The Audiovisual, Part Three

The "Nightline" crew came back for its third and final visit. The whole tenor¹ of the thing was different now. Less like an interview, more like a sad farewell. Ted² Koppel had called several times before coming up, and he had asked Morrie, "Do you think you can handle it?"

Morrie wasn't sure he could. "I'm tired all the time now, Ted. And I'm choking a lot. If I can't say something, will you say it for me?"

Koppel said sure. And then the normally stoic³ anchor added this: "If you don't want to do it, Morrie, it's okay. I'll come up and say good-bye anyhow."

Later, Morrie would grin mischievously⁴ and say, "I'm getting to him." And he was. Koppel now referred to Morrie as "a friend." My old professor had even coaxed⁵ compassion⁶ out of the television business.

For the interview, which took place on a Friday afternoon, Morrie wore the same shirt he'd had on the day before. He changed shirts only every other day at this point, and this was not the other day, so why break routine?

Unlike the previous two Koppel-Schwartz sessions, this one was conducted entirely⁸ within Morrie's study, where Morrie had become a prisoner of his chair. Koppel, who kissed my old professor when he first saw him, now had to squeeze in alongside the bookcase in order to be seen in the camera's lens.

Before they started, Koppel asked about the disease's progression. "How bad is it, Morrie?"
Morrie weakly lifted a hand, halfway⁹ up his belly¹⁰. This was as far as he could go.

Koppel had his answer.

The camera rolled, the third and final interview. Koppel asked if Morrie was more afraid now that death was near. Morrie said no; to tell the truth, he was less afraid. He said he was letting go of some of the outside world, not having the newspaper read to him as much, not paying as much attention to mail, instead listening more to music and watching the leaves change color through his window.

There were other people who suffered from ALS, Morrie knew, some of them famous, such as Stephen Hawking¹¹, the brilliant physicist¹² and author of A Brief History of Time. He lived with a hole in his throat, spoke¹³ through a computer synthesizer, typed words by batting his eyes as a sensor¹⁴ picked up the movement.

This was admirable, but it was not the way Morrie wanted to live. He told Koppel he knew when it would be time to say good-bye.

"For me, Ted, living means I can be responsive to the other person. It means I can show my emotions and my feelings. Talk to them. Feel with them . . ."

He exhaled¹⁵. "When that is gone, Morrie is gone."

They talked like friends. As he had in the previous two interviews, Koppel asked about the "old ass⁷ wipe test"-hoping, perhaps, for a humorous response. But Morrie was too tired even to grin. He shook his head. "When I sit on the commode, I can no longer sit up straight. I'm listing all the time, so they have to hold me. When I'm done they have to wipe me. That is how far it's gotten."

He told Koppel he wanted to die with serenity¹⁶. He shared his latest aphorism¹⁷: "Don't let go too soon, but don't hang on too long."

Koppel nodded painfully. Only six months had passed between the first "Nightline" show and this one, but Morrie Schwartz was clearly a collapsed¹⁸ form. He had decayed before a national TV audience, a miniseries of a death. But as his body rotted, his character shone even more brightly.

Toward the end of the interview, the camera zoomed¹⁹ in on Morrie-Koppel was not even in the picture, only his voice was heard from outside it-and the anchor asked if my old professor had anything he wanted to say to the millions of people he had touched. Although he did not mean it this way, I couldn't help but think of a condemned²⁰ man being asked for his final words.

"Be compassionate," Morrie whispered. "And take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, this world would be so much better a place."

He took a breath, then added his mantra: "Love each other or die."

The interview was ended. But for some reason, the cameraman left the film rolling, and a final scene was caught on tape.

"You did a good job," Koppel said.

Morrie smiled weakly.

"I gave you what I had," he whispered. "You always do."

"Ted, this disease is knocking at my spirit. But it will not get my spirit. It'll get my body. It will not get my spirit."

Koppel was near tears. "You done good."

"You think so?" Morrie rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "I'm bargaining with Him up there now. I'm asking Him, `Do I get to be one of the angels?' "

It was the first time Morrie admitted talking to God.

   "夜线"节目组的摄制人员回来进行他们第三次、也是最后一次的采访。这次的氛围和以前的不一样。这次与其说是采访，还不如说是作伤心的话别。特德•科佩尔打了好几个电话后才上场，他问莫里，"你觉得行吗？"
   莫里自己心中也没谱。"我现在整天都感到很累，特德。我还常常喘不过气来。如果我一时说不上来，你能替我说吗？"
   科佩尔说行。接着这位处事一向冷峻的主持人再次说，"如果你不想进行这次采访，莫里，没关系，我可以对着镜头跟观众说再见。"
   后来，莫里颇感得意地说，"他被我感化了。"的确如此。科佩尔如今称莫里为"朋友"。我的老教授竟然激发出了电视业的同情心。
   莫里在这个星期五下午的采访中仍穿着昨天穿的那件衬衫。他现在隔天换一次衣服。今天他也不想破这个例。
   和前两次的科佩尔－施瓦茨会晤不同，这一次自始至终是在莫里的书房里进行的，莫里已经成了那张躺椅的囚徒。科佩尔一见到莫里先吻了他，然后侧身从书橱前挤到了镜头里。
   正式采访开始前，科佩尔询问了疾病的进展情况。"变得有多糟，莫里？"
   莫里无力地抬抬手，连腹部也没超过。他只能抬到这儿。
   科佩尔有了答案。
   摄像机转动起来，第三次。也是最后一次的采访开始了。科佩尔问莫里他对死神的临近是不是感到更害怕了。莫里说没有。事实上，他反而不怎么怕了。他说他正在远离外面的世界，不再像以前那么多地听人读报，也不太关心来往的信件，更多时候是听听音乐，看窗外的树叶渐渐地变换颜色。
   莫里知道还有其他的人也遭受着ALS的折磨，有些还是名人，比如说斯蒂芬•霍金，这位才华横溢的物理学家和《时间简史》的作者。他的喉咙开了个洞，说话要靠一只电脑合成器的帮助，笔录靠一台传感器根据他眨眼睛的变化来作出判断。
   这是十分令人钦佩的，但这并不是莫里选择的活法。他对科佩尔说他知道该什么时候说再见。
   "对我来说，特德，活着就意味着能和别人交流。就是说我必须能表达自己的感情和感受。能同他人交谈，去感受他们的思想……"
   他呼了口气。"当这种能力消失时，莫里也消失了。"
   他们像老朋友一样交谈着。因为前两次采访中都提起过，科佩尔这次又提了"擦洗屁股"的老话题--也许想得到对方一个诙谐幽默的反应。但莫里累得连笑都很困难。他摇摇头。"当我坐在便桶上时，我怎么也坐不直身子。我老是往前倾，所以他们得扶住我，完事后他们还得替我擦洗，眼下已经到了这个地步了。"
   他对科佩尔说他想安宁地死去。他当众发表了他最新的格言："别走得太快，但也别拖得太久。"
   科佩尔心酸地点点头。第一次"夜线"节目播出至今才过去了六个月，但莫里•施瓦茨显然已经垮了。他当着全国电视观众的面在衰竭，如同一部死亡的连续短片。然而，尽管他的躯体在腐朽，他的人格精神却更加光彩夺目。
   在采访即将结束时，摄像机的镜头拉出了莫里的特写--甚至连科佩尔也不在镜头内，只传出他的画外音--主持人问我的老教授还有没有话要对成千上万被他感动的观众说。我不禁想到了死囚临刑前人们也会这么问，当然，科佩尔并没有联想到这个。
   "要有同情心，"莫里声音微弱他说。"要有责任感。只要我们学会了这两点，这个世界就会美好得多。"
   他吸了口气，然后加上了他的祷文："相爱或者死亡。"
   采访结束了。但不知是什么缘故，摄影师仍让机器转动着。于是，最后的场面也留在了像带上。
   "你干得不错，"科佩尔说。
   莫里无力地笑笑。
   "我把所有的都给你了，"他低声说。
   "你总是这样。"
   "特德，这疾病一直在敲打我的灵魂，但它夺不走它。病魔可以夺去我的躯体，但无法夺去我的灵魂。"
   科佩尔的眼眶里已经盈满了泪水。"你做得很好。"
   "你这么认为？"莫里翻着眼睛望着天花板。"我在和上帝谈判。我问上帝，'我能成为天使吗？'"
   这是莫里第一次说他在同上帝交谈。

1 tenor   

n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意

参考例句：

• The tenor of his speech was that war would come.他讲话的大意是战争将要发生。
• The four parts in singing are soprano,alto,tenor and bass.唱歌的四个声部是女高音、女低音、男高音和男低音。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 stoic   

n.坚忍克己之人，禁欲主义者

参考例句：

• A stoic person responds to hardship with imperturbation.坚忍克己之人经受苦难仍能泰然自若。
• On Rajiv's death a stoic journey began for Mrs Gandhi,supported by her husband's friends.拉吉夫死后，索尼亚在丈夫友人的支持下开始了一段坚忍的历程。

4 mischievously   

adv.有害地；淘气地

参考例句：

• He mischievously looked for a chance to embarrass his sister. 他淘气地寻找机会让他的姐姐难堪。 来自互联网
• Also has many a dream kindheartedness, is loves mischievously small lovable. 又有着多啦a梦的好心肠，是爱调皮的小可爱。 来自互联网

5 coaxed   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱

参考例句：

• She coaxed the horse into coming a little closer. 她哄着那匹马让它再靠近了一点。
• I coaxed my sister into taking me to the theatre. 我用好话哄姐姐带我去看戏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

7 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

10 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

11 hawking   

利用鹰行猎

参考例句：

• He is hawking his goods everywhere. 他在到处兜售他的货物。
• We obtain the event horizon and the Hawking spectrumformula. 得到了黑洞的局部事件视界位置和Hawking温度以及Klein—Gordon粒子的Hawking辐射谱。

12 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

15 exhaled   

v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气

参考例句：

• He sat back and exhaled deeply. 他仰坐着深深地呼气。
• He stamped his feet and exhaled a long, white breath. 跺了跺脚，他吐了口长气，很长很白。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

16 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

17 aphorism   

n.格言，警语

参考例句：

• It is the aphorism of the Asian Games. 这是亚运会的格言。
• Probably the aphorism that there is no easy answer to what is very complex is true. 常言道,复杂的问题无简易的答案,这话大概是真的。

18 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

19 zoomed   

v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去式 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Traffic zoomed past us. 车辆从我们身边疾驰而过。
• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。