白醫師沒有黑鬍髭。雖然如此，他仍是一個好人。
他在我們鎮上行醫已好多年。他在鎮上醫治的病人遠比別的醫師多，可是他賺的錢不多，因為他總是替窮人看病，他們沒有錢。
他會在最冷的子夜開車二十哩去診治有病的女人、孩子或為受傷的人急診。
鎮上的人都知道白醫師的診所在雷氏服裝店樓上，要走上一段窄窄的樓梯。樓梯腳掛著一塊招牌：白醫師診所在樓上。
白醫師還是單身，據說有一次他打算跟銀行家老克朗威爾的女兒愛爾維拉小姐訂婚，婚禮舉行那天，據說白醫師接到電話，要到鄉下去替一個墨西哥孩子看病。
愛小姐對他很生氣，就取消了婚禮，她說把墨西哥孩子看得起婚裡還重要的男人不是好男人。鎮上許多女人都同意愛小姐的話，但墨西哥孩子病好後他的父母非常感激白醫師。
四十年來鎮上跛腳的、走路蹣跚的、瞎眼的都爬上爬下白醫師的樓梯。他從不拒絕替哪一個看病。
有人說白醫師的性格放蕩，因為他愛在酒店後面的房間裡喝威士忌玩牌。
可是他活到七十歲，有一天，他暈倒在診所沙發上就死了，那時候他的黑髮已轉白了。
白醫師的葬禮很盛大，是鎮上從未見過的，他躺在葛羅伯殯儀館的廊下，每個人都去向他致最後的獻禮。他葬在河景墓園。
有人提起要募款在白醫師墓前立一塊精緻的墓碑永誌懷念。這話傳得很遠，大家爭議墓碑上要刻些甚麼話紀念他。有人想詩很好，可是白醫師不喜歡詩。這事拖下去，什麼都沒有做。
有一天殯儀館老闆葛羅伯說白醫師的墓碑早就安放在他墓上了。有墓誌，一切都齊備了。葛羅伯說，那墨西哥孩子的父母說，幾年前白醫師曾救過他孩子的生命，擔憂他沒有墓碑，他們也沒錢，所以就把白醫師診所樓梯腳的那塊招牌樹立在他墓上，墓碑上寫的是：白醫師的診所在樓上。
Doc Brackett’s Tombstone
Doc Brackett didn’t have black whiskers. Nonetheless,he was a fine man. He doctored in our Town for many years. He doctored more people than any other doctor in Our Town but made less money. That was because Doc Brackett was always doctoring poor people, who had no money to pay.
He would get up in the middle of the coldest night and ride twenty miles to doctor a sick woman, or child, or to patch up some fellow who got hurt. Everybody in Our Town knew Doc Brackett’s office over Rice’s clothing store. It was up an arrow flight of stairs. His office was always filled with people. A sign atthe foot of the stairs said:
DR. BRACKETT, OFFICE UP STAIRS.
Doc Brackett was a bachelor. He was once supposed to marry Miss Elvira Cromwell, the banker,but on the day the wedding was supposed to take place Doc Brackett got a call to go out into the country and doctor a Mexican child.
Miss Elvira got sore at him and called offthe wedding. She said that a man who would think more of a Mexican child than of his wedding was no good. Many women in Our Town agreed with Miss Elvira Cromwen.
whiskers: 連鬢鬍子，髯
Nonetheless: 但是；仍然
fellow:男人
bachelor: 未婚男子﹐單身漢
不知原文跑哪去了，很久以前想轉載的一篇文，但沒完成，有些英文原文還沒打上。此文寓意深刻，許多醫療人員應該特別有感觸。然而，隨著時代演進，有些事還是不一樣了，現在可能連墨西哥小孩的父母親都會覺得醫好是應該的....
