My American FatherBob,

Text by Sheng Lin

Translation by Li Li

My American Father
Bob,

Text by Sheng Lin

Translation by Li Li

Four hours later, the big tree was chopped into segments and moved to the roadside.icleaned the brokenbranches and twigs. Our clean driveway was back again. Bob smiled and said to me before leaving, “Lin, It’s our secret. Don’t tell Philip on the phone. Give him a surprise. He’ll think it was aliens… E.T.’s work!”

Philip was shocked when he came home, but he knew it was Bob and called to thank him. Bob praised me on the phone and said, “Lin helped me a lot! Sweet girl!”

We now had a huge pile of wood in the yard, plus what we had chopped before. Philip always said that he would clear the branches, otherwise snakes would make nests inside. Unfortunately, Philip was admitted to hospital before he started the work. When he came home from hospital, all the branches were cut into firewood and piled up neatly. This time, Bob did this with Philip’s future son-in-law Alan. They rented a log splitter and cut all the branches.

Looking at the woodpile, Philip cried. He talked to me about how his father’s health was so weak, and how Bob suffered so much from cancer and failing muscles. Phillip thought he should be at home and be looked after by others.isaid, “Honey.iknow him. He just wants to do more for us. If it were you, you would do the same and enjoy doing it.”

Bob’s health worsened last autumn and he couldn’t even walk with sticks. He had to use a wheelchair. Even though he couldn’t move freely, he still had a lot of plans. He said to Philip, “It’s embarrassing, butineed your help.” He just wanted to do the trivialities in daily life. For example, he filled a small pit in case Anne, his wife, might slip; he cut down a small tree so that Anne wouldn’t worry about another potential fallen tree; he moved the woodpile near the house so that it was easier for Anne to fetch wood, because Anne likes to use the fireplace in winter; he changed the old electric wires, so Anne wouldn’t get hurt; and he replaced the broken light bulbs because Anne is afraid of the dark. All these trivialities were important things for him. He was anxious to do them all.

Bob left us, and even though the time he shared his love with us is short, the love would be with us forever.

(FromMarry America, Yilin Press)

● Portraits of Young Bob 鮑伯年輕時照片

我公公鮑伯走了。

嫁到美國后，我常對丈夫菲里普說，公公鮑伯是我在美國最喜歡的人，是我的美國父親。

70歲的鮑伯，身患癌癥和帕金森病五年，癌細胞擴散到全身骨頭、腦、血液之中。由于患帕金森病，他行走需要拐杖，發音困難，口齒不清。醫生說，他已無藥可治，還有差不多兩年時間。

是的，我公公鮑伯，當你看到他微笑時，你根本不能相信，他是個病入膏肓的人。每次去他家，我總是看到他戴著一頂太陽帽，穿一條背心工裝褲，開著割草機割草，或是開著翻土車開荒造花園，或是在房頂上修理東西。看見我們來，遠遠招招手。

休斯敦颶風多，每刮一次，院子里就有大樹倒掉，我來了才兩年，家里就倒過十來棵大樹。鮑伯經常忙著把倒下的樹砍成段，再劈成柴，冬天燒火爐，這樣的柴火，超市里一美元一磅，非常貴。

砍樹的活非常累，鮑伯從來不叫子女幫忙。有一次，我們去他家時，看到他一手撐著拐杖，一手叉著腰，肩膀上扛著巨大的樹干，臉色鐵青，大汗直流。菲里普對我說：“你看，這個男人，他有這么倔強。”

但是，菲里普不會馬上幫忙，而是站一邊看一會兒，然后搓搓手，對父親說：“突然很享受干活，想和你一起干，你不介意吧？”鮑伯一點頭，菲里普便和父親并肩勞動。他這樣做，是不想讓鮑伯覺得需要幫忙。一個老人的自尊、一個男人的自尊、一個病人的自尊，就這么重要。

有一次，颶風刮倒我家一棵大樹，橫倒在車道上，一片狼藉。菲里普那幾天正在加班，起早摸黑，根本沒時間處理。那天一早，我還在床上睡懶覺，就聽見院子里有響聲，心里一驚，不知誰私闖民宅。跑出去一看，一個老人手握電鋸，正在鋸那棵樹。

是鮑伯。我跑過去，想幫點忙，鮑伯向我喊：“危險，別碰電鋸，這不是女孩的活兒。”我只好跑回家，泡了一壺很香的綠茶，煮了幾只茶葉蛋拿過去，一邊看他汗流浹背地鋸樹，一邊遞茶，剝蛋。

四個小時后，這棵大樹被鮑伯鋸成段，移到路邊。我拿了掃把，把樹葉和碎枝掃干凈，車道被漂漂亮亮地清理出來。鮑伯離開前，笑著對我說：“林，這是我們的秘密，別打電話給菲里普，讓他回來嚇一跳，以為是外星人來過了。”

菲里普下班回來，果然大吃一驚，但是，他一想就知道，是鮑伯干的，連忙打電話去感謝。鮑伯卻在電話里直夸我：“林給了我很大的幫助，她真是個甜女孩。”

加上以前的樹段，我家院子里的樹段已堆成山，菲里普老是念叨，要把它們劈成柴，不然各種各樣的蛇會在里面睡覺。菲里普還沒動手，卻生病住院。等他出院回到家，發現全部樹段被劈成柴火，整整齊齊堆成了垛。這次，是鮑伯帶著菲里普的準女婿安倫，租了一臺劈柴機一起上陣，合力劈完所有樹段。

菲里普看著高高的柴堆，哭了。他說，爸爸的病不知比我重多少，他渾身都是癌，肌肉每天在萎縮，他應該坐在家里讓人伺候。我說，親愛的，我理解他，他現在想的是為我們多做點事，換了你，你也會這樣做，你會很高興這樣做。

去年秋天，鮑伯病情加重，拐杖已撐不起病體，他開始了輪椅生活。事情做不動，但是，很多事在他的計劃中，必須完成。他對菲里普說：“我感到很難為情，要請你幫助做一些事。”他要做的事很小，比如把一個小坑填平些，別讓妻子安妮滑倒；把房后一棵小樹砍掉，以免幾年后長大被風刮倒傷了房子，安妮會有麻煩；把遠處那堆柴移到屋檐下來，安妮冬天喜歡用壁爐，出去拿柴方便些；有些電線舊了，要換新，不然出意外會傷了安妮；每一只不亮的燈都要修好，因為安妮怕黑。這些很小的事，在他心中是一個個巨大的結，他很著急，要把它們做完。

鮑伯走了，他愛我們的時間雖然短，但這份愛夠我們用一生回味。

（摘自《嫁給美國》譯林出版社）

我的美國父親鮑伯

文 | 盛林
譯 | 李莉