读者文摘:你是我的朋友(2)

The table had to go. The next morning, Ilse called to ask about her table.

桌子必须得弄走。第二天早上，伊尔丝问她的桌子去哪了。

She was angry and told me how upset she was that I had given away a family heirloom.

她很生气，我把她的一个传家宝送出去了，这让她很心烦。

Then she hung up on me. When Ilse called that evening to apologize, I told my husband to say I wasn't home.

然后她就挂了我的电话。当伊尔丝晚上打电话道歉时，我让丈夫跟她说我不在家。

I was still angry and hurt. The following day, I returned her call but was unable to understand what she was saying.

我还是很生气，很伤心。第二天，我给她回了电话，无法听懂她说的话。

I drove her to the emergency room, where the doctor confirmed she had suffered a mild stroke.

我开车送她去急诊室，医生确认她有一次轻微的中风发作。

During the next few days, I dropped by her apartment, but she was no longer the vibrant¹, obstinate² Ilse I knew.

在接下来的几天里，我去她的公寓去看她，但是她不再是那个我认识的活泼的倔强的伊尔丝了。

At the end of the week, I received an early-morning call from her caregiver.

周末时，清晨我从她的看护着那里接到了一个电话。

"Please come over now," the woman said, her voice matter-of-fact. "She's passed away."

那女人平淡地说，“请过来一趟，她去世了。”

When I arrived, I saw Ilse lying on her bed, motionless, her eyes closed.

我到了，看到伊尔丝躺在她的床上，闭着眼睛，一动不动。

I sat on the edge of the bed and held her frail³ hand, too shocked to cry.

我坐在床边，握着她脆弱的手，我太震惊了，没哭出来。

The morning after Ilse's death, I pulled her will out of my file cabinet.

伊尔丝死后的这天早上，我从文件柜里拿出她的遗嘱。

Ilse had insisted I take a copy of it a year earlier. I read through it and stopped when I saw my name.

一年前，伊尔丝坚持要我把遗嘱复印一份。我读着遗嘱，看到我的名字时定住了，

She had left me $50,000. I didn't remember her saying anything about her bequest⁴.

她留给我50000美元。我不记得她说过任何关于她遗嘱的事情。

If she had, I would have insisted she donate the money to charity or give it to a friend she had known longer.

如果她提到的话，我会坚持让她把钱捐给慈善机构，或者留给她认识时间更长的朋友。

I knew I couldn't spend what she had left me on myself.

我知道我不能把她留给我的钱花在自己身上。

Ilse was a friend I'd helped out of loyalty⁵ and respect, not with the expectation of being paid.

伊尔丝是我出于忠诚和尊重而帮助的朋友，而不是为了得到报酬。

Her attorney sent me a check, and I opened an investment account in her honor.

她的律师寄给我一张支票，我以她的名字开了一个投资账户。

Over the next 20 years, Ilse's gift grew and gave me the opportunity to disperse⁶ funds in her name to a cause she cared about deeply: children.

在接下来的20年里，伊尔莎的捐赠不断增多，这让我有机会以她的名义把资金投入到一项她非常关心的事业：儿童。

Various families and charities benefited from her donations. Some families received funds to send their grade-schoolers to summer camp.

很多家庭和慈善机构从她的捐赠中获益。一些家庭用收到的基金送他们的小学生去夏令营。

Through the local food bank's "Food 4 Kids" program,

通过当地食物银行的Food 4 Kids活动，

her donation provided children who relied on daily school meals with weekend backpacks filled with food to take home with them on Fridays.

她让那些每天依靠着学校餐的孩子可以每周五背着装满食物的书包回家。

A few days before my unconventional friend died, I heard her on the phone asking about "the odds⁷."

就在我那位非传统的朋友去世前几天，我听到她在电话里问我“胜算有多大”。

I don't know whether her last bet paid off—I didn't ask her bookie when I met her at Ilse's funeral.

我不知道她最后一笔赌博有没有赢下来，在伊尔丝的葬礼上我没有问她关于赌博的事。

Yet the gamble I'd taken years before when I placed a call to the senior center

但是在多年之前，当我打电话给老年公寓时，我就参与了这赌博，

and met Ilse had definitely made my life richer.

遇到伊尔丝真正地让我的生活变丰富了。

I took a chance on humanity, and Ilse's friendship was the jackpot.

我相信了人性，伊尔丝的友谊就是大奖。

1 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

2 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

3 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

4 bequest   

n.遗赠；遗产，遗物

参考例句：

• In his will he made a substantial bequest to his wife.在遗嘱里他给妻子留下了一大笔遗产。
• The library has received a generous bequest from a local businessman.图书馆从当地一位商人那里得到了一大笔遗赠。

5 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

6 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

7 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？