你是否遇见一个人，在机缘巧合之下，和他/她的交往改变了你一生的轨迹，甚至造就了你的人生？

海明威的短篇小说《一则很短的故事》(A Very Short Story)就讲述了这样一个故事。他当时才二十几岁，用简洁到极致的语言，写下了一战期间一场无疾而终的爱情。

据说，故事来自于海明威的真实经历。除了他本人并没有染病之外。

A Very Short Story

By：Ernest Miller Hemingway 

One hot evening in Padua they carried him up onto the roof and he could look out over the top of the town. There were chimney swifts in the sky. After a while it got dark and the searchlights came out. The others went down and took the bottles with them. He and Luz could hear them below on the balcony. Luz sat on the bed. She was cool and fresh in the hot night.

Padua 帕多瓦，意大利地名

chimney swift [ˈtʃɪmni] [swɪft]烟囱刺尾雨燕，常见于北美洲

searchlight  [ˈsɜːtʃlaɪt] n.[C] a large powerful light that can be turned to shine a long way in any direction 探照灯，探照灯光

Luz stayed on night duty for three months. They were glad to let her. When they operated on him she prepared him for the operating table; and they had a joke about friend or enema. He went under the anaesthetic holding tight on to himself so he would not blab about anything during the silly, talky time. After he got on crutches he used to take the temperatures so Luz would not have to get up from the bed. There were only a few patients, and they all knew about it. They all liked Luz. As he walked back along the halls he thought of Luz in his bed.

[1]原文为enema（灌肠剂），同敌人（enemy）仅差末一个字母。

on night duty 值夜班

operate [ˈɒpəreɪt]  v. perform surgery on; direct or control; projects, businesses, etc.; handle and cause to function 动手术；运用；运行（机器）

anaesthetic[ˌænəsˈθetɪk] n. [C] a drug that causes temporary loss of bodily sensations 麻醉剂

blab [blæb] v. divulge confidential information or secrets 泄露

talky [ˈtɔːki] adj. containing too much dialogue or inconsequential talk 爱讲话的，对话过多的

crutch  [krʌtʃ] n.[C] 拐杖

Before he went back to the front they went into the Duomo and prayed. It was dim and quiet, and there were other people praying. They wanted to get married, but there was not enough time for the banns, and neither of them had birth certificates. They felt as though they were married, but they wanted everyone to know about it, and to make it so they could not lose it.

front [frʌnt] n. [C] the line along which opposing armies face each other 前线

Duomo [ˈdwɔːmɔː] n. 大教堂

dim [dɪm] adj. not bright; lacking clarity or distinctness 昏暗的；朦胧的，模糊的

bann  n. [C] （教堂里的）结婚预告

certificate [səˈtɪfɪkət] n. [C] an official document stating that particular facts are true 证明书

Luz wrote him many letters that he never got until after the armistice. Fifteen came in a bunch to the front and he sorted them by the dates and read them all straight through. They were all about the hospital, and how much she loved him and how it was impossible to get along without him and how terrible it was missing him at night. After the armistice they agreed he should go home to get a job so they might be married. Luz would not come home until he had a good job and could come to New York to meet her. It was understood he would not drink, and he did not want to see his friends or anyone in the States. Only to get a job and be married. On the train from Padua to Milan they quarreled about her not being willing to come home at once. When they had to say good-bye, in the station at Milan, they kissed good-bye, but were not finished with the quarrel. He felt sick about saying good-bye like that.

[2]指第一次世界大战的停战日，1918年11月11日。

armistice  [ˈɑːmɪstɪs] n. [C] an agreement between countries who are at war with one another to stop fighting and to discuss ways of making peace 停战协议；停火协议

bunch [bʌntʃ]  n. [C] a grouping of a number of similar things 串，束，伙

He went to America on a boat from Genoa. Luz went back to Pordonone to open a hospital. It was lonely and rainy there, and there was a battalion of arditi quartered in the town. Living in the muddy, rainy town in the winter, the major of the battalion made love to Luz, and she had never known Italians before, and finally wrote to the States that theirs had only been a boy and girl affair. She was sorry, and she knew he would probably not be able to understand, but might some day forgive her, and be grateful to her, and she expected, absolutely unexpectedly, to be married in the spring. She loved him as always, but she realized now it was only a boy and girl love. She hoped he would have a great career, and believed in him absolutely. She knew it was for the best.

Geona 热那亚, 意大利西北部港口城市

Pordonone 波尔德诺内，意大利东北部城市

battalion [bəˈtæliən] n. [C] an army unit usually consisting of a headquarters and three or more companies （军）营

quarter [ˈkwɔːtə(r)] v. to provide ab with a place to eat and sleep 驻扎；留宿

major [ˈmeɪdʒə(r)] n. [C] 少校

The major did not marry her in the spring, or any other time. Luz never got an answer to the letter to Chicago about it. A short time after he contracted gonorrhea from a sales girl in a loop department store while riding in a taxicab through Lincoln Park.

gonorrhea n. 淋病  eg. Survey and Analysis on 126 female cases of chronic gonorrhea.126例女性慢性淋病调查分析

                                                                  - The End -

思考题

1.

单从字面来看，叙述者不偏不倚，没有掺杂任何个人的观点与评价，呈现给读者的就是一个简单而清晰的脉络。你认为在整个故事的叙述中，作者真的做到了公正、客观吗？

2.

一向以朴素、简洁、情感含蓄的写作风格著称的海明威为什么会在最后一段写下这样一个一反常态的长句？She was sorry, and she knew he would probably not be able to understand, but might some day forgive her, and be grateful to her, and she expected, absolutely unexpectedly, to be married in the spring.

3.

文中，He可以说是海明威作品中典型的男人形象，请你用几个词来形容他。