The Man on Death Row1 Who Changed Me

By Bryan Stevenson

一位为死囚犯人辩护的律师从他的一次和当事人的会面经历中告诉我们：即使是罪犯，其人性尊严也一直是被尊重的。

The visitation room was 100 feet square, with a few stools bolted to the floor and wire mesh running across the room.2. visitation: 探视；stool: 凳子；bolt: （用螺栓）拴住；wire mesh:铁丝网。For family visits, inmates3. inmate: 囚犯。and visitors had to be on opposite sides of the mesh. Legal visits, on the other hand, were “contact visits”—the two of us would be on the same side of the room to permit more privacy. I began worrying about my lack of preparation. I had scheduled to meet with the client for one hour, but I wasn’t sure how I would fill even 15 minutes with what I knew. I sat down on a stool and waited until I heard the clanging4. clanging: 叮当声。of chains on the other side of the door.

The man who walked in seemed even more nervous than I was. He glanced at me and quickly averted5. avert: 转移（目光或注意力等）。his gaze when I looked back. He was a young, neatly groomed African-American man with short hair—cleanshaven, medium build—wearing bright, clean prison whites.6. 他是一位年轻的、修饰齐整的非裔美国人，留着短发——胡子刮得很干净，中等身材——穿着一身鲜亮的、干净的白色囚衣。groom:v. （使）整洁，打扮；build: 体形。He looked immediately familiar, like everyone I grew up with, friends from school,people I played sports or music with, someone I’d talk to on the street.As the guard left, the metal door banged7. bang: v. 重击，发巨响。loudly behind him.

I walked over and offered my hand. The man, who had been convicted of murder, shook it cautiously.8. convict sb. of sth. : 宣告……有罪；cautiously: 谨慎地。We sat down.

“I’m very sorry,” I blurted out9. blurt out: 脱口而出。. “I’m really sorry, I’m really sorry, uh, OK, I don’t really know, uh, I’m just a law student,I’m not a real lawyer.” Despite all my preparations and rehearsed remarks, I couldn’t stop myself from apologizing repeatedly. “I’m so sorry I can’t tell you very much, but I don’t know very much.”

He looked at me, worried. “Is everything all right with my case?”

“Oh, yes, sir. The lawyers at S.P.D.C. sent me down to tell you that they don’t have a lawyer yet,” I said. “But you’re not at risk of execution10. execution: 处死，处决。anytime in the next year. We’re working on finding you a lawyer, a real lawyer.”

He interrupted my chatter11. chatter: 唠叨，喋喋不休。by grabbing my hands. “I’m not going to have an execution date anytime in the next year?”

“No, sir. They said it would be at least a year.” Those words didn’t sound very comforting to me. But he just squeezed my hands tighter.

“Thank you, man,” he said. “I mean,really, thank you! I’ve been talking to my wife on the phone, but I haven’t wanted her to come and visit me or bring the kids because I was afraid they’d show up and I’d have an execution date. Now I’m going to tell them they can come and visit.Thank you!”

I was astonished. We began to talk. It turned out that he and I were exactly the same age. He told me about his family and his trial. He asked me about law school and my family.We talked about music and about prison. We kept talking and talking, and it was only when I heard a loud bang on the door that I realized I had stayed long past my allotted time12. allotted time: 期限。. I looked at my watch. I had been there three hours.

The guard came in and began handcuffing him; I could see the prisoner grimacing.13. handcuff: 给……戴上手铐；grimace: 扮鬼脸。“I think those cuffs are on too tight,”I said.

“It’s OK, Bryan,” he said. “Don’t worry about this. Just come back and see me again, OK?”

I struggled to say something appropriate, something reassuring. He looked at me and smiled. Then he did something completely unexpected. He closed his eyes and tilted14. tilt: （略微）仰（头）。his head back. I was confused, but then he opened his mouth, and I understood. He had a tremendous baritone that was strong and clear.15. tremendous: 惊人的，巨大的；baritone: 男中音。

Lord, lift me up and let me stand,

By faith, on heaven’s tableland;

A higher plane than I have found,

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

It was an old hymn16. hymn: 赞美诗，圣歌。they used to sing all the time in church where I grew up. I hadn’t heard it in years. Because his ankles were shackled and his hands were locked behind his back, he almost stumbled when the guard shoved him forward.17. 因为他的脚踝上戴着脚镣，双手被铐在背后，当看守猛地把他往前推时，他差点跌倒。shackle:给……带上枷锁；stumble: 跌跌撞撞；shove: 猛推。But he kept on singing.

His voice was filled with desire. I had come into the prison with such anxiety and fear about his willingness to tolerate my inadequacy.18. tolerate: 忍受；inadequacy: 不称职，不合格。I didn’t expect him to be compassionate19. compassionate: 富于同情心的。or generous. I had no right to expect anything from a condemned man on death row. But that day, I could hear him as he went down the hall, until the echo of his earnest, soaring voice faded.20. soaring: 高昂的；fade: 逐渐消失。When it had gone, the still silence of that space sounded different from when I entered. Even today, after 30 years of defending death-row prisoners, I still hear him.