Lesson Fourteen After Twenty Years
第十四课 二十年后
O. Henry
1. The policeman on the beat moved up the avenue impressively 赫然.
The impressiveness 令人印象深刻was normal and not for show, for spectators were few.
The time was barely ten o'clock at night, but chilly gusts寒冷的阵风of wind with a taste of rain in them had almost emptied the streets.
2. Trying doors as he went, swinging摆动 his club吉米是男是女 v.用棍棒（或类似棍棒之物）打 with many clever movements, turning now and then to cast his watchful eye down the peaceful street, th
e officer, with his strongly built form and slight air of superiority, made a fine picture of a guardian监护人 of the peace. The area 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.
2警察边走边检查门是否关好了，他十分灵巧的不停转动着警棍，眼光还不时投向平静的街道。他那魁梧的身材， 配上卓越不凡的气势，就是一副治安维持者的形象。那个地区的人晚上休息的很早。你偶尔还能看到一家雪茄店或是昼夜营业的饭店还亮着灯，但是绝大多数店铺都已经关门了。
3. When about midway of a certain block, the policeman suddenly slowed his walk. In the doorway of a darkened黑暗hardware硬件 store a man leaned, with an unlighted未点cigar in his mouth. As the policeman walked up to him, the man spoke up quickly.
3在一个街区的半路上，警察忽然放慢了脚步。在一家已经关门的五金商店的门廊里，一个男子倚在那里，嘴里叼着一只未点燃的雪茄。当警察朝他走去时，男人赶忙毫不犹豫的说。
4. "It's all right, officer," he said, confidently自信. "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."
4“没事的，长官，”他坦然的说。“我只是在等一个朋友，这是二十年前就定好的约会。听起来有点荒唐，是吧?哦，如果你想弄明白事情的真相，我就说给你听。大约二十年前，在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。”
5. "Until five years ago," said the policeman. "It was torn down拆除 then."
6. The man in the doorway 在门口struck a match打了一根火柴and lit his cigar. The light showed a pale, square-jawed方颚 face with keen敏锐
eyes, and a little white scar near his right eyebrow. His tiepin铁销was a large diamond, oddly 奇怪set.
5“那家餐馆五年前还在，”警察说道。“后来就被拆除了。”
6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，右边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，镶的十分奇怪。
7. "Twenty years ago tonight," said the man, "I dined吃饭 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开始为 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."
7“二十年前的这个晚上，”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，就在20年后的同一天，同一时间，我们都要在这里碰面，不管我们的情况如何，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一个好结果了，该发财的也已经发财了。”
8. "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?"
9. "Well, yes, for a time we wrote," said the other." But after a year or two we lost track of each other. You see, the West is a pretty big place, and I kept running around over it pretty lively. But I know Jimmy will meet me here if he's alive, for he always was the truest, best old 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出现."
8“听起来有点意思，”警察说道。“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，你和你的朋友还有联系么？”
9“哦，有的，有一段时间我们相互通信，”那男子说。“可是一两年后我们就失去了联系。你
知道，西部是个大地方，而我又忙着东奔西跑。不过我知道，如果吉米还活着，他就会来这儿和我见面的。因为他一直是世界上最忠诚、 最好的老朋友。他绝不会忘记的。今晚我千里迢迢来到这个门前等他，只要我的老伙计露面，所有这一切都是值得的。”
10. The waiting man pulled out掏出a handsome watch, the lids 盖of it set with设置small diamonds.
11. "Three minutes to ten,"he announced."It was exactly ten o'clock when we parted 分手here at the restaurant door."
12. "Did pretty well out West,didn't you?"asked the policeman.
13. "You're right! I hope Jimmy has done half as well. He was a kind of slow man, though, good fellow as he was. I've had to compete with some of the sharpest brains going to get my money. A man gets stuck卡 in New York. It takes the West to make a man really keen."
14. The policeman swung his club and took a step or two.
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