一份音樂的禮物

A GIFT OF MUSIC

I had been inside the prison called Gander Hill several times already by the time I met Ray in the spring of 1993. My father worked there with a group teaching inmates to improve their communication and speaking skills. I was a senior in college, majoring in speech communications, and eventually I started my own volunteer student group at Gander Hill.

Teaching communication means getting people to tell their stories, but Ray could tell you how much he missed playing his guitar without speaking. Sometimes he moved his hands across the air as if he were playing his favorite blues scale. He always gave me a slight nod when he saw me come into the chapel for the meeting. He loved sharing his guitar stories. Although he had been an inmate at Gander Hill for over a decade, he always had a song in his head, a particular one that he said he had been writing in his mind since his arrival. He looked forward to playing again the way a child counts the days until summer vacation.

When my group formally established itself at Gander Hill, the men were allowed a night of celebration to which they could invite one or two family members. The night of the celebration was just like Christmas for them. They huddled with their loved ones, whom they had not seen or touched in several months or longer. Since his family lived in Texas, no one came to the celebration as Ray’s guest, but he waited patiently for me to arrive. As he rehearsed his song in his head, I walked into the prison with a guitar.

Ray tuned that guitar as if he were putting his life back into harmony. I have never heard a guitar tuned like that before or since. He looked at me over his shoulder and nodded a thank-you before bringing his song to life on the guitar. I watched Ray’s fingers dance across the strings as if they were himself, running free. And for those moments, he was.

【日積月累】

◇inmate n. 同住在一起的人（尤指醫(yī)院、監(jiān)獄或其他機(jī)構(gòu)中的）

◇scale n.音階

◇chapel n. 小教堂；小禮堂

◇decade n. 十年

◇rehearse v.排練，進(jìn)行彩排

◇harmony n. 和諧，協(xié)調(diào)

【參考譯文】

一份音樂的禮物

1993年的春天，在遇見雷之前，我已經(jīng)去過甘德山監(jiān)獄很多次。我父親和一幫子人在那負(fù)責(zé)提高犯人的交流和說話技巧。那年我大四，主修語言交流，后來也開始組織學(xué)生自愿在甘德山監(jiān)獄開展教學(xué)工作。

教授交流技巧其實(shí)就是讓人們開口講述自己的經(jīng)歷，但是雷不用開口，就能讓你知道他有多么想彈奏吉他。有時(shí)候他會(huì)在空中彈動(dòng)手指，仿佛在彈奏自己最喜歡的藍(lán)調(diào)。每次看到我走進(jìn)小禮堂去開展教學(xué)，他都會(huì)朝我微微頷首。他喜歡分享他的吉他故事。雖然已在甘德山監(jiān)獄服刑十年多了，他腦海里始終記著一首歌，這是一首特別的歌，他說從到這的那天起就開始創(chuàng)作它。他期盼著重拾吉他的機(jī)會(huì)，就像小孩算日子等著暑假的到來。

我們小組在甘德山監(jiān)獄得到官方認(rèn)可的那天，獄友被允許慶祝一晚，還可以邀請(qǐng)一兩位家人。歡慶的那晚對(duì)他們來說就像圣誕節(jié)一樣。他們與至少數(shù)月沒見過面沒有接觸過的摯愛緊緊相擁。因?yàn)槔椎募胰硕甲≡诘驴怂_斯州，所以聚會(huì)上沒有他的客人，但是他不急不躁地等著我。當(dāng)他在腦里排練著自己的歌時(shí)，我提著一把吉他走進(jìn)了監(jiān)獄。

雷給吉他調(diào)弦的時(shí)候，仿佛把和諧重新調(diào)進(jìn)了他的生活。我從來沒聽過那樣的旋律，從那以后也沒有。他轉(zhuǎn)頭看著我，點(diǎn)頭致謝，然后開始彈奏他的那首歌。我看著雷的手指在琴弦上跳躍，他仿佛已化成那靈動(dòng)的手指，重獲了自由。其實(shí)，在那個(gè)時(shí)候，他真的自由了。

【人生啟迪】

人無完人，犯錯(cuò)乃人之常情。我們絕不能就一個(gè)人過去的錯(cuò)誤，給他下一個(gè)永久的判決而歧視他。本文作者自愿在監(jiān)獄里開展教學(xué)，可見他一片公益熱心。最難得的是，他出于真誠(chéng)向犯人伸出援助之手，而不是為了個(gè)人利益或?yàn)橼A得世俗的稱贊。相信他的善舉將在孤單凄涼的雷心中回蕩一生。