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躺在床上的人听着同伴的描述，享受着这一分一秒带来的快乐。他知道了一个孩子如何差一点掉进湖里，身着夏日衣裙的女孩又是多么美丽。同伴的描绘让他觉得自己几乎是亲眼看到了外面发生的一切。

The Window

There were once two men, both seriously ill, in the same small room of a great hospital. Quite a small room, it had one window looking out on the world. One of the men, as part of his treatment, was allowed to sit up in bed for an hour in the afternoon (something to do with draining the fluid from his lungs ). His bed was next to the window. But the other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

Every afternoon when the man next to the window was propped up for his hour, he would pass the time by describing what he could see outside. The window apparently overlooked a park where there was a lake. There were ducks and swans in the lake, and children came to throw them bread and sail model boats. Young lovers walked hand in hand beneath the trees, and there were flowers and stretches of grass, games of softball. And at the back, behind the fringe of trees, was a fine view of the city skyline.

The man on his back would listen to the other man describe all of this, enjoying every minute. He heard how a child nearly fell into the lake,and how beautiful the girls were in their summer dresses.His friends descriptions eventually made him feel he could almost see what was happening outside.

Then one fine afternoon, the thought struck him: Why should the man next to the window have all the pleasure of seeing what was going on? Why shouldn't I get the chance? He felt ashamed, but the more he tried not to think like that, the worse he wanted a change. He'd do anything! One night as he stared at the ceiling, the other man suddenly woke up, coughing and choking, his hands groping for the button that would bring the nurse running. But the man watched without moving－even when the sound of breathing stopped. In the morning, the nurse found the other man dead,and quietly took his body away.

As soon as it seemed decent, the man asked if he could be switched to the bed next to the window. So they moved him, tucked him in, and made him quite comfortable. The minute they left, he propped himself up on one elbow, painfully and laboriously, and looked out the window.

It faced a blank wall .

参考译文

窗外的风景

曾经有两个重症病人住在一家大医院的同一间病房里。房间很小，只有一扇小窗子可以看到外面的世界。作为治疗方案的一部分，医生允许其中一个病人每天下午在床上坐一个小时，以利用排除肺里的积水，他的床上正好靠着窗户。可是另一个人却只能平躺在床上。

每天下午到了时间，临床的病人被扶起来坐在床上时，总是把窗外看到的一切绘声绘色地讲给病友听。从窗户往下看，显然是一座公园，那里有一湾湖水；许多鸭子和天鹅悠然湖上，孩子们在湖边给它们喂食、试航船模；成双成对的恋人手拉着手儿漫步树下，处处有盛开的鲜花和伸展的绿地，还有人在玩垒球呢；远处树林的尽头城市的上空清晰可见。

躺在床上的人听着同伴的描述，享受着这一分一秒带来的快乐。他知道了一个孩子如何差一点掉进湖里，身着夏日衣裙的女孩又是多么美丽。同伴的描绘让他觉得自己几乎是亲眼看到了外面发生的一切。

一个晴朗的午后，他突然闪过一个念头：凭什么靠窗的那个人有幸看到这一切？凭什么我没有机会？想到这儿，他觉得有些惭愧，可是他越不让自己那么想，就越想与他换位置。为此他愿意不顾一切！

一天晚上，他正盯着天花板，同伴突然醒了，咳得喘不过气来，双手摸索着想按急救铃呼叫护士。而他却一动不动地看着----直到病友的呼吸停止。第二天早晨，护士发现那位病人已死，就默默地推走了尸体。

他尽快找了个合适的时机，问能不能让他搬到窗边的床位去，于是护士们把他抬了过去，帮他掖好被子，让他舒舒服服地躺下。他们刚走，他就艰难而痛苦地单肘支撑起来，朝窗外看去。

窗外是一堵光秃秃的墙。

词汇释义

1.be propped up 被扶起来，支撑着坐起来

2.skyline n.地平线，以天空为背景映出轮廓