Christmas Eve, 1994. I was a sailor in the U.S. Navy, on a one-day leave in San Francisco. I had won ' 300 at poker that ordinarily would have burned a hole in my pocket, but I couldn't shake an overwhelming sadness.
1944年圣誕夜。當(dāng)時(shí)我是美國海軍士兵，到舊金山休假一天。在那以前，我玩撲克游戲，贏了300元。通常，錢燒口袋滑，一有就不留�？晌耶�(dāng)時(shí)極為憂愁煩悶，怎么也無法擺脫那種惡劣的心境。
Scuttlebutt had it we'd be pulling out before the New Year for the South Pacific. I'd just received word that another friend had been killed in Europe. And here I was, an 18-year-old alone in a strange city. Nothing seemed to make any kind of sense.What was I going to be fighting for, anyway
傳聞部隊(duì)在新年前要開赴南太平洋，而且剛剛聽說又有一位朋友在歐洲陣亡。我年僅18，如今在一個(gè)陌生的城市里，單身無靠。干什么都沒有意思。我究竟為什么打仗來著
I spent most of the day in a mental fog, wandering aimlessly through crowds of laughing, happy people. Then, late in the afternoon, my vision suddenly focused, and for the first time a scene registered.
我精神迷惘，在歡笑的人群中毫無目的地逛蕩，消磨了差不多一整天。后來，在黃昏的時(shí)候，視線突然集中，第一次有一個(gè)情景引起了我的注意。
There in a department-store window were two electric trains chugging through a miniature, snow-covered town. In front of the window was a skinny boy around nine years old, his nose pressed against the glass. He just stood there, fixed on those trains.
在一家百貨商店的櫥窗里，有兩列電動(dòng)火車正在一座白雪覆蓋的微型城市里嘎嚓嘎嚓地行駛。在櫥窗前，一個(gè)約莫9歲光景的瘦小男孩，鼻子緊貼玻璃，一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地站在那里，目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地注視著那兩列火車。
Suddenly the boy was me nine short years before, and the store was Macy's in New York City, my home town. I could see, could feel the same longing, the same desperate hoping. I could hear the sigh of resignation -- the frail attempt to hide the disappointment that Dad could not afford those trains. And I saw the reluctant turning away and then the one last look.
那男孩忽地成了短短的9年前的我，那商店成了我的家鄉(xiāng)紐約市的梅西商店。我看得見，也感覺得到那同樣的渴望和急切的期待。我聽得見那無可奈何的嘆息——爸爸買不起那種火車只好這么強(qiáng)憋住失望的心情。那戀戀不舍地轉(zhuǎn)身走開，最后又看上一眼，恍如就在眼前。
Not this time l I don't know what came over me, but I grabbed the boy by the arm, scaring him half to death.
不能再這樣了!我至今弄不明白是中的什么邪，反正我一把抓住男孩的胳臂，把他嚇得半死。
1944年圣誕夜。當(dāng)時(shí)我是美國海軍士兵，到舊金山休假一天。在那以前，我玩撲克游戲，贏了300元。通常，錢燒口袋滑，一有就不留�？晌耶�(dāng)時(shí)極為憂愁煩悶，怎么也無法擺脫那種惡劣的心境。
Scuttlebutt had it we'd be pulling out before the New Year for the South Pacific. I'd just received word that another friend had been killed in Europe. And here I was, an 18-year-old alone in a strange city. Nothing seemed to make any kind of sense.What was I going to be fighting for, anyway
傳聞部隊(duì)在新年前要開赴南太平洋，而且剛剛聽說又有一位朋友在歐洲陣亡。我年僅18，如今在一個(gè)陌生的城市里，單身無靠。干什么都沒有意思。我究竟為什么打仗來著
I spent most of the day in a mental fog, wandering aimlessly through crowds of laughing, happy people. Then, late in the afternoon, my vision suddenly focused, and for the first time a scene registered.
我精神迷惘，在歡笑的人群中毫無目的地逛蕩，消磨了差不多一整天。后來，在黃昏的時(shí)候，視線突然集中，第一次有一個(gè)情景引起了我的注意。
There in a department-store window were two electric trains chugging through a miniature, snow-covered town. In front of the window was a skinny boy around nine years old, his nose pressed against the glass. He just stood there, fixed on those trains.
在一家百貨商店的櫥窗里，有兩列電動(dòng)火車正在一座白雪覆蓋的微型城市里嘎嚓嘎嚓地行駛。在櫥窗前，一個(gè)約莫9歲光景的瘦小男孩，鼻子緊貼玻璃，一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地站在那里，目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地注視著那兩列火車。
Suddenly the boy was me nine short years before, and the store was Macy's in New York City, my home town. I could see, could feel the same longing, the same desperate hoping. I could hear the sigh of resignation -- the frail attempt to hide the disappointment that Dad could not afford those trains. And I saw the reluctant turning away and then the one last look.
那男孩忽地成了短短的9年前的我，那商店成了我的家鄉(xiāng)紐約市的梅西商店。我看得見，也感覺得到那同樣的渴望和急切的期待。我聽得見那無可奈何的嘆息——爸爸買不起那種火車只好這么強(qiáng)憋住失望的心情。那戀戀不舍地轉(zhuǎn)身走開，最后又看上一眼，恍如就在眼前。
Not this time l I don't know what came over me, but I grabbed the boy by the arm, scaring him half to death.
不能再這樣了!我至今弄不明白是中的什么邪，反正我一把抓住男孩的胳臂，把他嚇得半死。
