From a shattered1 city in a divided land comes a stirring2 tale of tragedy and triumph．
从一片破碎的国土一座满是断井颓垣的城市里，传来一个揉和着悲剧与喜剧的催人泪下的爱情故事……
Let's call him IAN. That's not his real name—but in Northern Ireland these days you have to be careful about giving your names. There have been more than 2400 sectarian3 murders since the recent outbreak of ancient troubles between Catholics4 and Protestants5. So there's no sense taking risks.
And Ian has had misery6 enough for his 24 years of life. He came from good Protestant stock7, the sort that goes to church twice every Sunday as regular as clock work. His father was a welder8 in the Belfast shipyards. Mother kept a clean and tidy house, baked the best bread in the neighborhood and ruled the family with the sharp edge of her tongue. Two elder brothers, both out of work.
Ian did well at school and was now earning good money as a craftsman9 in a production plant. Quiet, serious, fond of walking through the countryside during the green evenings and golden weekends of summer, he liked few things better than a book by the warm fire during the long loneliness of winter. Never had much to do with girlfriends—though men tend to marry late in Ireland
Two years ago, on his 22nd birthday, he was walking home from work when a terrorist threw a bomb from a speeding car ... and left Ian lying in the nightmare10 of sudden blindness.
He was rushed to a hospital, operated on immediately for his injuries and broken bones. But both eyes were destroyed.
The other wounds got better in their own time, though their scars11 would remain the rest of his days. But the scars on his mind, though invisible, were even more obvious.
He hardly spoke a word, hardly ate or drank, hardly slept. He simply lay in bed, worried and sightless. Nearly four months.
There was one NURSE who seemed to be able to draw some small spark12 of human response from him.
Let's call her Bridget —a fine Irish name. Good Catholic stock, the sort that goes to Mass13 first thing every Sunday morning.
Her father, a carpenter14, mostly worked away from home over in England. A decent15 man—loved his family, spent weekends with them whenever he could afford the fare16.
Mother kept a clean but untidy house, cooked the best stew17 in the neighborhood and ruled the family with a quick hand and a soft heart.
Six brothers, four sisters—with the youngest of them all, Mary, 11, her father's darling.
Bridget did well at school, had trained as a nurse at a famous London hospital, and now, at the age of 21, was a staff nurse18 in Belfast's biggest hospital.
Lively, though usually serious, a singer with a sweet and gentle voice and a way of her own with folk songs. Never had much to do with boyfriends—though it wasn't from any lack of young men who'd set their caps at her19.
But now her heart was moved by Ian, for there was something of the little-boy-lost20 about him that brought tears to her eyes. True, he couldn't see the tears, yet she was afraid that her voice would give away her feelings.
In a way she was right about her voice, because it was the sweet sound and the laughter of it that dragged him back from the depths of depression21 and self-pity, the warmth and gentleness and strength of her words, the blessed assurance22 with which she spoke to him of the love of Jesus Christ23.
And so, as the long dark of his days turned to weeks and months, he would listen for her footsteps and turn his sightless face toward her coming like a flower bending for the sun.
At the end of his four months in the hospital he was pronounced incurably blind but what he now knew as their love gave him the courage to accept his affliction. Because, despite everything against them—religion, politics, the opposition of their families—they were in love.
Their families were shocked. Thinking of getting married? The very law of God forbade it, surely.
“What fellowship hath24 the children of light with the children of darkness?”thundered25 his father. “You'll not be marrying her while I'm drawing breath!”
“The Roman Catholic Church,”stated her priest, “discourages mixed marriages, so you can be putting the idea from you !
So, by all manner of pressures—constant arguments, threats, promises, and even lies—they were driven apart. And, in the end, they quarreled, said hurtful things in their black misery, and one evening, with the rain drizzling26 and their hearts cold, she walked away from him on the weeping street.
He got back into his endless night. Days and weeks of bitterness. “You'll not be regretting it in the long run27”, he was told. “You'd have been inviting trouble by marrying an unbeliever28!”
She got back into her work, too sick at heart to remember. Weeks and months of numbed29 pains. “You'll live to praise the Almighty30,” she was told. “You'd have been asking for hell on earth marrying a Protestant!”
The months drained31 into a year. And the bombings continued, to the grief of Ireland. Then one evening, as Ian sat alone in the house, there came a sudden knock at the door, “Ian! Come you quick!”
By the voice choked32 with tears, he recognized young Mary, Bridget's sister. “A bombing! She's trapped and half-dead, so she is! Screaming after you33. Come you, Ian! In the name of God, please come!”
Without even shutting the door behind him, he took her hand. And she led and stumbled34 and cried with him through the streets. The bomb had destroyed a little restaurant where Bridget had been eating supper with three other nurses. The others had managed to scramble35 out from under the ruin. But she was trapped by the legs. And the fire was spreading, coming toward her.
They could hear her screaming, but couldn't yet reach the pit where she lay. Firemen, soldiers, lights and special equipment were on their way
Ian moved into the dangerous place. “You can't go in there!” shouted the officer in charge.
“She's my girl”, said Ian.
“Don't be crazy!”shouted the officer.“You'll not be seeing your hand in front of your face in the darkness!
“What difference does darkness make to a blind man?”said Ian.
And he turned toward the sound of her voice, and moved through that black hell with all the skills and instincts36 of the blind, all the urgency37 of love. “I'm coming, Bridget! I'm coming!”
And he found her and put her head in his arms, and kissed her.
“Ian”,she whispered, “Ian...” and fell into unconsciousness like a tired child.
And with her blood soaking into his clothes, the fire reaching them, he held her until their rescuers forced a way through. What he didn't see, being blind, was that the side of her lovely face had been scarred by fire.
In time, a long time, she recovered. Despite cosmetic surgery38, though, her face would always be scarred. “But,” she said, “the only man I love will never have the seeing of it, so what difference does it make to me?” And they took up their love from where they had never really left it.
True, both families resisted every step of the way. One dramatic confrontation39 almost led to a fist fight: shouted abuse40, insults41, desperate threats42. But, in the middle of it, Bridget took Ian's hand. And together they walked out of that place of hatred.
Yes, they would marry. All the conventional wisdom43 warns of failure. But do you know a more excellent way than love? And what other healing44 is there?
我们姑且称他为“艾恩”吧。这不是他的真名，可是在北爱尔兰那段日子里，讲真名实姓是要冒风险的。天主教与新教之间的不和由来已久。最近的冲突刚爆发，就发生了2400多起宗教谋杀案。无谓的冒险毫无意义。
来到这个世上24年，艾恩尝尽了人间的苦难。他出生于新教世家，每到星期天都要两度光顾教堂，准点如钟。他父亲是贝尔法斯特一家造船厂的焊接工。母亲把家里操持得干干净净，烤的面包成了当地一绝。她言语泼辣，把家里管得服服贴贴。艾恩上有俩哥哥，都没工作。
艾恩在学校的成绩不错。这会儿他在一家制造厂上班，凭着精巧的手艺挣的工资真不少呢。他不爱说话，一脸严肃样。绿色的夏夜、金灿灿的周末，他喜欢在田间漫步。到了寂静的漫漫长冬，他的至爱便是坐在温暖的火炉边读书。他不大跟女孩子打交道，虽然爱尔兰的男子倾向于晚婚。
两年前，在他22岁生日的那天，下班回家的路上，恐怖分子从一辆飞速行驶的轿车里朝他扔了一颗炸弹……他顿时双目失明，躺在恶梦之中。
人们迅速将他送往医院。他浑身是伤，骨头多处被炸断。医生马上给他做了手术，可是他的两只眼睛给炸坏了。
大大小小的伤慢慢治好了，尽管会留下明显的伤疤。而心灵的创伤虽然无形，却越发明显。
他几乎一言不发，几乎滴水不沾，粒米不进，似乎总无睡意。他只是直挺挺地躺在床上，两眼无光，一脸愁容。就这样快过了四个月。
这时出现了一位护士，她似乎能唤起他生命的火花。
我们姑且称她为“布莉琦”吧，这是个很可爱的爱尔兰名字。她祖祖辈辈信奉天主教，是那种每个礼拜日早上头一件事就是去做弥撒的虔诚信徒。
她的父亲是木匠，大多数时候都背井离乡到英格兰去打工。人很正派，也爱家人，只要弄到路费就会回家与家人共度周末。
母亲把屋子打扫得很干净，却不大爱收拾。她做的牛排当地数一。她手脚麻利，心地善良，把家里管得服服贴贴。
布莉琦有兄弟六个，姊妹四个。最小的妹妹11岁，叫“玛丽”，是父亲的心肝宝贝。
布莉琦学业突出，在伦敦一所著名的医院接受过护士培训。21岁的她，这会儿在贝尔法斯特最大的一家医院做护士。
她看上去很严肃，但实际上活跃得很。她爱唱歌，嗓音甜美而温柔，民歌经她之口而出别有风味。她不大跟男孩子打交道，虽然向她抛媚眼的小伙多的是。
而眼下，她的心被艾恩打动了，这个男孩身上所表现出来的落寞与迷茫常常使她热泪潸潸。是的，他看不见她落泪，可是她还是担心，担心自己的声音吐露内心的情感。
她对自己声音的担心不是多余的。正是她甜美如蜜的娇音和笑容传出的热情、柔意与坚强，正是她传递基督之爱时鼓励他，让他宽心，才把他从消沉的深渊、从顾影自怜的泥坑中拽回。
他黑暗的日子一天天在拉长、一月月在延伸，他开始聆听她的脚步，双目失明的脸盼着她的到来，好似向日葵向往太阳一般。
在医院住了四个月之后，医生宣布他永远失明了。但这会儿，爱，给了他勇气，他平静地接受了这一切的苦难。虽然有宗教、政治等重重险阻与他们作对，虽然双方家长反对，他们还是相爱了。
两家人都给惊动了。想结婚？门都没有。连上帝也要立法禁止呢！
“她能看见阳光，你却整日处在黑暗中，你俩怎么结合呢？”他的父亲咆哮如雷。“只要俺还有一口气，绝不准你娶她！”
她的牧师劝道：“罗马天主教不鼓励异教徒之间的结合。你最好打消这个念头。”
就这样，外来的争论、恫吓、许诺甚至还有流言一波接一波，来自方方面面的压力终于把他们拆散了。最后他们吵了起来，拣扎心的话刺痛对方，他们陷入了痛苦的沼泽中。在一个细雨朦胧、心灰意冷的夜晚，她踩着哭泣的街道离开了他。
他重新落入了无尽的黑暗的深渊。白天品尝苦涩与痛心，夜晚又要咀嚼辛酸与悲伤。人们却对他说：“过一段日子，你就不会后悔了。如果娶一个异教徒，那才叫自讨苦吃呢！”
她重新投入了工作，可是心已碎，往事难追。一周周她心如刀割；一月月她心如死水。可是别人却对她说道：“这么做你会感谢全能的上帝的。要是真嫁给一个新教徒，那才叫‘地狱无门你自找’呢！”
一年就这样熬过去了。爆炸声还在此起彼伏，令爱尔兰痛心疾首。有天晚上，当艾恩孤零零地坐在屋子里时，突然传来一阵敲门声。“艾恩，你快来！”
泪水噎得她泣不成声，但他还是听出来了，这是玛丽，是布莉琦的妹妹！“炸弹！她困在里面，快要死了，快死了！喊着你的名字！快点，艾恩！上帝啊，快点！”
他一把抓着她的手，门都来不及关。她拉着他，一路跌跌撞撞、哭哭啼啼地穿过大街小巷。原来，当布莉琦正和另外三个护士在一家小餐馆用餐时，炸弹爆炸了。其他人挣扎着从废墟中爬了出来，可是布莉琦的腿却给卡住了！无情的大火在蔓延，正向她吞噬过来！
他们听见了她尖厉的喊叫声，但她困在深坑中，无法接近。消防队员、军人、聚光灯以及其他特殊消防设备还在半路上。
艾恩向着这危险的深坑摸索过去。“你不能去！”负责指挥的军官大声吼道。
“她是我女友，”艾恩回了一句。
“你神经病！”那军官又喊道。“那里黑乎乎的，就是把手放在眼睛前，一个手指也看不见！”
艾恩说道：“对我这个瞎子来说，白天和黑夜没什么两样！”
于是他循着她的声音，凭着盲人全部的智慧和本能，听从爱的迫切的召唤，穿过地狱般的黑暗，向着她的方向摸去。“我来了，布莉琦，我来了！”
他找到了她，用胳膊挽起她的头，深情地吻了吻她。
“艾恩”，她低声说道，“艾恩……”还未说完，她就昏了过去，像一个累得筋疲力尽的孩子。
她的鲜血浸湿了他的衣服，无情的火苗肆虐着扑向他们。他一动不动地抱着她，直到救援人员杀开一条血路。他双目失明，没有看到的是：无情的大火已经烧毁了她那娇美的面容。
过了好久好久，她终于醒了。虽然做了整容手术，但原先她那甜美的笑脸却要终生留下伤痕。可她说：“我惟一爱的男人永远看不见，所以有什么关系呢？”他们的爱又延续开来。其实，他们的爱何常中断过呢？
确确实实，在他们相爱的路上，每一步都有两家设置的障碍。扯破嗓门的辱骂、肆意的侮辱、歇斯底里的威胁，几乎使两家大打出手。但是，面对这一切，布莉琦却握着艾恩的手，共同走出了这块充满仇恨的沼泽。
是的， 他们一定会成为眷属的。一切传统都在警示，说他们必将失败。但除了爱情，还有什么更美妙的方法吗？还有什么别的灵丹妙药吗？
1． shattered adj． 被破坏的，被损害的
2． stirring adj． 激动人心的
3． sectarian adj． 教派的，宗派的
4． Catholic n． 天主教徒
5． Protestant n． 新教徒 （指不受天主教或东正教控制的基督教徒）
6． misery n． 悲惨， 不幸
7． stock n． 血统
8． welder n． 电焊工
9． craftsman n． 手艺精巧的人
10．nightmare n． 噩梦，梦魇
11．scar n． 伤疤，伤痕
12．spark n． 火花
13．Mass n． 弥撒（天主教的礼仪）
14．carpenter n． 木匠
15．decent adj． 正派的
16．fare n． 车费，费用
17．stew n． 焖肉或其它炖菜
18．staff nurse （比护士长低一级的）医院护士
19．set one＇s cap at 追求，挑逗
20．little－boy－lost 遭难的孩子
21．depression n． 消沉，沮丧
22．blessed assurance 使人宽心鼓励的话
23．the warmth and gentleness and strength of her words, the blessed assurance with which she spoke to him of the love of Jesus Christ 这里可以看成是…it was the warmth and gentleness and strength of her words, the blessed assurance with which she spoke to him of the love of Jesus Christ that dragged him back from the depths of depression and self－pity的省略形式，意思是“是她热情温柔而又有力量的话语，她对他讲到的有关耶稣基督的宽慰鼓励的话语，把他从极度的消沉和自怜中解脱。”
24．hath 为have的古英语形式，有些爱尔兰人爱用这种形式
25．thunder v． 雷鸣，厉声大吼
26．drizzle v． 下毛毛雨
27．in the long run 终究，从长远的观点看
28．unbeliever n． 不信基督教者，异教徒
29．numb v． 失去知觉，麻木
30．Almighty n． （基督教的）上帝
31．drain [drein] v． 慢慢过去
32．choke v． 哽住，哽咽
33．Screaming after you 是She was screaming after your name的省略形式，意思是“她尖声呼唤着你的名字”
34．stumble v． 跌跌撞撞
35．scramble v． 爬行
36．instinct n． 本能
37．urgency n． 催促
38．despite cosmetic surgery 虽然做过整容手术
39．dramatic confrontation 戏剧性的冲突
40．abuse n． 辱骂
41．insult n． 侮辱
42．desperate threat 绝望的威胁
43．conventional wisdom 传统的至理名言
44．healing n． 治愈，愈合