赫爾曼與羅瑪·羅森布拉特/Herman and Roma Rosenblat
It is cold,so bitter cold on this dark winter day in 1942.But it is no different from any other day in this Nazi concentration camp.I am almost dead,surviving from day to day,from hour to hour,ever since I was taken from my home and brought here with tens of thousands of other Jews.Will I still be alive tomorrow?Will I be taken to the gas chamber tonight?
Back and forth next to the barbed wire fence trying to keep my emaciated body warm.I am hungry,I have been hungry for long.Each day,as more of us disappear,the happy past seems like a mere dream,and I sink deeper and deeper into despair.
Suddenly,I notice a young girl walking past on the other side of the barbed wire.She stops and looks at me with sad eyes that seem to say that she understands,that she too cannot fathoms why I am here.I want to look away,oddly ashamed for this stranger to see me like this,but I cannot tear my eyes from hers.Then she reaches into her pocket,and pulls out a red apple.Oh,how long has it been since I have seen one!She looks cautiously to the left and to the right and then with smile of triumph quickly throws the apple over the fence.I run to pick it up,holding it in my trembling frozen fingers.In my world of death this apple is an expression of life,of love.I glance up in time to see the girl disappearing into the distance.
The next day I cannot help myself-I am drawn at the same time to that spot near the fence.And again she comes.And again she brings me an apple flinging it over the fence with that same sweet smile.This time I catch it and hold it up for her to see.Her eyes twinkle.For seven months we meet like this.One day I hear frightening news:were being shipped to another camp.
The next day when I greet her my heart is breaking and I can barely speak as I say what must be said:“Dont bring me an apple tomorrow.”I tell her,“I am being sent to another camp.”Turning before I lose all my control I run away from the Fence.I cannot bear to look back.
Months pass and the nightmare continues.But the memory of this girl sustains me through the terror,the pain,the hopelessness.And then one day the nightmare is over.The war has ended.Those of us who are still alive are freed.I have lost everything that was precious to me including my family.But I still have the memory of this girl,a memory I carry in my heart and gives me the will to go on as I move to America to start a new life.
Years pass.It is1957.I am living in New York City.A friend convinces me to go on a blind date with a lady of his.Reluctantly,I agree.But she is nice,this woman named Roma,and like me she is an immigrant so we have at least that in common.
“Where were you during the war?”Roma asks me gently in that delicate way immigrants ask one another questions about those years.
“I was in a concentration camp in Germany,”I reply.
Roma gets a faraway look in her eyes,as if she is remembering something painful yet sweet.
“What is it?”I ask.“I am just thinking about something from my past,Herman,”Roma explains in a voice suddenly very soft,“You see,when I was a young girl I lived near a concentration camp.Where was a boy there,a prisoner and for a long while I used to visit him every day.I remember I used to bring him apples.I would throw the apple over the fence and he would be so happy.”
Roma sighs heavily and continues,“It is hard to describe how we felt about each other-after all we were young and we only exchanged a few words when we could-but I can tell you there was much love there.I assume he was killed like so many others.But I cannot bear to think that,and so I try to remember him as he was for those months we were given together.”
With my heart pounding so loudly,I look directly at Roma and ask,“And did that boy say to you one day‘Do not bring me an apple tomorrow.I am being sent to another camp’？”
“Why,yes.”Roma responds,her voice trembling.
“But Herman,how on earth could you possibly know that?”
I take her hands in mine and answer,“Because I was that young boy,Roma.”
For many moments,there is only silence.We cannot take our eyes from each other,and as the veils of time lift,we recognize the soul behind the eyes,the dear friend we once loved so much,whom we have never stopped loving,whom we have never stopped remembering.
Finally,I speak,“Look,Roma,I was separated from you once,and I dont ever want to be separated from you again.Now I am free,and I want to be together with you forever.Dear,will you marry me?”
I see the same twinkle in her eyes that I used to see as Roma says,“Yes,I will marry you.”
Almost forty years have passed since that day when I found Roma again.Destiny brought us together the first time during the war to show me a promise of hope,and now it had reunited us to fulfill that promise.Valentines Day,1996.I bring Roma to the Oprah Winfrey Show to honor her on national television.I want to tell her in front of the millions of the people what I feel in my heart every day:
“Darling,you fed me in the concentration camp when I was hungry.And I am still hungry,for something I will never get enough of:I am only hungry for your love.”
1942年冬季的一天，天空昏暗陰冷，寒風刺骨。在納粹集中營裏，天天都是這種日子。自從我和無數猶太人一起被迫離開家園，來到這裏以後，每天我就如同行屍走肉一般，活一天是一天，活一小時是一小時。明天，我還能活著嗎？今晚，我會不會被帶到毒氣室呢？
沿著鐵絲網，我來回地走著，想暖和一下我瘦弱的身體。我很餓，很久沒有吃東西了。每天都會有很多人從我們當中消失，幸福的往昔猶如南柯一夢，我也日漸陷入更深的絕望之中。
突然，一個小女孩從鐵絲網那邊走來。經過我麵前時，她停了下來，憂傷的眼睛注視著我，似乎是在說她理解我的感受，但不知道我為什麽會在這裏。被一個陌生人如此凝視，我感到非常不好意思，我想移開目光，但視線卻無法從她身上移走。這時，她把手伸進口袋，掏出一個紅蘋果。噢，我有多久沒見過這樣的蘋果了！她謹慎地左右看了看，然後麵帶著勝利的微笑，一下子把它拋過鐵柵欄。我跑過去將它撿起來，用凍得發抖的手捧著它。在這個充滿死亡的世界中，蘋果無疑是生命和關愛的表達。我抬起頭來，發現那女孩已經消失在遠處了。
第二天，我鬼使神差地在同一時間又來到靠近鐵絲網的同一地點。她真的又來了。她再次給我帶來了蘋果，並且帶著同樣甜蜜的笑容把它拋過鐵柵欄。這一次我接住了蘋果，捧著讓她看，她眼裏閃爍著光芒。接下來的七個月，我們每天都這樣相見。可是有一天，我聽到了一個駭人的消息：我們將被押往另一個集中營。
第二天，我見到她時，難過得說不出話來，但又不得不說：“明天，不要給我帶蘋果了！”我告訴她，“我將被押往另外一個集中營。”在我還能控製住自己的感情時，我轉身從鐵絲網旁跑開了。我實在不忍心回頭。
一晃數月過去了，噩夢依然。但對小姑娘的思念，一直支撐著我度過了那些恐怖、痛苦和無望的日子。噩夢終結，戰爭結束的這一天終於來臨。幸存下來的人獲得了自由。我失去了一切珍貴的東西，包括我的家庭。但我仍然惦記著那個小女孩，並把對她的記憶一直珍藏在心底。在我移居美國開始新的生活後，這段回憶始終激勵著我好好活下去。
歲月流逝，轉眼到了1957年。我定居美國後，一個朋友想撮合我和他認識的一位女士約會，我勉強答應下來了。她叫羅瑪，人很好，跟我一樣，也是移民，因此，至少在這一點上，我們有著共同之處。
“戰爭期間，你在哪兒？”羅瑪柔聲細語地問道，以移民之間相互問及那段歲月所特有的體貼的方式。
“我在德國的一個集中營。”我答道。
羅瑪陷入遐思，似乎想起了某些痛苦而又略帶甜蜜的事情。
“你怎麽了？”我問道。
“我隻是想起了過去的一些事，赫爾曼。”羅瑪解釋道，聲音突然變得無比溫柔，“你知道嗎？小時候我住在一個集中營附近。那兒有一個男孩，一個小囚犯，很長一段時間，我每天都去看他，我常常給他帶蘋果。我把蘋果拋過鐵柵欄丟給他，那時他是多麽的開心啊。”
羅瑪重重地歎了一口，又接著說：“很難描述當時我們對彼此的感覺——畢竟，那時的我們很小，情況允許時，我們也隻是相互談上幾句而已——但我可以告訴你，裏麵包含著很多愛。我猜測他可能被殺害了，跟其他無數人一樣。但我實在不願這麽想，所以老想起和他相處的那幾個月裏他的樣子。”
我的心猛烈地跳動起來，我直視著她問：“是不是有一天，那個男孩對你說‘明天不要給我帶蘋果了，我將被押往另外一個集中營’？”
“嗯，是啊。”羅瑪顫聲應道。
“但是赫爾曼，你怎麽會知道這件事呢？”
我握住她的手答道：“羅瑪，我正是那個小男孩。”
接下來便是長長的沉默。隨著時間麵紗的撩開，我們再也不能將眼睛從對方身上移開，我們認出了彼此隱藏於雙眼後麵的那顆心，我們曾是深深愛戀的朋友，而我們從未停止過對對方的愛戀、以及對彼此的思念。
最後，我說：“羅瑪，我已經與你分離過一次了，我再也不想與你分開。如今，我重獲自由，我希望永遠與你在一起。親愛的，嫁給我好嗎？”
羅瑪說話時，我再一次從她眼睛裏看到了當年的那種光芒，“好，我嫁給你。”
與羅瑪重逢至今將近40年了。戰爭年代，命運讓我們首次相聚，並向我作出了希望的承諾，如今，它讓我們再次團聚，踐行了這一諾言。
1996年的情人節。我帶羅瑪去參加奧普拉·溫弗裏的節目，在這個全國性電視節目中，在數百萬觀眾麵前，我要向她表示敬意，告訴她我心裏一直想說的話：
“親愛的，在集中營裏，當我饑餓難耐時，你給我送來了食物。如今，我仍然饑餓，是那種永遠得不到滿足的饑餓：我隻渴望得到你的愛。”
心靈小語
黑暗中的一點微光可以照亮整個人生。
詞匯筆記
emaciate[ime??i:,e?t]v.使消瘦；使衰弱
A long illness emaciated the invalid
久病使這人消瘦了。
fathoms[f?e?m]v.理解……的真意；搞懂；弄清楚
I cant fathom him.
我摸不透他的心思。
triumph[trai?mf]n.勝利；成功
The victorious army returned in triumph.
獲勝的部隊凱旋而歸。
veil[veil]n.麵紗，薄薄的遮蓋物
She dropped her veil.
她摘下麵紗。
小試身手
每天都會有很多人從我們當中消失，幸福的往昔猶如南柯一夢，我也日漸陷入更深的絕望之中。
如今，我仍然饑餓，是那種永遠得不到滿足的饑餓：我隻渴望得到你的愛。
短語家族
Back and forth next to the barbed wire fence trying to keep my emaciated body warm.
back and forth：來回地
turning before I lose all my control I run away from the Fence.
run away from：逃離