For 47 years I lived close to the beautiful Ohio River, in the river town of Cincinnati. The great Ohio River flows westward from Cincinnati to become the famous Mississippi River in the state of Illinois. From Cincinnati down to New Orleans, in the Gulf of Mexico, the river does not generally ice up in winter, so it is navigable year-round, providing a great continental way of transporting goods. On a plane, I sat next to an experienced river barge pilot, who explained his fascinating life to me. As he steered his tiny river boat, he could push sometimes 18 barges, laden with goods, all at one time, 3 barges across, and 6 barges deep. He could skillfully navigate his flotilla to their final destination in the Gulf, when he would fly back to Cincinnati to pick up new barges once again. He loved his exciting job, the beautiful views on the river, and the pay wasn’t too bad, matching airline pilot pay!

我曾住在美丽的俄亥俄河附近，河边的城市辛辛那提47年。伟大的俄亥俄河从辛辛那提向西流去便在伊利诺伊州成了密西西比河。从辛辛那提南下到新奥尔良，进入墨西哥湾，这条河流一般冬天不结冰，所以它一年四季都可以航行，提供了一个优良的运输货物的大陆线。在飞机上，我坐在了一位有经验的驳船船长旁边，他给我讲解了他精彩的生活。当他驾驶他的小船，他可以一次推动有时18艘驳船，都装满了货物，3艘并排，6艘长。他能灵巧地操纵他的船队到达墨西哥湾的目的地，然后他再飞回辛辛那提领取新的任务。他热爱他这份令人兴奋的工作，美丽的河景，而且薪酬也不错，可以媲美飞行员的薪水！

Very few people have had the experience I had, to regularly take the historic Anderson ferry, across the Ohio River to the airport. My home was near the Western Hills of Cincinnati, 15 minutes away from the ferry crossing in Ohio, but by 7 minutes boat, I easily reached the northern shores of Kentucky, where the International Airport (for Cincinnati!) was literally only 5 minutes by car away! This river crossing is a well-kept secret, even for people who have lived decades in Cincinnati.

很少有人有和我相同的经历，定期乘坐有悠久历史的安德森渡轮，穿过俄亥俄河去机场。我的家在位于俄亥俄州的辛辛那提西山，大概离港口15 分钟，可是坐7分钟的船程，我就轻而易举地到了肯塔基州的北岸，也就是离国际机场（为辛辛那提而开！）5分钟的车程！这条越河路线是一个保守的秘密，即使在辛辛那提住过很多年的人都未必晓得。

During my numerous trips, I befriended the ferry boat pilot, and he explained to me, proudly, that it was a family heritage and privilege to be working on this unique ferry, from the time of his youth. He declared, to my enthusiastic agreement, that the crossings were especially charming in autumn, floating among brilliantly foliaged trees of red, yellow, and orange, on both banks of the river.

经过我无数次的旅行，我便成了渡轮船长的朋友，他非常骄傲地解释给我听，从他年轻时的时代起，能在这个独特的港口渡轮处工作是家族的传统和荣耀。他接着宣告，而且我也充满热情地同意，秋天摆渡是最有魅力的，因为能在两岸旁秋天的红的，桔的，黄的缤纷落叶中徜徉。

In spring, the crossings could be particularly exciting, when the river was overflowing from rain-driven swollen streams feeding the river, and currents were strong and fast moving. Especially when fallen tree logs and branches could be strewn all over the river, forcing the pilot to navigate cautiously through the debris, without damaging his boat. The pilot initially would elegantly steer the ferry against the angry current, until midstream, when he would be pushed, in the opposite direction by the current, to land the vessel precisely and ultimately onto the landing on the other bank.

在春天，横渡会格外地令人兴奋，当河流因着雨水而变宽的支流汇集变得湍急。特别是当掉下来的树干和树枝遍布河中，迫使船长小心地驾驶来躲避以避免船受损害。船长一开始优雅地调整渡轮对抗愤怒的急流，直到河中，当他被河流向相反方向推去的时候，他就准确地最终将船只停在河的对岸。

This ferry crossing was definitely much more fun than the alternative of driving down congested expressway I-75, much more scenic, and usually quite serene in non-rainy season. I finally revealed this “secret” to the world on Trip Advisor, as their “Cincinnati travel advisor,” and I hear some people have begun to look into this no-longer secret. So now you are also in on this rare piece of knowledge.

横渡俄亥俄河毫无疑问地比驾驶在堵塞的I-75高速路上的选项要有意思多了，景色更美，通常在非雨季是很宁静。我最终将这个“秘密” 作为他们的“辛辛那提旅行专家”，在Trip Advisor上泄露给了整个世界， 然后我听说有些人已经开始研究这个不再是秘密的秘密。所以现在你也同样得到了这条珍贵的信息。

Rivers are usually significant historic and geographic dividers, and this Ohio River was on the north-south divide for the tragic American Civil War. Today however, we can drive smoothly across the river on the iconic Roebling bridge, immediate forerunner of the larger, identically designed and likely more famous, New York Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge is one of 10 pretty ones across the Ohio River, poetically linking north and south.

河流经常是历史和地理的重要分界线，这条俄亥俄河就是美国内战期间的南北分界线。今天我们却可以顺利地在经典的Roebling大桥上开过，也是早于在同样设计下 的可能更有名的，更大的，纽约布鲁克林大桥。这座桥是横跨俄亥俄河的10座美丽的桥梁之一，诗意般地连接着南北方。

The legendary Mark Twain roamed the Mississippi, and wrote about young people whose homes were along the river.  In his world-renowned “Huck Finn” story, Huck and Jim, his escaped slave friend, were heading south, on the upper Mississippi, trying to get to the Ohio River, to Ohio and freedom, but missed the mouth of the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois, so they had to go on down the Mississippi for the rest of their adventures. His story reflected the Ohio/ Mississippi River slavery-is-normal culture of the time, and is particularly thought provoking for many other cultures that have gone through analogous historic times of slavery to its abolishment. Freedom is a great driver for life, then and now.

传奇的马克土温Mark Twain 游遍了密西西比河，写下了住在河边的年轻人的故事。在他世界知名的“哈克历险记”故事里，哈克和吉姆，他脱逃的奴隶朋友，要从密西西比河上游南下，试图经过俄亥俄河，到达俄亥俄得自由，可是在伊利诺伊州开罗错过了俄亥俄河的河口，所以他们不得不在接下来的历险中随着密西西比河走下去。他的故事反映出那个年代俄亥俄河/密西西比河奴隶制为常理的文化，也对很多别的曾经经历过相类似的推翻奴隶制度的文化特别发人深省。自由是从古到今生活的伟大动力 。

Legendary explorer of the Ohio and other rivers, Daniel Boone also worked among, or fought with, native Indians in the forests south of the Ohio River. His knowledge of local Indian culture, his empathy with them, and adoption by a Shawnee Indian chief, made for my great childhood reading about his exploits and adventures. And of course, Abraham Lincoln, the great Emancipator of slaves, wasn’t that far away also, in Kentucky in his proverbial log cabin. His family was very poor, and I can easily visualize his splitting logs, and reading his Bible by candlelight, again and again, the only book he possessed for a long time.

传奇的俄亥俄河和其他河流的探险家，丹尼尔-布尼Daniel Boone也曾同印第安土著共事，或一起战斗在俄亥俄河南部的森林里。他对当地印第安人的文化的了解，对他们的共情，以及被肖尼Shawnee族酋长收养的经历，是我童年时非常喜欢读的故事。当然，亚伯拉罕-林肯，伟大的奴隶解放者，也离那里不远，就在肯塔基州的木屋那里。他的家庭很穷，而且我可以非常容易地想像他一边劈柴，一边在烛光旁一遍遍地读圣经，他很长时间里拥有的唯一一本书。

Little did I know that these famous stories, which I devoured, likely surprising to some, from my childhood in Hong Kong, would translate into my living for nearly half a century near the river and forests of my heroes. In fact, not much even seems to have changed over the last several centuries. The vibrant river and dense forests along its banks, still look charming and pristine to me. Whenever I cross this beautiful river, I can easily imagine, that, around the next bend, my heroes are there, sitting by a wood-burning fire on the river banks.

我真没想到，可能对某些人也很惊讶，这些我在香港幼年时通读的脍炙人口的故事，会演绎成在我生命中近半个世纪住在我心目中的英雄所住过的河流和森林。说真的，好像近几个世纪来那里都没有什么变化。湍急的河流和河边茂密的树林，在我看来还是那么有魅力和原始。每当我穿过这条美丽的河流时，我能轻易地想象，在下一个转弯处，我的英雄就在那里，坐在河边的篝火堆旁。

The most amazing story of this river, I think, is that this was a great river crossing for thousands of slaves escaping from the south. Brave people, black and white, helped them escape by boats, to reach homes that had a candle in the window sill, signifying that they were a safe place to hide, before they were smuggled onto wagons and trains to go further north, even to Canada. Many of these stories are captured in the unique Freedom Museum of the Underground Railroad, the only one in the country, located perfectly at the junction of the Roebling Bridge on the Cincinnati river bank.

我想，关于这条河最让人惊奇的故事是，这是一条伟大的河流和供成万个奴隶从南方逃离的走廊。勇敢的人民，黑人和白人，帮助他们通过船逃离，到达那些入夜的窗台上点燃蜡烛来表明这些家是安全藏身之处，然后他们被藏在 马车和火车里去更远的北方，甚至到加拿大。很多这样的故事在独特的，也是美国唯一的一个，就完美地坐落在辛辛那提河边Roebling大桥的连接处的地下铁路自由博物馆里展出。

I brought international friends to this museum because of this great story. I remember bringing one Christian volunteer serving migrant factory workers in China. He was very touched, and told me that the visit helped inspire him to clarify his own calling among the urban poor, living in quasi-serfdom, and similarly neglected and often deprived. Imagine, an old slavery story having an inspirational impact on work even today.

我带国际友人来这个博物馆的目的是因为这个伟大的故事。我记得带一位在这个服务于外地打工者的基督徒志愿者去那里。他非常感动，告诉我那次参观帮助激发他明确他自己去城市中为活在奴役下， 也同样地被忽视和剥夺的底层人群服务的呼召。想象，一个古老的奴隶故事甚至对今天的工作也有如此的鼓舞人心的功效。

I often brought medical scholars from China, who were visiting at the famous Children’s Hospital of Cincinnati, on a 2-monthly grand tour of Cincinnati. We always stopped to see the large historic wall murals on the Covington, Kentucky, southern bank of the Ohio River, directly across from Cincinnati Reds Stadium on the northern bank. One mural was especially poignant. It depicted Eliza, the slave who escaped across the frozen Ohio River, with fierce dogs coming after her, in the dramatic story of uncle Tom’s Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

我经常带来自中国的， 来参观知名的辛辛那提儿童医院的医务人员，进行每2个月的辛辛那提城市介绍。我们常常停下来在肯塔基州Covington市，俄亥俄河南岸的巨大的历史性壁画，正对着北岸的辛辛那提红队体育场。其中一个壁画极为凄美。上面画着伊丽莎Eliza，横渡冰封的俄亥俄河的奴隶，后面有凶猛的狗儿们追赶着，就是哈丽叶特-比切-斯托Harriet Beecher Stowe写的汤姆叔叔的木屋里戏剧般的故事。

This great story was written right on the banks of the Ohio River, near Cincinnati, by the author who watched slaves coming through her home as a safe place, on their way to freedom. Her father was a pastor who was heavily involved in the rescue of slaves, so she learned a lot directly about the tragic personal stories of the runaway slaves. She wrote these stories down through her brilliant book, that many, including Lincoln, say triggered the Civil War. Many people before that did not fully realize the cruelty of slavery, until the book made it very clear to them what was going on in the lives of real people. For scholars from China, as I showed them the mural, I realized this was a book that nearly all of them had read in China, as an example of English literature, (and maybe American racism, I suppose), so it instantly clicked in their minds. Truly a great story that transcends countries, ethnicities and times.

这个伟大的故事就发生在靠近辛辛那提市，俄亥俄河的岸边。作家写下亲眼看到奴隶们从她家作为一个安全港而通往自由的故事 。她的爸爸是一个非常投入救助奴隶们的牧师，所以她听到了很多逃跑的奴隶们的悲惨故事。她在她那杰出的书中写下了这些故事，很多人，包括林肯，说这些故事点燃了美国内战。很多人在那之前还没有意识到奴隶制的残酷，直到这本书将真实的人和生活清楚地描述出来他们才明白。对来自中国的学者们，当我带他们看壁画的时候，我意识到几乎他们所有人都在中国读过这本书，因为将它作为英语文学的典范，（我猜也许是指出美国种族歧视），所以它马上就让他们联系起来。真的是一个伟大的故事能穿越国度，种族和时代。

Famous Negro spirituals, mostly developed in slavery days, often used the biblical imagery of Israelites crossing the famous Jordan River, to finally enter the promised land of Israel, a spectacular historically significant event. This historic river still exists today as a link of the famous Dead Sea to the Sea of Galilee. For many enslaved blacks yearning for freedom, the Ohio River literally became the critical crossing to safety, or to the promised land of freedom beyond.

著名的黑人灵乐精神大多数是在奴隶时代发展的，常常用圣经中以色列人跨过著名的约旦河的情景，最终进入了以色列的应许之地，一个历史上辉煌伟大的事件。那条历史上的河流直至今日还联系着著名的死海和加利利海。对于很多被奴役并向往自由的黑人们，俄亥俄河字面上就变成了通往安全之地的重要通道，或是到达自由的应许之地。

Indeed, I think that practically everyone has some kind of a significant crossing, in pursuit of a better life, a promised land, or an ideal. Many people have even crossed oceans just for that, even though it might have been an arduous effort. My own mother followed her sister across the oceans from America to China, following an ideal. Her parents, my maternal grandparents from China, also answered a calling from America more than a century ago, for grandpa to serve as one of the first pastors of the original Chinese church in Seattle. We all have an inner search that there must be something more in life, across the river, sea or ocean. There is a famous expression by the legendary brilliant mathematician, Pascal, “that there is an emptiness, or hole, in our heart, that can only be satisfied by God alone.” Our search, our crossing, finally has an end.

确实，我认为真实世界中每一个人都有一些重要的通道，在追寻更好的生活，一个应许之地，或是理想。很多人甚至远渡重洋只是为了实现这个理想，即使需要付出艰苦的奋斗。我自己的妈妈跟随她的姐姐从美国越洋来到中国，追随一个理想。她的父母亲，我的外公外婆来自中国，在一个世纪前也是回应了来自美国的呼召，外公来西雅图的中国人教会做第一位的牧师。我们都有内在的探索去发现那生命中更值得我们去寻找的东西，跨过河流，或海洋。传奇的卓越的数学家，帕斯卡，说了一句著名的话，“我们心中有一种空虚，或空洞，只有神才能填满。”我们的探索，我们的穿越，最终都有一个尽头。

I once had an excellent mentee who exceeded in everything that I tried to teach him. One day in a very candid moment he said to me, “you taught me everything, I’ve achieved everything, there are no more mountains to climb.” My equally candid riposte to him was, “try God.” A final crossing, a final aspiration.

我曾经有一个优秀的学生在每一个我所教他的领域都大大地超越了所订的目标。一天在一个非常真诚的对话中他对我说，“你教给了我所有的领域，我也达到了所有的目标，再没有更高的山可爬了。”我同样真诚的机智回答是，“试着认识上帝。”一个最终的穿越，一个最终的愿望。