英文小说连载--英语学习系列

欣弃羁

英文小说连载
The
Wallet
（1
）钱夹
As I walked home one freezing
（严寒的） day, I stumbled
（无意中发现） on
a wallet
someone had lost in the street. I picked it up and looked inside to find some
identification
（证明） so I could call the owner. But the wallet contained only three dollars
and a crumpled
（皱皱巴巴的） letter that looked as
if
（好像） it had been in there for years.
The envelope
（ 信封） was worn and the only thing that was legible
（能辨认的） on it was the
return address. I started to open the letter, hoping to find some clue
（线索）. Then I saw
the dateline--1924. The letter had been written almost sixty years ago.
It was written in a beautiful feminine
（女性的） handwriting on powder
blue
stationery
（浅灰蓝色信纸） with a little flower in the left-hand corner. It was a
The
Wallet
（2
）钱夹
I
asked
the
woman
on
the
other
end
of
the
line
if
she
knew
anyone
by
the
name
of
Hannah
（我问电话那一端的女人，她是否认识一个叫Hannah
的女人。）. She gasped
（气喘
吁吁地说）, "Oh! We bought this house from a family who had a daughter named Hannah.
But that was 30 years ago!"
"Would you know where that family could be located now?" I asked.
"I remember that Hannah had to place her mother in a nursing
h om e
（疗养院）some years
ago," the woman said. "Maybe if you got in touch with them they might be able to track
down
（追寻到） the daughter."
She gave me the name of the nursing home and I called the number. They told me the old
lady had
passed
away
（已经去世） some years ago but they did have a phone number for
where they thought the daughter might be living. I thanked them and phoned. The woman
who answered explained that Hannah herself was now living in a nursing home.
This whole thing was stupid, I thought to myself. Why was I making such a big deal over
finding the owner of a wallet that had only three dollars and a letter that was almost 60
years old?
Nevertheless
（不过）, I called the nursing home in which Hannah was supposed to be living
and the man who answered the phone told me, "Yes, Hannah is staying with us. "
Even though it was already 10 p.m., I asked if I could come by to see her. "Well," he said
hesitatingly
（支吾其词地）, "if you want to take a chance, she might be in the
day
room
（休
息室） watching television."
I thanked him and drove over to the nursing home. The night nurse and a guard greeted
me at the door. We went up to the third floor of the large building. In the day room, the
nurse introduced me to Hannah.
The
Wallet
（3
）钱夹
She was a sweet, silver-haired old
timer
（老人家） with a warm smile and a twinkle in her
eye. I told her about finding the wallet and showed her the letter. The second she saw the
powder blue envelope with that little flower on the left, she took a deep breath and said,
"Young man, this letter was the last contact I ever had with Michael."
She looked away for a moment deep in thought and then said softly, "I loved him very
much. But I was only 16 at
the
time
（当时） and my mother felt I was too young. Oh, he
was so handsome. He looked like Sean Connery, the actor."
"Yes," she continued. "Michael Goldstein was a wonderful person. If you should find him,
tell him I think of him often. And," she hesitated for a moment, almost biting
her
lip
（咬着
嘴唇）, "tell him I still love him. You know," she said smiling as tears
began
to
well
up
in
her
eyes
（眼中泛起泪光）, "I never did marry. I
guess
no
one
ever
matched
up
to
Michael
（我觉得没有人比得上Michael
）..."
I thanked Hannah and said goodbye. I took the elevator to the first floor and as I stood by
the door, the guard there asked, "Was the old lady able to help you?"
I told him she had given me a lead. "At least I have a last name. But I think I'll let it go for
a while. I spent almost the whole day trying to find the owner of this wallet."
I had taken out the wallet, which was a simple brown leather case with red lacing
（花边）
on the side. When the guard saw it, he said, "Hey, wait a minute! That's Mr. Goldstein's
wallet. I'd know it anywhere with that bright red lacing. He's always losing that wallet. I
must have found it in the halls at least three times."
"Who's Mr. Goldstein?" I asked as my hand began to shake.
The
Wallet
（4
）钱夹
"He's one of the old timers on the 8th floor. That's Mike Goldstein's wallet for sure. He
must have lost it on one of his walks." I thanked the guard
（保安） and quickly ran back to
the nurse's office. I told her what the guard had said. We went back to the elevator and
got on. I prayed that Mr. Goldstein would be up.
On the eighth floor, the floor nurse said, "I think he's still in the day room. He likes to read
at night. He's a darling old man."
We went to the only room that had any lights on and there was a man reading a book. The
nurse went over to him and asked if he had lost his wallet. Mr. Goldstein looked up with
surprise, put his hand in his back pocket and said, "Oh, it is missing!"
"This kind gentleman found a wallet and we wondered if it could be yours?"
I handed Mr. Goldstein the wallet and the second he saw it, he smiled with relief and said,
"Yes, that's it! It must have dropped out of my pocket this afternoon. I want to give you a
reward
（报酬）."
"No, thank you," I said. "But I have to tell you something. I read the letter in the hope of
finding out who owned the wallet."
The smile on his face suddenly disappeared. "You read that letter?"
"Not only did I read it, I think I know where Hannah is."
The
Wallet
（5
）钱夹
He suddenly grew pale. "Hannah? You know where she is? How is she? Is she still as pretty
as she was? Please, please tell me," he begged.
"She's fine...just as pretty as when you knew her." I said softly.
The old man smiled with anticipation and asked, "Could you tell me where she is? I want
to call her tomorrow." He grabbed
my
hand
（抓住我的手） and said, "You know something,
mister, I was so in love with that girl that when that letter came, my life literally ended. I
never married. I guess I've always loved her."
"Mr. Goldstein," I said, "Come with me."
We took the elevator down to the third floor. The
hallways
（走廊） were darkened and only
one or two little night-lights lit our way to the day room where Hannah was sitting alone
watching the television. The nurse walked over to her.
"Hannah," she said softly, pointing to Michael, who was waiting with me in the doorway.
"Do you know this man?"
She
adjusted
her
glasses
（她动了动眼镜）, looked for a moment, but didn't say a word.
Michael said softly, almost in a whisper, "Hannah, it's Michael. Do you remember me?"
She gasped, "Michael! I don't believe it! Michael! It's you! My Michael!"
He walked slowly towards her and they embraced
（拥抱在一起）. The
nurse
and
I
left
with
tears
streaming
down
our
faces.
（护士和我的泪水流下了脸颊。）
"See," I said. "See how the Good Lord works! If it's meant to be, it will be."
About three weeks later I got a call at my office from the nursing home. "Can you break
away on Sunday to attend a wedding? Michael and Hannah are going to tie
the
knot
（结为
连理）!"
It was a beautiful wedding with all the people at the nursing home dressed up to join in
the celebration. Hannah wore a
light
beige
dress
（浅米色套装） and looked beautiful.
Michael wore a dark blue suit and stood tall.
They made me their best
m an
（男傧相）. The hospital gave them their own room and if you
ever wanted to see a 76-year-old bride and a 79-year-old groom acting like two teenagers,
you had to see this couple.
A perfect ending for a love affair that had lasted nearly 60 years.