英语故事:a pale wall 一堵空白的墙

 Never ever had he been so thirsty for a look at the world outside the window like now.

The disease befell so furiously that he could not be spared and was arranged in a small ward¹ with another patient in the segregation² area in a hospital. The ward had nothing other than a small window that connected to the outside world.

His roommate was allowed to sit up in bed because some medical instruments would take some liquid out of his lung every afternoon. His roommate’s bed was tightly close to the window, while he could only lie in bed all day long. 

Every afternoon, when sitting up by the window, his roommate would gleefully tell him the ongoing³ scenes outside the window: Seen through the window, a lake was lying placidly⁴ in the park, on which there were ducks and swans. Children were happily casting pieces of bread to the fish or playing with their model ships. Young lovers were leisurely⁵ walking strolling hand in hand under the trees. Some people were playing balls in the grass with plenty of flowers blooming. Above the farthest row of trees was the beautiful sky. 

He was listening attentively⁶ and enjoying every precious minute of life. He was told that a child almost fell into the lake and that an attractive girl was dressed in a delicate skirt. His roommate’s vivid depiction⁷ made him feel like seeing the real scene with his own eyes. The picture of life was so harmonious⁸ and loving!

In a slightly rainy dusk, he felt not reconciled to his situation suddenly: Why could his roommate enjoy the beautiful landscapes outside the window while he couldn’t? He felt deeply upset as if a bug⁹ was eating through his heart. The more he thought, the more eagerly he would like to exchange his position with his roommate’s. 

In the midnight, he stared at the ceiling and sank into thought. All of a sudden, his roommate was coughing heavily and wanted to call the nurse, but failed to reach the button of the bell. He pretended to be sound asleep, but after second thought he wanted to press the bell button….. In his hesitation¹⁰ of seconds, he stunningly¹¹ found that his mate had stopped breathing.

On his roommate’s death, he felt lonely, greatly miserable¹² and guilty for not saving him. The doctor thought that he did not want to face an empty bed every day, so he promised to change another ward for him. Just the moment he was lifted on the stretcher, he spotted¹³ the scene outside the window—a pale wall.

他从来没有像现在这样，如此强烈地渴望窗外的世界。

疫疾来得凶猛，他不能幸免。他和另外一个患者被安排在一家人民医院隔离区的小病房里。房间空空落落，只有一扇小窗连接外面的世界。

同室病友在治疗中，每天下午，将有仪器从他肺中抽取液体，因此，他被允许坐在床上。病友的床紧靠着窗，而他只能终日平躺在床上。

每天下午，睡在窗旁的那个人坐起来，都会饶有兴致地给他讲一些窗外的情景:从窗口向外看可以看到公园里的湖；湖内有鸭子和天鹅，孩子们在那儿撒面包片，放模型船: 年轻的恋人在树下携手散步，在鲜花盛开、绿草如茵的地方有人玩球嬉戏，后头一排树顶上则美丽的天空。

他静静地倾听着，享受生命里每一分钟。他听见一个孩子差点跌到湖里， 一个美丽的女孩穿着漂亮的裙子 。同伴的描述使他如同亲历外面的美景。生命的图画如此和谐，让他眷恋。

一个小雨的黄昏，他突然心有不甘：为什么睡在床边的人可以独享窗外的世界，他觉得不是滋味，心里似有小虫在啃噬，搅得难受。他越这么想，就越想与那人调换一下位子。

夜里，他盯着天花板发呆。病友忽然拼命地咳嗽，想叫护士，却没有摸着紧靠床边的按铃。他先是假装睡熟，后来稍一转念想按床铃……就在这几秒钟的犹豫之中，他吃惊地发现，同伴停止了呼吸…

病友离去，寂寞的他陷入自责中而悲痛万分。医生以为他不想面对那一张空床，答应给他调换一个房间。当他被护士抬起时，蓦地，他看到了窗外的景致——一堵空白的墙。

1 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

2 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 placidly   

adv.平稳地，平静地

参考例句：

• Hurstwood stood placidly by, while the car rolled back into the yard. 当车子开回场地时，赫斯渥沉着地站在一边。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• The water chestnut floated placidly there, where it would grow. 那棵菱角就又安安稳稳浮在水面上生长去了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

5 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。

6 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 depiction   

n.描述

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• A realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. 日常家居生活的写实画。

8 harmonious   

adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的

参考例句：

• Their harmonious relationship resulted in part from their similar goals.他们关系融洽的部分原因是他们有着相似的目标。
• The room was painted in harmonious colors.房间油漆得色彩调和。

9 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

10 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

11 stunningly   

ad.令人目瞪口呆地；惊人地

参考例句：

• The cooks, seamstresses and other small investors are stunningly vulnerable to reversals. 那些厨师、裁缝及其他的小投资者非常容易受到股市逆转的影响。
• The production cost of this huge passenger liner is stunningly high. 这艘船城造价之高令人惊叹。

12 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

13 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。