I live in the mountains of West Virginia.
我住在弗吉尼亞西部的山區(qū)

The curvy, winding roads
山路蜿蜒曲折

and the vast woodlands
山林廣袤

often lead to near misses with the local deer.
車輛長長與山中沖出來的鹿擦肩而過

The other day
有一天

I was driving my son
我開車帶著兒子

to work at the sheltered workshop
送他去工坊干活

when we saw a deer in the road
我們在公路上看到一只鹿

that hadn’t been so lucky.
已經(jīng)沒了生機

The driver in front of me
開在前面的車的司機

suddenly swerved
突然轉向

to avoid hitting the corpse
避免撞到鹿的尸體

and I quickly followed him
我很快做出同樣的操作

jerking the steering wheel
猛地一轉方向盤

to get back in the right lane
想要回到右邊的車道

before the next blind curve.
趕在下一個視野不佳的彎道出現(xiàn)之前

I could see that
我能看到

the way the dead deer was lying between two blind curves
死掉的鹿正躺在兩個視野不佳的彎道中間

we had an accident waiting to happen.
我們很可能在那里遇到車禍

After dropping my son off
我把兒子送到目的地之后

I hurried back
我趕緊掉頭開回來

and saw the deer was still in the road.
發(fā)現(xiàn)那頭死鹿還呆在路上

There was a wide spot
我發(fā)現(xiàn)一處寬敞的空地

on the side of the road.
就在路邊

I pulled over.
我停下車

I got out of my car
我下了車

and walked up to where the deer was.
步行走到死鹿躺著的地方

Looking both ways for cars
向兩邊看了一下是否有車輛來去

I ran over to the body.
接著就跑到鹿的尸體旁邊

It was laying in a pool of blood and excrement.
它躺在血泊中間，血泊中還有許多污穢

I reached down
我躬身

and grabbed its broken hind leg.
抓住了它已經(jīng)折斷的后腿

I backed up quickly
我很快往后退

dragging it behind me
后面拖著那頭鹿

to the side of the road.
來到了路邊

I looked down at the majestic animal
我低頭看著這體型龐大的動物

as I wiped off my hands in the wet snow by the guardrail .
在護欄邊濕漉漉的積雪中擦干凈手上的血跡

“So sorry my friend,”
“真對不起，伙伴”

I said to him.
我對那頭鹿說

I sadly walked back to my car
我懷著悲傷走回自己的車

knowing that
知道

the crows, buzzards, and other scavengers
烏鴉，禿鷲，還有其他的食腐動物

would soon take care of the remains.
很快就會把它的遺骸處理干凈

I was still thinking of that beautiful deer
我一直想著那只原本美麗的鹿

later in the day
那天晚些時候

when I turned on my computer.
我打開自己的電腦

As it came on
屏幕亮時

I smiled with surprise and delight.
我吃了一驚，欣喜微笑了

I had forgotten what
我已然忘了

my most recent screen saver was:
自己最近設置的屏圖片

a picture of a deer
是一只鹿

in a field of wild flowers
它站在一叢野花中

staring at the sunrise.
抬頭看著日出

I wondered if
我心想

that deer’s spirit
或許那頭鹿

was in a heavenly meadow right now
此刻已經(jīng)在某個仙境的草地上

perhaps romping
或許它正在嬉戲

and playing with some of my own furry friends
抑或正在與許多我的毛茸茸的朋友們玩耍

who had passed.
它們都已離我而去

I wondered too
我還在想

about the time I had left here.
自己在這個世間還有多少時間

Would it be days, months, or many years?
是幾天，幾個月，還是許多年？

I shook my head,
我搖搖頭

laughed and decided that
笑著篤信道

it didn’t matter
這無關緊要

just as long as
只要

I lived the time
在余下的光陰里

I had left with love, kindness, and joy.
我都懷著愛意，善良和喜悅過下去

May you do the same.
希望你也是如此