盲人的我眼睛

張祖平

One afternoon I visited an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting. I was looking forward to a quiet view of the art works.

A young couple viewing the paintings ahead of me kept talking between themselves. I watched them a moment and noticed the wife was doing all the talk. I admired the husbands patience for putting up with her continuous1 talk. Distracted2 by their noise， I moved on.

I met with them several times as I moved through the different rooms of art. Each time I heard her continuous burst3 of words， I moved away quickly.

I was standing at the counter of the museum gift shop to buy something when the couple came near to the exit. Before they left， the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a white object. He extended4 it into a long stick and then tapped5 his way into the coatroom to get his jacket.

“Hes a brave man，” the clerk at the counter said， “Most of us would give up if we were blinded at such a young age. During his recovery6 he made a promise that his life wouldnt change. So as before， he and his wife come in whenever theres a new art show.”

“But what does he get out of the art？” I asked， “He cant see.”

“Cant see？ Youre wrong. He sees a lot， maybe a lot more than you or I do.” the clerk said， “His wife describes each painting so he can see it in his head.”

I learned something about patience， courage and love that day. I saw the patience of a young wife describing paintings to his husband without sight and the courage of a husband who would not allow blindness to change his life. And I saw the deep love shared by two people as I watched this couple walk away hand in hand.

一天下午，我去參觀一家美術博物館，順便等我的丈夫開完商務會議。我希望能安靜地欣賞這些藝術作品。

我前面一對年輕的夫妻看著油畫講個不停。我觀察他們一會兒，發覺是妻子在不停地講。我佩服這位丈夫的耐心，忍受他妻子的喋喋不休。被他們的說話聲擾亂后，我繼續向前走去。

在我參觀不同的展廳時又碰到了這對夫妻好幾次。每次我聽到她的“連珠炮”，我趕緊走開。

我站在博物館禮品柜那里買東西時，這對夫妻朝著出口走來。在他們離開之前，那個男人把手伸進口袋，掏出一個白色的物體，把它伸展開成一根長長的手杖，然后用手杖敲擊地面，走進衣帽間去取他的夾克衫。

“他真是一位勇敢的男人。”柜臺的職員說，“如果這么年輕就失明了，我們大多數人都會放棄的。在他的恢復過程中，他曾承諾，他的生活不會改變。因此，就像以前那樣，每次有新展覽的時候，他和妻子就會過來。”

“可是，他從這些藝術品中得到了什么呢？他又看不見。”我問。

“看不見？你錯了。他看到了很多，或許比你我看到的還多。他的妻子描述每一幅畫，這樣他就可以在腦海中看見那幅油畫。”那個職員說。

那一天，我學到了耐心、勇氣和愛。我看到了這位年輕妻子耐心地描述油畫給他失明的丈夫，也看到了這位失明的丈夫不讓失明改變生活的勇氣。我看著他們手挽著手走出去時，也看到了他們之間深深的愛。

Notes：

1. continuous [] adj. 連續的，持續的 2. distract [] v. 轉移；分心

3. burst [] n. 爆發，突發 4. extend [] v. 擴大；伸展

5. tap [] v. 輕敲；輕打 6. recovery [] n. 恢復，復原