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中文翻譯:
窗
兩個病重的男人,
住在同一間醫院病房,
其中一個被允許每天下午坐在床上一個鐘頭,
以便清理肺里的液體.
他的床位於房中唯一的窗口旁邊.
另一位則需整天背躺在床上,
兩人時時交談數個小時.
他們談各自的妻子, 家庭,
工作,
從軍的往事,
渡假的地方........
每一天下午,
窗口旁的病人坐著時,
總描述窗外所看到的一切給角落的病人聽.
在一個又一個小時里,
角落床上病人的世界,
被述說的窗外活動及色彩,
變得更廣闊及有生氣.
........那窗面對著一個可愛的花園及湖,
鴨及鵝在湖上嬉戲 ，
孩子們在玩著小船 .
在彩虹般顏色的花叢中
，
年輕的戀人手握著手在散步，
巨大的老樹點托 著風景 ，
在遠處亦可看到美麗城市的一棟棟大廈 。
當窗口旁的病人描述著景物時，
躺在房角的病人，
便關起雙眼想像那優美的景色 。
在一個炎熱的下午 ，
窗邊的病人描述著一群游行隊的經過 。
雖然角落的病人聽不見游行隊的喧嘩 ，
他的腦海卻浮現著那熱鬧的情景
。
當那位窗旁的伸士以非常吸引人的字眼述說著時
，
一個非常自私的念頭突然擁進他的腦中:
"為什么只有他可獨自欣賞窗外的景色,
而我卻什么都看不見,
太不公平了!"
他起初為自己的想法感到羞恥,
然而一天又一天的過去,
失去欣賞越來越多的窗外的景色,
使他的妒忌變成了憤恨
，
很快的使他心中怒火燃燒.
他開始胡思亂想 , 無法入睡 , 他想：
"我應該睡在窗旁邊
!"
這思想不斷地控制著他.
一個深夜,
他躺著呆盯著天花板,
聽到窗口病人的咳嗽聲,
肺里的液體使窗口病人呼吸困難
在昏暗的房間里
，
他看著窗口病人掙扎 ，
摸索求救的按鈕.
他聽著, 動也不動地躺著
，
亦不按動床頭的按鈕,
以招喚護士的到來.
咳嗽聲五分鐘後停止 ，
呼吸聲亦停止.
接著是死般的沉靜.......
第二天早上,
護士提著洗澡水進房,
當她看到窗口旁已死的病人時,
她感到悲傷.
當她把屍體移悼時,
角落的病人馬上要求把他的床位移到窗旁.
護士離去後,
他慢慢地,痛苦地撐起上身,
想看看窗外的世界.
"多高興啊,終干可看到窗外的景物!"他想.
他慢慢地轉身,向窗外望出去,
他看到的只是一道高牆!!
他不禁責問護士,
為何死去的病人能看到那麼多美好的東西,
及說了那麼多給他聽.
護士說:
"他是盲的,他連牆也看不見!!
他也許只是想鼓勵你!!"
.....................................
Window
Two men, both seriously ill,
occupied the same hospital room.
One man
was allowed to sit up in his bed
for an hour each afternoon
to help
drain the fluid from his lungs.
His bed was next to the room's only window.
The other man had to spend all his time
flat on his back.
The men
talked for hours on end.
They spoke of their wives and families,
their
homes, their jobs,
their involvement in the military service,
where they
had been on vacation.
And every afternoon when the man in the bed
by the
window could sit up,
he would pass the time by describing to his
room-mate
all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed began to live
for those one-hour periods
where his world would be broadened and enlivened
by all the activity and
color of the world outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely
lake.
Ducks and swans played on the water
while children sailed their
model boats.
Young lovers walked arm in arm
amidst flowers of every
color of the rainbow.
Grand old trees graced the landscape,
and a fine
view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail,
the man
on the other side of the room
would close his eyes and imagine the
picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon
the man by the window
described a parade passing by.
Although the other man couldn't hear the band
he could see it in his mind's eye
as the gentleman by the window
portrayed it with descriptive words.
Then unexpectedly, a sinister thought
entered his mind.
Why should the other man alone experience all the
pleasures
of seeing everything while he himself never got to see anything?
It didn't seem fair.
At first thought the man felt ashamed.
But as the days passed and he
missed seeing more sights,
his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned
him sour.
He began to brood and he found himself unable to sleep.
He
should be by that window - that thought,
and only that thought now controlled
his life.
Late one night as he lay staring at the ceiling,
the man by the
window began to cough.
He was choking on the fluid in his lungs.
The
other man watched in the dimly lit room
as the struggling man by the window
groped for the button to call for help.
Listening from across the room
he never moved,
never pushed his own button
which would have brought the
nurse running in.
In less than five minutes the coughing and choking
stopped,
along with that the sound of breathing.
Now there was only
silence-deathly silence.
The following morning the day nurse arrived
to bring water for their
baths.
When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window,
she
was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take it away.
As soon as
it seemed appropriate,
the other man asked if he could be moved next to the
window.
The nurse was happy to make the switch,
and after making sure he
was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself
up on one elbow
to take his first look at the world outside.
Finally, he
would have the joy of seeing it all himself.
He strained to slowly turn to
look out the window beside the bed.
It faced a blank wall.
The man asked the nurse what could have compelled
his deceased roommate
who had described
such wonderful things outside this window.
The nurse
responded that the man was blind
and could not even see the wall.
She
said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."
Epilogue. . . .
You can interpret the story in any way you like.
But one moral
stands out:
There is tremendous happiness in making others happy,
despite
our own situations.
Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when
shared, is doubled.
If you want to feel rich,
just count all of the
things you have that money can't buy.