After Twenty Years
O'Henry
今天是什么节二十年以后
欧亨利
用工证明The policeman on the beat moved up the avenue impressively. The impressiveness was habitual and not for show, for spectators were few. The time was barely 10 o'clock at night, but chilly gusts of wind with a taste of rain in them had well nigh depeopled the streets.
一个执勤的警察正沿街巡逻，很认真，他一直都这样认真，并不是做给谁看的。差不多是晚上十点了，街上行人寥寥无几，冷风飕飕地吹着，有种雨水的味道。
Trying doors as he went, twirling his club with many intricate and artful movements, turning now and then to cast his watchful eye adown the pacific thoroughfare, the officer,
with his stalwart form and slight swagger, made a fine picture of a guardian of the peace. The vicinity was one that kept early hours. Now and then you might see the lights of a cigar store or of an all-night lunch counter; but the majority of the doors belonged to business places that had long since been closed.
他灵巧地来回转着手里的警棍，每家每户都仔细查看，警觉的目光不时地投向安静的街道，这个警察，身材强壮，昂首阔步，俨然一个和平守护者。附近的街区睡得都早，偶尔能看见一个雪茄店或通宵餐馆还亮着灯，其他的店铺早就打烊了。
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.
情侣英文名走到街区中间时，警察突然放慢了脚步，他看见五金店门口站着一个人，嘴里叼着雪茄，没点着，正向他走过去时，这个人立马开口说话了。
'It's all right, officer,' he said, reassuringly. '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 it's all straight. About that long ago there used to be a restaurant where this store stands--'Big Joe' Brady's restaurant.'
'Until five years ago,' said the policeman. 'It was torn down then.'
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 right eyebrow. His scarfpin was a large diamond, oddly set.
“这边没事儿，警官”他确定地说，“我等朋友呢。我们二十年前约好的，听起来有点好笑是不是？你要是想知道这是不是真的，我跟你细说。这家五金店以前是个餐馆，叫‘老乔酒馆’”。
“五年前就拆了，”警察说。
店门口的这个人说着，划了根火柴，把雪茄点着，火光映衬下他脸苍白，方下巴，目光犀利，右眼旁有一道白的伤疤，领带的别针上镶着一块大钻石，看起来很别扭。
'Twenty years ago to-night,' said the man, 'I dined here at 'Big Joe' Brady's with Jimmy Wells, my best chum, and the finest chap in the world. He and I were raised 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 worked out and our fortunes made, whatever they were going to be.'
'It sounds pretty interesting,' said the policeman. 'Rather a long time between meets, though, it seems to me. Haven't you heard from your friend since you left?'
“二十年前的今晚，”他说，“我和吉米威尔斯在这家饭店吃饭，吉米是我最好的朋友，全世界最好，我俩一起在纽约长大，像兄弟一样。那年我十八，他二十。我决定第二天早上就动身去西部，想办法发点财，吉米可不愿意去，他觉得全世界上就纽约最好。然后，我们
就约好，二十年以后还在这里见面，不管我们到时候混成什么样，赶多远的路。那时候我们估计二十年后肯定都稳定了，也有钱了，反正不管怎么样，一定会见面。”
“听起来挺有意思，”警察说。“我看这时间挺长的，你走了之后你们没联系吗？”
e2140'Well, yes, for a time we corresponded,' said the other. 'But after a year or two we lost track of each other. You see, the West is a pretty big proposition, and I kept hustling around over it pretty lively. But I know Jimmy will meet me here if he's alive, for he always was the truest, stanchest old chap in the world. He'll never forget. I came a thousand miles to stand in this door to-night, and it's worth it if my old partner turns up.'
“联系过，有一段时间我们写信，但一两年之后我们就失去联系了。你知道，西部不好混，这些年我就忙着赚钱了。可我知道只要吉米活着，他就一定会来，因为他一直都是世界上最忠诚，最讲义气的朋友。他不会忘的，我千里迢迢赶来，只要能见他一面，就值得。”
The waiting man pulled out a handsome watch, the lids of it set with small diamonds.
'Three minutes to ten,' he announced. 'It was exactly ten o'clock when we parted here at t
he restaurant door.'
'Did pretty well out West, didn't you?' asked the policeman.
'You bet! I hope Jimmy has done half as well. He was a kind of 电脑后台plodder激动的近义词是什么 , though, good fellow as he was. I've had to compete with some of the sharpest wits going to get my pile. A man gets in a groove in New York. It takes the West to put a razor-edge on him.'
说着他看看表，表上也镶着细细的钻。
“还差三分钟十点，”他大声说，“二十年前我们就是十点在这个门口分开的。”
“在西部混的不错，是吧？”警察问他。
“当然了！吉米能有我一半好就行。他是那种脚踏实地的人，现在肯定也是。为了发财我得天天和一些聪明人竞争，在纽约的时候得本分，到了西部就得精明了。”
The policeman twirled his club and took a step or two.