峽谷天使離開人間 一生守護自殺聖地

For nearly five decades he gazed out of his Sydney home overlooking the Pacific Ocean, inspired by one of Australia's most picturesque views. But it was not just a love for the sea that drew him to the dramatic panorama.
近五十年來，裏奇一直從自己悉尼的家眺望着太平洋，從這裏可以欣賞到澳大利亞最如詩如畫般的景緻。然而，他會選擇定居在這片夢幻而壯闊的地區，卻並不是出於對大海的熱愛。

Don Ritchie's window-watching had a far greater purpose. Since l964 he has saved at least 160 lives, though some say the true figure is much higher. Mr Ritchie, who died this week at the age of 86, was known as the Angel of the Gap, a title earned for persuading people not to throw themselves off the notorious Australian suicide spot.
唐·裏奇隔窗眺望的不只是美景，而是一個更偉大的目標——生命。自1964年起，他已經拯救了超過160名自殺者——更有人說遠遠不止這個數字。多年來，他因爲勸阻來到澳大利亞這個“自殺聖地”的人們而被親切地稱爲“峽谷天使”。然而，人間天使未能永生，本週唐·裏奇逝世，享年86歲。

Like Beachy Head on the Sussex coast, the sheer cliffs at the mouth of Sydney harbour have long acted as a magnet to those who have lost all hope. But thanks to his calm voice and sympathetic manner, Mr Ritchie offered a helping hand to the desperate by engaging them in conversation on the cliff-top in their hour of need.
正如薩塞克斯的比奇角一樣，悉尼港河口的峭壁也是無數對生活完全喪失了信心的自殺者的首選。然而，幸好有裏奇在。他用鎮定的嗓音和溫暖的方式和命懸一線的自殺者交談，從而伸出救援之手。

A modest man who did not court celebrity or praise, Mr Ritchie would spot would-be suicides from his home and slowly walk across the road to them. At the cliff-edge he would simply smile and ask them, "Can I help you in some way?" More often than not the quiet approach worked, though on some occasions he risked his own life by physically restraining the more determined from making their final leap.
不爲名利，不求褒獎，裏奇始終從家裏觀察着懸崖，一旦發現意欲自殺的人，他就會穩步走過去微笑着問“有什麼我能幫你的嗎？”，這往往比什麼都不說有用。雖然時不時還是有人打定主意要縱身一躍，但千鈞一髮之際他總是冒着生命危險去拉住自殺者。

Afterwards he would invite them back to his home for a cup of tea and a chat and occasionally they would return years later to thank him for saving their life. One survivor gave him a painting of an angel with the rays of the sun and the simple message: "An angel who walks amongst us."
把自殺者從懸崖上勸下來之後，裏奇會請他們來家裏坐坐，喝杯茶聊聊天。有時許多年過去，那些曾被他救過的人還會回來感謝他當年的勸阻。一位倖存者送給裏奇一幅畫，畫上是一個閃耀着太陽光環的天使，旁邊配着簡單的一句：“我們身邊的天使。”

"My ambition has always been to just get them away from the edge, to buy them time, to give them the opportunity to reflect and give them the chance to realise that things might look better the next morning," he once confided."You just can't sit there and watch them," he added. "You've got to try and save them."
“我只是想把要自殺的人從懸崖上勸下來，讓他們有時間也有機會再好好想想，說不定就能想通一切都會好起來的。”裏奇曾這樣吐露心聲。“我就是沒辦法坐視人們輕生，”他補充道，“總要有人去試着挽回他們的心意。”

Mr Ritchie's daughter, Sue, said her father enjoyed his ocean view, but was equally determined to watch out for troubled souls. He once said an offer of help "was all that was needed to turn people around and he would say not to underestimate the power of a kind word and a smile," she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
裏奇的女兒蘇曾說過父親非常喜歡海景，但更篤定要幫助那些輕生的靈魂。“父親曾說簡單的一句話就能夠使人回心轉意，永遠不要低估善意語言和溫暖微笑的力量。”在接受悉尼先驅晨報採訪時，她回憶道。

He was "a great mixture of strength and compassion... an everyday person who did an extraordinary thing for many people that saved their lives, without any want of recognition," she added.
“父親富有勇氣和同情心。他只是一個平凡的人，卻拯救了這麼多人的性命。這是件高尚的舉動，而他卻不求任何回報。”

Mr Ritchie was a seaman in the Royal Australian Navy during the Second World War and witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in 1945. Back in Sydney he worked in the insurance industry. He would later tell friends of the people he had saved: "I was a salesman for most of my life and I sold them life."
裏奇曾在二戰期間效力於澳大利亞皇家海軍，並於1945年在東京灣見證了日本投降。戰爭結束後，他回到悉尼從事保險推銷工作。裏奇曾這樣跟倖存者的朋友說，“我做了大半輩子的保險推銷員，而我賣給他們的是生命。”