My Jewish Auntie and Her Muslim Neighbors

by Helen Stone

My Jewish Auntie and Her Muslim Neighbors

by Helen Stone

Track 6

一個是百歲猶太老人，一個是信奉伊斯蘭教的穆斯林大家庭，奇妙的緣分讓他們在倫敦成為了鄰居。不同背景下的他們會擦出怎樣的火花呢？讓我們來好好感受一下這個故事里無處不在的溫情。

My mother’s first cousin, always known to me as Auntie Lilly, turned 105 in March. She received her second birthday card from the Queen. Lilly came here as a1)Jewish2)refugee from Germany in March,1939. She lived in the same house in Willesden Green, north-west London, for the past 54 years. Since her husband Joe died, she has lived on her own.

When she was ninety-nine and a half, she fell and broke her hip. Everyone thought she would have to make a big change in her lifestyle; she would certainly need to go into a3)nursing home. Auntie Lilly, however, had other ideas. After quite a long time of4)rehabilitation, she returned to her own house and was once again climbing the stairs to her bedroom.

Her only child, Regina, married to an American, lives three thousand miles away and visits her mother several times a year. She often brings other family members with her.

When Lilly was5)pottering one day in her front garden, she soon got chatting to the new neighbors who had just moved in next door. They were a large Pakistani family of fourteen. The parents had first come to England in 1977. They were highly6)observant Muslims who7)prayed five times a day. An important part of their8)religious belief was a lot of respect for elderly people, no matter what their9)religion is. The youngest member of the Muslim family, a little girl of about two,10)took to Lilly at once and began to call her “grandma.” From that day, they became good friends.

1) Jewish ['d?u???] adj. 猶太人的

2) refugee [refj?'d?i?] n. 逃亡者，難民

3) nursing home 養老院

4) rehabilitation ['ri?h??b?l?'te???n] n. 復原

5) potter ['p?t?] v. 閑逛, 閑蕩

6) observant [?b'zз?v?nt] adj. 嚴格遵守的

7) pray [pre?] v. 祈禱

8) religious [r?'l?d??s] adj. 宗教的

9) religion [r?'l?d??n] n. 宗教

10) take to 喜歡

The Muslim family would1：FaceTime是蘋果公司所生產的一系列產品里內置的一款視頻通話軟件。1)pop in12)frequently to do13)odd jobs in the house or just to chat over a cup of tea. They would bring food they had cooked every day. They would also14)keep in regular touch with Regina to15)reassure her that Lilly was being well looked after. At Lilly’s 100th birthday party which was held in a restaurant, her Pakistani neighbors were16)treated as17)honored guests.

Until just before her 105th birthday, Lilly was still18)independent and19)managing to cook and look after herself, even if she did20)complain of being a little slower than21)previously. When I visited her, I would take my grandchildren and she would watch with22)delight as they played in her garden. Her23)daily routine was a regular one and she was always happy, positive and interested in the lives of her visitors.

Recently, she began to find life more difficult. Her wonderful neighbors started to come every morning to help her to wash and dress herself and then in the evening to help her to get to bed. When she became too weak to climb the stairs, two of the girls managed to move her24)double bed downstairs to the front room, settled her in it and then called Regina on FaceTime1：FaceTime是蘋果公司所生產的一系列產品里內置的一款視頻通話軟件。to show her.

When Lilly became more poorly, Regina stayed to look after her, but it was a job for more than one person. So the Muslim family took it25)in turns to help her every day, as they had done before. With the love, care and respect they had for Auntie Lilly, they are simply the best neighbors who have become close and valued friends.

Auntie Lilly died on 26thMarch, 2015. She passed away peacefully in her own home with her daughter beside her. At the service, the Muslim family dressed in white clothes. Lilly’s Iraqi neighbors also attended, wanting to26)mark their special relationship too.

In a world in which we hear much about27)conflicts and differences, this story of a truly loving relationship between my Auntie Lilly and her Muslim neighbors has succeeded in lifting my spirits and renewing my28)faith in the kindness of human beings.

11) pop in 突然出現

12) frequently ['fri?kw?ntl?] adv. 時常發生的，頻繁的

13) odd job 零星的工作

14) keep in touch with 與……保持聯系

15) reassure [ri??'???] v. 使……安心

16) treat [tri?t] v. 款待

17) honored guest 貴賓

18) independent [?nd?'pend?nt] adj. 獨立的，自立的

19) manage to 設法做到

3 稿件在3個月內(以稿件回執日期計算)給予回復審稿意見。若6個月后編輯部未與作者聯系，請自行處理稿件。

20) complain [k?m'ple?n] v. 抱怨，埋怨

21) previously ['pri?vj?sl?] adv. 以前

22) delight [d?'la?t] n. 喜悅

23) daily routine 日常生活

24) double bed 雙人床

25) in turns 依次，輪流

26) mark [mɑ?k] v. 標志

28) faith [fe?θ] n. 信念，信任

我的媽媽有位大表姐，我一直稱她為莉莉表姨。三月的時候，她邁入了105歲，而她已經第二次收到英女王寄來的生日賀卡。1939年3月，莉莉表姨以猶太難民的身份從德國來到英國。54年來，她一直住在位于倫敦西北部的威爾斯登格林的屋子里。自從她的丈夫喬去世，她就一直獨自生活。

在她99歲半的時候，莉莉表姨摔斷了自己的髖骨。所有人都認為她必將在生活方式上做出巨大改變，她理所應當地要到養老院里接受看護。然而，莉莉表姨有著不一樣的想法。經過相當長一段時間的康復治療后，莉莉表姨回到了自己的屋子，又開始了爬樓梯到樓上臥室休息的日常生活。

她的獨生女里賈娜嫁給了一個美國人，住在距離莉莉表姨有三千英里遠的地方。每年，里賈娜會帶上其他家庭成員來探望幾次莉莉表姨。

有一天，莉莉表姨在她的前院漫步，她一下子就跟剛剛搬進隔壁屋子的新鄰居聊上了。她的新鄰居是一個有著14人的巴基斯坦大家庭。1977年，他們首次來到英格蘭。他們是十分虔誠的穆斯林教徒，每天都會祈禱五遍。在他們的宗教信仰里，其中重要的一點就是要給予老年人極大的尊重，無論老年人的宗教信仰是什么。這個穆斯林家庭最小的成員—一個約兩歲的小女孩，很快就喜歡上了莉莉表姨，并開始叫她“奶奶”。自那天起，他們就成為了好朋友。

這個穆斯林家庭常常會到莉莉表姨家幫忙做些瑣碎的家事或是品茶閑聊。他們每天都會將煮好的食物帶給表姨。他們還會定期和里賈娜聯系，讓她知道莉莉表姨得到了很好的照顧，讓她安心。莉莉表姨的百歲壽辰慶祝會是在飯店里舉行的，她的巴基斯坦鄰居們也作為貴賓參加了這個慶生會。

在莉莉表姨的105歲生日到來之前，她依舊能夠自理生活、料理三餐，即便她會抱怨動作比以前稍顯遲鈍了。每次我去探望她時，都會帶上我的孫輩，而她會歡樂地看著他們在花園里玩耍。莉莉表姨作息規律，一直保持著積極快樂的心態，對來訪者的生活也很關心。

最近，她開始覺得生活越來越困難。每天早上，她的好鄰居們都會過來幫她洗漱、穿衣服。而到了晚上，他們又會扶她到床上休息。當莉莉表姨身體虛弱得連樓梯都爬不動時，鄰居家的兩個女孩就設法把表姨的雙人床搬到了樓下的前廳。將表姨安頓好后，她們就用FaceTime聯絡里賈娜，給她看看表姨的新房間。

再后來，當莉莉表姨的身體狀況每況愈下，里賈娜就留下來照顧她，但里賈娜一個人實在是忙不過來。于是，這個穆斯林家庭就像往常一樣，每天輪流過去幫忙。帶著他們的關愛與尊重，他們已經成為了莉莉表姨最棒的鄰居以及珍貴的密友。

2015年3月26日，莉莉表姨在女兒的陪伴下，在家中安祥地離世了。她的穆斯林鄰居身穿白衣出席了葬禮。她的伊拉克鄰居們也出席了葬禮，同樣想要緬懷他們之間那特別的情誼。

我們聽到過世上太多的沖突和差異。而莉莉表姨與她的穆斯林鄰居建立起真誠友愛的鄰里關系的故事，成功地振奮了我的精神，使我對人類的善良有了更大的信心。

我的猶太表姨和她的穆斯林鄰居

翻譯：常青