1.A Day’s Wait.doc

12 A Day’s Wait 一天的等待 He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move. “What’s the matter, Schatz?” “I’ve got a headache.” “No. I’m all right.” “You go to bed. I’ll see you when I’m dressed.” But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew had a fever. 他走进我们房间关窗户的时候，我们还未起床。我见他一副病容，全身哆嗦，脸色苍白，步履缓慢，好象一动就会引起疼痛。 “你怎么啦，宝贝？” “我头痛。” “你最好上床去睡。” “不。 我没啥病。” “你先去睡。 我穿好衣服来看你。” 可是当我来到楼下时，他已穿好衣服，坐在火炉旁。这个九岁的男孩，看上去病得厉害，一副可怜的模样。我用手摸了摸他的额头，知道他发烧了。 “You go up to bed.” I said, “you’re sick.” “I’m all right,” he said. When the doctor came he took the boy’s temperature. “What is it?” I asked him. “One hundred and two.” “你到楼上去睡，”我说， “你病了。” “我没有病，” 他说。 医生来后，量了孩子的体温。 “多少度？” 我问医生。 “一百零二度。” Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different coloured capsules with instructions for giving them. One was to bring down the fever, another a purgative, the third to overcome an acid condition. The germs of influenza can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was a light epidemic offlu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia. Back in the room I wrote the boy’s temperature down and made a note of the time to give the various capsules. “Do you want me to read to you?” “All right. If you want to,” said the boy. His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed and seemed very detached from what was going on. I read aloud from Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates; but I could see he was not following what I was reading. 下楼后，医生留下用不同颜色胶囊包装的三种药丸，并嘱咐如何服用。一种药退烧，另一种润肠，通便，还有一种是去酸。他解释说，流感细菌只能在酸性环境中生存。 他似乎对流感很内行，并说，如果发烧不超过一百零四度，就用不着担心。这是轻度流感，只要当心不引起肺炎，就无危险。 我回到房里，记下孩