司各特·菲茨杰拉德ⅠAttheGreatAmericanLunchHouryoungGeorgeO'Kellystraightenedhisdeskdeliberatelyandwithanassumedairofinterest.Nooneintheofficemustknow that he was in a hurry， for success is a matter of atmosphere， and it is not well to advertise the fact that your mind is separated from your work by a distance of seven hundred miles.在伟大的美国午餐时间，年轻的乔治?奥凯利故意不紧不慢地把书桌收拾整齐，还假装出一副兴致勃勃的样子。办公室里没有人会知道他正着急呢，因为成功不过是一种氛围，没有必要为了你的心思和你的工作远隔七百英里就大张旗鼓地去广而告之。But once out of the building he set his teeth and began to run， glancing now and then at the gay noon of early spring which filled Times Square and loitered less than twenty feet over the heads of the crowd. The crowd all looked slightly upward and took deep March breaths， and the sun dazzled their eyes so that scarcely any one saw any one else but only their own reflection on the sky.可一旦他离开了办公楼，他就咬紧牙关奔了起来，还不时地向着正午时分的时代广场四处张望，广场上满溢着早春的快乐氛围，融融的春意流连在人们的头顶上不到二十英尺的地方。人们似乎都微微地仰起头，深深地呼吸着三月的气息，阳光令人目眩，因此大家都看不清彼此，只能看到天空里自己的影子。George O'Kelly， whose mind was over seven hundred miles away， thought that all outdoors was horrible. He rushed into the subway， and for ninety-five blocks bent a frenzied glance on a car-card which showed vividly how he had only one chance in five of keeping his teeth for ten years. At 137th Street he broke off his study of commercial art， left the subway， and began to run again， a tireless， anxious run that brought him this time to his home--one room in a high， horrible apartment-house in the middle of nowhere. 乔治?奥凯利，他的心在七百英里之外，认为户外的一切皆很可怕。他冲入地铁，在穿越九十五个街区的旅途中，他一直痴迷地盯住车厢里的一幅广告，广告上旗帜鲜明地告诉他在接下来的十年里他想保住一口全牙的概率只有五分之一。到了137号街，他收敛起对广告艺术的膜拜，下了地铁又奔起来，不知疲倦地、忧心忡忡地往他的家里奔去——他的家是个位于不知名的某地的一个又高又恐怖的公寓楼里的一个房间。There it was on the bureau， the letter--in sacred ink， on blessed paper--all over the city， people， if they listened， could hear the beating of George O’Kelly’s heart. He read the commas， the blots， and the thumb-smudge on the margin--then he threw himself hopelessly upon his bed.那封信就躺在书桌上——用神圣的墨水在神圣的白纸上写就——整个城市里的人，如果此刻都在聆听，就都能听见乔治?奥凯利的心跳。他看着信上的逗号、墨渍、信纸边上脏兮兮的拇指印——随后就绝望地倒在了床上。He was in a mess， one of those terrific messes which are ordinary incidents in the life of the poor， which follow poverty like birds of prey. The poor go under or go up or go wrong or even go on， somehow， in a way the poor have--but George O'Kelly was so new to poverty that had any one denied the uniqueness of his case he would have been astounded.他处在混乱之中，是那种在穷人的生活里随处可见的可怖的混乱之一，它就像猛禽一般紧紧地跟随着贫穷。穷人或起或落，或犯错，或坚持，总之，以穷人特有的方式活下去——可是乔治?奥凯利对贫穷还是一无所知的，如果有人向他指出他此刻的情形并没有什么特别的地方，他一定会惊讶不已呢。Less than two years ago he had been graduated with honors from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and had taken a position with a firm of construction engineers in southern Tennessee. All his life he had thought in terms of tunnels and skyscrapers and great squat dams and tall， three-towered bridges， that were like dancers holding hands in a row， with heads as tall as cities and skirts of cable strand. It had seemed romantic to George O'Kelly to change the sweep of rivers and the shape of mountains so that life could flourish in the old bad lands of the world where it had never taken root before. He loved steel， and there was always steel near him in his dreams， liquid steel， steel in bars， and blocks and beams and formless plastic masses， waiting for him， as paint and canvas to his hand. Steel inexhaustible， to be made lovely and austere in his imaginative fire . . .不到两年前，他荣耀地从麻省理工学院毕了业，在南部的田纳西州找到了一个建筑工程师的职位。他的一生都在想象着隧道、摩天大楼、大坝、有三座塔楼的大桥——它就像拉着手连成一排的舞者，她们的头颅如城市一般高耸，一根根悬索就是她们的衣裙——之类的建筑。对乔治?奥凯利来说，改变河道的走向和高山的形状是很罗曼蒂克的事，那样生命就可以在这片此前从来未能扎根的荒芜古老的土地上繁衍生息。他热爱钢铁，在他的梦中总有钢铁围绕着他，液体的钢铁，条状的钢铁，砖形的、带状的、可塑型的钢铁，都在等待着他，就像他手里的颜料和画布。百折不挠的钢铁，他要用他那想象力的烈火将它们炼得简洁又可爱……At present he was an insurance clerk at forty dollars a week with his dream slipping fast behind him. The dark little girl who had made this mess， this terrible and intolerable mess， was waiting to be sent for in a town in Tennessee.如今他是个每周拿四十块钱工资的保险公司职员，梦想在他身后飞快地殒没了。是一个肤色黝黑的小姑娘造成了这场混乱，这场可怕的、令人无法忍受的混乱。此刻，她正在田纳西州的一个小城里等待着他去接她。In fifteen minutes the woman from whom he sublet his room knocked and asked him with maddening kindness if， since he was home， he would have some lunch. He shook his head， but the interruption aroused him， and getting up from the bed he wrote a telegram.十五分钟后，租给他房间的那个女人怀着令人抓狂的好心来敲他的门，问他是否需要为他准备午饭，因为她看见他在家里。他摇了摇头，可是这个插曲令他醒了过来，他从床上起来写了一封电报。'Letter depressed me have you lost your nerve you are foolish and just upset to think of breaking off why not marry me immediately sure we can make it all right--'He hesitated for a wild minute， and then added in a hand that could scarcely be recognized as his own: 'In any case I will arrive to- morrow at six o'clock.'“你的来信让我失望你疯了吗你太傻太灰心了居然想着要跟我分手为何不马上和我结婚呢我们定能把一切都安排妥的——”他狂乱地犹豫了一阵，接着又匆匆加上一句，字迹潦草得连他字迹也几乎认不出来：“无论如何我会在明天六点到达。”When he finished he ran out of the apartment and down to the telegraph office near the subway stop. He possessed in this world not quite one hundred dollars， but the letter showed that she was 'nervous' and this left him no choice. He knew what 'nervous' meant--that she was emotionally depressed， that the prospect of marrying into a life of poverty and struggle was putting too much strain upon her love.George O'Kelly reached the insurance company at his usual run， the run that had become almost second nature to him， that seemed best to express the tension under which he lived. He went straight to the manager's office.写完后他奔出了公寓，来到位于地铁车站旁的电报局。在这个世上他的资产部超过区区一百来块钱，可是信上表面了她很“紧张”，所以他别无选择。他明白“紧张”的意思——那就是说她正受着感情的煎熬，结婚的前景就是从此要过一种贫穷艰苦的生活，这给她的爱情施加了太多的压力。乔治?奥凯利又以他那习惯性的奔跑冲向保险公司，这种奔跑几乎成为了他的第二天性，那似乎是代表他的生活处在压力之下的最佳的表现形式。他径直去了经理室。'I want to see you， Mr. Chambers，' he announced breathlessly.'Well?' Two eyes， eyes like winter windows， glared at him with ruthless impersonality.'I want to get four days' vacation.''Why， you had a vacation just two weeks ago!' said Mr. Chambers in surprise.'That's true，' admitted the distraught young man， 'but now I've got to have another.'“我有事找你，钱伯斯先生，”他上气不接下气地说。“什么事？”他的两只眼睛，像冬天里的窗户一般的眼睛，以一种无情的冷漠瞪着他。“我想要休四天假。”“天，两个礼拜前你不是刚休过假嘛！”钱伯斯先生惊讶地问。“是的，”心烦意乱的小伙子承认，“可现在我还需要再休一次。”'Where'd you go last time? To your home?''No， I went to--a place in Tennessee.''Well， where do you want to go this time?''Well， this time I want to go to--a place in Tennessee.''You're consistent， anyhow，' said the manager dryly.'But I didn'trealize you were employed here as a travelling salesman.''I'm not，' cried George desperately， 'but I've got to go.'“你上次去了哪儿？回老家了吗？”“不是，我去了——田纳西州的某个地方。”“嗯，那你这次又打算去哪儿呢？”“呃，这次我要去——田纳西州的某个地方。”“噢，你倒是蛮执着的，”经理干巴巴地说。“可我们雇佣你并不是要你做旅行推销员呀。”“我不是，”乔治绝望地叫道，“可我一定要去。”'All right，' agreed Mr. Chambers， 'but you don't have to come back. So don't!''I won't.' And to his own astonishment as well as Mr. Chambers' George's face grew pink with pleasure. He felt happy， exultant-- for the first time in six months he was absolutely free. Tears of gratitude stood in his eyes， and he seized Mr. Chambers warmly by the hand.'I want to thank you，' he said with a rush of emotion. 'I don't want to come back. I think I'd have gone crazy if you'd said that I could come back. Only I couldn't quit myself， you see， and I want to thank you for--for quitting for me.'“好啊，”钱伯斯先生表示同意，“那你也不必回来了。就这么定了！”“我不会再回来的。”令钱伯斯先生和他自己同样吃惊的是，乔治的脸因为快乐而微微地泛红了。他感觉幸福、激动——因为六个月来他首度感到绝对的自由。感激的泪水噙满了他的眼眶，他热情地握住了钱伯斯先生的手。“我要感谢你，”他激情澎湃地说。“我不想回来了。如果你对我说你必须回来，我想我可能会疯掉的。只是我自己开不了这个口，你知道，所以我要感谢你——谢谢你提出解雇我。”He waved his hand magnanimously， shouted aloud， 'You owe me three days' salary but you can keep it!' and rushed from the office. Mr. Chambers rang for his stenographer to ask if O'Kelly had seemed queer lately. He had fired many men in the course of his career， and they had taken it in many different ways， but none of them had thanked him--ever before.他潇洒地挥了挥手，高声喊道，“你还欠我三天薪水，不过你留着吧！”随即就飞快地跑出了经理室。钱伯斯先生按铃叫来了秘书，问乔治?奥凯利最近是否行为异常。在他的职业生涯里他曾经辞退过无数人，而他们对此的接受方式也是各种各样，可是没有一个人是以感谢的方式来接受的——从来没有过啊。长按图片识别二维码关注大雅1922