Repay with Life

以生命来报答

The English poet and satirist¹, Richard Savage², was once living in London in great poverty. In order to earn money he had written the story of his life, but not many copies of the book had been sold in the shops, and Savage was living from hand to mouth. As a result of his lack of food, he became very ill, but atter a time, owing to the skill of the doctor who had looked after him, he got well again. After a week or two the doctor sent a bill to Savage for his visits, but poor Savage hadn't any money and couldn't pay it. The doctor waited for another month and sent the bill again, but still no money came. After several weeks he sent it to him again asking for his money. In the end he came to Savage's house and asked him for payment, saying to Savage, "You know you owe your life to me and I expected some gratitude³ from you."

英国诗人、讽刺作家理查德·萨维奇一度在伦敦过着贫困潦倒的生活，为了赚钱，他曾著书讲述有关他生平的故事，但是这部书在书店里没卖出几本，萨维奇过着朝不保夕的日子。因为缺乏食物，他病得很厉害。后来，由于照看他的医生医术高明，他又恢复了健康。过了一两个星期，医生给萨维奇送来了一张讨要诊费的账单，但是贫穷的萨维奇没有钱来偿付。医生等了一个月后又送来了账单，但仍然未索回分文。几个星期后，他又送来账单要钱。最后，医生本人来到了萨维奇的家中，对他说:“你知道你欠我一条命，而我希望你能有所报答。”

"I agree," said Savage, "that I owe my life to you, and to prove to you that I am not ungrateful for your work I will give my life to you." With these words he handed to him two volumes entitled The life of Richard Savage.

“是的，”萨维奇说，“我是欠你一条命，为了向你证明我对你的诊治并非不感激，我将把我的生命献给你。”说着这番话，萨维奇递给医生两卷书，名叫《理查德萨维奇的一生》。