by Dr. Reve' M. Pete.
A Story of Fiction
John Whattel Matthews was Caucasian. James Sylvester Malbrue was a free man of color. These two American men born in the South during the days of Slavery loved each other like brothers. Yet the struggles of post-Civil War life would test that love and provide a lesson to pass on to future generations. Inspired by references used in writing her seminary dissertation, The Impact of Holiness Preaching as Taught by John Wesley and the Outpouring of the Holy Ghost on Racism, Reve' M. Pete created I Am Not Your Problem. This fictitious story identifies inner turmoil that can cause division among men, and how unconditional love and truth spoken in love can overcome it.
虚构故事
约翰·沃特尔·马修斯是白人。詹姆斯·西尔维斯特·马尔布鲁是一位自由的有色人种。这两位出生于美国南方、正值奴隶制时期的美国人情同手足。然而，内战后的种种磨难考验着他们的爱情，也为后世留下了宝贵的教训。受其神学论文《约翰·卫斯理所教导的圣洁布道与圣灵浇灌对种族主义的影响》的启发，雷夫·M·皮特创作了《我不是你的问题》。这部虚构的故事揭示了人与人之间可能存在的内心冲突，以及无条件的爱和以爱心说出的真理如何战胜这种冲突。
Preface
While in seminary, reading several of the books l used as references for my dissertation, The Impact of Holiness Preaching as Taught by John Wesley and the Outpouring of the Holy Ghost on Racism, I learned some of the reasons why many post-Civil War Southern Caucasian-Americans resented the freed slaves. I can see traces of those unresolved issues in American life today, as Americans of both races struggle to come to terms with a difficult and painful period in America's past. I believe looking honestly and objectively at some of those "issues" will go a long way to help resolve the inner turmoil that helps to fuel racial division that stubbornly plagues American life.
The insight I gained through reading my dissertation references inspired this fictitious story. It is my hope that readers of this story will gain insight into how the struggles of human existence in American life have played a part in fueling racial division. It is also my hope that we Americans wil be able to speak openly about the things that trouble us without fear and receive grace to overcome inner turmoil that can cause and fuel racial division.
"Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding." Proverbs 4:7
The characters used in this story are completely fictitious. However to pay tribute to some of my deceased ancestors, I pulled and scrambled names from my maternal family tree to use as character names. With the exception of one person, all of my ancestors whose names l used were deceased before I was born. Therefore l acknowledge my maternal grandmother, Beulah (also deceased), who told me of the persons whose names I used.
Finally, I must thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for obvious reasons, but also because He often spoke in parables.
Reve' M. Pete, D. T. S.
前言
在神学院学习期间，我阅读了几本作为我论文参考的书籍，这些书籍包括约翰·卫斯理所教导的圣洁讲道和圣灵浇灌对种族主义的影响。通过阅读这些书籍，我了解到内战后许多南方白人美国人对获得自由的奴隶心怀怨恨的一些原因。如今，在美国社会中，我仍然能看到这些未解决问题的痕迹，因为不同种族的美国人都在努力克服美国历史上那段艰难而痛苦的时期。我相信，诚实客观地审视这些“问题”将有助于化解加剧种族分裂的内心冲突，这种分裂顽固地困扰着美国社会。
我从阅读论文参考文献中获得的启发，促成了这个虚构故事的诞生。我希望读者能够从这个故事中了解到，美国人在生活中所经历的种种挣扎，是如何加剧了种族分裂的。 我也希望我们美国人能够坦诚地谈论困扰我们的事情，无所畏惧，并蒙受恩典，克服内心的挣扎，因为这些挣扎可能导致并加剧种族分裂。
“智慧为首，所以要得智慧。在你一切所得之中，要得聪明。” 箴言 4:7
本故事中的人物纯属虚构。为了纪念我已故的祖先，我从母系家谱中选取了一些名字，并将它们打乱顺序，用作故事中的人物名字。除了一个人之外，我使用的所有祖先的名字都发生在我出生之前。因此，我要感谢我的外祖母比尤拉（也已去世），是她告诉我这些名字的由来。
最后，我必须感谢我的主和救主耶稣基督，原因显而易见，也因为祂常常用比喻的方式教导我们。
M. Pete牧师，神学博士
Prologue
It was around 1910, somewhere in the state of Louisiana. A little Caucasian boy named Johnny Matthews was playing with his best friend, a little African-American boy named Willie Malbrue. What was unusual about this friendship was not just that these two little boys of different races were friends when segregation was at its height, but that their friendship was rooted in the strong bond of friendship between their respective paternal grandfathers, John Whattel Matthews, the town's mayor and James SylvesterMalbrue, the town's chief welder.
On this particular bright and sunny Spring day, Johnny and Willie played together as their two families enjoyed their annual joint family picnic. As the women prepared to serve a feast of traditional Southern dishes like fried chicken, potato, salad, dirty rice, cold slaw and iced tea, their men folk sat under a big shady oak tree, swapping stories of days gone by - both good and bad. Suddenly, there was the sound of two little boys' voices raised in loud screeches as they argued. Then there was the sight of dust flying as they rolled on the ground in hand-to-hand combat.
John Whattel and James immediately rose from their seats and went to attend to what was by now a dust flying fight. Reaching the boys, each grandfather caught his own grandson by the back of his shirt collar and lifted him up in the air with each grandson's arms and legs still wiggling like a puppy. Upon demand by both grandfathers of what was the matter, accusations ofJohnny's wrongdoing began to fly from Willie's mouth. As fast as those accusations flew, Johnny answered them with vehement denials
After calming both boys down and hearing the matter in full, it became clear to both grandfathers that Willie had "issues" and was unjustly accusing Johnny of wrongdoing. Smiling at each other with a mysterious smile that only the two grandfathers understood, they decided to make the two boys sit down under the big shady oak tree - skipping the Southern picnic feast -- while they, the grandfathers, told them a story.
序幕
大约在1910年，路易斯安那州的某个地方。一个名叫约翰尼·马修斯的白人小男孩正和他的好朋友——一个名叫威利·马尔布鲁的非裔美国小男孩——玩耍。这段友谊的特别之处不仅在于，在种族隔离盛行的年代，这两个不同种族的小男孩竟然能成为朋友，更在于他们的友谊根植于各自祖父之间深厚的情谊：他们的祖父约翰·沃特尔·马修斯是镇长，而祖父詹姆斯·西尔维斯特·马尔布鲁则是镇上的首席焊工。
在这个阳光明媚的春日，约翰尼和威利一起玩耍，他们的两个家庭正在享受一年一度的联合家庭野餐。女人们准备着丰盛的南方传统菜肴，如炸鸡、土豆、沙拉、脏米饭、凉拌卷心菜和冰茶，男人们则坐在枝繁叶茂的大橡树下，讲述着往昔的故事——好的和坏的。 突然，两个小男孩的争吵声变得尖锐刺耳。紧接着，他们扭打在地，尘土飞扬，扭打成一团。
约翰·沃特尔和詹姆斯立刻从座位上站起来，去处理这场尘土飞扬的打斗。他们走到两个男孩跟前，一人抓住自己孙子的衣领，把他们举了起来，两个孙子的胳膊腿像小狗一样扭来扭去。两位爷爷问发生了什么事，威利开始指责约翰尼做错了事。约翰尼立刻连忙否认。
两位爷爷安抚好两个男孩，听完事情经过后，明白了威利“有点问题”，他冤枉了约翰尼。 他们彼此相视一笑，露出只有两位爷爷才能理解的神秘笑容，决定让两个男孩坐在枝繁叶茂的大橡树下——不去享用南方野餐盛宴——然后两位爷爷给他们讲故事。
Chapter 1
John Whattel and James became friends as boys, during the days of slavery. The Matthews Family owned James' family as slaves. However, the Matthews were not harsh toward their slaves. They treated them kindly. The kindness of the Matthews family toward their slaves also protected them from some of the harsh realities of slavery, such as families being separated at the auction block.
John Whattel and James were the same age. Although James had duties and work to do as a slave, the Matthews also viewed him as a suitable companion for John Whattel, who, if not properly "entertained" could be prone to getting into mischief. Because of their arranged companionship, the two boys grew up together on the Matthews Family plantation and played together like brothers.
John Whattel's grandfather, Samuel Matthews, owned the Matthews plantation. It was a huge plantation and had an area where Samuel would fish. John Whattel was crazy about his grandfather -- sure that the "sun rose and set" in him. Samuel would take both John Whattel and James fishing. He also taught the boys to hunt.
As the rumblings of the conflict between the states over slavery grew, pressures began to mount on plantation owners to join in the fight against the abolition of the way of life that Southern landowners had grown to love. Although Samuel Matthews did not at all approve of cruelty toward slaves, he did believe in the right to own them and to maintain the life that was the way of the South. When war broke out, he enlisted as an officer in the Confederate Army and went to war to defend the Southern way of life.
Samuel Matthews was wounded in a battle in Jackson Mississippi that was of a type that would cause General Sherman to say, "War is Hell". Although the wound was not fatal, with too few medical supplies and medical personnel, Samuel was unable to get adequate treatment for it. While making his way home to his family, Samuel Matthews died not far from his plantation. Confederate soldiers delivered his body, draped over a horse, back to the plantation for burial - in plain site of a horrified John Whattel.
第一章
约翰·沃特尔和詹姆斯在奴隶制时期还是孩童时就成了朋友。马修斯家族拥有詹姆斯一家，他们是奴隶。然而，马修斯家族对待奴隶并不苛刻，反而十分友善。马修斯家族的这种善意也使奴隶们免受奴隶制残酷现实的折磨，例如在拍卖台上被迫分离。
约翰·沃特尔和詹姆斯同龄。尽管詹姆斯作为奴隶也有自己的职责和工作要做，但马修斯家族也认为他是约翰·沃特尔的好伙伴。约翰·沃特尔如果得不到适当的“陪伴”，就很容易惹是生非。由于这种安排，两个男孩在马修斯家族的种植园里一起长大，像亲兄弟一样玩耍。
约翰·沃特尔的祖父塞缪尔·马修斯拥有马修斯种植园。这是一个巨大的种植园，其中有一片区域是塞缪尔经常去钓鱼的地方。约翰·沃特尔非常崇拜他的祖父，他坚信祖父是他生命中最重要的人。 塞缪尔经常带约翰·沃特尔和詹姆斯去钓鱼，他还教孩子们打猎。
随着各州之间因奴隶制问题而起的冲突愈演愈烈，种植园主们面临的压力也越来越大，他们被迫加入到反对废除南方地主们所珍视的生活方式的斗争中。尽管塞缪尔·马修斯完全不赞成虐待奴隶，但他相信拥有奴隶的权利，也相信南方人有权维护他们所珍视的生活方式。战争爆发后，他应征入伍，成为南方邦联军队的一名军官，奔赴战场捍卫南方的生活方式。
在密西西比州杰克逊的一场战斗中，塞缪尔·马修斯负伤。这场战斗的惨烈程度，足以让谢尔曼将军感叹“战争即地狱”。虽然伤势并不致命，但由于医疗物资和医务人员匮乏，塞缪尔无法得到充分的治疗。在返回家乡与家人团聚的途中，塞缪尔·马修斯在离他的种植园不远的地方去世了。 南方邦联士兵将他的尸体搭在一匹马上，运回种植园埋葬——就在惊恐万分的约翰·沃特尔的眼前。
Chapter 2
After the Civil War, life changed for both John Whattel and James. Now young men, James began life as a free man of color. John Whattel now owned what was left of the plantation. Hard times brought on by the war had greatly diminished the holdings of the Matthews family, and without slaves, John Whattel was forced to work as a bookkeeper to make ends meet. James, a skilled craftsman, found work as a welder. Samuel Whattel had seen to it that James learned this trade. With welders in the area being far and few between and James being the best at this skill for miles around, it was possible for James to survive in a time when freed slaves worked for low wages and were housed in cabins with poor conditions and fuel.
Although he was doing well, James was troubled by the racial oppression that was present all around him. One night while making his way home from work, James walked up on some Caucasian men harassing a free man of color. Seeing this injustice, anger burned within him. It was the type of anger that causes men to act without thinking. However before he could move, strong arms gripped him from behind and a large hand covered his mouth. Pulled back, he was brought to the ground out of sight of the evil Caucasian men who were whipping the free man of color. James thought he would smother as he felt the full weight of this person on his back pinning him to ground with his face in the dirt. This person held James down until the Caucasian men left the free man of color, unaware of James' presence. Once the evil men were gone, James was released. The person holding James down was John Whattel.
After leaving the bookkeeping office, John Whattel had seen James making his way home. He too had seen the confrontation between the evil Caucasian men and the free man of color. Anticipating James' anger and possible actions, he had come behind him to get him out of the way. John Whattel's actions saved James' life. The evil Caucasian men were not from the area where the boys lived and therefore, not knowing the value of James' skill to the area, would not have hesitated to shoot him on the spot or kill him by some other means for interfering with what they were doing.
第二章
内战结束后，约翰·沃特尔和詹姆斯的生活都发生了改变。詹姆斯如今已是年轻人，作为一名自由的黑人开始了新的生活。约翰·沃特尔则拥有了种植园的剩余部分。战争带来的困境极大地缩减了马修斯家族的财产，失去了奴隶，约翰·沃特尔被迫做簿记员来维持生计。詹姆斯是一位技艺精湛的工匠，他找到了一份焊工的工作。塞缪尔·沃特尔曾亲自指导詹姆斯学习这门手艺。由于当地焊工寥寥无几，而詹姆斯又是方圆几里最好的焊工，因此在那个自由奴隶收入微薄、居住条件恶劣、燃料匮乏的年代，詹姆斯得以生存下来。
尽管生活尚可，但詹姆斯仍然为周围无处不在的种族压迫而感到不安。一天晚上，詹姆斯下班回家途中，看到几个白人正在骚扰一位自由的黑人。 目睹这般不公，詹姆斯心中怒火中烧。这是一种会让人失去理智的愤怒。然而，还没等他反应过来，一双有力的手臂就从背后抓住了他，一只大手捂住了他的嘴。他被猛地拉了回去，摔倒在地，远离了那些正在鞭打自由黑人的邪恶白人。詹姆斯感到背上压着一个人，脸埋在泥土里，他几乎窒息而死。这个人一直按着詹姆斯，直到那些白人离开，没有注意到詹姆斯的存在。等那些恶徒走后，詹姆斯才被放开。按着詹姆斯的人是约翰·沃特尔。
离开会计办公室后，约翰·沃特尔看到詹姆斯正往家走。他也目睹了邪恶白人和自由黑人之间的冲突。他预料到詹姆斯会愤怒，可能会做出什么事，于是走到詹姆斯身后，想把他拉开。约翰·沃特尔的举动救了詹姆斯的命。 这些邪恶的白人男子并非男孩们居住地的本地人，因此，他们不知道詹姆斯的技能对当地的重要性，所以会毫不犹豫地当场枪杀他，或者用其他方式杀死他，因为他妨碍了他们的行动。
Chapter 3
As time wore on, pressures of life in the post-Civil War South began to mount on John Whattel. The Matthews estate was in debt. John Whattel struggled to maintain the land that he loved, where he grew up and had fond memories of times with his grandfather. As the pressures mounted, John Whattel grew bitter, resenting the challenges he faced. He sought solace in liquor and when he drank, was prone to release his frustrations by verbally abusing those he loved most, including James.
James was very concerned about John Whattel and did all he could to help him. By this time John Whattel had married. When his wife could not handle him in his drunken stupor, she would send for James to assist her with handling him. Over time this began to put a strain on the relationship between the two men who had been friends since childhood. John Whattel kept looking back to the carefree days of his childhood when he played on the plantation and went fishing and hunting with his grandfather. Then he spoke bitterly of the war that took away the man in whom he thought the "sun rose and set". In his distorted drunken state he began to see James not as the one he loved like a brother, but as the reason his grandfather was dead. His grandfather had died defending his way of life. That meant defending slavery. John Whattel drunkenly reasoned if there had been no war over slavery, Samuel Matthews would be alive. James' freedom meant the death of his grandfather.
One day, John Whattel started drinking earlier than usual and began his rant about his grandfather. His wife sent for James. Before James arrived, John Whattel ran out of the house and made his way to his grandfather's grave. That is where James found him reeling from liquor and blaming his plight on the world.
When James confronted him, John Whattel threw a punch and knocked James down. Although James loved John Whattel, he had had enough of his friend's drunken rages and a fight ensued. James whipped John Whattel sober, and in the process, pinned him to the ground and shouted in his face," I am NOT your PROBLEM!" James told John Whattel that although Samuel Matthews had been kind to him and his family as slaves, it was not right that men own each other. All men have the right to freedom and the benefits of a nation that was founded on liberty. Samuel Matthews was a good and kind man, but had died defending the wrong cause. Neither James nor any other free person of color could be blamed for Samuel Matthew's death.
The whipping that John Whattel received at the hands of James brought him back to reality. He crawled to his grandfather's grave and wept over it, remembering with fondness and love and also missing the man in whom for him the "sun rose and set". From the time he had seen Samuel Matthew's dead body brought back on a horse, John Whattel had never shed a tear. He had held his grief within and that grief, combined with the frustrations of dealing with the challenges of post-Civil War life brought him to a breaking point. Now as he wept, the pressures and grief were both released as James stood by, understanding and loving the man who was as his brother.
When John Whattel got up, he looked at James. No words were said. None were needed. He just grabbed and held on to his friend and brother whose life he had once saved, knowing that now the favor had indeed been returned. The two men left the grave, John Whattel leaning on James. With the help of his wife and James, John Whattel would face his challenges with the courage of the type of man his grandfather would have wanted him to be.
第三章
随着时间的流逝，内战后南方生活的种种压力开始压垮约翰·沃特尔。马修斯庄园债台高筑。约翰·沃特尔竭力维持着他深爱的土地，这片土地是他成长的地方，也是他与祖父共度美好时光的摇篮。压力与日俱增，约翰·沃特尔变得愤世嫉俗，怨恨着眼前的困境。他借酒消愁，酒后常常会用言语辱骂他最爱的人，包括詹姆斯，以此发泄心中的不满。
詹姆斯非常关心约翰·沃特尔，尽其所能地帮助他。此时，约翰·沃特尔已经结婚。每当妻子无法控制醉酒的他时，就会叫詹姆斯来帮忙。久而久之，这让两位自幼相识的好友之间的关系变得紧张起来。约翰·沃特尔总是怀念童年时在种植园里玩耍、与祖父一起钓鱼打猎的无忧无虑的日子。 然后，他痛苦地谈起那场夺走他生命之源——“太阳升起落下”之人的战争。在醉酒的迷离状态下，他开始把詹姆斯看作是害死他祖父的罪魁祸首，而不是他视如兄弟的挚爱。他的祖父为了捍卫自己的生活方式而死，这意味着捍卫奴隶制。约翰·沃特尔醉醺醺地认为，如果没有这场奴隶制战争，塞缪尔·马修斯就不会死。詹姆斯的自由意味着他祖父的死亡。
一天，约翰·沃特尔比平时更早开始喝酒，并开始对他祖父的怨恨喋喋不休。他的妻子叫詹姆斯过来。詹姆斯还没到，约翰·沃特尔就冲出家门，径直走向祖父的坟墓。詹姆斯在那里找到了他，他醉得不省人事，把自己的不幸归咎于这个世界。
詹姆斯上前质问他时，约翰·沃特尔一拳打倒了詹姆斯。尽管詹姆斯很爱约翰·沃特尔，但他已经受够了朋友的醉酒暴怒，两人随即扭打起来。 詹姆斯狠狠地鞭打了清醒的约翰·沃特尔，同时把他按倒在地，对着他的脸吼道：“我不是你的问题！”詹姆斯告诉约翰·沃特尔，虽然塞缪尔·马修斯在他和家人还是奴隶的时候对他们很好，但人与人之间互相拥有财产是不对的。所有人都有自由的权利，都有权享受一个建立在自由之上的国家所带来的福祉。塞缪尔·马修斯是个善良的好人，但他却为了错误的事业而死。詹姆斯和其他任何自由的有色人种都不应该为塞缪尔·马修斯的死负责。
詹姆斯的鞭打让约翰·沃特尔清醒过来。他爬到祖父的坟前，痛哭流涕，满怀深情地回忆着祖父，也无比思念着那个对他来说“日月同辉”的人。自从他亲眼看到塞缪尔·马修斯的遗体被马匹抬回来之后，约翰·沃特尔就再也没有流过眼泪。 他将悲痛深埋心底，而这悲痛，加上内战后生活种种挑战带来的挫败感，最终让他崩溃。此刻，当他放声痛哭时，所有的压力和悲痛都得到了释放。詹姆斯站在一旁，理解并爱着这个如同亲兄弟般的人。
约翰·沃特尔起身，望着詹姆斯。两人没有说话，也无需多言。他只是紧紧地抓住这位曾被他救过命的朋友和兄弟，他知道，如今这份恩情终于得到了回报。两人离开了墓地，约翰·沃特尔倚靠在詹姆斯身上。在妻子和詹姆斯的帮助下，约翰·沃特尔将勇敢地面对未来的挑战，成为他祖父希望他成为的那种人。
Epilogue
After hearing the story from both John Whattel and James, Johnny looked at Willie and said, "Willie, you know what? I am not your problem either!" The four of them then rose, went to the picnic table, Willie leaning on Johnny, and proceeded to enjoy the feast of fried chicken, potato salad, dirty rice, cold slaw and iced tea.
尾声
听完约翰·沃特尔和詹姆斯的讲述后，约翰尼看着威利说：“威利，你知道吗？我也不是你的问题！” 随后，四人起身走到野餐桌旁，威利靠在约翰尼身上，开始享用炸鸡、土豆沙拉、脏米饭、凉拌卷心菜和冰茶。
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