评论
打印
About that long ago there used to be a restaurant where this store stands—'Big Joe' Brady's Restaurant."
大约20年前，这家五金商店所在的位置曾经是一家餐馆——‘大乔’布雷迪餐馆。”
"Until five years ago," said the policeman. "It was torn down then."
“那家餐馆5年前还在，”警察说道，“后来就被拆除了。”
The man in the doorway struck a match and lit his cigar. The light showed a pale, square-jawed face with keen eyes, and a little white scar near his eyebrow. His tiepin was a large diamond, oddly set.
门廊里的人划着火柴，点着了烟。火光映出了一张苍白的、方正下巴的脸，一双锐利的眼睛，眉毛附近还有一小道泛白的疤痕。他的领带夹上镶着一颗大钻石，镶嵌得十分奇怪。
"Twenty years ago tonight," said the man, "I dined here at 'Big Joe' Brady's with Jimmy Wells, my best friend, and the finest man in the world. He and I were brought up here in New York, just like two brothers, together. I was eighteen and Jimmy was twenty. The next morning I was to start for the West to make my fortune. You couldn't have dragged Jimmy out of New York; he thought it was the only place on earth. Well, we agreed that night that we would meet here again exactly twenty years from that date and time, no matter what our conditions might be or from what distance we might have to come. We figured that in twenty years each of us ought to have our fate worked out and our fortunes made, whatever they were going to be."
“20年前的这个晚上，”男子说，“我和吉米?威尔斯在‘大乔’布雷迪餐馆共进晚餐，他是我最好的朋友，也是世界上最好的人。我和他一起在纽约长大，亲如手足。当年，我18岁，吉米20岁。第二天早晨，我就要动身去西部赚钱去了。吉米是无论如何也不会离开纽约的。他认为这是世界上最好的地方。那天晚上我们定好，在20年后的同一天、同一时间，我们要在这里碰面，不管我们的境况如何，也不管我们相隔多远。我们觉得不管怎样，20年后我们的命运也该有个好结果了，该发财的也应该已经发财了。”
"It sounds pretty interesting," said the policeman. "Rather a long time between meetings, though, it seems to me. Haven't you heard from your friend since you left?"
“听起来很有意思，”警察说，“尽管在我看来，你们两次见面的时间间隔太长了点。自从你离开后,你就没有收到你朋友的信件吗？”
