Unit 9B - Hearts and Hands
Hearts and Hands
O·Henry
At Denver, a great many passengers joined the coaches on the eastbound Boston and Maine train. In one coach, there sat a very pretty young woman. She was richly and beautifully dressed. Among the newcomers were two men. The younger one was good-looking with a bold, honest face and manner. The other was a sad-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed. The two were handcuffed together.
As they passed down the aisle of the coach, the only empty seats were ones facing an attractive young woman. Here the linked pair seated themselves. The woman quickly glanced at them with disinterest. Then with a lovely smile, she held out a little gray-gloved hand. When she spoke, her voice showed that she was used to speaking and being heard.
"Well, Mr. Easton, if you will make me speak first, I suppose I must. Don't you ever say hello to old friends when you meet them in the West?"
The younger man pulled himself up sharply at the sound of her voice. He seemed to struggle with a little embarrassment, which he threw off instantly. Then he held her fingers with his left hand.
"It's Miss Fairchild," he said, with a smile. "I'll ask you to excuse the other hand. I'm not able to use it just at present."
He slightly raised his right hand, which was bound at the wrist by the shining "bracelet" to the left one of his partner. The happy look in the woman's eyes slowly changed to one of puzzled horror. The glow faded from her cheeks. Easton, with a little laugh, as if amused, was about to speak again when the other stopped him. The sad-faced man had been watching the young woman's face with his sharp, searching eyes.
"You'll excuse me for speaking, Miss. But I see you know the marshal here. If you'll ask him to speak a word for me when we get to the pen, he'll do it. It'll make things easier for me there. He's taking me to Leavenworth Prison. It's seven years for counterfeiting."
"Oh!" she said, with a deep breath and returning color. "So that is what you are doing out here. A marshal!"
"My dear Miss Fairchild," said Easton calmly, "I had to do something. Money has a way of taking wings. You know it takes money to keep in step with our crowd in Washington. I saw this opening in the West, and—well, a marshal isn't quite as high a position as that of an ambassador, but—"
"The ambassador," she said warmly, "doesn't call anymore. He needn't ever have done so. You ought to know that. So now you are one of these dashing western heroes. And you ride and shoot and go into all kinds of dangers.
That's different from the Washington life. You have been missed by the old crowd." The woman's eyes, interested, went back, widening a little, to rest upon the shiny handcuffs.
"Don't you worry about them, Miss," said the other man. "All marshals handcuff themselves to their prisoners to keep them from getting away. Mr. Easton knows his business."
"Will we see you again soon in Washington?" asked Miss Fairchild.
"Not soon, I think," said Easton. "My butterfly days are over, I fear."
"I love the West," she said. Her eyes were shining softly. She looked away and out of the train window. She began to speak truly and simply, forgetting about style and manner. "Mamma and I spent the summer in Denver. She went home a week ago because Father was ill. I could live and be happy in the West. I think the air here agrees with me. Money isn't everything. But people always misunderstand things and remain stupid."
"Say, Mr. Marshal," growled the sad-faced man. "This isn't quite fair. I'm needing a drink, and haven't had a smoke all day. Haven't you been talking long enough? Take me into the smoker, won't you? I'm half dead for a pipe."
The bound travelers rose to their feet, Easton with the same slow smile on his face.
"I can't say no to a need for tobacco," he said lightly. "It's the one friend of the unfortunate. Good-bye, Miss Fairchild. Duty calls, you know." He held out his hand for a farewell.
"It's too bad you are not going East," she said, remembering again her manner and style. "But you must go on to Leavenworth, I suppose?"
"Yes," said Easton. "I must go on to Leavenworth."
The two men made their way down the aisle into the smoker.
The two passengers in a seat nearby heard most of the conversation. Said one of them: "That marshal is a good sort of chap. Some of these Western fellows are all right."
"Pretty young to hold an office like that, isn't he?" asked the other. "Young!" exclaimed the first speaker. "Why?—Oh! Didn't you catch on? Say—did you ever know an officer to handcuff a prisoner to his right hand?"
参考译文——心与手
心与手
欧·亨利
一进丹佛站，大量旅客涌上一辆东行开往波士顿和缅因州的列车。有一节车厢里坐着一位十分标致的年轻女士。她的衣着昂贵而美丽。新上车的旅客里有两个男子，年纪较轻的一位蛮俊的，长着一张棱角分明的坦诚的脸，态度落落大方。另外一个，苦瓜脸、大块头，一身粗布衣裳。两人的手铐在一起。
这两个人从车厢中间过道一路走来，只有迷人的年轻女士的对面有空位。手铐手的这一对落了座。小姐漫不经心地迅速瞥了他们一眼，然后展露出了可爱的微笑，伸出她戴着灰色手套的纤纤小手。当她开口说话时，那声音一听就知道她是发号施令惯了的。
"好哇，伊斯顿先生。你要真存心让我先开口，我看我必须得照办了。在西部，你见到老朋友，就从来连个招呼也不打吗？"
年轻男子听到她的声音，突然一愣，好像有点难为情地挣扎了一下，但立刻恢复镇定，拿左手去握她的手。
"是你，费柴尔德小姐！"他带着笑容说。"得请你多包涵，此刻我暂时没法儿用另一只手。"
他微微举举右手，手腕处有副闪亮的“手镯”把他的右手和他同伴的左手铐在一起。女士眼里快乐的神情缓缓地变成了一种困惑和恐惧，两颊上也光彩顿失。伊斯顿逗趣地轻笑了几声，正要继续开口说话时，却被他的同伴阻止了。苦瓜脸男子从刚才就一直用他敏锐犀利的眼睛注意观看年轻女士的脸色。
“你得原谅我插嘴啊，小姐。但是我觉得你认得咱们这位警官大人，我看得出来你要肯替我向他求个情，将来到监狱时，为我说说好话，他一定听你的，而我在那儿的日子可就好过许多了。这会儿他就要送我进莱文沃斯监狱去。制造伪钞罪，七年刑期。”
“哦！”她舒了口气说，脸上也有了血色，“原来你做的是这一行——警官大人！”
“亲爱的费柴尔德小姐，”伊斯顿镇静地说，“我总得找个事做啊。钱哪，花起来似流水。你知道要在华盛顿咱们那群人里不落在人后是很费钱的。既然西部有这么个缺我就来了。咳，警官不能和大使比，可是……”
“那个大使，”她温柔地说，“早不来找我了。其实他根本不必多此一举。你该明白这一点的。如今你是勇敢的西部大英雄，骑马开枪出入千难万险之中。
那是完全不同于华盛顿的生活了。老朋友们都很惦念你。”小姐的眼睛，稍稍睁大了，饶有兴趣地看着闪闪发亮的手铐。
“你别担心这手铐，小姐，”另外那人说，“警官怕犯人逃脱，全是这样把自己和犯人铐在一起的。伊斯顿先生晓得怎么办好自己的事。”
“我们是不是很快可以在华盛顿又看到你呢？”费柴尔德小姐问。
“我想不会很快的，”伊斯顿说，“恐怕我的无牵无挂的日子已经结束了。”
“我爱西部，”她说。她的双眼流露着柔和的光，扭过头望向车窗的外面。她开始真诚、简练地说话，全忘了仪态和格调，“妈妈和我在丹佛过了一个夏天，因为父亲生病，她一个礼拜前回家了。我在西部生活蛮习惯的，可以过得很幸福。我想这儿的空气挺适合我的。钱不是一切。可是人们总是误解许多事，愚笨不开窍。”
“我说警官先生啊，”长着苦瓜脸的男子嚷嚷着，“这有点欠公道吧？我想喝口水，而且一整天没摸上烟。你还没谈够哇？求你行个好，就带我去吸烟车厢吧？我烟瘾犯得死去活来。”绑在一起的两名旅客站了起来。伊斯顿脸上依然挂着幽幽温温的微笑。
“我不好拒绝，他需要抽烟，”伊斯顿轻描淡写地说。
“落难人就只有这么点支撑了。再见，费柴尔德小姐。任务在身，你懂的。”他伸出手道别。
“非常遗憾你不去东部，”她说，她又记起她该有的仪态和格调，“但是我想你一定得去莱文沃斯，对吧？”
“是啊，”伊斯顿说，“我一定得去莱文沃斯。”
两个男人便沿着过道向吸烟车厢走去。
坐在附近的两名旅客，几乎听清了他们的全部对话，其中的一个说：“那警官真是一个好人，这些西部人有不少还真不错呢。”
“他那年龄当警官，挺年轻的，不是吗？”另外一个问。另一个人惊叫起来：“年轻？怎么会呢？哦，你没看出来呀？你看过有哪个警官把自己的右手和囚犯铐在一起的？”
Key Words:
disinterest [dis'intrist, -'intərist]
n. 不关心；无兴趣 vt. 使不关心
aisle [ail]
n. (席位间的)通道，侧廊
attractive [ə'træktiv]
adj. 有吸引力的，引起注意的
bold [bəuld]
adj. 大胆的，粗体的，醒目的，无礼的，陡峭的
coach [kəutʃ]
n. 大巴，教练;(火车)客车车厢，四轮马车，经济舱
spoke [spəuk]
v. 说，说话，演说
embarrassment [im'bærəsmənt]
n. 困窘，尴尬，困难
amused [ə'mju:zd]
adj. 有趣的
widening ['waidəuiŋ]
v. 使变宽；使扩大；拓宽；扩展（widen的ing形式
slightly ['slaitli]
adv. 些微地，苗条地
partner ['pɑ:tnə]
n. 搭档，伙伴，合伙人
v. 同 ... 合
puzzled
adj. 困惑的；搞糊涂的；茫然的
bracelet ['breislit]
n. 手镯
handcuffs ['hændkʌfs]
n. 手铐
wrist [rist]
n. 手腕，护腕
butterfly ['bʌtəflai]
n. 蝴蝶，蝶状物，蝶泳
vt. (烹饪时把鱼
farewell ['fɛə'wel]
adj. 告别的
int. 再会，别了
unfortunate [ʌn'fɔ:tʃənit]
adj. 不幸的，令人遗憾的，不成功的
aisle [ail]
n. (席位间的)通道，侧廊
conversation [.kɔnvə'seiʃən]
n. 会话，谈话
misunderstand ['misʌndə'stænd]
v. 误解，误会
prisoner ['prizənə]
n. 囚犯
haven ['heivn]
n. 港口，避难所，安息所 v. 安置 ... 于港中，
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