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“We're going to Florida,” she said brightly.“ I hear it's really beautiful.”
“我们都是去佛罗里达的，”那个女孩轻快地说。“我听说那里很美。”
“It is, ” he said quietly, as if remembering something he had tried to forget.
“是的，”他静静地回答道，他似乎记起了过去曾试图忘却的往事。
“Want some wine?” she said. He smiled and took a swig. He thanked her and retreated again into his silence. After a while, she went back to the others, and Vingo nodded in sleep.
“来点葡萄酒吧?”那个女孩说。他微笑着喝了一大口，说声谢谢后又回到他的沉默中。后来她回到那班人中，温格则低着头睡着了。
In the morning, they awoke outside another Howard Johnson's,and this time Vingo went in. The girl insisted that he join them. He seemed very shy, and ordered black coffee and smoked nervously as the young people chattered about sleeping on beaches. When they returned to the bus, the girl sat with Vingo again, and after a while, slowly and painfully, he told his story. He had been in jail in New York for the past four years, and now he was going home.
早上，他们醒来时汽车停在另一个约翰逊连锁餐馆前，这回温格也进去了。那个女孩极力邀请他参加他们的团体。但他看起来很腼腆，当那班年轻人谈论着在海滨该怎么过夜时，他则独自一人呆在一边喝黑咖啡，还不停地抽烟，显得有些局促不安。当他们回到车上时，那个女孩又坐到他身边，过了一会儿，温格才缓慢而且痛楚地诉说起他的经历。他在纽约的监狱里呆了四年，现在他假释回家了。
“Are you married?”
“你结婚了吗?”
“I don't know.”
“我不知道。”
“You don't know?” she said.
“你不知道?”那女孩很奇怪。
“Well, when I was in jail I wrote to my wife,” he said. “ I told her that I was going to be away a long time, and that if she couldn't stand it, if the kids kept asking questions, if it hurt too much, well, she could just forget me, I'd understand. Get a new guy, I saidshe‘s a wonderful woman,really somethingand forget about me. I told her she didn't have to write me for nothing. And she didn‘t. Not for three and a half years.”
“是这样，我在狱中时曾给我妻子写过一封信”他说，“告诉她我要离开很长一段时间，如果她忍受不了，如果孩子不断追问，如果这使她非常痛苦，那么她可以忘了我，我会理解的。我叫她重新嫁人，我知道她是个很不错的女人，真的不一般。我让她忘了我，我让她别给我写回信，因为这没有用，她也真没回信，我已有三年半没有她的音信了。”
“And you're going home now, not knowing?”
“那么你就这样盲目地回家去?”
“Yeah,” he said shyly. “ Well, last week, when I was sure the parole was coming through, I wrote her again. We used to live in Brunswick, just before Jacksonville, and there's a big oak tree just as you come into town. I told her that if she'd take me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I'd get off and come home. If she didn't want me, forget itno handkerchief, and I'd go on through.”
“也不是，”他略带腼腆地说：“上周当我确知假释得到批准时，我又给她写过一封信。过去我们住在布伦斯威克，就在杰克逊维尔前面，在进城去的路上有一棵高大的橡树。我告诉她，如果她愿意我回来就在树上挂一方黄手帕，我就下车回家。如果她不要我就忘掉这件事，看不见手帕，我也就不下车了。”
“Wow,” the girl exclaimed. “Wow.”
“噢，是吗?”那个女孩惊讶极了。
