A Stranger on a Plane, and His Simple Advice I’ll Never Forget飛機上的陌生人

by Hoda Kotb

烏蕪 譯

A Stranger on a Plane, and His Simple Advice I’ll Never Forget飛機上的陌生人

Track 6

by Hoda Kotb

烏蕪 譯

I n March 2007, I was recovering from major surgery for breast cancer and going through a divorce.It was a terrible time, and I was spending most of my days at home keeping everything to myself.Then myToday Showcolleague Matt Lauer threw me a lifeline by asking whether I felt well enough to tape a “Where in the World?” segment.

“Why don’t you pick a couple of days and go to Ireland and escape?” he suggested kindly.I thought it would be a great way to forget about it all, so I jumped at the chance.

The trip was fun because I was living in the moment, but by the time I got on the plane to go home, I wasn’t feeling well.My plan was to curl up in a ball and sleep for the entire fight.I had my earbuds in my hand; they were an inch away from going in when the guy next to me turned to me and said, “Hi.Howya doin’?”

2007年3月，我正處于乳癌手術的恢復期，同時在辦理離婚。那是段糟糕的日子，大多數時間我都呆在家里，一個人扛著所有事情。然后，我主持的《今日秀》節目的同事馬特·勞厄爾給我扔了一條救生索——他問我的狀態能否錄一檔名為《究竟在哪里？》的節目。

“你何不抽出幾天時間去愛爾蘭，逃離這一切？”他友善地建議道。我想這會是一個能讓我把這一切拋諸腦后的好方法，所以我抓住了這個機會。

那次旅程很有趣，因為我盡情享受了每一分每一秒，但是當我登上回程的飛機時，我有點兒不舒服。我打算蜷成一團，在睡夢中度過這次飛行。我雙手拿著耳塞，在它們距離我耳朵僅有一英寸時，坐在我旁邊的那個家伙轉向我，對我說：“嗨，你好嗎？”

I thought, Oh no.

Then he said, “I recognize you from somewhere.”

“I work on theTodayShow,” I told him, still holding my earbuds.

He smiled at me.“How’s Matt? Is Matt nice?”

“Yeah,” I said.“Matt’s nice.”

“How’s Al? Al seems funny.”

All I wanted to do was sleep, but he had kind eyes and looked like a good-hearted guy.So we continued making small talk.

Then he noticed I was wearing a compression sleeve on my arm and asked, “What is that?”

I told him I’d had a “procedure” and needed the sleeve to fy, hoping we could change the subject.

But he continued, “What procedure did you have?”

“I had an operation,” I said1)vaguely.He was still curious, so I fnally said, “I had breast cancer.But, boy, I hope that’s not the first thing you think of when you get off this fight, telling your kids, ‘Hey, I sat next to this girl with breast cancer.’?”

He paused for a moment and then said, “What’s wrong with that? Breast cancer is part of you, like going to college or getting married.”

I could feel my eyes flling up.

“Let me give you some advice: Don’t2)hogyour journey.It’s not just for you,” he said.“Think of how many people you could help.”

I had tears coming down my face, and I said to him, “I can’t believe I’m crying in front of you.I don’t even know you.”

“Look, you have a choice in life,” he said.“You can either put your stuff deep in your pockets and take it to your grave, or you can help someone.”

1 ) vaguely ['ve?gl?] adv.含糊地，曖昧地

2 ) hog [h??g] v.獨占，貪心占取

3 ) Ann Curry 安·科里，美國電視主持人、新聞記者、攝影記者

4 ) honoree [,?n?'ri?] n.領獎人，主賓

5 ) wind up 使結束

6 ) come full circle 繞圈子地

7 ) prostate ['pr?ste?t] n.前列腺

我想，天，不要。

然后他說：“我在哪里見過你。”

“我在《今日秀》節目組里工作，”我對他說，依然拿著我的耳塞。

他對我投以微笑。“馬特怎么樣？他人好嗎？”

“挺好的”我說。“馬特人挺好的。”

“那厄爾怎么樣？厄爾看起來很有趣。”

我只想睡覺，但是他眼里流露著善意，看著像個心地善良的人。所以我們繼續閑聊著。

然后他注意到我手臂上戴著壓縮護臂袖套，問道：“那是什么？”

我告訴他我做了一個“手術”，坐飛機時需要戴著這個，我希望我們能換個話題。

但他繼續問道：“什么手術？”

“我開了刀，”我模棱兩可地說道。……