唐山地震婴儿名字背后的动人故事

 　　Even though Yang Zhensheng has no memories of his own of the earthquake that flattened¹ his hometown shortly before his birth, the disaster will forever be part of his life -- he is named after it.

　　对于1976年唐山大地震，杨震生并没有太多的印象--他是在地震后不久出生的，然而，他的身上却有地震抹不去的印记，伴随他的一生--他的名字就是因地震而来。

　　In his given name, "zhen" means earthquake and "sheng" means birth. He was the first baby born in the rubble² of Tangshan, after the 7.8-magnitude event which claimed more than 242,000 lives on July 28, 1976.

　　他的名字，“震”即是地震，“生”是出生。1976年7月28日，唐山发生7.8级大地震，约有24.2万人丧生，他是在震后唐山的废墟上出生的第一个婴儿。唐山处。

　　Chinese parents commonly mark historical events in the names of their children, and many of those who will soon turn 40 have the Chinese character "zhen" in their given names. Zhensheng and Kangzhen (quake resistant) are among the most common.

　　中国父母通常喜欢以历史事件为孩子取名。许多名字中带有“震”的孩子们，马上就要40岁了。“震生”、“抗震”是地震婴儿最普遍的名字。

　　"We didn't experience the horror ourselves, but it left a permanent mark on us," Yang said.

　　杨震生说，“我们并未亲历这场灾难，但它却给我们留下了永远的印记。”

　　他们今年40岁了! 唐山地震婴儿名字背后的动人故事Perhaps due to his link to the disaster, after graduation Yang went to work in the local civil affairs bureau, the department in charge of disaster relief, and has been head of the Tangshan sanatorium for paraplegia for 11 years.

　　也许正是由于他与地震的渊源，大学毕业后，杨震生就到当地的民政局负责灾难救援工作。他担任唐山市截瘫疗养院院长已经11年了。

　　The powerful earthquake 40 years ago left 3,817 survivors³ paraplegic, more than 800 of whom are still alive. In the sanatorium, patients receive free treatment, food and accommodation, as well as living allowance. "Born the day of the tragedy. I'm happy to care for them," Yang said.

　　40年前的这场大地震导致3817人截瘫，如今有800多人尚生活在疗养院。他们的治疗、吃住费用全免，每个人每月都有补贴。杨震生说，“作为地震后出生的婴儿，能够照顾这些不幸的长辈们，我很乐意。”

　　At noon on Aug. 4, Yu Fengrong gave birth to a daughter in a temporary shack⁴, not long after she was pulled from the debris⁵. She still remembers her misery⁶ as, without even the most basic necessities, she held her baby and wept as rain poured through the roof. The desperate mother felt a small measure of relief to see soldiers arrive with hot porridge and boiled eggs -- the traditional food for new Chinese mothers.

　　那年的8月4日中午，被人从废墟中救出来不久的于凤荣，在临时搭建的一个窝棚里生出了一个女孩。她还记得当时的悲惨境遇，连最基本的生活保障都没有，她抱着孩子，坐在漏雨的棚子里，暗自落泪。而解放军战士送来的热气腾腾的大米粥和鸡蛋--产妇所需要的传统补品--让她有了些许安慰。

　　For the next month, the soldiers helped the family through their hardest of times, visiting them nearly every day with milk powder, noodles and anything else they could find. Yu Fengrong and her husband Yu Zhanshui showed their gratitude⁷ to their saviors in the name of their daughter, Yu Shuiqing.

　　随后一个月里，部队官兵几乎天天来看望，送来宝贵的奶粉、挂面和其他必需品，让产妇和孩子度过了最艰难的时光。为了感谢救命恩人，于凤荣和丈夫于占水为女儿取名于水情。

　　The pronunciation of her name is the same as the Chinese idiom to mean literally⁸ "the affection between fish and water," which is usually used to describe the rapport⁹ between the military and civilians¹⁰.

　　于水情这个名字的读音和中国的一个习语“鱼水情”相同，常常用来表达解放军和百姓之间的亲密关系。

　　Also on Aug.4, Sun Hu was delivered in a tent without water or electricity by Dr. Zhou Juanhua, a member of a rescue team sent by a Shanghai hospital.

　　同样是在那年的8月4日，在没水没电的情况下，孙沪出生了，是上海一个医院救援队的产科医生周娟华为其接生的。

　　Sun's mother had a difficult labor¹¹, and Zhou knelt on the ground for seven hours to deliver the baby. Sun was given the name "Hu," the abbreviation for Shanghai, the commercial and financial hub on the east China coast, to express admiration¹² for the woman doctor.

　　孙沪的妈妈难产，周娟华整整在地上跪了7个小时才成功接生了这个婴儿。为了感谢上海的周医生，她的父母为其取了“沪”这个名字。沪是上海这个东部沿海商业、金融中心的简称。

　　The children of the Tangshan earthquake, born among the rubble and squalor, have been taught the true meaning of gratitude by their parents.

　　唐山地震时期在废墟中出生的孩子，已经从父母那里学会了感恩的真正含义。

　　Following the catastrophic Wenchuan earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province in 2008, more than 270 Tangshan people named Zhensheng or Kangzhen together visited the Tangshan quake monument in downtown Tangshan, Hebei Province, and made donations for the victims in Sichuan.

　　2008年中国西南部四川省汶川发生特大地震，270多名名叫'震生'、'抗震'的当年唐山的地震婴儿，怀着感恩的心情，集体来到位于河北省唐山市的抗震纪念碑前，给灾区捐款。

　　"We can't just sit idly by. It was only through the kindness of people all over the country that we are alive today," Yang said.

　　杨震生表示：“我们不能坐视不管。正是因为全国人民的恩情，我们才能活到今天。”

 

1 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

5 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

6 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

7 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

8 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

9 rapport   

n.和睦，意见一致

参考例句：

• She has an excellent rapport with her staff.她跟她职员的关系非常融洽。
• We developed a high degree of trust and a considerable personal rapport.我们发展了高度的互相信任和不错的私人融洽关系。

10 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。