He had gone out to spread manure(肥料；粪肥), that was all. As his tractor bumped(颠簸；碰撞) over the stony ground of his farm in west Wales(威尔士西部，以乡村和海岸风光著称), Jack Preger didn’t have his mind on much except farming(满脑子只想着农活). Though he was a city boy from Manchester, a Jewish grocer’s son, he loved working the land.(尽管他是曼彻斯特的城里孩子、犹太杂货商的儿子，他却热爱耕种。) And from his piece of it, right on the coast, you could look across the sea to Ireland.
他不过是出去施肥而已。当拖拉机颠簸在西威尔士农场布满石子的土地上时，杰克·普雷格满脑子想的几乎只有农活。尽管他是曼彻斯特长大的城里孩子，一个犹太杂货商的儿子，他却热爱耕种。从他那一小块紧靠海岸的土地上，可以隔海望见爱尔兰。
Then it happened. It was not a voice, exactly. It was more as if(更像是……似的) his skull had been laid open, and the words put in: “Become a doctor.” This was an order he knew he could not ignore. That very night he sat down and applied to a whole list of medical schools. Success was not likely; he had no science qualifications(资格；学历), had read PPE at Oxford(牛津大学哲学、政治学、经济学专业) and was 34, very old to be starting out. But the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin(都柏林皇家外科医学院) took him. He emerged determined to help the poorest of the world.
然后，事情发生了。那并不完全是一个声音。更像是他的头骨被打开，有人把这句话放了进去：“去当医生。”他知道，这是一道无法忽视的命令。当天晚上，他就坐下来，向一长串医学院递交了申请。成功的可能性不大：他没有理科资历，在牛津读的是PPE（哲学、政治学、经济学），而且已经34岁，重新起步实在太老。但都柏林的外科医学院录取了他。他毕业后决心帮助世界上最贫困的人。
And so it turned out(事情果然如此). By the year 2000, when he was 70, his various clinics in the poorest parts of Kolkata were seeing more than 700 people a day. He had become “Dr Jack”, wandering along with his notepad and stethoscope(听诊器), bending down to examine wounds and burns covered up with filthy(肮脏的；污秽的) blankets, smiling and joking in Bengali. It didn’t matter whether you were Hindu or Muslim, Dalit or Brahmin(达利特（贱民）与婆罗门（最高种姓）). All treatment was free. While his patients got pills or syrups and precious ID cards, their children were fed and taught in the free schools he had founded.(病人拿到药片或糖浆以及珍贵的身份证件时，他们的孩子在他创办的免费学校里吃饭、上学。) He also treated the homeless where they lived: on railway platforms, in drainage(排水；排水系统) pipes.
事情果然如此。到2000年他70岁时，他在加尔各答最贫困地区的多家诊所每天接诊七百多人。他成了“杰克医生”，带着记事本和听诊器四处走动，弯下腰检查被脏毯子盖住的伤口和烧伤，用孟加拉语微笑着开玩笑。你是印度教徒还是穆斯林，是达利特还是婆罗门，都无所谓。所有治疗都免费。病人拿到药片或糖浆以及珍贵的身份证件时，他们的孩子在他创办的免费学校里吃饭、上学。他还到无家可归者居住的地方为他们治疗：火车站台、排水管道里。