桑迪·琼斯/Sandy Jones

　　The shock of events of the past 30 hours overwhelmed Jim all at once. His body felt numb, and while the world was moving along, he felt removed from it.

　　Jim and his wife, Connie, had just lost their beautiful four-monthold son—Joshua. Preliminary diagnosis: SIDS—sudden infant death syndrome.

　　Thirty hours ago Jim had driven to the baby-sitter’s home to pick up Joshua. It was a routine trip, like the one he made five days every week. He arrived, and little Joshua could not be awakened from his nap. The next few hours were a blur: wailing sirens, swiftmoving paramedics, doctors and nurses…… A decision to air lift Joshua to Children’s Hospital 60 miles away…… but all in vain. Twelve hours later, the doctors had exhausted all attempts at revival. There was no brain activity. The decision was to turn off life-support. Little Joshua was gone. Yes, they wanted all of Joshua’s usable organs to be readied for donation. That was not a difficult decision for Jim and Connie, a loving and giving couple.

　　The next morning dawned. More decisions and arrangements. Telephone calls and funeral plans. At one point Jim realized he needed a haircut, but being new to the community, he didn’t have his own regular barber yet. Jim’s brother volunteered to call his hairdresser and get Jim an appointment. The schedule was full, but after a few words of explanation, the salon owner said,“Just send him right over and we’ll take care of him.”

　　Jim was exhausted as he settled into the chair. He had had little sleep. He began to reflect on the past hours, trying desperately to make some sense of it all. Why had Joshua, their first-born, the child they had waited so long for, been taken so soon…… he had barely begun his life…… The question kept coming, and the pain in Jim’s heart just enveloped him. He thought about the words spoken by the hospital chaplain.“We don’t fully understand what part we have in God’s plan. Perhaps Joshua had already completed his mission on earth.”Those words didn’t ease the bitterness that was creeping in.

　　The hairdresser expressed her sympathy, and Jim found himself telling her all about the events of the last 30 hours. Somehow it helped to tell the story. Maybe if he told it enough times, he would gain some understanding.

　　As Jim mentioned the organ donations, he looked at his watch and remembered what was happening 60 miles away……where he had said good-bye to his beloved Joshua a few short hours earlier.“They are transplanting one of his heart valves right now.”

　　The hairdresser stopped and stood motionless. Finally she spoke, but her voice quivered and it was only a whisper.“You’re not going to believe this…… but about an hour ago the customer sitting in this chair wanted me to hurry so she could get to Children’s Hospital. She left here so full of joy……her prayers had been answered. Today her baby granddaughter is receiving a desperately needed transplant……a heart valve.”

　　Jim’s healing began.

　　过去的30个小时里发生的一连串变故，几乎一下子把吉姆吞噬。他浑身失去了知觉，世间万物仍继续向前运转，可他却觉得这一切都跟他脱离了关系。

　　吉姆和妻子康妮四个月大的可爱儿子——约书亚刚刚离去，初步确诊为“婴儿猝死综合征”。

　　30个小时前，吉姆开车去婴儿看护所接约书亚，除了周六和周日，吉姆每天都去接他，这已成了惯例。到了那里，小约书亚却一直昏睡不醒，接下来的几个小时里混乱不堪：救护车疯狂鸣响，急救人员、医生和护士行色匆忙……最后，医生们决定把约书亚空运到60英里外的儿童医院抢救……可一切都无济于事。12个小时过去了，虽然医生们已经竭尽全力，但约书亚的大脑依然毫无反应，医生们决定把生命维持系统从约书亚身上拆除。小约书亚走了。当然，他们希望能够得到约书亚所有有用器官的捐赠。吉姆和康妮是一对富有爱心并乐于奉献的夫妇，这对他们来说并不难。

　　第二天，天刚亮，他们需要做出更多的抉择和打算——打电话并安排葬礼。突然，吉姆觉得自己该理发了，但是，他是这个街区的新成员，还没有私人理发师。他的哥哥主动打电话让自己的理发师来为他理发。可理发师的日程都已排满了，但在简短地听完事情的原委后，发廊老板说道：“让他现在过来吧，我们可以给他安排好。”

　　当吉姆坐到理发店的椅子上时，已经疲惫不堪了。他最近几乎没怎么睡，脑子里不断闪现此前发生的一切，他努力想把事情想清楚。他们的第一个孩子约书亚——他们盼了好久才盼到的儿子，为什么会这么匆忙地就走了呢……他几乎还没开始生活……问题一个接一个地呈现出来，他完全沉浸在痛苦的深渊中，无法自拔。医院牧师说过的话又在耳边回响：“在上帝的计划中，我们各自扮演着什么角色，自己并不清楚。或许约书亚在人间的使命已经完成了。”可那些话并没缓解吉姆的痛苦——它们正一点点地吞噬着他。

　　过去30个小时里发生的事，吉姆统统告诉了理发师，她很同情他。他说出了那些话后，心情似乎好些了。或许多讲几遍，他对此会有更深刻理解。

　　当谈及捐赠器官的事时，吉姆看了看手表，想着60英里外正发生的事……他与心爱的约书亚几个小时前就是在那里道别的。“此刻，他们正在移植他的心脏瓣膜。”

　　理发师突然停了下来，僵立在那里。终于，她开口了，但声音颤抖着，低得像耳语，喃喃道：“你或许很难相信……可的确，大概一小时前，一位顾客坐在这把椅子上，希望我快点儿给她剪，因为她要赶往儿童医院。离开时她兴高采烈的……她对我说，她的祈祷应验了。今天，她的小宝贝孙女要接受一个重要的器官移植手术……一片心脏瓣膜。”

　　吉姆心灵的伤口正在愈合。

　　overwhelme v.淹没；受打击；压倒

　　例 Flood overwhelmed the city.

　　洪水淹没了那座城市。

　　preliminary n.初步行动；准备；初步措施

　　例 What does a preliminary evaluation involve?

　　初步评估涉及哪些方面呢？

　　paramedics n.护理人员

　　例 Within minutes after calling the emergency number 911, the paramedics were on the scene.

　　在拨打急救电话911后，几分钟内护理人员就来到了现场。

　　volunteer v.志愿；自愿

　　例“Tim’s busy but I’ll come.”he volunteered.

　　“蒂姆很忙，我来吧。”他主动说道。

　　他浑身失去了知觉，世间万物仍继续向前运转，可他却觉得这一切都跟他脱离了关系。

　　译___________________________________________________________________

　　当吉姆坐到理发店的椅子上时，已经疲惫不堪了。他最近几乎没怎么睡，脑子里不断闪现此前发生的一切，他努力想把事情想清楚。

　　译___________________________________________________________________

　　吉姆心灵的伤口正在愈合。

　　译___________________________________________________________________

　　……and little Joshua could not be awakened from his nap.

　　awaken from：唤醒；醒来；唤起

　　造___________________________________________________________________

　　He began to reflect on the past hours.

　　reflect on：考虑；回想；回顾

　　造___________________________________________________________________