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All the Cabbie Had Was a Letter
Foster Furcolo
1
He must have been completely lost in something he was reading because I
had to tap on the windshield to get his attention.
出租车司机拥有的就剩一封信
福斯特
?
弗克洛
他准是完全沉浸在所读的东西里了，因为我不得不敲挡风玻璃来引起他的注意。
2
then said apologetically as I settled into the back seat,
a letter.
He sounded as if he had a cold or something.
他总算抬头看我了。
“你出车吗？”我问道。他点点头，当我坐进后座时 ，他抱歉地说：
“对不起，我在读一封
信。
”听上去他像是得了感冒什么的。
3
“我不着
急，
”我对他说，
“你接着把信读完吧。
”
4
He shook his head.
by heart.
他摇了摇头。
“我已经读了好几遍了。我想我都能背出来了。
”
5
from
home
always
mean
a
lot,
I
said.
At
least
they
do
with
me
because I'm on the road so much.
I guessed:
“家书抵万金啊，
”
我说。
“至
少 对我来说是这样，
因为我老是在外旅行。
”我估量他有六七十岁了，便猜测说：
“是孩 子还
是孙子写来的？”
6
might just as well have been family. Old Ed was my oldest friend. In fact, we used
to
call
each
other
'Old
Friend'
─
when
we'd
meet,
that
is.
I'm
not
much
of
a
hand at writing.
“不是家里人，
”他回答说。
“不过，
”他接着说，
“想起来，也可
以算是一家人了。埃德老伙计是我最老的朋友了 。实际上，过去我俩总是以‘老朋友’相称
的
——
就是说，当我俩相见时。我这人就是不大会写东西。
”
7
don't.
But I take it he's someone you've known quite a while?
< br>“我看大家
写信都不那么勤快，
”我说，
“我自己笔头就很懒。我看，你认识他 挺久了吧？”
参考
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8
my
life,
practically.
We
were
kids
together,
so
we
go
way
back.
“差不多认识了一辈子了。我俩小时候就一起玩，所以我俩的友谊确实很长了。
”
9
“一起上的学？”
10
the
way
through
high
school.
We
were
in
the
same
class,
in
fact,
through both grade and high school.
“都一起上到高中呢。事实上，我俩从小
学到高中都在一个班里。
”
11
“保持这么长久友谊的人可真不多见啊，
”我说。
12
year
over
the
past
25
or
30
years
because
I
moved
away
from
the
old
neighborhood and you kind of lose touch even though you never forget. He was
a great guy.
“其实呢，
”司机接着说，
“近
25
到
30年来，我跟他一年只见一两次
面，因为我从原来住的老街坊搬了出来，
联系自然就少了，虽 说你一直放在心上。
他在的时
候可真是个大好人。
”
13
─
?
“你刚才说他‘在的时候’
。你是说
——？”
14
He nodded.
他点了点头。
“前两个星期过
世啦。
”
15
─
and losing a real old one is
even tougher.
“真遗憾，
”我说，
“失去朋友真不是个滋味，失去个真正的老朋友
更让人受不了。
”
16
He didn't reply to that, and we rode on in silence for a few minutes.
But I
realized
that
Old
Ed
was
still
on
his
mind
when
he
spoke
again,
almost
more
to
himself than to me:
kept in touch.
他开着车，
没有接话儿。
< br>我们沉默了几分钟。
可我知道他还在想着
老埃德。他又开口时，与其说是跟我说话，还不 如说是自言自语：
“我真该一直保持联系。
真的，
”他重复道，
“我真该一直 保持联系。
”
参考
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17
do. But things come up and we just don't seem to find the time.
“是啊，
”我< br>表示赞同，
“我们都该与老朋友保持更多的联系。不过总是有事情冒出来，好像就是抽不出
空来。
”
18
He shrugged.
the letter.
他耸了耸肩。
“我们过去总能
抽出空来，
”他说。
“信里还提到呢。
”他把信递给我，
“你看看吧。
”
19
“谢谢你，
”我说，
“不过我不想读你的信。这纯属私事。
”
20
The
driver
shrugged.
Ed's
dead.
There's
nothing
personal
now.
Go
ahead,
司机耸一耸肩。
“老埃德人都死了。没什么私事不私事了。
念吧，
”他催促说。
21
The letter was written in pencil. It began with the greeting
the
first
sentence
reminded
me
of
myself.
I've
been
meaning
to
write
for
some
time,
but
I've
always
postponed
it.
It then
went
on
to
say
that
he often
thought
about the good times they had had together when they both lived in the same
neighborhood.
It had references to things that probably meant something to the
driver, such as the time Tim Shea broke the window, the Halloween that we tied
Old Mr. Parker's gate, and when Mrs. Culver used to keep us after school.
信
是用铅笔写的。称呼写着“老朋友”
，而开头第一句话让我想到自己。
“早就想写 信了，可就
是一拖再拖。
”
信里接着写道，
他常常回想从前两人住 在一个街坊时的快乐时光。
信里提到
些事，可能对司机很重要，比如“那次蒂姆
?谢打破窗子，那年万圣节前夕，我们把老帕克
先生的大门拴了起来，还有卡尔弗太太老是在放学后把 咱俩留下训斥的那阵子”
。
22
“你们俩准
是在一起度过了不少时光，
”我对他说。
23
was time.
“就跟信里写的那样，
”
他回答说，
“我俩在
那个时候能花的只有时间。< br>”他摇头叹道：
“时间啊。
”
参考
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24
I thought the next paragraph of the letter was a little sad: I began the letter
with
─
old friends.
And there aren't many of us left.
信里接下来的那段我觉 得有点凄凉：
“信的开头
我写着‘老朋友’
，因为这么多年来，我们这对老朋友渐渐都 老了。我们这些人当中留下的
也不多了。
”
25
that's
absolutely
right.
Every
time
I
go
to
a
class
reunion,
for
example,
there
are
fewer and fewer still around.
“你要 知道，
”我对他说，
“信里说我们这些人当中
留下的不多了，
说得一点不错。
比如说，
每次我去参加老同学聚会，来的人总是越来越少。
”
26
“时间不饶人啊，
”司机说。
27
“你们俩以前在一
起工作吗？”我问他。
28
when we were married, we used to go to each other's house every now and then.
But for the last 20 or 30 years it's been mostly just Christmas cards. Of course there'd
be always a note we'd each add to the cards
─
usually some news about our
families,
you
know,
what
the
kids
were
doing,
who
moved
where,
a
new
grandchild,
things
like
that
─
but
never
a
real
letter
or
anything
like
that.
“不，不过没成家时我俩总在一起闲荡。后来，两人都成了家，就不时相互串门。 可最近这
二三十年来，
主要就是寄寄圣诞卡了。
当然，
我俩都总在卡上写几句
——
通常是关于各自
家里的情况，
不是吗，
孩 子们在干些什么，
谁搬到哪儿，
添了个小孙子，
都是这类事
——
可
一直都没正儿八经地写过信什么的。
”
29
is
a
good
part
here,
I
said.
it
says
Your
friendship
over
the
years has meant an awful lot to me, more than I can say because I'm not good at
saying
things
like
that.
found
myself
nodding
in
agreement.
must
have
made you feel good, didn't it?
“这一处写得好，
”我说，
“这里写道：
‘ 你多年的
友谊对我非常重要，
远比我能说出来的重要得多，
因为我不擅长说这样的话。
’
”
我颔首称是。
“这话准让你听着开心，是吧？”
30
The driver said something that I couldn't understand because he seemed to
be all choked up, so I continued:
my oldest friend.
司机说了句什么，可我没听明白，因为他似乎哽噎得厉害。于是
我接着说：
“我也真想收到这样一封老朋友的来信。
”
参考
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31
We were getting close to our destination so I skipped to the last paragraph.
So I thought you'd like to know that I was thinking of you. And it was signed, Your
Old Friend, Tom.
我们快 到目的地了，于是我跳到最后一段。
“因此我想你一定想知
道我惦记着你。
”信末署名 ：
“老朋友汤姆”
。
32
I handed back the letter as we stopped at my hotel.
you,
我们在我的旅店前停下，
我把信递了回 去。
“很高兴能和你聊聊，
”
我将衣箱从车上提下时说。
汤姆？信的署名是汤 姆？
33
thought
your
friend's
name
was
Ed,
I
said.
did
he
sign
it
Tom?
“我记得你朋友叫埃德，
”我说，
“为什么他署名汤姆呢？”
34
to him before I knew he'd died. So I never mailed it.
“这封信不是 汤姆写给我
的，
”他解释说，
“我是汤姆。这是我在得知他去世前写给他的信。所以我 一直没寄出。
”
35
He looked sort of sorrowful, or as if he were trying to see something in the
distance.
他神 情有点悲伤，
似乎想看清
远处什么东西。
“我想我真该早些写这封信。
”
36
When I got to my hotel room I didn't unpack right away. First I had to write a
letter
─
and mail
it.
我进了旅馆房间之后，没有马上打开箱包。首先我得写封信
——
而且要寄出去。
参考
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资料
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