英语散文：TheDateFatherDidntKeep（父亲失约）

It happened in one of those picturesque Danish taverns that cater to tourists and where English is spoken. I was with myfather on a business-and-pleasure trip, and in our leisure hours we were having a wonderful time.“It’s a pity your mother couldn’t come,” said Father. “It would be wonderful to show her around.”He had visited Denmark when he was a young man. I asked him, “How long is it since you were here?”

“Oh, about 30 years. I remember being in this very inn, by the way.” He looked around, remembering. “Those were graciousdays—” He stopped suddenly, and I saw that his face was pale. I followed his eyes and looked across the room to a womanwho was setting a tray of drinks before some customers. She might have been pretty once, but now she was stout and herhair was untidy. “Do you know her?” I asked..“I did once,” he said.

The woman came to our table. “Drinks?” she inquired.“We’ll have beer,” I said. She nodded and went away.

“How she has changed! Thank heaven she didn’t recognize me,” muttered Father mopping his face with a handkerchief. “Iknew her before I ever met your mother, “he went on. “I was a student, on a tour. She was a lovely young thing, very graceful.I fell madly in live with her, and she with me.”

“Does Mother know about her?” I blurted out, resentfully.

“Of course,” Father said gently. He looked at me a little anxiously. I felt embarrassed for him.I said, “Dad, you don’t have to-“

“Oh, yes, I want to tell you. I don’t want you wondering about this. Her father objected to our romance. I was a foreigner. I hadno prospects, and was dependent on my father. When I wrote Father that I wanted to get married he cut off my allowance.And I had to go home. But I met the girl once more, and told her I would return to America, borrow enough money to getmarried on, and come back for her in a few months.”

“We know,” he continued, “that her father might intercept a letter, so we agreed that I would simply mail her a slip of paperwith a date on it, the time she was to meet me at a certain place; then we’d married. Well, I went home, got the loan and senther the date. She received the note. She wrote me:” I’ll be there.” But she wasn’t. Then I found that she had been marriedabout two weeks before, to a local innkeeper. She hadn’t waited.”

Then my father said,” Thank God she didn’t. I went home, met your mother, and we’ve been completely happy. We often jokeabout that youthful love romance.”The woman appeared with our beer.“You are from America?” she asked me.“Yes,” I said.

She beamed. “A wonderful country, America.”

“Yes, a lot of your countrymen have gone there. Did you ever think of it?”

“Not me. Not now,” she said. “I think so one time, a ling time ago. But I stay here. It much better here.”

We drank our beer and left. Outside I said,” Father, just how did you write that date on which she was to meet you?”He stopped, took out an envelope and wrote on it. “Like this,” he said. “12/11/73, which was, of course, December 11, 1973.”“No!” I exclaimed. “It isn’t in Denmark or any European country. Over here they write the day first, then the month. So that datewouldn’t be December 11 but the 12th of November!”

Father passed his hand over his face. “So she was there!” he exclaimed. “And it was because I didn’t show up that she gotmarried.” He was silent a while. “Well,” he said., “I hope she’s happy. She seems be.”

As we resumed walking I blurted out, “It is a lucky thing it happened that way. You wouldn’t have met Mother.”

He put his arm around my shoulders, looked at me with a heart-warming smile, and said, “I was doubly lucky, young fellow,for otherwise I wouldn’t have met you, either!”【参考译⽂】

事情发⽣在丹麦的⼀个富有画意的客栈⾥。这种客栈专逢迎游客，通⽤英语。我和⽗亲这次旅⾏也是办事，也游乐，空闲的时候，玩得很痛快。

⽗亲说：“可惜你 妈不能来。如果能带她来逛逛，多好。”⽗亲年轻时到过丹麦。我问他，“从你上次来，有多久了？”“哦，差不多三⼗年了。我记得那时就住在这家⼩客栈⾥。”

⽗亲四下望望，回忆道：“那些⽇⼦真美……”他忽然住⼝不⾔，脸⾊转⽩。我顺着他的眼光看去，只见房间那边有个⼥⼈正端着托盘在客⼈⾯前上酒。她从前可能很美，但是现在已经发胖，头发也很乱。我问⽗亲：“你认识她吗？”他说：“从前认识。”

⼥⼈⾛到我们的桌前。问道“要酒吗？”我说：“我们要啤酒。”她点点头，去了。

⽗亲掏出⼿⼱擦额，低声说道：“她真变了！谢天谢地，幸⽽她没认出我来。我认识她在你的妈妈之前，那时候我是学⽣，假期旅⾏到这⾥。她年轻漂亮，⾮常可爱。我爱她到了极点，她也爱我。”我很不⾼兴地冲⼝问道：“妈晓得她的事吗？”

“当然知道。”⽗亲略感不安地望着我。我都替他难为情。我说：“爸爸，你⽤不着……”

“哦，我要告诉你，我不要你乱猜。她的⽗亲反对我们相爱。我是外国⼈，⼜没有好前途，还要依靠⽗亲。我写信给⽗亲说要结婚，⽗亲就不寄钱来。我只好回家。但是我⼜和她见了⼀次⾯，告诉她我要回美国去借结婚的钱，过⼏个⽉就来找她。”“我们知道，”他接着说，“她⽗亲可能会拆看我们的信件，所以商量好我只寄给她⼀张纸，上⾯写个⽇期，那是要她在某处和我见⾯的时间，然后我们就结婚。后来我回家去，借到钱把⽇期寄给她。”

“她收到了信，回信道，‘我准来。’但是她没来。后来我才知道她已在两个星期前嫁给⼀位当地客栈的⽼板了。她没有等我。”⽗亲⼜说：“感谢上帝，她没有等我，我回家去，遇见了你 妈妈，我们始终极为快乐。常把这⼀段年轻时的恋爱作为笑谈。”那个⼥⼈把啤酒送到我们⾯前。她问我：“你们从美国来的吗？”我说：“是的。”

她笑道：“美国是好地⽅。”

“是的。那边有许多你们的同胞。你有没有想过要去？”

她说：“我不想，现在不想。我想过⼀次，那是很久以前的事了，但是我留在了此地。此地好得多。”我们喝完啤酒就出来。⼀出客栈，我就问⽗亲：“爸，你叫她等你的⽇期到底是怎样写的？”

他停下来，拿出⼀个信封，在上⾯写了⼏个字。他说：“这样写的，12／11／13，这当然是1913年12⽉11⽇。”

我叫道：“不对！在丹麦和欧洲任何国家都不是这样写的！他们先写⽇⼦，后写⽉份。所以那个⽇期不是12⽉11⽇，⽽是11⽉12⽇！”

⽗亲抬起⼿摸了摸脸，叫道“那么她是去过了！因为我没有到，所以她嫁了别⼈！”他沉默了⼀会⼉，说道：“也好。我希望她快乐，她似乎很快乐。”

我们再往前⾛时，我⼜冲⼝说：“幸⽽如此，不然你不会遇见妈妈。”

⽗亲伸⼿搂着我的肩膀，很温暖地向我笑道：“⼩伙⼦，我是锦上添花，要不然我也不会有你了。”