纽约时报 原本祥和的犹太集会变成了一场生死之战(2)

At 9:54 a.m., shortly after services started, emergency dispatchers began receiving 911 calls from the synagogue.

上午9:54，礼拜才刚刚开始，紧急救援电话接线员就接到了来自犹太教堂的报警电话。

One of the calls was from Mr. Werber.

其中一个就是韦尔贝先生打的。

“Active shooter,” said the dispatcher.

“有枪手，”接线员说到。

“Tree of Life synagogue. 5898 Wilkins Ave. There is an active shooter in the building.

“生命之树犹太教堂。威尔金斯大道5898号。大楼里有扫射射手。

They are being attacked. There is gunfire.

有人遭遇了袭击。有枪声。

Caller is going to be on the third floor. One person down so far.”

来电者在三楼。目前为止已经有一人倒下了。”

Mr. Werber, a 76-year-old retired¹ information technology worker, had come to Saturday services

76岁的退休IT工作者韦尔贝先生原本是来参加周六的礼拜的，

and, as usual, Cecil and David Rosenthal, two brothers with long ties to the congregation, were just inside,

像往常一样，塞西尔和大卫·罗森塔尔，他的两个老会友，也来了，

greeting people and handing out prayer books.

他们问候了其他会友，同时分发了祈祷书。

Mr. Werber noticed a table by the entrance with some wine goblets² and a bottle of whiskey,

韦尔贝先生注意到入口处有一张桌子，上面放着一些酒杯和一瓶威士忌，

presumably for a special ceremony called a bris, in one of the other congregations.

大概是为另外一个会众举行一场名为“布里斯”的特殊仪式准备的。

Mr. Werber did not usually come on Saturday mornings, preferring Friday night and Sunday morning services,

韦尔贝先生一般是不参加周六早上的集会的，他更喜欢周五晚上和周日早上过去礼拜，

but it was the yahrzeit, the anniversary of his mother’s death, and thus a solemn occasion for him.

然而，这天刚好是亚赫宰特，他母亲的周年纪念日，因而是一个庄重的日子。

He went down the stairs to the New Light sanctuary³, where the rabbi of his congregation and two others had already gathered.

他下楼去了新光圣堂，拉比和其他两个会友已经到了。

There were two more members there that morning: Daniel Stein and Richard Gottfried;

那天早上还有另外两名成员：丹尼尔·斯泰因和理查德·戈特弗里德；

they were in the kitchen, making sure the lox, cream cheese, bagels and eggs were ready for the next day’s breakfast.

他们去厨房了，确保为第二天早餐准备的奶油，奶油芝士，百吉饼和鸡蛋是否已经妥当。

In the sanctuary, Mr. Wax, 88, who was a fixture⁴ at New Light, stood in the front to begin the service. The rabbi was there.

在圣堂中，88岁的瓦克斯先生，新光教会的老成员，站在前排准备开始礼拜。拉比也在那里。

Suddenly, there was a loud noise.

突然传来了巨大的声响。

“I assumed that someone had run into that table,” Mr. Werber said, referring to the table with the wine goblets.

“我以为有人碰到了那张桌子，”韦尔贝先生说道，他指的是放有酒杯酒的那张桌子。

“So I opened the door to look. And I saw the body of Cecil on the steps.”

“所以我就开门去看。然后，我就在台阶上看到了塞西尔的尸体。“

He knew immediately what had happened.

他立刻就明白了。

So did the rabbi, who had already gone to the back of the sanctuary, where a swinging door led into a storage room about six feet across.

拉比也是如此，他已经走到了圣所的后面，那里有一扇推拉门，可通往一个大约六英尺（1米8）宽的储藏室。

Mr. Werber, Mr. Wax, the rabbi and Carol Black, another congregant, all hurried in.

韦尔贝，瓦克斯，拉比，卡罗尔·布莱克，还有另一位会友都冲了进去。

It was pitch dark inside.

里面漆黑一片。

“I didn’t know that room too well,” Mr. Werber said.

“那个房间我并不很了解，”韦尔贝先生说。

“I had been in it once, and I knew there might be a back way out of the building there in the dark. I couldn’t find it.”

“我进去过一次，我知道在黑暗中可能会有一条走出那栋楼的密道。但我没找到。”

The rabbi did apparently⁵ find a way out, and left to seek help.

显然，拉比找到了出路，他出去求救去了。

Mr. Werber, feeling around in the darkness, called 911 on his cellphone and described what he was hearing — more shots, and then silence.

韦尔贝先生在黑暗中摸索着用手机打了911，描述了他听到的内容 - 更多的枪声，然后是安静。

Joseph Charney, 90, a congregant at the Tree of Life synagogue since 1955,

约瑟夫·查尼，90岁，1955年以来一直是生命之树犹太教堂的会众，

said he was standing⁶ in front of a woman who was reading to the congregation, and next to his rabbi, when they heard what he thought was furniture falling.

他说，当他们听到他认为是家具掉落的声音的时候，站在他前面的女会友正在给大家读书，旁边是他们的拉比。

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 goblets   

n.高脚酒杯( goblet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Oh the goblets of the breast! Oh the eyes of absence! 噢，乳房的杯盏！噢，失神的双眼！ 来自互联网
• Divide the digestive biscuit crumbs mixture between 6 goblets. 消化？底分成6双玻璃杯中。 来自互联网

3 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

4 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 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。