As stories go, the tale of how a desperately ill, nameless baby from China turned into Bella Xin KaLare Strickland of West Monroe, Louisiana, is an extraordinary one. Three short years ago, a friend and I found the newborn, swaddled in several layers of clothing and abandoned in a Shanghai alleyway. Since then, her story has morphed from communist tragedy to Christian fairy tale: one minute an orphan screaming in a cold, dark street; three years later a stroppy toddler, living a charmed life in sunny Louisiana.
本文將講述一個離奇的故事,隨著故事發展,你會看到一個來自中國、疾病纏身的無名棄嬰,是怎樣變成美國路易斯安那州西門羅的貝拉•新•克萊爾•斯特里克蘭(Bella Xin KaLare Strickland)的。四年前,我和一個朋友在上海一條弄堂裏發現一個裹著層層衣服的棄嬰。從那天起,她的故事便由社會主義制度下的悲劇,轉變成基督教童話:近四年前,她還是個在寒冷漆黑的窄巷裏啼哭的孤兒;如今,她已是在陽光明媚的路易斯安那州享受美麗人生的嬌蠻幼童。