始终认为，为人父、为人母是上苍赐给芸芸众生的一项神圣使命。每一个孩子都应该拥有一对爱护他们的父母和一个完整而美好的家庭。可总是因为这样或那样的原因，父母分开了，完整的家庭对于无辜的孩子来说成了一种遥远而美丽的幻影，一道伤痕就这样不可避免地留了下来。
本文是美国当代风俗小说家约翰·契弗最著名的短篇小说之一。它并没有直接描写父母离异的孩子内心的痛苦情绪，而选择父子分别三年后再相见的场景作为叙述对象。在这场短暂、仓促的重聚中，父亲对周围的人骂声连连，却对孩子流露出浓浓的温情和爱意。这如山的父爱是含蓄的，甚至含蓄到难以捉摸，但这也成为残留在孩子心中对父亲的最后记忆……
文字难度：★★☆
The last time I saw my father, it was in 1)Grand Central Station. I was going from my grandmother’s in the 2)Adirondacks to a 3)cottage on 4)the Cape that my mother had rented, and I wrote my father that I would be in New York between trains for an hour and a half, and asked if we could have lunch together.
我最后一次见到父亲是在纽约大中央车站。当时我正从阿迪朗达克山区的祖母家到我母亲在科德角半岛租的一间小别墅去。我写信告诉父亲，因为要在纽约换另一班火车，我会在那儿停留一个半小时，并问他，我们能否一起吃午饭。
His secretary wrote to say that he would meet me at the information booth at noon, and at twelve o’clock sharp I saw him coming through the crowd. He was a stranger to me—my mother divorced him three years ago, and I hadn’t been with him since—but, as soon as I saw him, I felt that he was my father, my flesh and blood, my future and my doom. I knew that when I was grown I would be something like him; I would have to plan my campaigns within his limitations. He was a big, good-looking man, and I was terribly happy to see him again. He struck me on the back and shook my hand. “Hi, Charlie,” he said. “Hi, boy. I’d like to take you up to my club, but it’s in 5)the Sixtieth, and if you have to catch an early train I guess we’d better get something to eat around here.” He put his arm around me, and I smelled my father in the way my mother would sniff a rose. It was a rich compound of whiskey, 6)after-shave lotion, 7)shoe polish, woolens, and the 8)rankness of a mature male. I hoped that someone would see us together. I wished that we could be photographed. I wanted some record of us having been together.
他的秘书回信告诉我说，父亲那天中午将在车站的咨询台和我碰面。12点整，我看见他从人群中走来。他对于我来说是个陌生人——母亲3年前和他离婚了，自那以后我再也没见过他。但是，我一看到他，就感觉到他是我的父亲，是我的肉和血、我的未来和命运。我知道，当我长大后，我会有几分像他。我会不得不在他的限制中计划我的活动。父亲是个仪表堂堂的大人物。能够再次见到他，我开心极了。他一边拍拍我的后背，一边和我握手。“嗨，查利。”他说，“嗨，孩子。我想带你到我的俱乐部去，但它位于第60街。如果你得赶早班火车，我想我们最好在这附近吃些东西。”他单臂搂着我，我用母亲闻玫瑰花的方式闻着父亲身上的气味。那是一种成分丰富的气味，混合着威士忌酒、须后水、鞋油、羊毛衣物以及一个成熟男人的味道。我希望有人看见我们在一起。我希望有人拍下我们在一起的照片。我想要一些关于我们在一起的记录。
We went out of the station, and up a 9)side street to a restaurant. It was still early, and the place was empty. The 10)bartender was quarreling with a delivery boy, and there was a very old waiter in a red coat, down by the kitchen door. We sat down, and my father 11)hailed the waiter in a loud voice. “12)Kellner!” he shouted.“13)Garcon! 14)Cameriere you!”His 15)boisterousness in the restaurant seemed out of place.“Could we have a little service here!” he shouted. “16)Chop-chop.”Then he clapped his hands. This caught the waiter’s attention and he shuffled to our table.
我们走出车站，沿着一条小巷往上走到一间餐馆。时候还早，餐馆空空的。那个卖酒的男侍者正在和一个送报员吵架。有一个穿着一件红大衣的很老的侍者蹲在厨房门边。我们坐下来，父亲大声地召唤侍者过来。“侍者！”他喊着，“侍者！我在叫你这个侍者！”他在餐馆里这样大呼小叫似乎不太恰当。“能否过来招呼一下我们！”他喊道，“赶快。”然后，他拍了拍手。这吸引了那个侍者的注意，他慢吞吞地走到我们的桌子边。
“Were you clapping your hands at me?” he asked.
“Calm down, calm down, 17)sommelier,” my father said. “If it isn’t too much to ask of you, if it wouldn’t be too much above and beyond the call of duty, we would like a couple of 18)Beefeater Gibsons.”
“I don’t like to be clapped at,” the waiter said.
“I should have brought my whistle,” my father said. “I have a whistle that is audible only to the ears of old waiters. Now, take out your little 19)pad and your little pencil, and see if you can get this straight: two Beefeater Gibsons. Repeat after me: two Beefeater Gibsons.”
“I think you’d better go somewhere else,” the waiter said quietly.
“That” said my father, “is one of the most brilliant suggestions I have ever heard. Come on, Charlie, let’s get the hell out of here.”
“你刚才是在向我拍手吗？”他问道。
“冷静，冷静，斟酒侍者。”父亲说，“如果这个要求对你不算过分，如果这个要求不会超出你的职责太多，我们想要两杯英国卫兵牌吉布森鸡尾酒。”
“我不喜欢被人拍手示意。”那个侍者说道。
“我应该把我的口哨带过来。”父亲说，“我有一只口哨，只有老侍者们的耳朵才听得见。现在，拿出你的小便笺簿和小铅笔，看看你能否拿齐这些东西给我们：两杯英国卫兵牌吉布森鸡尾酒。跟着我重复一遍：两杯英国卫兵牌吉布森鸡尾酒。”
“我想你们最好到别的地方去。”那个侍者轻声说道。
“那是我听到过的最出色的建议之一。跟我来，查利，我们离开这个鬼地方。”父亲说。
I followed my father out of that restaurant into another. He was not so boisterous this time. Our drinks came, and he 20)cross-questioned me about the baseball season. He then struck the edge of his empty glass with his knife and began shouting again. “Kellner! Garcon! Cameriere you! Could we trouble you to bring us two more of the same?”
“How old is the boy?” the waiter asked.
“That,” my father said, “is none of you 21)goddamned business.”
“I am sorry, sir,” the waiter said, “but I won’t serve the boy another drink.”
“Well, I have some news for you,” my father said. “I have some very interesting news for you. This doesn’t happen to be the only restaurant in New York. They’ve opened another on the corner. Come on, Charlie.”
“I have to get my train,” I said.
“I’m sorry, 22)sonny,” my father said. “I am terribly sorry.” He put his arm around me and pressed me against him. “I’ll walk you back to the station. If there had only been time to go up to my club…”
我跟着父亲走出那间餐馆，来到了另一间餐馆。这一次，他不再表现得那么粗鲁。我们要的酒送来了。他反复询问我关于棒球赛季的事。然后，他用小刀敲打他面前那个空玻璃杯的边缘，又开始大叫起来：“侍者！侍者！我在叫你这个侍者！我们能麻烦你再拿两杯同样的酒给我们吗?”
“这个男孩多大了？”侍者问道。
“那关你屁事！”父亲说。
“抱歉，先生。”侍者说，“但我不会再拿多一杯酒给这个男孩了。”
“那么，我要告诉你一个消息。” 父亲说，“我有一个很有趣的消息要告诉你。纽约正巧不止你们这一间餐馆。拐角处就开了另一间。跟我来，查利。”
“我得赶我那班火车了。”我说。
“对不起，宝贝。”父亲说，“真的很抱歉。”他单臂搂着我，把我往他身上靠。“我和你一起走回到车站去。如果还有足够的时间带你去我的俱乐部看看就好了……”
“That’s all right, Daddy,” I said.
“I’ll get you a paper,” he said. “ I will get you a paper to read on the train.”
Then he went up to a newsstand and said. “Kind sir, will you be good enough to favor me with one of your goddamned, no-good, 23)ten-cent afternoon papers?” The clerk turned away from him and stared at a magazine cover. “Is it asking too much, kind sir,” my father said, “is it asking too much for you to sell me one of your disgusting 24)specimens of 25)yellow journalism?”
“I have to go, Daddy,” I said. “It’s late.”
“Now, just wait a second, sonny,” he said. “Just wait a second. I want to 26)get a rise out of this 27)chap.”
“Goodbye, Daddy,” I said, and I went down the stairs and got my train, and that was the last time I saw my father.”
“没关系，爸爸。”我说。
“我去买份报纸给你。”他说，“我去买份报纸给你带上火车看。”
然后，他走向一个报摊，说道：“好心的先生，你能否行行好，拿一份你那讨厌的、没用的、便宜的下午报给我？”那个摊主转过头不理他，盯着一本杂志的封面看。“我的要求是不是太多了？好心的先生。”父亲说，“要你卖一份你那令人讨厌的八卦小报给我是不是要求太多了？”
“我必须走了，爸爸。”我说，“时间很晚了。”
“马上，就等一会儿，宝贝。”他说，“就等一会儿。我要惹一惹这个家伙。”
“再见，爸爸。”我说。然后我走下台阶，登上了我乘坐的那班火车。那是我最后一次见到父亲。
作者简介： 
John Cheever 约翰·契弗（1912—1982），出生于美国马萨诸塞州，父亲为英国移民。他16岁起开始发表小说，后来成为《纽约人》杂志（The New Yorker）的撰稿人之一，著有长篇小说《瓦卜肖特纪事》（1957），《瓦卜肖特丑闻》（1964），《鹰猎者》（1977）。同时他还写了上百篇短篇小说，并出版了短篇小说集《极大的收音机》（1953）等。他的短篇小说合集《约翰·契弗短篇小说集》获得了1979年普利策小说奖。
作为当代美国的风俗小说家，约翰·契弗以细致入微、幽默嬉戏的笔调，生动地记录了美国中产阶级从闹市区迁徙到市郊住宅区的历史过程，描绘了他们变化着的生活方式和精神风貌，并不无遗憾地记录了这个阶级和家庭的解体。他因此被誉为“美国的郊外契诃夫”。