一切皆因为缘分

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StoryCorps is made possible through funding from state farm—the Atlantic philanthropies and The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and most importantly through the support of participants and listeners like you nationwide.

Welcome to the StoryCorps broadcast. In January 1951, a massive blizzard hit the southern United States, blanketing the region in ice and snow. At the time, Doctor Jim Fleming was a high school student in Greenwood, Mississippi. Here, in an interview with his daughter Janetta, he remembers how he spent those snow days, down south.

School was out for two weeks, and all the telephone lines were down. I was at home, with nothing to do. But I was a curious boy, and I loved to learn. So I had brought my biology book home, I loved biology.

So during these two weeks I memorized the animal kingdom, the order, the genus, species, phylum, the whole deal. So I get back to school, and it was time for exams. And the exam for biology said: write the animal kingdom. So, I wrote like the dickens, you know, I finished it.

Well, the next day when they were grading the papers, I get called into the principal’s office and he said: Jimmy, I am sorry but you cheated and we are gonna have to punish you. I said "wait a minute, I didn’t cheat, I know that, He said,"Nobody knows that", I said, "Well, I do". And he said: well, if you’re so smart, you just sit right there and let me see you do that. So, I sat down there and wrote the animal kingdom just like I had on the exam, just exactly like it was. But now here is the corollary(必然的结果) to that story.

When I got to Vanderbilt in my freshman year, we studied biology. When it came time for the final exam, I sat down and there was a question said write the animal kingdom. And I sat down and wrote that blue book, wrote it full.

A Couple of days later, Doctor Farrell called me in. He said "no one can write the animal kingdom like that, you copied out of a book". I said "No, Dr. Farrell, I did not". So he said sit down right here and show me. So I wrote the animal kingdom, by that time, you’re doing very well.

When I’ve gotten into practice, I got a call one night from the Vanderbilt emergency room, So, I got over there and assessed this girl, and said, you know, "I need to take her to surgery. Nurse said, well, you need to talk to her father. So when I went out there to talk to her father, there was Dr. Farrell. And he looked at me and he said," animal kingdom, aren’t you boy?" I said "yeah, that’s me, Dr. Farrell". He said "well, you are ok, you go ahead and operate on my daughter". 

That’s Jim Fleming with his daughter Janetta. To see photos and to make reservation for your own interview, visit StoryCorps.net. While you are there, learn more about StoryCorps’ first book, listening is an act of love, now out in paperback. Major support for StoryCorps is provided by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Our podcasters are supported by the Fetzer Institute as part of its Campaign for Love and Forgiveness. Learn more at loveandforgive.org.

Our StoryCorps interviews are housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and you can hear StoryCorps on the radio Fridays on NPR's morning edition.

For the StoryCorps podcast, this is Katie Simon. Thanks for listening.