The Date Father Didn，t Keep /迟到三十年的约会
It happened in one of those picturesque Danish bars that cater to tourists and where English is spoken. I was with my father on a business-and-pleasure trip，and in our leisure hours we were having a wonderful time.
“I wish Mother were here，”said I.
“If your mother had come with us，”said Father，“It would have been 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 thirty years. I remember being in this very inn，by the way.”He looked around， remembering.“Those were gracious days...”He stopped suddenly，and I saw that his face was pale. I followed his eyes and looked across the room to a woman who was setting a tray of drink before some customers. She might have been pretty once，but now she was stout and her hair 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.
“I knew her before I 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 love with her，and she with me.”
“Does mother know about her？”I blurted out.
“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...”
“Your mother would tell you if she were here. I don，t want you wondering about this. I was a foreigner to her family. I was dependent on my father. If she had married me，she wouldn，t have had any prospects. So her father objected to our romance. When I wrote to my 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 get married on，and come back for her in a few months.”
“We knew，”he continued，“that her father might intercept a letter，so we agreed that I would simply mail her a slip or paper with a date on it，the time she was to meet me at a certain place； Then we，d get married. Well，I went home，got the loan and sent her the date. She received the note. And wrote me： I，ll be there.，But she wasn，t. Then I found that she had been married about 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 joke about that youthful love romance. I suggest that one day you write a story about it.”
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 thought so one time，a long time ago. But I stayed here. It，s 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.“12/11/13，which was， of course，December 11，1913.”
“No！”I exclaimed.“It isn，t in Denmark or any European country. Over here they write the day first，then the month. So that date wouldn，t be December 11 but 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 got married.”
He was silent a while.
“Well，”he said，“I hope she，s happy. She seems to be.”
As we resumed walking I blurted out，“It，s a lucky thing happened that way. You wouldn，t have met mother.”
He put his arm around my shoulders，looked at me with a heartwarming smile，and said，“I was doubly lucky，young fellow，for otherwise I wouldn，t have met you，either！”
故事发生在一家秀美如画的丹麦小酒馆里。这个小酒馆专为说英语的游客开设。父亲因办公顺路捎我至此旅行。休闲时光里，我们都玩得很痛快。
“真希望妈妈也在这儿。”我说。
“如果你妈和我们一道来，”父亲说，“咱们仨一起在这儿观光就好了。”
父亲年轻时来过丹麦。我问他：“您来这儿是多少年前的事儿了？”
“噢，大约30年了。对了，我记得当时也在这个小酒馆里。”他朝四周扫了一眼，回忆道，“那段时光，真是 无忧无虑啊……”话说到一半兀地打住了，我看到父亲的神色黯然下来。顺着他的视线，我发现房间另一头有一 个女人，正端着盘子给前边的顾客上酒。过去她肯定是个大美人，但现在她有些发福了，头发也有些散乱。“您认识她？”我问父亲。
“从前认识。”他说。
那女人来到我们这张桌子前，“喝酒吗？”她问。
“给我们来点啤酒。”我说。她点点头，便走开了。
“她变得太厉害了！感谢老天，她没认出我来。”父亲喃喃说道，用手巾揩去脸上的汗珠。
“在我遇到你母亲之前，我就认识她。”他接着说道，“那时我还是个学生，到这里旅游。她是一个非常可爱 的姑娘，特有气质。我疯狂地爱上了她，她也爱我。”
“妈妈听说过她吗？”我脱口而出。
“当然。”父亲轻轻地说。他略带不安地看着我。我为他感到有些尴尬。
我说：“爸爸，您不用向我……”
“要是你妈妈在这儿的话，她会讲给你听的。我不想让你多虑了。当时，对她们家来说，我是个外国人。我靠 父亲养活。假如她嫁给了我，就断送了她的前途。因此，她的父亲反对我们恋爱。我写信给父亲，说我想和这 位姑娘结婚，结果他掐断了我的生活费。于是我不得不回国。但是，我又和那姑娘见了一面，我对她说，我要 回美国借钱，钱借够了就娶她，没几个月就能回来。”
“我们知道，”他继续说，“她父亲可能会截下信件，所以我们约定，我只给她寄个纸片或纸条，写上日期，到时她就可以按时在某地与我会合，然后结婚。就这样，我回到了家，贷到了款，跟她定了日子。她收到了我 的便条，也给我来了回信，她写的是：我会来的。，但是她没来。后来我发现，两个星期前，她已经和当地 的一个旅店老板结婚了。她没有等我。”
父亲又说：“谢谢上帝，她没等我。我回家后，遇到了你的母亲，我们生活得幸福极了。这段年轻时的浪漫往 事，经常被我们拿来当作笑话。要我说，你以后可以把这事拿去写篇小说。”
那女人端着啤酒过来了。
“你们从美国来的？”她问我。
“是的。”我答道。
她粲然一笑：“美国是个美好的国度呢。”
“对，好多你们国家的人都到那儿去过。你有想过来美国吗？”
“不想了，现在不想了。”她说，“过去有段时间，我这么想过。那是很早以前的事了。但我没去，这里更好。”
我们喝完了啤酒便离开了小酒馆。在外面，我说：“爸爸，您让她见您的日期是怎么写的？”
父亲站在那儿，拿出一个信封，在上面写起来。“这样写的，”他说，“12/11/13，1913年12月11日。”
“错啦！”我惊叫起来，“在丹麦或是任何其他欧洲国家，这种写法都是错的。他们先写几号，再写月份。所 以，您写的日期不是12月11日，而是11月12日！”
父亲一掌拍在脸上，“所以她去找过我了！”他叫起来，“因为我没去，她才和别人结了婚。”
他沉默片刻。
“也好。”他说，“我祝愿她幸福快乐。她看着挺幸福的。”
我们继续向前走时，我脱口而出：“幸亏如此，不然的话，您就碰不到妈妈啦。”
他用手搂着我的肩膀，看着我，会心一笑说：“小伙子，我可是无比的荣幸，差点儿我也碰不到你了！”
picturesque
【释义】adj. 独特的；生动的；别致的；图画般的
【短语】picturesque scenery 山清水秀；景色如画
leisure
【释义】n. 闲暇；空闲；安逸 adj. 空闲的；有闲的；业余的
【短语】at leisure 从容的，有空闲，闲着；leisure style 休闲款式
gracious
【释义】adj. 亲切的；高尚的；和蔼的；雅致的 int. 天哪；哎呀
【短语】gracious invitation 盛情邀请，友好邀请
untidy
【释义】adj. 不整洁的，凌乱的；懒散的；不简练的；不适宜的 v. 使不整洁
stout
【释义】n. 矮胖子；烈性啤酒 adj. 结实的；矮胖的；勇敢的；激烈的
【短语】a stout heart 勇气；offer stout resistance 作顽强的抵抗
inquire
【释义】vi. 询问；查究；询价 vt. 询问；查究；问明
【短语】inquire about 询问，咨询，打听；inquire for 询问，求见，
blurt out
【释义】开始说话，脱口而出
【短语】blurt it out 冲口而出，脱口而出；blurt sth. out 脱口而出
prospect
【释义】n. 前途；预期；景色 vt. 勘探，勘察 vi. 勘探，找矿
【短语】Prospect Point 普罗斯佩克特角，希望角
You Are My Joy/ 你才是我的幸福
She was dancing. My crippled grandmother was dancing. I stood in the living room doorway absolutely stunned. I glanced at the kitchen table and sure enough-right under a small，framed drawing on the wall was a freshly baked peach pie.