你是我的幸福之二

只看该作者 · 2012-9-10 14:42

She thought for a while and then continued. “We were talking about engagement when your grandfather had to go to war. It was the most horrible day of my life when he left. I was so afraid of losing him, the only way I could stay sane was to dance. I put all my energy and time into practicing—and I became very good. Critics praised me, the public loved me, but all I could feel was the ache in my heart, not knowing whether the love of my life would ever return. Then I went home and read and re-read his letters until I fell asleep. He always ended his letters with ‘You are my Joy. I love you with my life’ and after that he wrote his name. And then one day a letter came. There were only three sentences: ‘I have lost my leg. I am no longer a whole man and now give you back your freedom. It is best you forget about me.’”

“I made my decision there and then. I took my leave, and traveled away from the city. When I returned I had bought myself a cane and wrapped my leg tightly with bandages. I told everyone I had been in a car crash and that my leg would never completely heal again. My dancing days were over. No one suspected the story—I had learned to limp convincingly before I returned home. And I made sure the first person to hear of my accident was a reporter I knew well. Then I traveled to the hospital. They had pushed your grandfather outside in his wheelchair. There was a cane on the ground by his wheelchair. I took a deep breath, leaned on my cane and limped to him. ”

By now I had forgotten about the pie and listened to grandma, mesmerized. “What happened then?” I hurried her when she took her time eating some pie.

“I told him he was not the only one who had lost a leg, even if mine was still attached to me. I showed him newspaper clippings of my accident. ‘So if you think I’m going to let you feel sorry for yourself for the rest of your life, think again. There is a whole life waiting for us out there! I don’t intend to be sorry for myself. But I have enough on my plate as it is, so you’d better snap out of it too. And I am not going to carry you-you are going to walk yourself.’” Grandma giggled, a surprisingly girlish sound coming from an old lady with white hair.

“I limped a few steps toward him and showed him what I’d taken out of my pocket. ‘Now show me you are still a man,’ I said, ‘I won’t ask again.’ He bent to take his cane from the ground and struggled out of that wheelchair. I could see he had not done it before, because he almost fell on his face, having only one leg. But I was not going to help. And so he managed it on his own and walked to me and never sat in a wheelchair again in his life.”

“What did you show him?” I had to know. Grandma looked at me and grinned. “Two engagement rings, of course. I had bought them the day after he left for the war and I was not going to waste them on any other man.”

I looked at the drawing on the kitchen wall, sketched by my grandfather’s hand so many years before. The picture became distorted as tears filled my eyes. “You are my Joy. I love you with my life.” I murmured quietly. The young woman in the drawing sat on her park bench and with twinkling eyes smiled broadly at me, an engagement ring carefully drawn on her finger.

只看该作者 · 2012-9-10 14:43

她想了一下,然后接着说道:“当你祖父不得不去从军参战的时候,我们已经到了谈婚论嫁的阶段了。他离开的那段日子是我一生中度过的最可怕的时期。我很害怕会失去他,能让我不至于疯掉的唯一方法就是跳舞。我把我所有的精力和时间都投入到了练习之中,于是我成为了很棒的舞者。评论家对我好评连连,公众对我钟情有嘉,可我唯一能感觉到的却是我心中的痛,因为不知道我一生的挚爱是否能平安归来。然后我回到家里,一遍又一遍地读着他的来信,直到睡去。他总是在信的结尾写着:‘你才是我的幸福。爱你一生。’然后才是他的签名。但有一天我又收到了他的来信。信中只有三句话:‘我失去了一条腿。我不再是一个完整的人了,所以现在我将自由归还给你。你最好还是把我忘掉吧。’”

“于是我立刻做出了决定。我向众人告别,离开了这个城市。当我再度归来的时候,我为自己买了一副拐杖,并用绷带把我的腿包得紧紧的。我告诉每一个人,说我遭遇了一场车祸,我的腿再也不可能完全复原了。我的舞蹈生涯就此结束了。没有人怀疑这个故事——我在回家之前已经学会如何惟妙惟肖地跛行。我确保第一个听说我出车祸的是一位我熟知的记者。接着我来到了你祖父所在的医院。他们用轮椅把他推了出来。在他轮椅旁边的地上有一副拐杖。我深深吸了一口气,靠在我的拐杖上,一瘸一拐地向他走去。”此刻,我已经忘记了那块蜜桃派,入迷地听着祖母说话。“然后发生了什么事情呢?”当她停下来吃了几口派时,我追问道。“我告诉他,他并不是唯一失去了一条腿的人,尽管我的腿没给截掉。我给他看了关于我发生车祸的剪报。‘所以,如果你觉得我会让你在余生自怨自艾,想都别想。在外面还有全新的生活在等待着我们!我不打算为此而顾影自怜。而眼下我要做的事情已经够多的了,所以你最好也赶紧给我振作起来。而且你可别想我会背你——你要自己向前走。’”祖母咯咯地笑着,这位满头银发的老妇人令人吃惊地发出了少女般的笑声。

“我一瘸一拐地走开了几步,然后让他看我从口袋里掏出的一样东西。‘现在让我看看,你还是个男子汉。我可不会说第二次。’他弯下腰从地上拿起他的拐杖,挣扎着从那副轮椅中站出来。可以看得出他之前从未这样做过,现在只有一条腿的他差点扑倒在地。但我没打算帮他。接着他设法自己站稳了,向我走来,而且在他的后半生里再也没有坐回到轮椅上。”

“你给他看了什么东西呢?”我一定要知道。祖母看着我咧嘴而笑,说道:“当然是一对订婚戒指了。在他从军参战的第二天我就买了这对戒指,我可不想把戒指浪费在任何其他男人身上。”我看着厨房墙壁上的那幅画像,那是多年前我祖父亲手绘就的。我眼中满含泪水,眼前的画像变得模糊起来。“你才是我的幸福。爱你一生。”我轻声低语道。画像中的年轻女人坐在公园长椅上,眼神清亮,笑容可掬地看着我,她的手指上被精心地画有一枚订婚戒指。