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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 \your cab available?\I asked when he finally looked up at me. He nodded, then said apologetically as I settled into the back seat, \ 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. \ 他摇了摇头。“我已经读了好几遍了。我想我都能背出来了。”
5 \road so much.\a grandchild?\ “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 \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 \ But I take it he's someone you've known quite a while?\ “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？”
8 \ 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 \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 \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 \said 'was'. Does that mean ─?\ “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 \sorry,\I said. \no fun to lose any friend ─ 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: \have kept in touch. Yes,\ 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。”
17 \come up and we just don't seem to find the time.\ “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。”
18 He shrugged. \handed it over to me. \ 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. \me. 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 \Friend,\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 \shook his head: \ “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。”
24 I thought the next paragraph of the letter was a little sad: I began the letter with \Friend\─ 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 \know,\I said to him, \it says here that there aren't many of us left, 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 \you two work at the same place?\I asked him. “你们俩以前在一起工作吗？”我问他。
28 \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. \ “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: \ 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。”
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. \took my suitcase out of the cab. Tom? The letter was signed Tom? 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？