘真相’。你能百分之百确定你的消息是真事吗？”
"Well, no," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."
“呃，不能，”那人说，“其实我也是刚听人说的……”
"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now, let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"
“好的，”苏格拉底说。“所以你并不清楚事情的真伪。现在，我们来进行第二次筛选——‘善意’。你要告诉我的是有关我朋友的好事吗？”
"No, on the contrary..."
“不，恰恰相反……”
"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left—the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
“那么，”苏格拉底接着说，“你打算告诉我一件关于我朋友的坏事，但你又不确定其真伪。不过你依然有可能通过测试，因为还有一重滤网——‘实用’。这件关于我朋友的事对我有用吗？”
"No, not really."
“不，没什么用。”
"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
“好吧，”苏格拉底总结道，“如果你要告诉我的事情既不是真的，又不是好事，甚至毫无用处，那你又何必告诉我呢？
（四）双语故事:美味的石头汤
Many years ago three soldiers, hungry and weary of battle, came upon a small village. The villagers, suffering a meager harvest and the many years of war, quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three at the village square, wringing their hands and bemoaning the lack of anything to eat.
很多年前，有三个士兵，他们从战场回来既饥饿又疲倦，这时他们来到了一个小村庄。然而由于粮食遭遇欠收和连年的战争，村民们迅速的将它们的一小点粮食藏了起来，并在村子的广场中接待了士兵们，搓着双手，哀叹着他们是多么缺少食物。
The soldiers spoke quietly among themselves and the first soldier then turned to the village elders. "Your tired fields have left you nothing to share, so we will share what little we have: the secret of how to make soup from stones."
士兵们平静地与村民们交谈着，第一个士兵对村庄的长老说道：“既然你们的土地收成不好，不能分给我们点吃的，那么我们将会与你们分享我们所有的：如何用石头做一道好汤的秘密。”
Naturally the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was put to the town's greatest kettle as the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones. "Now this will be a fine soup", said the second soldier; "but a pinch of salt and some parsley would make it wonderful!" Up jumped a villager, crying "What luck! I've just remembered where some's been left!" And off she ran, returning with an apronful of parsley and a turnip. As the kettle boiled on, the memory of the village improved: soon barley, carrots, beef and cream had found their way into the great pot.
自然啦，村民们都十分好奇，很快他们就升起了火，架起了城里最大的一口锅，士兵们将三颗光滑的石子丢到了锅里。“这将是一锅好汤”第二个士兵说；“不过如果有一撮盐和一些欧芹那就更棒啦！”一个村民跳了起来，喊道“多幸运啊！我刚刚想起来家里还剩下些呢！”于是她跑回家，带着满满一围裙的欧芹和一根萝卜回来了。随着锅里的水渐渐煮沸，村民们的记忆力也变的越来越好，很快地，大麦，胡萝卜，牛肉还有奶油，统统被投入了这个大罐子里。
They ate and danced and sang well into the night, refreshed by the feast and their new-found friends. In the morning the three soldiers awoke to find the entire village standing before them. At their feet lay a satchel of the village's best breads and cheese. "You have given us the greatest of gifts: the secret of how to make soup from stones", said an elder, "and we shall never forget." The third soldier turned to the crowd, and said: "There is no secret, but this is certain: it is only by sharing that we may make a feast". And off the soldiers wandered, down the road.
他们吃啊~跳啊~唱啊~直到深夜，美妙的宴会和新结交的朋友让每个人都感到焕然一新。当早上三个士兵醒来时，他们发现所有村民正站在他们面前。在他们脚边放着有一包这个村子最好的面包和奶酪。“你们把最好的礼物送给了我们：如何从石头里做汤的秘密”，一位长老说道，“这一点我们永远也不会忘记。”第三个士兵转身冲大伙说到：“这并没有什么秘密，但是有一件事是确定的：只有一起分享，我们才可能举办一次宴会。”说完，他们又踏上了路，慢慢走去了。
（五）双语故事:一猫一世情 A Boy and His Cat
I'm not sure how he got to my clinic. He didn't look old enough to drive, although his child's body had begun to broaden and he moved with the heavy grace of young manhood. His face was direct and open.
我不知道他是怎样来到我的诊所的。他看起来还没到可以开车的年龄，虽然他那孩童的身躯已经开始发育，举手投足间也充满了年轻男子的翩翩风姿。他的表情坦率而真诚。
When I walked into the waiting room, he was lovingly petting his cat through the open door of the carrier on his lap. With a schoolboy's faith in authority, he had brought his sick cat in for me to mend. The cat was a tiny thing, exquisitely formed, with a delicate skull and beautiful markings. She was about the boy's own age, give or take a year. I could see how her spots and stripes and her fierce, bright face had evoked the image of a tiger in a child's mind, and Tigress she had become. Age had 1dammed the bright green fire of her eyes into faded lace, but she was still elegant and 1self-possessed.
他的膝盖上放着一个猫笼，当我走进候诊室时，他正把手伸进敞开的小门，亲切地爱抚着他的猫。带着学生对于权威的信任，他将他那生病的猫带到我这里来治疗。猫的个头不大，身形纤美，有着精致的小脑袋和美丽的斑纹。她的年纪和那男孩差不多大，偏差不超过一岁。我可以从她的斑点和条纹，还有她那野性机灵的脸庞上看出，在孩子的心目中她就像是一只老虎，所以她的名字就叫虎妞。年龄的衰老使得她眼中明亮的绿色火焰黯然失色，但她依然优雅自若。
I began to ask questions to determine what had brought this charming pair to see me. Unlike most adults, the boy answered simply and directly. Tigress had had a normal appetite until recently, when she'd begun to 1vomit a couple of times a day. Now she was not eating at all and had withdrawn from her human family. She had also lost a pound, which is a lot when you weigh only six.
我开始问诊，了解为什么这两个可爱的家伙会到我这里来。和大多数成年人不同的是，男孩的回答简单而直接。虎妞的胃口一向正常，直到最近她开始每天呕吐好几次。如今她完全不吃不喝了，还躲避着她的人类家庭。她已经瘦了一磅（约0.454公斤）——如果你只有六磅重的话，这就瘦得很厉害了。
Stroking Tigress, I told her how beautiful she was while I examined her eyes and mouth, listened to her heart and lungs, and felt her stomach. My fingers found it: a tubular mass in 1mid-abdomen. Tigress politely tried to slip away. She did not like the mass being handled.
我抚摸着虎妞，一边对她说她是多么美丽，一边检查她的眼睛和嘴巴，听她的心肺，轻按她的胃部。我发现在她腹部的中部有个肾小管团。虎妞客气地试图溜走。她不喜欢被人摸到那块东西。
I looked at the fresh faced boy and back at the cat he had probably had all his 1ife. I was going to have to tell him that his beloved companion had a 1tumor. Even if it were 1surgically removed, she probably would survive less than a year, and might need weekly chemotherapy to last that long.
我看了看男孩稚嫩的脸庞，然后又看了看那只或许从小就陪伴着他的猫。我将不得不告诉他，他挚爱的伙伴得了肿瘤。即便做手术摘除了，她可能也活不过一年，而且可能还要每个星期做化疗才能维持得到。
It would all be very difficult and expensive. So I was going to have to tell this boy that his cat was likely to die. And there he was, all alone. Death is something we push to the background and ignore as long as possible, but in reality every living thing we love will die. It is an omnipresent part of life. How death is first experienced can be life-forming. It can be a thing of horror and suffering, or a peaceful release.
这样治疗难度颇大，且费用高昂，所以我将不得不告诉这个男孩，他的猫很可能会死去。然后，就剩下他孤单一人了。我们常常刻意漠视死亡：尽可能久地忽视它的存在，但实际上，我们深爱的每个生命都会死去。死亡是生命中挥之不去的一部分。第一次直面死亡的经历会影响往后的生活。它可能会是一件恐怖而痛苦的事情，或者也可能会是一种安详的解脱。