BEFORE THE DAYS OF THE RED CROSS

Do you suppose that people always felt that they should help everybody in such ways?

No; the Red Cross is not yet sixty years old.

War is thousands of years old.

In olden days when soldiers fought, there were no kind Red Cross nurses to care for the wounded. There were no faithful¹ Red Cross dogs to search for wounded soldiers after the battle was over.

[216]

Often the suffering men died of neglect² when proper nursing would have saved their lives. But no one ever thought of sending a band of women nurses to wars to help the soldiers, before the days of Florence Nightingale.
Florence Nightingale

Florence was a little English girl who always said that when she grew up she would be a nurse.

She felt sorry to see any living creature suffer and always tried to help it. Sometimes it was a bird with a broken wing or an injured rabbit that she tended.

All the neighbors brought their sick pets to her. The little nurse finally had so many patients that her father gave her a corner of the greenhouse³ for a hospital. The animals learned⁴ to love her and she had many friends among them as you may imagine.

When she was a young woman nursing in a London hospital, England’s soldiers were sent to war with Russia’s soldiers. They had to travel in ships all the way to the Crimea in Russia. You see, they were a great distance from home.

News of their terrible sufferings reached Florence Nightingale in the hospital. Taking a[217] band of nurses with her she went to nurse the wounded soldiers in that far off land.

When the nurses arrived there, they found thousands of sick and wounded men lying on the hospital floors with no one to help them. At once the brave nurses began to take care of the soldiers as kindly⁵ as your mother takes care of you when you are ill.

Do you wonder that many who would have died, lived and were grateful all their lives to he nurses?

Of course there were no gas or electric lights in the rough hospitals of those days, so that Miss Nightingale always carried a lighted lamp when she made her good-night rounds. The weary⁶ soldiers looked for the gleam⁷ of the lamp in the darkness and were made happy by her words of encouragement. That is how she came to be called “The Lady of the Lamp.”

The story of Florence Nightingale and her brave band spread far and near. It touched the hearts of people everywhere, and made them think about what could be done to relieve⁸ suffering even before the days of the Red Cross.

1 faithful   

adj.守信的，忠实的，如实的，可靠的

参考例句：

• They promised to be faithful to their ideal for ever.他们保证永远忠于自己的理想。
• We must be honest and faithful to the people.我们对人民必须忠诚老实。

2 neglect   

vt.忽视，忽略；疏忽，玩忽；n.疏忽，玩忽

参考例句：

• Don't neglect to lock the door when you leave.你离开时别忘了锁门。
• Today's housing problems are the product of years of neglect.今天的住房困难是多年来忽视的结果。

3 greenhouse   

n.花房，温室，玻璃暖房

参考例句：

• Behind the green house was a greenhouse.在那所绿房子后面是一个花房。
• The tomatoes were grown in the greenhouse.这些西红柿是在温室栽培的。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 weary   

adj.疲劳的，使人疲劳的；vi.厌烦，不耐烦

参考例句：

• He has laid out all his strength and is weary.他使出了全部气力，非常疲倦。
• I am weary of his constant complaints.我对他不断发牢骚感到厌烦。

7 gleam   

n./vi.微光，闪光，短暂而微弱的闪现

参考例句：

• We saw the gleam of headlights through the rain.我们在雨中看见汽车前灯的微光。
• A gleam of interest came into his eyes.他的眼里流露出一丝关切的目光。

8 relieve   

v.缓解，减轻，解除(痛苦、忧虑、麻烦)

参考例句：

• We played games to relieve the tedium of the journey.我们玩游戏，来解除旅行的沉闷。
• The doctors did their best to relieve the patient.医生们尽力减轻病人的痛苦。