英语沙龙：一位真正的医生

A real doctor

Agony¹ is a remote mountain village which is far from town and far from civilization. The villagers own their own farms and open their own factories. Life here is generally quiet and peaceful. 

But life also means a lot of inconveniences in this part of the world. For example, if someone is ill, it is difficult to get a doctor nearby. Some young people have been sent to study medicine in town, only once they are out of the village, few of them are willing to return to work here. 

Old Joe and his wife live in a cottage at the end of their farm. They have a large flock² of sheep and quite a few horses. The couple take their animals as their family members and spend most of their time looking after them. 

One night, Old Joe was woken up by a piercing1） cry. He immediately realized that his sheep were being attacked by a pack of wolves. He jumped out of bed, took his gun and rushed out. In the dark, he saw a figure moving towards the sheep pen. He raised his gun and shot at it；the figure fell with a painful groan2）. But somehow the voice sounded like his wife’s. He hurried to the figure, only to find his wife lying bleeding on the ground. She was seriously wounded. 

Seeing what had happened, Old Joe couldn’t believe his eyes. He tore a piece of his shirt and wrapped up the wound for his wife with his shaking hands. He then gently carried her into the room and put her on the bed. He rushed out again and jumped onto a horse. He rode fiercely 3）down to the village where he hoped he could find help. A moment later he returned with a young man who was the son of a friend and how was a medical student on holiday. 

Encouraged by Old Joe, the young man examined the wound and decided⁴ that surgery⁵ should be done immediately to get the bullet⁶ out. But when he saw the blood issuing4） from the wound, the young man’s hands began to shake violently and it was difficult for him to calm down. An immediate³ operation seemed impossible and Old Joe’s wife was in danger. 

At this moment, they heard the sound of heavy and hurried foot steps outside and then in burst a middle-aged⁷ man dressed like a traveller. The new comer had a quick glance at the wounded and then said: “I can do it.” He took the instruments5） from the young man and made a sign to them to leave the room for a while. 

Half an hour later, the middle-aged man came out and told Old Joe that the bullet had been taken out and everything would be all right. Old Joe was so grateful that he kept saying: “You’re a real doctor. You’ve saved my wife. You’re a real doctor.”

“No, I‘m a vet⁸, only an animal doctor. ”The man smiled. “I’ve been making a survey for my article on animal raising environment in mountainous areas. It happened that I had just arrived at the village when you went to fetch this young man and I followed you here just in case you needed help. ”

一位真正的医生

阿戈尼是一个偏僻的山村, 远离城市, 远离文明。这里的村民拥有自己的农场, 开办自己的工厂。生活在这里基本上是平静而祥和的。

然而, 在世界的这块地方生活又意味着诸多的不便。譬如说, 如果有谁病了, 那么要在附近找到一位医生是非常困难的。一些年轻人曾被送到城里去学医, 可是这些年轻人一旦走出了村庄, 就没有几个会愿意再回到这里来工作。

老乔和妻子住在自己农场尽头的农舍里。他们有一大群羊和好几匹马。夫妻俩把这些牲口当作是家里的成员, 把大部分时间都用来照料它们。

一天夜里, 老乔被一声尖叫惊醒。他立刻意识到他的羊正遭受狼群的袭击。他跳下床, 拿起枪就冲了出去。黑暗中他看见一个影子正朝羊圈方向移动。他举起枪, 瞄准黑影开了一枪。黑影痛苦地呻吟着倒下去。可那呻吟声却像是他妻子发出的。他赶紧朝黑影奔去, 只见妻子流着血躺在地上。她伤得很重。

看到眼前发生的事, 老乔不敢相信自己的眼睛。他从自己的衬衣上撕下一块布, 用颤抖的双手替妻子把伤口包扎起来。然后轻轻地将她抱进屋里, 放到床上。接着, 他再一次冲出门外, 跳上一匹马。他拼命骑着马向村里跑去, 希望能在那里找到能帮忙的人。他一会儿功夫就回来了, 和他一起来的年轻人是一位朋友的儿子, 他在度假, 是医学院的学生。

在老乔的鼓励下, 年轻人检查了伤口, 并果断地说需要立即施行手术将子弹取出。可是当他看到从伤口流出的血时, 年轻人的手抖得很厉害, 他一时很难平静下来。看来立即做手术已是不可能了, 老乔的妻子危在旦夕。

就在这时, 他们听到外面一阵沉重而又急促的脚步声, 随后闯进来一位旅行者装束的中年男子。来人很快地扫了一眼受伤者, 然后说：“我能做这个手术。”他从年轻人手中接过了手术器械, 并示意让他们离开一会儿。

半小时后, 中年人出来了, 他对老乔说子弹已经取出, 没事了。老乔感激万分, 连声说道：“你是个真正的医生。你救了我妻子的命。你是个真正的医生。”

“不, 我是个兽医, 只给牲口看病。”中年人笑着说。“我在为我的文章《论山区牲畜的饲养环境》作调查。当你去村里请这位年轻人时我正好刚刚到达那里。于是我就跟踪而来, 万一你们需要帮助时我可以出点力。”

1 agony   

n.创痛，(极度的)痛苦；挣扎苦恼

参考例句：

• She asked the nurse how long her agony must last. 她问护士，她的极端痛苦要延续多久。
• He lay in agony until the doctor arrived. 在医生来到之前，他一直非常痛苦地躺在那里。

2 flock   

n.羊群，一群，大量；vi.群集，聚集，成群

参考例句：

• A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open.一群顾客在等候着商店开门。
• A few sheep have been lost from the flock.羊群里少了几只羊。

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 surgery   

n.外科，外科手术；手术室

参考例句：

• What time does surgery finish?门诊什么时间结束？
• Your condition is serious and requires surgery.你的情况很严重，需要动外科手术。

6 bullet   

n.枪弹，子弹

参考例句：

• The bullet wound in his shoulder was opened up for treatment.切开他肩上的枪伤进行治疗。
• The bullet missed me by a hair's s breadth.那颗子弹差一点就打中了我。

7 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

8 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。