Dance! That was what he said to her on her first night in the camp. Edith Eger could dance, of course: she had been learning ballet since she was five years old. In her leotard(紧身连衣裤) and tights, she had practised her stretches. Down she would go: spine straight, tummy taut, breathe in, breathe out…She knew how to use her breath to control her body. She knew an entire routine to “The Blue Danube(《蓝色多瑙河》)”. She thought she was imagining it when she heard that being played in the camp on her first night. Then he had appeared in her barracks. “Little dancer,” he said. “Dance for me.” That was what he would call her: “My little dancer.” They would call him the “Angel of Death(① 详细背景：约瑟夫·门格勒（1911-...)”.
跳舞！这是他在她集中营的第一晚对她说的。伊迪丝·埃格当然会跳舞：她从五岁起就开始学习芭蕾。她穿着紧身连衣裤和紧身裤练习伸展。她会弯腰：脊椎挺直，腹部紧绷，吸气，呼气……她知道如何用呼吸控制身体。她学会了一整段《蓝色多瑙河》的舞蹈。在集中营的第一晚，当听到这首曲子时，她还以为是自己的幻觉。接着他出现在她的营房。“小舞者，”他说。“为我跳舞。”他后来一直这么叫她：“我的小舞者。”而他们称他为“死亡天使”。
Later, after she moved to America, she didn’t want to call that place anything at all. She didn’t want anyone’s pity. She just wanted to be a Yankee doodle American(典型的美国人). Besides, she didn’t even know how to pronounce that word in English: “Auschwitz”. How do you say that without an accent? So she never said it. Though later, when other people found out about her past, they would use its name to her. It’s pretty bad, they’d say of some problem or other, but “it’s not Auschwitz”. She felt that was wrong: there was no hierarchy(等级制度) of suffering. She didn’t want people to see her suffering and think theirs was less significant. She wanted them to look at her and think: if she can do it, so can I!
后来，在她移居美国后，她根本不想提起那个地方。她不要任何人的怜悯。她只想成为一个地道的美国佬。而且，她甚至不知道那个词用英语怎么发音：“奥斯维辛”。你怎么才能不带口音说出那个词？所以她从未说过。但后来，当其他人发现她的过去时，他们会用这个名字对她说。某件事很糟糕，他们会说，但“这不是奥斯维辛”。她觉得这不对：痛苦没有等级之分。她不想让人们看到她的苦难后觉得自己的痛苦不那么重要。她希望人们看着她时想：如果她能挺过来，我也可以！
She started to speak out. First, in therapy herself, then as she trained to become a psychologist(心理学家), then finally as a bestselling author. Always, her message was the same: you cannot change or forget the past but you can choose how you respond to it. You can be depressed or you can be happy. That choice at least is yours. Though she, at first, had had no choice. In her new life as a wife and mother in Baltimore she could not control how she reacted to things. She felt anxious when she heard a siren(警笛声). She felt dizzy when she heard heavy footsteps. When a bus driver shouted at her she huddle(蜷缩)d on the floor of the bus, crying and shaking. It wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t Auschwitz. And it was always Auschwitz.
她开始公开发声。先是自己接受治疗，然后在她接受培训成为心理学家的过程中，最后作为畅销书作家。她的信息始终如一：你无法改变或忘记过去，但你可以选择如何回应。你可以抑郁，也可以快乐。至少这个选择是你的。不过起初她别无选择。在巴尔的摩作为妻子和母亲的新生活中，她无法控制自己对事物的反应。听到警笛声她会焦虑。听到沉重的脚步声她会头晕。当一位公交车司机对她大喊时，她蜷缩在公交车地板上，哭泣着发抖。那没那么糟。那不是奥斯维辛。但始终都是奥斯维辛。