美国国家公共电台 NPR--How a wayward duck changed a Kansas City homeless man's life

How a wayward duck changed a Kansas City homeless man's life

Transcript¹

When Dave Hughes lost his job and his place to live, he found refuge living under a bridge on Brush Creek² in the middle of Kansas City, Mo. Then an ostracized³ duck gave him a new lease on life.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

In the depths of the pandemic, something simple and beautiful happened to a man living under a bridge in Kansas City. A wayward duck started hanging around his encampment. And as Frank Morris of member station KCUR reports, that duck gave the man a new lease on life.

(SOUNDBITE OF BIRD CALLING)

FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE⁴: Brush Creek cuts through the heart of Kansas City. It used to be so polluted, people called it Flush Creek. It smells better now. It's lined with lush green space and teeming⁵ with birds.

(SOUNDBITE OF GOOSE HONKING)

MORRIS: None of this held any joy for Dave Hughes - not at first. He's in his late 50s, with a salt-and-pepper beard, stocking cap and old backpack. Cast out from his job and his home, deeply depressed⁶, he set up camp here just before Thanksgiving 2020.

DAVE HUGHES: The first thing that I missed when I became homeless was having a pet. I just - I've always loved animals. It just feels really good to make a connection with an animal of any kind, and not having a pet was a real problem for me.

MORRIS: Then, one day, Hughes spied a black bird standing⁷ out against a flock of Canada geese. It was a Muscovy duck. He kept watching it. A few days later, he woke to find the duck watching him.

HUGHES: And she would just sit there facing me, making sure everything was cool, and she'd spend the night there with me. And then in the morning, when I'd get up, she'd get up, jump in the water...

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)

HUGHES: ...And do whatever ducks do in the water.

MORRIS: Hughes quickly realized that he and this duck had things in common.

HUGHES: She didn't want to be alone, it seemed like, a lot of the time. I'm convinced that she came to me looking for safety and companionship, which was the two things that I really needed 'cause it's lonely and scary to be out here.

MORRIS: Hughes and the duck hung out every day for well over a year. Then, March 9, 2022, the duck was gone. Hughes searched up and down the creek for hours and hours.

HUGHES: And then I just began to do that every day. And I began to really, really get in touch with what birds are here, what they're doing. And it's, like, this gift that she gave me.

There's a great blue heron right there. See him in the trees? The most elegant, beautiful birds. I could just watch these things all day. Oh, my gosh, there's a pair of wood ducks under there, too. Yeah. Oh, that is so cool.

(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CALLING)

HUGHES: They're just - they're everywhere. You don't really think about it, but there's this entire world - love, death, reproduction, everything - going on all around you. And you don't really realize it till you just kind of stop and look at it.

MORRIS: And that's what he does every day. Hughes has a stable place to live now, but spends his mornings with the wildlife on Brush Creek.

HUGHES: You're laying in the grass. There's all these trees. And there's beavers⁸. And there's otters⁹. And there's all the birds. And the ducks come right up to me. A couple of the geese come up to me now, too. And it's really - I can't tell you how much I look forward to doing this every day.

MORRIS: And that's how Dave Hughes went from depressed to passionate¹⁰, and how the underdog creek where he hit bottom turned into his happy place.

For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris in Kansas City.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

3 ostracized   

v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
• The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

6 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 beavers   

海狸( beaver的名词复数 )； 海狸皮毛； 棕灰色； 拼命工作的人

参考例句：

• In 1928 some porpoises were photographed working like beavers to push ashore a waterlogged mattress. 1928年有人把这些海豚象海狸那样把一床浸泡了水的褥垫推上岸时的情景拍摄了下来。
• Thus do the beavers, thus do the bees, thus do men. 海狸是这样做的，蜜蜂是这样做的，人也是这样做的。

9 otters   

n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮

参考例句：

• An attempt is being made to entice otters back to the river. 人们正试图把水獭引诱回河里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Otters are believed to have been on Earth for 90 million years. 水獭被认为存活在地球上已经9千多万年。 来自互联网

10 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。