英语散文:小偷

　　He takes it from her. “Wait a minute,” he says, “This isn’t mine.”

　　他从她手里一把拿过来。“等一下，”他说，“这不是我的。”

　　The girl runs, he bolts after her. It is like a scene in a movie—bystanders scattering, the girl zigzagging to avoid collisions, the sound of his own breathing reminding him how old he is—until he hears a woman’s voice behind him:

　　那女孩撒腿就跑，他在后面穷追不舍，真像电影中的场面——周围的人纷纷避开。那女孩飞快地左拐右转，避免发生碰撞。他的喘息声使他想起了自己的年纪——后来听到一个女人的喊叫声从背后传来：

　　“Stop, thief! Stop that man!”

　　“抓、抓贼！抓住那个男人！”

　　Ahead of him the brunette disappears around a corner and in the same moment a young man in a marine uniform puts out a foot to trip him up. He falls hard, banging knee and elbow on the tile floor of the terminal, but manages to hang on to the wallet which is not his.

　　前面，黑发女人已经转过拐角，不见了踪影。与此同时，一个身穿海军陆战队制服的年轻人伸脚一绊。那人猛地跌倒，膝盖和胳膊肘都重重地砸在大厅的地板砖上，但他的手里仍紧紧地攥着那个不属于他的皮夹。

 

The wallet is a woman’s, fat with money and credit cards from places like Sak’s and Peck & Peck and Lord & Taylor, and it belongs to the blonde in the fur-trimmed coat—the blonde he has earlier seen in conversation with the criminal brunette. She, too, is breathless, as is the police man with her.

　　这只皮夹是一名妇女的，鼓鼓囊囊地装着钞票和像“萨克”、“佩克与佩克”、“洛德与泰勒”这种公司的信用卡。皮夹的主人是那个穿皮毛镶边外套的金发女人——他早先看到在和那个作贼的黑发女人交谈的金发女人。她也跑得气喘吁吁，像那个和她一同赶来的警察一样。

　　“That’s him,” the blonde girl says, “He lifted my billfold.”

　　“就是他，”金发女人说，“是他偷了我的皮夹。”

　　It occurs to the man that he cannot even prove his own identity to the policeman.

　　他突然想到，他甚至无法向警察证实自己的身份。

　　Two weeks later—the embarrassment and rage have diminished, the family lawyer has been paid, the confusion in his household has receded-the wallet turns up without explanation in one morning’s mail. It is intact, no money is missing, all the cards are in place. Though he is relieved, the man thinks that for the rest of his life he will feel guilty around policemen, and ashamed in the presence of women.

　　时隔两星期之后——他不再那样尴尬和恼怒，家庭律师的报酬已经支付，家里的风波也已经过去——他的钱夹在上午送来的邮件中意外地出现了，没有附任何解释。皮夹原封未动，钱一点也没少，所有的证卡都在。尽管松了口气，但他觉得，在自己今后的人生旅途中，他在警察旁边会感到内疚，在女人们面前会感到羞愧难当。