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（尤指醫院、監獄或其他機構中的）

◇scale n.音階

◇chapel n. 小教堂；小禮堂

◇decade n. 十年

◇rehearse v.排練，進行彩排

◇harmony n. 和諧，協調

【參考譯文】

一份音樂的禮物

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

教授交流技巧其實就是讓人們開口講述自己的經歷，但是雷不用開口，就能讓你知道他有多么想彈奏吉他。有時候他會在空中彈動手指，仿佛在彈奏自己最喜歡的藍調。每次看到我走進小禮堂去開展教學，他都會朝我微微頷首。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作它。他期盼著重拾吉他的機會，就像小孩算日子等著暑假的到來。

我們小組在甘德山監獄得到官方認可的那天，獄友被允許慶祝一晚，還可以邀請一兩位家人。歡慶的那晚對他們來說就像圣誕節一樣。他們與至少數月沒見過面沒有接觸過的摯愛緊緊相擁。因為雷的家人都住在德克薩斯州，所以聚會上沒有他的客人，但是他不急不躁地等著我。當他在腦里排練著自己的歌時，我提著一把吉他走進了監獄。

雷給吉他調弦的時候，仿佛把和諧重新調進了他的生活。我從來沒聽過那樣的旋律，從那以后也沒有。他轉頭看著我，點頭致謝，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的手指，重獲了自由。其實，在那個時候，他真的自由了。

【人生啟迪】

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