Where to Run? 逃往何處

 

I was trying to explain Have a Little Faith, written by Mitch Albom; I would like to record explanations of the words inside the book in Mandarin Chinese for my students. While encountering some technical problems resulting my unsuccessful attempt to post the discussion in its video form, I started to think deeper about the title "The Great Tradition of Running Away" made by the author inside the chapter Spring. 

在試圖詮釋作者Mitch Albom名為Have a Little Faith的書籍時，遇到技術上的問題使我無法將影音檔放在網路上，但是，這給了我一些消化其在Spring(春天)這個章節中所談及的 "The Great Tradition of Running Away"「逃離現場這個歷歷在目的傳統」。

In our lives, there are so many things we would like to run away from. As a person teaching people English as a foreign or second language, I see them run away from difficulties and hard work. Few would like to sweat to trade other qualities of life; consequently, they accept the fact of working on routine tasks day in, day out. When job descriptions become too challenging, people can run away. There are those who run away from human relations—intimate or not, tensions on certain equations are unbearable, resulting individuals’ decisions to cut off.

在我們的生活當中有太多太多我們想逃離的事物。

從一個教授語言者的角度來說，我眼睜睜看著學習者從困難度高的挑戰中逃開。

希望透過努力認真而交換或者更好生活品質的人們，由於還看不到那樣的夢幻之境，所以寧可不要作夢、不要實現理想、甚至不想執行太過繁複的工作職掌，因為他們並未發現努力的價值及目標感。

另外一些人則從種種或者親密、又或非親密的關係當中逃離現場，畢竟，人際關係總是可能衍生永無止境的衝突以及矛盾。

A foreign friend of mine who used to say “You are the kind of person who achieves anything you want in your life. You are fearless, and you think about everybody all the time” once told me a story. As a person working on good jobs which paid off for his daughters’ and wife’s affluent living standards, he also volunteers as an emergency rescue personnel. Well trained, he can be searching for survivors high in the mountains, on the deserts, or even in the oceans by bringing people on the brink of dying back to life.

一位將我描述成為「無所畏懼」的國際友人曾在提及我想照顧眾人福祉時，與我分享了下面的故事。由於他是一位事業有成、能夠供給自己的妻兒良好生活條件的人，他也同時以義務工作者的角度開始了他的及時救援工作，訓練有素的他能夠處理人們在遇到緊急危難時生死交迫的狀態，救人於一線生機之間。

“Hope, I have saved many lives on the brink of dying. I have never run away from these demanding cases, just like you. You want to get close to those who are suffering so you can do something for them. People like us do not run away from pains. We know that people grow from pains. Right?” He marked one day during our lengthy conversation. Autumn brought a lot of colors in the community where we jointly shared at the moment with many other residents who just moved into this newly constructed neighborhood. It would be the first time I put myself in a fancy, new apartment overseas where I experienced certain progresses of my life while serving the others from whatever means I could have gathered.

「我救過無數因遭逢意外而瀕死的人們，雖然這種義務工作難度極高，我卻從來沒有退縮的念頭，和妳一樣，我也想靠近那些極需他人伸出援手的人，協助他們脫離困境。我們這一類人會擁抱艱困，我們不會逃離痛苦，因為我們了解痛苦使人成長，對吧?!」

有一次，我們在一個冗長而深度的談話中，他這樣對我說。當時我們所處的四季分明的社區之中，秋天的腳步來到之後，將植物染上鮮明的色彩，而那也是我首度在一個極為先進的社區之中，體驗著我在助人的腳步之上的衝擊以及所可以達到的層次。

Continued, my friend gave me an account of an incident leaving such a vivid memory in my mind. “One evening, a phone call came. I was told a woman was stuck in her vehicle. I would be the only person available from our voluntary rescue team that evening due to reasons such as the vast territory covered by only a few well trained professionals in this field. Immediately I told my wife I needed to be there as soon as possible. By then, my daughters were already studying or working overseas.” I noticed the complexion of my friend, white, a bit wrinkled, and his dark hair was with a few white hair, too.

這位在義務服務世界中生存多年的前輩為我講述了一個令人難以忘懷的事件。我的白人朋友表情凝重，花白的頭髮在秋天染紅的楓葉中形成強烈的對比。

「一天晚上有個電話進來了，在被告知有位婦女被卡在她的車裡之後，我馬上出動，當時因為夜闌人靜且我們這裡幅原廣大，我是惟一一位能夠緊急趕到現場的義工，我跟妻子說明狀況之後立刻奪門而出，當時我的孩子們都已在國外發展。」

 

“I grabbed my gear, drove my car on the freeway which did not have speed limitations. When I saw the scene, I noticed the vehicle was cut into half, from the middle of the car, horizontally. The mother, from her breast upward, vanished with the lost part of vehicle. She was the person driving, and she was 8 to 9 months pregnant, as I judged from the situation. Immediately I began to check if the fetus showed any signs of being alive. Once I was certain that it was with biosignature, I started to get it out. When the ambulance arrived, the baby was there, alive, out of the body of the woman already passed away.” My friend stated.

「我們沒有所謂超速的問題，所以我在最快速的情況驅車前往現場，當時的狀況是她的車子已經被削成一半，從車體的水平角度看過去，車體上半部全部消失，這位婦女從胸部被腰斬，而她的肚子突起，我目測覺得她有至少八、九個月的身孕，我開始檢查是否仍有生命跡象，發現她腹中的胎兒尚有心跳，二話不說我拿出所需的種種工具緊急把胎兒從她腹中平安取出，救護車來的時候我把臍帶剪好、將嬰兒遞給醫護人員。」我的朋友這樣對我說。

I asked “Do you ever feel emotional or depressed during all these voluntary rescue works?”

我問他道：「在所有那些救人的分分秒秒之中，您可曾有過無力感、傷心與絕望呢?」

 

“Occasionally, maybe I feel something terrible. I find that vital signs are important. What is more important, however, is how strong the mind really is. When a person’s mind is strong, just like that of yours, this person knows how to handle situations without judging situations as if they were problems bringing them down, making them run away. People who share such personal traits do not linger on negative emotions. They eradicate those unnecessary negativities from their feelings and they move on. Meanwhile, they help many out there who suffer. They know most of the times, it is about life and death. At other times, they lead completely normal lives like you and I do. They blend in, mingling with the others, and they are sociable creatures. In times of crises, they do things effectively.” He replied.

「有時候也許我會感到自己的軟弱無力，就像我知道生命跡象非常重要，但是我認為更重要的是人的心志，如果一個人的信念強烈，就像妳這樣，那麼，這樣的人不會在遇到危急及緊急狀況時因為這些狀況的特殊或者棘手，而感到手足無措並且想要逃離現況、現場，或者認為他們會被當時的處境給拖垮。

這樣的人不會把焦點放在那些負面的情緒上面，他們會把那些負面情緒消除而繼續往前，在此同時，他們還是繼續協助著他人的增進，畢竟他們知曉許多情況是如何地生死交迫，或者如何地困窘。在那樣的景況之下，他們該作些什麼是他們一目瞭然的事，但即始如此，他們也仍然能夠像妳我這樣過著一般人所過的生活，與許多人結識，融入社會及團體，並不衝突。」

 

He carried on by saying that "I have found people like us have such self-esteem that we know we make a difference, so we do the things we do, without hesitation, not being bothered by others’ opinions. What the heck?! Why would anyone say anything about what the others are doing to help the others? Those who mock or make comments on such things are the ones who are inactive in their lives. They are selfish, minding their own businesses only. They act like ostrich which you often find them to be the elephants of the room."

他繼續說道：「我發現我們這一類的人因為深深知曉我們所作的一切，都會使整體環境、人心等等，變得更加美好，所以對於那些我們所該行之路，我們充滿自信同時毫不遲疑，也不會因為別人的意見而左右我們的想法或者意見。有什麼特別的關係嗎? 為什麼人們會講一些關於其他人到底在作些什麼的五四三呢? 那些說東道西的人往往不會採取任行動，他們甚至只有「自私」二字可以形容，因為說穿了，他們只不過是過度關心自己的福祉、拿著披著糖衣的毒藥去見人罷了。因為他們是這樣的行為舉止，說他們礙眼一點也不為過，而發生事情的時候他們則像駝鳥一樣希望逃離現場!」

「為什麼您有點忿忿不平呢?」我問。

I was curious. "Why do you sound angry?"

他說：「我對於默視、視而不見這樣的事情確實感到忿忿不平。可是仔細想想，妳知誰是受害者嗎?」

"I am agitated by those who pretend nothing has happened. In the end, however, do you know who suffers the most?" He remarked. 

「那些活在自己的世界裡面的人?」我說。

My reply was "Those who live in their own world?"

「我就知道妳太聰明了! 確然如此。所以很多事情真的需要的不是生命跡象而已，而是一個人的心志啊。 」

"Smart cookie! Indeed! That's why I stated many things are not about vital signs only. It is about a person's determination, his or her mindset!"

看著落下的楓葉，咀嚼這位在不同領域「戰友」的話，我感到心有戚戚。

Watching those falling leaves and chewing this friend's words, I found I could completely and easily relate to his words and his stories.