I was in college

那是我还在读大学

and was sleeping deeply in my dorm room bed

有一天，我正在寝室里沉睡

after a rough day of classes.

这一天的课程非常煎熬

Suddenly,

忽然

I heard the door open

我听到门开了

and light from the hallway streamed in.

走廊上的灯光射进来

My best friend and roommate

我最好的朋友兼室友

was standing¹ there unsteadily.

神情不安的站在那里

His girlfriend had broken up with him

他的女朋友跟他分手了

earlier that day

就在这一天早些的时候

and he had spent the evening

这整个夜晚

downtown in a bar

他都呆在市中心的一家酒吧里

trying to drown his sorrows with 13 whiskey sours.

为了借酒浇愁，一连灌下了13杯威士忌酸酒

I got up

我从床上爬起来

and helped him to climb up into the bunk² bed

帮助他回到高低双人床上

above me.

他就睡在我的上铺

He didn’t look so good.

他看起来不太好

His face was whiter than normal

脸色比平时更加苍白

and he could barely walk.

几乎无法正常走路

After fending³ off some idiots on our floor

我赶走了同一楼层的几个傻瓜

who tried to get him to go back downtown

他们想劝他再回市中心去

for more drinking

再多喝几杯酒

I finally got him to lay down.

我终于让他躺下来

After a minute

一分钟之后

he said he was going to be sick.

他说自己想要吐了

I managed to get him to the bathroom

我带他来到洗手间

down the hall

洗手间在走廊另一头

but he couldn’t throw up.

他却吐不出来了

I walked him slowly back to bed

我扶着他慢慢走回寝室，上了床

and got him into the top bunk again.

又扶着他爬到了上铺

I was just about to drift back off to sleep

当我正准备转身回去睡觉的时候

when I heard it:

我听到了

retching followed by 13 whiskey sours

13杯威士忌全吐了出来，然后是干呕的声音

splashing on his sheets.

还有呕吐物溅在他床单上的声音

I got him off the bed again,

我再次把他从床上拖起来

stripped his sheets

扯下他的床单

and helped him back up once more.

再扶他上床

I was wary⁴ of another splash down

我在底下留神听着他再次呕吐的声音

but soon

但是很快

I heard his gentle snoring.

我听到了他均匀的打呼声

I couldn’t really be mad at him, though.

尽管如此，我却无法对他生气

After all,

毕竟

he just wanted what we all wanted:

他想要的只是我们都想要的

“To be Loved.”

被一个人爱

Over the decades that followed

在随后的几十年中

I started to realize a few things too.

我也开始意识到一些事

I learned that

我学会了

the best way to be loved

想要被爱，最好的方式

was to be loving.

就是先给与爱

And I learned that

我也学会了

the best way to be loving

给与爱最好的方式

was to realize that

就是清楚的意识到

you were already loved.

你已经是被爱的人了

Open your life

敞开里的怀抱

and let your love out.

释放自己的爱

The greatest gift we can ever get

我们能得到的最好的礼物

is to be loved

就是被爱

and the greatest gift we can ever give

我们能给出的最好的礼物

is to be loving.

就是给与爱

And the truth is,

事实上

they are one and the same.

爱与被爱本就同一，本就是同一件事