It was 1974 and I was studying Russian at PSU.
1974年的时候,我在波特兰州立大学学习俄语。
I figured I needed some Russians to talk to, so I introduced myself to the Jewish Community Center and told them I wanted to help out with the Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union.
我想我需要有真正的俄国朋友交流才行,于是我找到了犹太社区的负责人并且告诉他们我希望能够帮助到前苏联来的犹太难民。
That is how I met Leonid and Biba.
这就是我如何遇到Leonid 和Biba的。
They took a liking to me and Polya right away. Polya was my wife at the time. Her name was Minying, but Leonid and Biba decided that we were good enough to be Russians, so we became Vasya and Polya. Vasya, is my Russian name.
他们很快就喜欢上了我和Polya。Polya是我当时的太太,她的名字叫做明英。但是Leonid和Biba 决定把我们当做真正的俄国朋友,所以我们成了Vasya和Polya,Vasya是我的俄国名字。
They were almost old enough to be my grandparents. Leonid was a lawyer and Biba was a doctor. They lived with their daughter Alexandra a physicist and granddaughter Angelica.
按照年龄,他们几乎可以做我的祖父母了。Leonid 是一个律师,Biba是一个医生。他们和他们女儿Alexandra以及他们的小孙女Angelica 住在一起,Alexandra是一个物理学家。
Biba always called me Vasyanka, which means little Vasya.
Biba 总是叫我Vasyanka,意思是小 Vasya。
One day I decided to go down to California and try to live off the land in the Trinity Alps for a week.
有一次我决定向着加利福尼亚州出发并且试着在特里尼迪---阿尔卑斯山的荒野自给自足生存一周的时间。
It was very difficult, but I did not starve or freeze to death, so I guess it was a success.
那是一件相当具有挑战性的事情,但是我并没有在这过程中饿死或冻死掉,所以我想那是一次成功的体验。
Anyway, after not showing up for several days, Leonid was worried about me and tracked me down through my Russian professor. My Russian professor, Mr. Holling, gave him my mothers’ telephone number.
总之,在我消失了几天后,Leonid那时非常担心我并且通过我的俄语教授找到我的联系方式。我的俄语老师,Holling先生,给了他我母亲的电话。
He called up my mother to see if I was still alive. My mother told him. Yes, I was still alive.
于是他向我的妈妈打电话担心我是否还活着,我母亲告诉他,是的,我还活着。
That is how I came to know Leonid and Biba.
这就是我怎样渐渐地和Leonid 和 Biba熟悉起来的。
They become good friends, kind of like surrogate grandparents. We did a lot of things together, but time goes on and several years later I decided I had to go to Africa, to see what was there.
他们变成我很好的朋友,有点儿像是我的没有血缘关系的祖父母。我们一起做了很多事,但是时间就是这样流走了。几年之后,我决定离开美国去往非洲,去看看那边的世界。
I last saw Leonid in about 1983. I walked in after getting back from Africa. Beba was gone. Alexandra was married, and Anjelika was off to school .
我最后一次看到Leonid,大概是在1983年的时候。我从非洲回来后就去看他了。Beba 已经不在了。Alexandra结婚了,Anjelika 也已经上学了。物是人非。
As I walked in, the room was dark. Leonid was sitting on the couch in the corner. He had lost about 40 pounds. He had cancer. I knew he would die soon, But we began to talk.
再次迈入屋子的那一刻,里面一片黑暗。Leonid正坐在角落里的沙发上。他看上去至少轻了40磅。那时他也已经患了癌症,我知道他不久就要离开人世。但是他还是和我聊了很久很久。
The Trans Lingual Connection
那是一次心有灵犀的交流。
Ordinarily I could barely function in Russian. Usually I would only understand about half of what was being said, but several times in my life I have experienced what is something like a telepathic connection.
通常来说,我几乎不能自如地使用俄语。一般在俄语对话中,我也只能听懂对方说的一半内容。但是在生命中的,有那么几次,我有过类似心灵沟通的体验。
This was one of those times. I understood everything he was saying. It was quite extraordinary. It was like we were speaking English.
那一次就是其中之一。我完全理解他所说的一切。那种感觉很非同寻常。就像我们彼此都在用母语交流那样。
He told me about how it was in Czarist times before the revolution in 1917. About how it was before Stalin and how it was during the years of starvation and the Stalinist purges.
他告诉我在1917年解放前的沙俄统治时期的日子是如何的。关于在斯大林执政之前的日子,以及在大饥荒以及斯大林清除政策时期的生活。
He told me about how the Nazis had murdered his parents. And how he had met Beba and when Alexandra was born and later about when Angelica was born.
他告诉我纳粹是如何谋杀了他的父母。他告诉我他是如何认识他的太太Beba的,以及Alexandra 出生的那一天的情形,一直到Angelica 来到这个世界上的日子。
He told me how it was when they decided to move to America. He said he knew when he left they would never see Mother Russia again.
他告诉我当他们决定搬到美国时的情形。他说他知道当他们决定离开的那一刻,他们就再也回不到俄国母亲那里去了。
He said he was glad for the new friends he made in America and that he was glad to know me and Polya。
他说他很高兴他在美国认识了许多许多的新朋友并且,他很高兴认识了我和Polya。
That was the last time I saw Leonid.
那是我最后一次见到Leonid。
Richard in Portland 1984
听他说
汉字|故事|人生|对话