Six minutes to six, said the clock over the information booth in New York's Grand Central Station, The tall, young Army lieutenant heart was pounding with a beat. In six minutes he would see the woman who had filled such a special place in his life for the past 13 months, the women he had never seen, yet whose written words had sustained him unfailingly.
在紐約地鐵中心總站,諮詢處上方的時鐘指向了5點54分.年輕高大的陸軍中尉抬起黝黑的臉龐,眯著眼睛看上面的時間.一顆心激動得怦怦直跳,6分鐘後,他就要見到那個女人了-在過去的13個月裡一直佔據著他心靈某個特殊位置的女人.雖然他們素未謀面.但她的信卻一直是他的精神支柱.
Lieutenant Blandford remembered one day in particular, during the worst of the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of enemy planes. In one of his letters he had confessed to her that he often felt fear, and only a few days before this battle he had received her answer, "Of course you fear... all brave men do. Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my voice reciting to you, ?yeah, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. '..." He had remembered, and it had renewed his strength.
布蘭福德中尉記得那天,戰鬥最艱苦的時刻,他的飛機被敵機重重包圍.他曾在一封信裡對她坦言他常會感到畏懼.就在戰爭打響的前幾天,他收到了她的回信："你當然會畏懼,勇士們都會那樣.下次在你不自信時,我希望你能聽到我為你朗誦的聲音：‘啊,是的,儘管我要走過死亡之谷.但我將勇往直前,因為你與我同在.'……"他記得,正是那封信使他重新振作.
Now he was going to hear her real voice. Four minutes to six.
此時他就要聽到她真實的聲音了,還有4分鐘就6點了.
Photographer: monicore, link: Pexels
A girl passed close to him, and Lieutenant Blandford started. She was wearing a flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, this girl was only about 18, and Hollis Meynell had told him she was 30. "What of it?" he had answered, "I'm 32." He was 29.
一個女孩走近他,布蘭福德中尉一驚.她戴著一朵花,但不是他們約好的那種紅玫瑰.這女孩只有18歲左右,而霍麗絲•梅內爾告訴過他,她已30歲."有什麼關係呢?"他還回信說,"我32歲,"其實他只有29歲.
His mind went back to that book he had read in the training camp. Of Human Bondage it was; and throughout the book were notes in a woman's handwriting. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man's heart so tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the book plate: Hollis Meynell. He had got hold of a New York City telephone book and found her address. He had written; she had answered. Next day he had been shipped out, but they had gone on writing.
他又想到了在訓練營時看過的一本書-《人性的枷鎖》,書裡有一個女人寫的批註.他難以相信,一個女人竟能如此透徹地讀懂男人的心.書籤上有她的名字：霍麗絲•梅內爾.於是他找來一本紐約市電話簿,查到了地址,給她寫信並收到了回信.因為執行任務,第二天他就坐船離開了,但他們仍然保持通信.
For 13 months she had faithfully replied, when his letter did not arrive, she wrote any way, and now he believed that he loved her and that she loved him.
13個月裡,她始終誠摯地給他回信.通常是他的信還未到,她的信就來了.因此,他深信他們彼此深愛著.
But she had refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. She had explained, "If your feeling for me has any reality, what I look like won't matter. Suppose I'm beautiful. I'd always be haunted by the feeling that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose I'm plain (and you must admit that this is more likely), then I'd always fear that you were only going on writing because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don't ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your decision."
然而,她拒絕送他照片,並解釋說："如果你真心對我,我的外表並不重要.如果我長得很漂亮,我會認為,你是愛我的外貌,那樣會令我很反感.如果我長相平凡（你必須承認這個更有可能）,就會擔心你和我通信是因為內心孤獨,無人傾訴.別向我要照片.你來紐約時就可以看到我了,可以在那時作出某些決定."
One minute to six... he pulled hard on a cigarette. Then Lieutenant Blandford's heart leaped.
還有1分鐘就6點了……布蘭福德猛抽了一口煙,心跳更加快了.
A young woman was coming toward him. Her figure was long and slim; her blond hair lay back in curls over her delicate ears. Her eyes were as blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale- green suit, she was like springtime come alive.
一位年輕的女士向他走來,她身材苗條,金黃的捲髮攏在小巧的耳後,雙唇紅潤,下巴精緻,眼睛深藍動人.她穿著淡綠的西裝,渾身散發著青春的活力.
He started toward her, forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose, and as he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips.
他開始向她走去,根本沒注意她是否戴著玫瑰花,他走近,看到她嘴角浮起動人的微笑.
"Going my way, soldier?" she murmured. He made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Meynell.
"問路嗎,軍人?"她輕輕地說.他又走近一步,接著,他看到了霍麗絲•梅內爾.
She was standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40, her graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump; her thick ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes.
霍麗絲•梅內爾就站在這姑娘的身後,一個40多歲的女人.灰白的頭髮塞在破舊的帽子下面,很胖,厚實的雙腳穿著低跟鞋.
But she wore a red rose on rumpled coat.
可在她那皺巴巴的外衣上彆著一朵紅玫瑰.
The girl in the green suit was walking quickly.
綠衣女孩匆匆離去.
Blandford felt as though he were being split into two, so keen was his desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the women whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own; and there she stood. He could see her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible; her gray eyes had a warm twinkle.
布蘭福德心碎了,他多想跟著那女孩啊,然而他又真切地渴望見這個女人,是她的精神一直陪伴他,激勵他.她就站在那裡,蒼白豐滿的面龐,溫柔而理性,灰色的眼睛裡閃著溫和的光芒.
Lieutenant Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the worn copy of Human Bondage which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, a friendship for which he had been and must ever be grateful...
布蘭福德沒有猶豫,他緊抓著那本破舊的《人性的枷鎖》.它是向她證明身份的依據.儘管這不會是愛情,但是是一種珍貴的東西,是他曾經擁有並要感激的友情……
He squared his shoulders, saluted, and held the book out toward the woman, although even while he spoke he felt the bitterness of his disappointment. "I'm John Blandford, and you... you are Miss Meynell. May... may I take you to dinner?"
儘管因深深的失望而感到痛苦,布蘭福德仍擺正雙肩,敬了個禮,然後把書遞給那個女人："我是約翰•布蘭福德,您……您是梅內爾女士吧,我可以……可以請您吃飯嗎?"
Photographer: luizclas, link: Pexels
The woman smiled. "I don't know what this is all about, son," she answered, "That young lady in the green suit, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you asked me to go out with you, I should tell you she's waiting for you in that restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of a test."
女人微笑著."孩子,我不明白這是怎麼回事."她說道,"那位穿綠衣服的年輕小姐請求我戴上這朵玫瑰,她說如果你請我一塊兒出去,就告訴你,她在街對面的餐廳等你.她說這是一種考驗."
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