盲人的我眼睛

张祖平

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，我去参观一家美术博物馆，顺便等我的丈夫开完商务会议。我希望能安静地欣赏这些艺术作品。

我前面一对年轻的夫妻看着油画讲个不停。我观察他们一会儿，发觉是妻子在不停地讲。我佩服这位丈夫的耐心，忍受他妻子的喋喋不休。被他们的说话声扰乱后，我继续向前走去。

在我参观不同的展厅时又碰到了这对夫妻好几次。每次我听到她的“连珠炮”，我赶紧走开。

我站在博物馆礼品柜那里买东西时，这对夫妻朝着出口走来。在他们离开之前，那个男人把手伸进口袋，掏出一个白色的物体，把它伸展开成一根长长的手杖，然后用手杖敲击地面，走进衣帽间去取他的夹克衫。

“他真是一位勇敢的男人。”柜台的职员说，“如果这么年轻就失明了，我们大多数人都会放弃的。在他的恢复过程中，他曾承诺，他的生活不会改变。因此，就像以前那样，每次有新展览的时候，他和妻子就会过来。”

“可是，他从这些艺术品中得到了什么呢？他又看不见。”我问。

“看不见？你错了。他看到了很多，或许比你我看到的还多。他的妻子描述每一幅画，这样他就可以在脑海中看见那幅油画。”那个职员说。

那一天，我学到了耐心、勇气和爱。我看到了这位年轻妻子耐心地描述油画给他失明的丈夫，也看到了这位失明的丈夫不让失明改变生活的勇气。我看着他们手挽着手走出去时，也看到了他们之间深深的爱。

Notes：

1. continuous [] adj. 连续的，持续的 2. distract [] v. 转移；分心

3. burst [] n. 爆发，突发 4. extend [] v. 扩大；伸展

5. tap [] v. 轻敲；轻打 6. recovery [] n. 恢复，复原