出租車司機擁有的就剩一封信(共7頁)

1、精選優(yōu)質(zhì)文檔-傾情為你奉上All the Cabbie Had Was a Letter1) He must have been completely lost in something he was reading because I had to tap on the windshield to get his attention.2) “Is your cab available?” I asked when he finally looked up at me. He nodded, then said apologetically as I settled into the back

2、 seat, “Im sorry, but I was reading a letter.” He sounded as if he had a cold or something.3) “Im in no hurry,” I told him. “Go ahead and finish your letter.”4) He shook his head. “Ive read it several times already. I guess I almost know it by heart.”5) “Letters from home always mean a lot.” I said.

3、 “At least they do with me because Im on the road so much.” Then, estimating that he was 60 or 70 years old, I guess: “From a child or maybe a grandchild?”6) “This isnt family,” he replied. “Although,” he went on, “come to think of it, it might just as well have been family. Old Ed was my oldest fri

4、end. In fact, we used to call each other Old Friendwhen wed meet, that is. Im not much of a hand at writing.”7) “I dont think any of us keep our correspondence too well,” I said. “I know I dont. But I take it hes someone youve known quite a while?”8) “All my life, practically. We were kids together,

5、 so we go way back.”9) “Went to school together?” 10) “All the way through high school. We were in the same class, in fact, through both grade and high school.”11) “There are not too many people whove had such a long friendship,” I said.12) “Actually,” the driver went on, “I hadnt seen him more than

6、 once or twice a year over the 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.”13) “You said was. Does that mean-?”14) He nodded. “Died a couple of weeks ago.”15) “Im sorry,” I said. “Its so fun to lose a

7、ny friendand losing a real old one is even tougher.”16) He didnt 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: “I should have kept in touch. Yes,” he repeated, “I should have kept i

8、n touch.”17) “Well,” I agreed, “we should all keep in touch with old friends more than we do. But things come up and we just dont seem to find the time.”18) He shrugged. “We used to find the time,” he said. “Thats even mentioned in the letter.” He handed it over to me. “Take a look.”19) “Thanks,” I

9、said, “but I dont want to read your mail. Thats pretty personal.”20) The driver shrugged. “Old Eds dead. Theres nothing personal now. Go ahead,” he urged me.21) The letter was written in pencil. It began with the greeting “Old Friend,” and the first sentence reminded me of myself. Ive been meaning t

10、o write for some time, but Ive 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 wind

11、ow, the Halloween that we tied Old Mr. Parkers gate, and when Mrs. Culver used to keep us after school.22) “You must have spent a lot of time together,” I said to him.23) “Like it says there,” he answered, “about all we had to spend in those days was time.”24) I thought the next paragraph of the let

12、ter was a little sad: I began the letter with “Old Friend” because thats what weve become over the years old friends. And there arent many of us left.25) “You know,” I said to him, “when it says here that there arent many of us left, thats absolutely right. Every time I go to a class reunion, for ex

13、ample, there are fewer and fewer still around.”26) “Time goes by,” the driver said.27) “Did you two work at the same place?” I asked him.28) “No, but we hung out on the same corner when we were single. And then, when we were married, we used to go to each others house every now and then. But for the

14、 last 20 or 30 years its been mostly just Christmas cards. Of course thered be always a note wed each add to the cardsusually 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.”29) “This

15、 is a good part here,” I said. “Where it says Your friendship over the years has meant an awful lot to me, more than I can say because Im not good at saying things like that.” I found myself nodding in agreement. “That must have made you feel good, didnt it?”30) The driver said something that I coul

16、dnt understand because he seemed to be all choked up, so I continued: “I know Id like to receive a letter like that from my oldest friend.”31) We were getting close to our destination so I skipped to the last paragraph. So I thought youd like to know that I was thinking of you. And it was signed, Yo

17、ur Old Friend, Tom.32) I handed back the letter as we stopped at my hotel. “Enjoyed talking with you,” I said as I took my suitcase out of the cab. Tom? The letter was signed Tom?33) “I thought your friends name was Ed,” I said. “Why did he sign it Tom?”34) “The letter was not from Ed to me,” he exp

18、lained. “Im Tom. Its a letter I wrote to him before I knew hed died. So I never mailed it.”35) He looked sort of sorrowful, or as if he were trying to see something in the distance. “I guess I should have written it sooner.”36) When I got to my hotel room I didnt unpack right away. First I had to wr

19、ite a letter and mail it.出租車司機擁有的就剩一封信福斯特·弗克洛1 他準(zhǔn)是完全沉浸在所讀的東西里了，因為我不得不敲擋風(fēng)玻璃來引起他的注意.2 他總算抬頭看我了?！澳愠鲕噯幔俊蔽覇柕?。他點點頭，當(dāng)我坐進(jìn)后座時，他抱歉地說：“對不起，我在讀一封信?！甭犐先ニ袷堑昧烁忻笆裁吹摹? “我不著急，”我對他說，“你接著把信讀完吧?！? 他搖了搖頭?！拔乙呀?jīng)讀了好幾遍了。我想我都能背出來了?！? “家書抵萬金啊，”我說。“至少對我來說是這樣，因為我老是在外旅行?！蔽夜懒克辛呤畾q了，便猜測說：“是孩子還是孫子寫來的？”6 “不是家里人，”他回答說?！安贿^，” 他接著說

20、，“想起來，也可以算是一家人了。埃德老伙計是我最老的朋友了。實際上，過去我倆總是以老朋友相稱的就是說，當(dāng)我倆相見時。我這人就是不大會寫東西。”7 “我看大家寫信都不那么勤快，”我說， “我自己筆頭就很懶。我看，你認(rèn)識他挺久了吧？”8 “差不多認(rèn)識了一輩子了。我倆小時候就一起玩，所以我倆的友誼確實很長了?！? “一起上的學(xué)？”10 “都一起上到高中呢。事實上，我倆從小學(xué)到高中都在一個班里?！?1 “保持這么長久友誼的人可真不多見啊，”我說。12 “其實呢，”司機接著說，“近25到30年來，我跟他一年只見一兩次面，因為我從原來住的街區(qū)搬了出來，聯(lián)系自然就少了，雖說你一直放在心上。他在的時候可真是個

21、大好人?！?3 “你剛才說他在的時候。你是說 ？”14 他點了點頭?！扒皫讉€星期過世啦。”15 “真遺憾，”我說，“失去朋友真不是個滋味，失去個真正的老朋友更讓人受不了?！?6 他開著車，沒有接話兒。 我們沉默了幾分鐘?？晌抑浪€在想著老埃德。他又開口時，與其說是跟我說話，還不如說是自言自語：“我真該一直保持聯(lián)系。真的，”他重復(fù)道，“我真該一直保持聯(lián)系?！?7 “是啊，”我表示贊同，“我們都該與老朋友保持更多的聯(lián)系。不過總是有事情冒出來，好像就是抽不出空來?！?8 他聳了聳肩。“我們過去總能抽出空來，”他說?！靶爬镞€提到呢?！彼研胚f給我，“你看看吧?！?9 “謝謝你，”我說，“不過我不想讀你的信。這純屬私事?！?0 司機聳一聳肩?！袄习５氯硕妓懒?。沒什么私事不私事了?？窗桑彼叽僬f。21 信是用鉛筆寫的。稱呼寫著“老朋友”，而開頭第一句話讓我想到自己?！霸缇拖雽懶帕?，可就是一拖再拖?！?信里接著寫道，他常常回想從前兩人住在一個街區(qū)時的快樂時光。信里提到些事，可能對司機很重要，比如“那次蒂姆·謝打破窗子，那年萬圣節(jié)前夕，我們把老帕克先生的大門拴了起來，還有卡爾弗太太老是在放學(xué)后把咱倆留下訓(xùn)斥的那陣子”。22 “你們倆準(zhǔn)是在一起度過了不少時光，” 我對他說。23 “就跟信里寫的那樣，”他回答說，“我倆在那個時候能花的只有時間。”