给予赤贫的爱Mother（给予赤贫的爱Mother）

Chapter 7 Poorest of the Poor

第七章 赤贫

Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity took the usual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. But they added another vow: to serve the “poorest of the poor.” Each day, they got up at four thirty, said prayers, had breakfast, then went into the slums of Calcutta. In the slums, housing was overcrowded and falling apart. There was little fresh air. Basic services such as clean water, electricity, and garbage pickup didn’t exist. Diseases spread quickly in these conditions.

特蕾莎修女的仁爱传教会将贫穷、贞洁和顺从作为基本的宣誓。但她们还加上了另一个誓言:为“穷人中的穷人”服务。每天，她们四点半就起床，祈祷，吃早餐，然后去加尔各答的贫民窟。贫民窟的住房拥挤不已，破败不堪。几乎没有新鲜空气。像净水、电力和垃圾回收这样的基本服务，不存在的。疾病在这些恶劣的条件下传播飞快。

贫民窟 图片来源：Dhaka Tribune

One day, in 1952, Mother Teresa saw a woman lying in the street. Rats had eaten away part of her flesh. Her wounds were crawling with maggots. No one stopped to help her. So Mother Teresa, herself a small person, picked up the dying woman and took her to the hospital. The hospital refused to help. The woman’s life could not be saved, a nurse said. Neither the woman nor Mother Teresa had any money to pay the hospital.

1952年的一天，特蕾莎修女看到一个女人躺在街上。老鼠咬掉了她的一部分肉，她的伤口上爬满了蛆，竟没人停下来去帮她。身材矮小的特蕾莎修女抱起这奄奄一息的女人，把她送到医院，而医院却拒绝帮忙！护士说，这名妇女救不活了，而且这个女人和特蕾莎修女也都没钱支付医院的任何费用。

Mother Teresa wouldn’t take no for an answer. The nurse gave in. Mother Teresa knew the woman would not survive. But she also knew that the woman didn’t deserve to die in the street like an animal. Caring for the dying was a supreme act of love for Mother Teresa.

特蕾莎修女是不会轻易接受拒绝的人，最后护士让步了。特蕾莎修女知道这个女人活不下去了，但她也知道，这个女人不应该像动物一样死在街上。照顾临终者的行动是特蕾莎修女最崇高的爱。

Mother Teresa knew from walking the streets of Motijhil that there were many more people just like that woman. The population of cities was growing at such a fast pace. There was not enough room for everyone. People who used to do farm work moved to the city looking for work. They had no family or friends there. Mother Teresa felt that all these “poorest of the poor” deserved her help.

特蕾莎修女从走过莫蒂吉尔的街道上就知道，像那个女人情况的人还有很多。城市的人口增长速度如此之快，以致没有足够的空间容纳每个人。过去干农活的人搬到城市去找工作，他们在那既没家人也没朋友。特蕾莎修女认为，所有这些“穷人中的穷人”都值得她的帮助。

So she went to the city officials to ask for a place to establish a home for the dying. Again, Mother Teresa wouldn’t take no for an answer. They gave her an abandoned building behind a large Hindu temple.

所以她去了市政府官员那里，要求给临终者建一个家。特蕾莎修女再次表现出她不轻易妥协的方面，最终他们提供给她一座印度教寺庙后面的废弃建筑。

Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity scrubbed the floors and cleaned the walls and brought in beds. In just one week, the home for the dying opened. It was called Nirmal Hriday, which means “the Place of the Pure Heart.”

特蕾莎修女和慈善传教士们拖地，刷墙，搬床。仅一周时间，这个临终者之家就开放了。它被称为Nirmal Hriday，意思是“纯净之心”。

纯净之心(Nirmal Hriday) 图片来源：swantour.com

The Nirmal Hriday building had once been used by travelers visiting the temple. This caused controversy. Hindus feared Mother Teresa would try to convert her dying patients to Christianity. But Mother Teresa made sure that each patient received the holy rituals they desired. That included water from the Ganges river (considered holy) on the lips for Hindus, and readings from the Koran (sacred scripture) for Muslims. When her Hindu neighbors saw this, they welcomed the home for the dying. In fact, many offered their help.

临终者之家所在的建筑曾是游客参观寺庙的其中一个地方。这引起了争议，印度教徒担心特蕾莎修女会试图让她垂死的病人皈依基督教。但特蕾莎修女确保每个病人都得到他们想要的神圣仪式。这包括印度教徒将神圣的恒河之水放在嘴唇上，以及穆斯林教徒阅读神圣的可兰经。当她的印度邻居们看到这一幕时，他们表示欢迎这个临终者之家。事实上，（他们中的）许多人还提供了帮助。

Mother Teresa provided love and care for not only people at the end of their lives, but for those at the beginning, as well.

特蕾莎修女不仅为那些生命即将结束的人提供了爱和关怀，也为那些刚刚诞生的小生命提供爱与关怀。

Sometimes babies of the poor were left abandoned in police stations or at hospitals or on street corners. The Missionaries of Charity took them in. Mother Teresa spread the word that all children would receive care. In 1955, she opened a home for orphans and abandoned babies.

穷人的婴儿不时被遗弃在警察局、医院或街角。仁爱传教会收留了他们。特蕾莎修女广而告之：所有的孩子都会得到照顾。1955年，她为孤儿和弃婴开设了一家收容所。

孤儿及弃婴收容所 图片来源：PennLive.com

At the time, leprosy was a serious and widespread skin disease in India. Leprosy was caused by an infection, which spread quickly in the poor living conditions in the slums. It was very disfiguring. People could lose fingers, toes, or features on their faces. It also caused terrible nerve damage and muscle weakness. Lepers were treated as outcasts. No one healthy wanted to go near them.

当时，麻风病在印度是一种严重而广泛的皮肤病。麻风病是由感染引起的，这种感染在贫民窟贫穷的生活条件下迅速传播。病症难以入目：病人可能会失去手指、脚趾或面部变形。它还会造成严重的神经损伤和肌无力。麻风病人被视为弃儿。没有健康的人愿意靠近他们。

Mother Teresa opened a clinic for lepers in Calcutta, and bought a van to act as a mobile treatment center. Then she helped build a village for lepers. Now they had a place where they could learn to live on their own. It was called Shanti Nagar, which means “City of Peace.”

特蕾莎修女在加尔各答开设了一个麻风病人诊所，并买了一辆面包车作为流动治疗中心。然后她帮助建立了一个麻风村。现在他们有了一个可以自己学习生活的地方。它叫做Shanti Nagar，意思是"和平之城"

THE CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA

印度的种姓制度

In traditional indian culture, people were divided into different social levels, or castes.

在印度传统文化中，人们被划分为不同的社会阶层或种姓。

Priests and teachers made up the highest caste, called Brahman. Next came kshatriyas, the warriors and royalty. The vaishya caste included landowners, merchants, and farmers. The sudras made up the lowest caste; these were workers and craftsmen. People could not marry outside their caste. They were not even allowed toshare a meal with those from another caste!

祭司和教师组成了最高的种姓，称为婆罗门。接下来是代表战士或皇室种姓的刹帝利。吠舍，这个种姓包括地主、商人和农民。首陀罗，是最低的种姓，他们是工人和工匠。人们不能与种姓以外的人通婚，甚至不允许和其他种姓的人一起吃饭！

One group of people were considered so low, they were outside the caste system. They were called Untouchables. Many of them lived in the slums. Untouchables had the dirtiest jobs, such as sweeping streets and handling garbage. In 1950, Untouchables were given equal rights under the law, but many still face prejudice today.

有一群人被认为地位很低，他们不在种姓制度之下。被称为贱民。他们中的许多人住在贫民窟。贱民做的是最脏的工作，比如清扫街道和处理垃圾。1950年，法律赋予了贱民平等的权利，但时至今日，许多贱民仍然面临着歧视。

印度种姓(India's caste system) 图片来源：india-with.me

声明：本文来源于Grosset & Dunlap出品的《Who Was》系列丛书，如有不妥，请联系作者立即删除。

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