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Life was combat, and victory was not to the lazy, the timid, the drugstore cowboy, the mush-mouth afraid to tell people exactly what was on his mind. She ran.
生活是一场战斗，而胜利不属于那些懒汉、胆小鬼和游手好闲的人，也不属于那些唯唯诺诺、不敢直言的人。母亲的一生都在惊碌奔波中度过。
But now the running was over. For a time I could not accept the inevitable. As I sat by her bed, my impulse was to argue her back to reality. On my first visit to the hospital in Baltimore, she asked who I was.
如今她不再忙碌了，一时间我竟不能接受这个无法逃避的事实。当我坐在她床边时，总是有种想把她唤回现实的冲动。在我第一次去巴尔的摩医院探望她时，她问我是谁。
Russell, I said.
“我是拉塞尔。”我说。
Russell's way out west, she advised me.
“拉塞尔去西部了。”她提醒我说。
No, I'm right here.
“不，我就在这里。”
Guess where I came from today? was her response.
她却回应道，“猜猜看今天我从哪儿来？”
Where?
“哪里？”
All the way from New Jersey.
“从新泽西来。”
No. You've been in the hospital for three days, I insisted.
“不对。你已经在医院待了三天了。”我坚持说。
So it went until a doctor came by to give one of those oral quizzes that medical men apply in such cases. She failed completely, giving wrong answers or none at all. Then a surprise.
我们的谈话就这样持续到医生进来时才结束，他来对母亲进行常规的问诊。对于医生的问诊，她回答得一塌糊涂，要么答错，要么根本不答。接下来发生的事情却出人意料。
When is your birthday? he asked.
“您的生日是哪一天？”医生问道。
November 5, 1897, she said. Correct. Absolutely correct.
“1897年11月5日。”她说。正确，完全正确。
How do you remember that? the doctor asked.
“您是怎么记得的？”医生又问。
Because I was born on Guy Fawkes Day.
“因为我是在盖伊·福克斯纪念日出生的。”
Guy Fawkes? asked the doctor, "Who is Guy Fawkes?"
“盖伊·福克斯？”医生问道，“谁是盖伊·福克斯？”
She replied with a rhyme I had heard her recite time and again over the years:
她以一首歌谣回答了医生。这些年来我听她反复地吟唱过好多遍这首歌谣：
"Please to remember the Fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."
“请将11月5日铭记于心，火药阴谋粉碎于那日。我有充分的理由认为绝不应该忘掉那场火药阴谋。”
