2005年NPR美国国家公共电台十二月-The Kindness of Strangers

I believe in honor, faith and service
I believe that a little outrage¹ can take you a long. . . .
I believe in freedom of speech
I believe in empathy
I believe in truth

Renee Montagne: On Mondays, we bring you our series, This I Believe. Short statements of personal conviction from prominent people and from our listeners and citizens at large. Daniel Ferri teaches 6th grade at a middle school west of Chicago. He is one of more than 7500 of you who have sent us essays. Here is our series curator, independent producer Jay Allison.

Jay Allison: In reading your essays, we find that moments of crisis often clarify belief. During Hurricane Katrina, Daniel Ferri had a crisis of his own far away from the storm, but he saw clearly that the belief that sustained him is the same one that people in trouble everywhere need to rely upon. Here is Daniel Ferri with his essay, for This I Believe.

I believe in the kindness of strangers. I learned to believe this from a hurricane and a newborn baby boy.

Our son Owen was born just as Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf² Coast. Two days later, as Katrina neared landfall, Owen began suffering seizures³; he'd had a stroke.

I didn't follow the catastrophe⁴ on the Gulf Coast as closely as I might have, but those weeks taught me some things about catastrophe and about the kindness of strangers.

All catastrophes⁵ are personal. Some in the Gulf Coast sought survival; some sought to help others. Some prayed; some preyed⁶ upon others.

At the hospital, we watched our son Owen sleep. Despite the tubes dripping and the monitors beeping, he still slept his baby sleep. My wife asked for the pastor⁷; I asked for the doctor. She prayed for him. I held the CAT scan up to the light and searched for answers.

No one can know what you will feel or fear in a time of need, but I learned that in this, the most difficult time of my life, the people our family depended upon most were people we had never met, people who we would likely never see again -- strangers. We depended upon strangers, strangers who knew their duty was to help others. We depended upon the nurses who cared so well for our son, who cooed to him and caressed⁸ him, who watched me hold him through the night and never seemed to notice how ugly a man is when he cries. We depended upon the hostel⁹ that gave us a place to stay near the hospital, upon the members of my union who believe caring for our child's health should not ruin us, upon the doctors and clerks and ambulance drivers. We depended upon a commitment made to helping¹⁰ others. This commitment is a web that holds us together in times of need.

By the time we took Owen home, the worst effects of Katrina were evident. I watched the images from the Gulf Coast, images of communities, lives and families whose fabric¹¹ had been torn apart. I thought of that web of strangers that had embraced my family in our time of need, and that it is the most fortunate among us who are served best by it.

I can only hope this web will be strong enough, that it will be spun¹² wide, that it will hold and care for many, that we can all depend upon the kindness of strangers.

Jay Allison: Daniel Ferri with his essay, for This I Believe. Owen's doctors, by the way, are encouraging about his progress. Ferri says he is doing better than we could have dared to hope. If there was a moment that forced you to think about what you believe in, we hope you will tell us about it. You can find out more about submitting your writing and hear all the essays in our series at our website, npr. org. For This I Believe, I'm Jay Allison.

Renee Montagne: This weekend, you can find an essay from Jessica Zere of Grand Forks, North Dakota, in USA Weekend magazine---our print partner for This I Believe, and next Monday on All Things Considered, an essay from USA Weekend reader Nancy Ushes of Avon, Massachusetts .

Steve Inskeep: This I Believe is made possible by a grant from Farmers Insurance

1 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

4 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

5 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

6 preyed   

v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• Remorse preyed upon his mind. 悔恨使他内心痛苦。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He had been unwise and it preyed on his conscience. 他做得不太明智，这一直让他良心不安。 来自辞典例句

7 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

8 caressed   

爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His fingers caressed the back of her neck. 他的手指抚摩着她的后颈。
• He caressed his wife lovingly. 他怜爱万分地抚摸着妻子。

9 hostel   

n.（学生）宿舍，招待所

参考例句：

• I lived in a hostel while I was a student.我求学期间住在青年招待所里。
• He says he's staying at a Youth Hostel.他说他现住在一家青年招待所。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

12 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。