全新版大学英语综合教程-1-Unit2-课文正文电子书及翻译

AlltheCabbieHadWasaLetterFosterFurcolo1HemusthavebeencompletelylostinsomethinghewasreadingbecauseIhadtotaponthewindshieldtogethisattention.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。2Isyourcabavailable?Iaskedwhenhefinallylookedupatme.Henodded,thensaidapologeticallyasIsettledintothebackseat,I'msorry,butIwasreadingaletter.Hesoundedasifhehadacoldorsomething.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。3I'minnohurry,Itoldhim.Goaheadandfinishyourletter.“我不着急，”我对他说，“你接着把信读完吧。”4Heshookhishead.I'vereaditseveraltimesalready.IguessIalmostknowitbyheart.他摇了摇头。“我已经读了好几遍了。我想我都能背出来了。”5Lettersfromhomealwaysmeanalot,Isaid.AtleasttheydowithmebecauseI'montheroadsomuch.Then,estimatingthathewas60or70yearsold,Iguessed:Fromachildormaybeagrandchild?“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？”6Thisisn'tfamily,hereplied.Although,hewenton,cometothinkofit,itmightjustaswellhavebeenfamily.OldEdwasmyoldestfriend.Infact,weusedtocalleachother'OldFriend'─whenwe'dmeet,thatis.I'mnotmuchofahandatwriting.“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。”7Idon'tthinkanyofuskeepupourcorrespondencetoowell,Isaid.IknowIdon't.ButItakeithe'ssomeoneyou'veknownquiteawhile?“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？”8Allmylife,practically.Wewerekidstogether,sowegowayback.“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。”9Wenttoschooltogether?“一起上的学？”10Allthewaythroughhighschool.Wewereinthesameclass,infact,throughbothgradeandhighschool.“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。”11Therearenottoomanypeoplewho'vehadsuchalongfriendship,Isaid.“保持这么长久友谊的人可真不多见啊，”我说。12Actually,thedriverwenton,Ihadn'tseenhimmorethanonceortwiceayearoverthepast25or30yearsbecauseImovedawayfromtheoldneighborhoodandyoukindoflosetoucheventhoughyouneverforget.Hewasagreatguy.“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。”13Yousaid'was'.Doesthatmean─?“你刚才说他‘在的时候’。你是说——？”14Henodded.Diedacoupleofweeksago.他点了点头。“前两个星期过世啦。”15I'msorry,Isaid.It'snofuntoloseanyfriend─andlosingarealoldoneiseventougher.“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。”16Hedidn'treplytothat,andwerodeoninsilenceforafewminutes.ButIrealizedthatOldEdwasstillonhismindwhenhespokeagain,almostmoretohimselfthantome:Ishouldhavekeptintouch.Yes,herepeated,Ishouldhavekeptintouch.他开着车，没有接话儿。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。”17well,Iagreed,Weshouldallkeepintouchwitholdfriendsmorethanwedo.Butthingscomeupandwejustdon'tseemtofindthetime.“是啊，”我表示赞同，“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。”18Heshrugged.Weusedtofindthetime,hesaid.That'sevenmentionedintheletter.Hehandeditovertome.Takealook.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。”19Thanks,Isaid,butIdon'twanttoreadyourmail.That'sprettypersonal.“谢谢你，”我说，“不过我不想读你的信。这纯属私事。”20Thedrivershrugged.OldEd'sdead.There'snothingpersonalnow.Goahead,heurgedme.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。21Theletterwaswritteninpencil.ItbeganwiththegreetingOldFriend,andthefirstsentenceremindedmeofmyself.I'vebeenmeaningtowriteforsometime,butI'vealwayspostponedit.Itthenwentontosaythatheoftenthoughtaboutthegoodtimestheyhadhadtogetherwhentheybothlivedinthesameneighborhood.Ithadreferencestothingsthatprobablymeantsomethingtothedriver,suchasthetimeTimSheabrokethewindow,theHalloweenthatwetiedOldMr.Parker'sgate,andwhenMrs.Culverusedtokeepusafterschool.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”。22Youmusthavespentalotoftimetogether,Isaidtohim.“你们俩准是在一起度过了不少时光，”我对他说。23Likeitsaysthere,heanswered,aboutallwehadtospendinthosedayswastime.Heshookhishead: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。”他摇头叹道：“时间啊。”24Ithoughtthenextparagraphoftheletterwasalittlesad:IbegantheletterwithOldFriendbecausethat'swhatwe'vebecomeovertheyears─oldfriends.Andtherearen'tmanyofusleft.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。”25Youknow,Isaidtohim,Whenitsaysherethattherearen'tmanyofusleft,that'sabsolutelyright.EverytimeIgotoaclassreunion,forexample,therearefewerandfewerstillaround.“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。”26Timegoesby,thedriversaid.“时间不饶人啊，”司机说。27Didyoutwoworkatthesameplace?Iaskedhim.“你们俩以前在一起工作吗？”我问他。28No,butwehungoutonthesamecornerwhenweweresingle.Andthen,whenweweremarried,weusedtogotoeachother'shouseeverynowandthen.Butforthelast20or30yearsit'sbeenmostlyjustChristmascards.Ofcoursethere'dbealwaysanotewe'deachaddtothecards─usuallysomenewsaboutourfamilies,youknow,whatthekidsweredoing,whomovedwhere,anewgrandchild,thingslikethat─butneverarealletteroranythinglikethat.“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。”29Thisisagoodparthere,Isaid.WhereitsaysYourfriendshipovertheyearshasmeantanawfullottome,morethanIcansaybecauseI'mnotgoodatsayingthingslikethat.Ifoundmyselfnoddinginagreement.Thatmusthavemadeyoufeelgood,didn'tit?“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，