Bethune almost immediately set out for the hazardous(復雜危險的) surroundings of the mountain ranges of Yen an. In the company of the Eighth Route Army, Bethune practiced his profession as best as he could. There were no mobile units and there was a desperate need to recruit medical trainees and convey his knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the soldiers. Consequently, there was an urgent requirement for illustrated medical manuals.

　　Both soldiers and peasants required a good deal of medical attention. Again, under very trying(難受的,費勁的) conditions, and with a lot of nerve, determination and courage, Bethune and his crew of Chinese assistants were eventually able to establish and coordinate over twenty medical and nursing teaching hospitals. Because of shortages of personnel and other difficulties, Bethune himself routinely operated for days without reasonable breaks. In one period, he worked continually for sixty-nine hours on a total of one hundred and fifteen patients. His ability to endure such hard conditions and retain his sanity(頭腦清醒) was little short of a miracle(奇跡). It was under these conditions that his life became abruptly(突然的) doomed(注定). In October of 1939, possible suffering from extreme fatigue, he accidentally cut his left hand with the blade of his scalpel(解剖刀). Without proper medical supplies and with germs everywhere, his hand became infected and blood poisoning (a disease called septicemia) spread. He died on November 12, 1939.

　　Dr. Norman Bethune’s stature ([思想的] 境界, 高度) became even greater in death. The affection of the Chinese people for him swelled Emotions ran high upon the news of his death. His capacity to move people, and his insight into humanity was never so evident as during this period. The Chinese people were extremely grateful that such a man had crossed their paths.

　　During this solemn time, tributes to Bethune came from many parts of the world. He was described as an activist, a writer, a teacher, an administrator, and above all, a great doctor. Mao said of him, “… We must all learn the spirit of absolute selflessness from him.”

　　After a very simple funeral, as he, had requested, Dr. Norman Bethune was buried in the Mausoleum (陵墓) of the Martyrs in Shih Chia Chuang, southeast of Beijing. The Chinese named a medical school and a hospital in his memory. Many other memorials have been erected in his memory over the years.

　　One ironic(具有諷刺意味的) tragedy of all of this was that, up until 1973, Dr. Bethune had never received much recognition from his native country of Canada. Furthermore, he was not even acknowledged for his accomplishments, presumably because of his communist connection. In 1973, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, another Canadian who had spent a good deal of time in China in his earlier years, convinced his Government to purchase the Bethune house in Graven Hurst, Ontario, and dedicated(把…用于) it as “Bethune Memorial House”.

　　Dr. Bethune’s impact on medicine was not singular. His career was very comprehensive, as noted above, as he attained an extraordinary list of accomplishments of highest merit. Among his many goals, was one goal that was not fulfilled until after his death? In 1938, while in china, he recommended a universal health system for Canada. Ironically, Donald Sutherland, the Canadian actor who played Bethune in the movie about the latter’s life, called “Bethune: the Making of a Hero”, had been married to the daughter of Douglas. Douglas, when he was the Socialist Premier of Saskatchewan, a western province in Canada, set up a social medicine scheme in his province. Later, in the 1960’s, as a Member of Parliament in the national government, Douglas Played a significant role in establishing a national health system. He later became known as the father of Canada’s Medicare system, as it was eventually called.

　　Bethune is probably best known for his introduction of the mobile blood bank to the battlefield, and giving blood transfusions(輸血) in the midst of heavy fighting. China worships him almost as a saint. Upon his death, the Chinese gave him a fond farewell. The charity of his soul still lives on among many Chinese. As Canadian teachers in China, we are often greeted by Chinese people, who make references of praise to this Great Canadian Doctor and humanitarian. Unfortunately, many Canadians know little about the incredible work for humanity undertaken by this remarkable man. This decent, in many ways, simple man was, indeed, one of the great world ambassadors who fought for the poor and less fortunate.

　　諾爾曼·白求恩：一個在中國的加拿大英雄

　　諾爾曼·白求恩于1890年出生在加拿大安大略省的格雷文赫斯特。他的家族有從事公共事業的悠久歷史，這毫無疑問地影響了他以后的發展。從一開始，他還是一個青年大學生的時候，他就立下志向，他的叢生目標就是要有一顆憐憫之心，承擔起社會責任，幫助不幸的人們擺脫貧困的桎梏，獲得自由。他堅定不移地培養了一種無私的精神，這種精神貫穿他的一生，從不考慮個人的得失。他有一次不成功的婚姻，最終以離婚收場。他生活中的唯一目的是讓醫術精益求精和積極從事人道主義活動。在這種情況下，可想而知，比他年輕得多的妻子弗朗西斯是難以接受的。

　　1911年到1912年，白求恩在安大略的一個偏遠地區做一名伐木工和教師。他在“邊疆學院”教書。那是一所專門為伐木營地的成年工人提供基礎教育的學校。

　　第一次大戰期間，他成了一名擔架手(幫助從戰場上運送傷員)。他自己也被流彈(爆炸后彈殼的碎片)所傷。作為一個病人，他不得不在醫院住了幾個月，接受治療，等待傷口康復。

　　戰后，他在英國倫敦的兒童醫院完成了實習醫師期，領到了“皇家外科醫學院會員”的資格證書。

　　之后，在美國，白求恩就與貧窮和落后聯系在一起了。但他的醫術也吸引了富有的病人，他們可以付錢來得到那些通常拒絕對窮人進行的治療。他認識到金錢是如何腐蝕醫療系統的，并開始急切地關注被人忽視的窮人中的醫療需求和苦難。他的使命就是盡其所能地使不幸的人們擺脫困境。他對政府漠視這些情況感到震驚。也就在這時，他自己的健康開始惡化。他的左肺染上了肺結核，于是他進行了一次成功但很危險的手術。健康上出現的這一段插曲，對他的一生產生了極大的影響。這激發了他對心胸科醫學，特別是該領域的外科方面的興趣，促使他在美國的一家肺病醫院工作了幾年。

　　在美國工作的這段時間之后，1929年，他開始成為蒙特利爾的皇家維多利亞醫院胸科醫學專家。他開始在醫學雜志上撰寫文章介紹新的外科技術。后來，他發明、研究并改進了外科儀器。