After twenty years
牛肉干的制作
---O. Henry
Part One
(1)The policeman made his rounds up the avenue(沿着大街巡视) in an impressive way. His impressiveness was habitual and not for show, for there were few people around. The time was barely 10 o'clock at night, but strong wind with a taste of rain in it had driven most people indoors.
(2)The policeman tested doors as he went to make sure they were locked. He turned now and then to cast(投；投射) his watchful eyes down the broad street. The officer, with his large form and confident walk, made a fine picture of a guardian(守护者) of the peace.
(3)His assigned area was one where most shops clod early at night. Now and then, a person might e the lights of a liquor store or an all-night small restaurant, but the majority of the doors belonged to business owners who had already gone home veral hours ago.小班建构区
(4)When about midway of a certain block the policeman suddenly slowed his walk. In the doorway of a darkened hardware store a man leaned, with an unlighted cigar in his mouth. As the policeman walked up to him the man spoke up quickly.
Part Two
(5)"It's all right, officer," he said, reassuringly(使人放心地). "I'm just waiting for a friend. It's an appointment made twenty years ago. Sounds a little funny to you, doesn't it? Well, I'll explain if you'd like to make certain everything is all right. About that long ago there ud to be a restaurant where this store stands--'Big Joe' Brady's restaurant."
(6)"Until five years ago," said the policeman. "It was torn down then."
(7)The man in the doorway struck a match and lit his cigar. The light showed a pale, square-jawed(方下巴的) face with keen eyes, and a little white scar near his right eyebrow. He had a diamond(钻石) pin(电容的基本单位别针) in his scarf, oddly(古怪地) t.
酱豆的做法
(8)"Twenty years ago tonight," said the man, "I ate here at 'Big Joe' Brady's with Jimmy W
ells, my best friend, and the most loyal guy in the world. He and I were raid 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 destiny(命运) worked out and our fortunes made, whatever they were going to be."
(9)"It sounds pretty interesting," said the policeman. "Rather a long time between meets, though, it ems to me. Haven't you heard from your friend since you left?"
recovery模式
(10)"Well, yes, for a time we wrote to each other," said the other. "But after a year or two we lost track of each other. You e, the West is a pretty big place, and I kept moving around pretty frequently. But I know Jimmy will meet me here if he's alive, for he always was the truest如图1 and most loyal friend in the world. He'll never forget. I came a thousand miles to stand in this door tonight, and it's worth it if my old partner turns up."
(11)The waiting man pulled out a handsome watch, the lids(盖子) of it t with small diamonds.
(16)"Good-night, sir," said the policeman, passing on along the street, trying doors as he went.
Part Three
(17)There was now a fine, cold drizzle falling(冰冷的毛毛雨), and the wind became stronger and stronger. The few foot pasngers in the street hurried silently along with coat collars turned high and pocketed hands. And in the door of the hardware store the man who had come a thousand miles to fill an appointment, uncertain almost to absurdity(荒谬), with the friend of his youth, smoked his cigar and waited.
(18)About twenty minutes he waited, and then a tall man in a long overcoat, with collar(衣领合并word) turned up to his ears, hurried across from the opposite side of the street. He went directly to the waiting man.
(19)"Is that you, Bob?" he asked, doubtfully.
(20)"Is that you, Jimmy Wells?" cried the man in the door.
(21)"Bless my heart!" exclaimed the new arrival, grasping both the other's hands with his own. "It's Bob, sure as fate(命运). I was certain I'd find you here if you were still in existence. Well, well, well! --twenty years is a long time. The old gone, Bob; I wish it had lasted, so we could have had another dinner there. How has the West treated you, old man?"
(22)问韩信"It has given me everything I asked it for. You've changed lots, Jimmy. I never thought you were so tall by two or three inches."
