外国故事双语阅读：电梯里的爱情故事

MONDAY

礼拜一

I tap my foot nervously on the shiny marble floor as I watch the numbers descend. I’m going to be late… again. It really wasn’t my fault. I’d had my hours swapped with George this week, so he could leave work in time to pick his kids up from school, while his wife recuperated from surgery. I now needed to be in the office by 10.00 instead of 8.30. You’d think that would make me early. However, since I was finishing later, I’d tried to get to the gym in the morning. Well that was a mistake. It was either shower and be late, or skip the shower and arrive stinky and sweaty. I figure that my coworkers would prefer a late me, than a pungent me.

我严重地用脚轻敲着闪亮的大理石地板，看着数字下降。我又要迟到了，实的不是我的错。那周我和乔治互换了工做时间，如许他就能够及时下班往学校接孩子，那段时间他的老婆处在手术恢复期。我如今需要在10点而不是8点30分之前抵达办公室。你认为我会早到。不外，因为我如今下班更晚了，我试图改在早上往健身房。那是个错误的决定。要么洗完澡往上班就会迟到，要么不洗澡，满身臭汗地往。我想我的同事们更喜好迟到的我，而不是满身汗味的我。

The brisk tap of heels alerts me to the fact that I am not the only one running late today. A side glance shows her pushing her wind swept hair behind her ears as she juggles a fully loaded satchel bag and a briefcase with one hand, while she reaches for the call button on the wall. I’d already pressed it, it was already lit, and pressing it again will not make the elevator move any faster.

高跟鞋轻快的敲击声提醒我，我不是今天独一迟到的人。从侧面看往，她把被风吹过的头发推到耳后，一只手勤奋挠牢一个拆满工具的挎包和一个公函包，同时另一只手伸出往按墙上的电梯按钮。我已经按过了，已经亮了，再按也不会让电梯走得更快。

The numbers stop at ground floor and the doors open. I gesture for the woman to precede me into the space and she uses her elbow to press floor 23, one floor above my own. I press 22 and stand back. It is just the two of us, and without trying to be obvious, I check her out. Tiny, with short black hair that curls about her ears, which sport a pair of Air Pods, and a killer figure enhanced by shiny black heels. I am a sucker for heels, but how the hell did women walk in them?

数字停在一楼，门开了。我示意让那位密斯先辈电梯，她用胳膊肘按了23楼，比我高一层。我按了22，然撤退退却后。就我们两小我，我偷偷地端详着她。身段娇小，黑色短发卷在耳朵四周，戴着一对Air Pods，闪亮的黑色高跟鞋陪衬出一副傲人的身段。我对高跟鞋没有对抗力，但女人穿高跟鞋是怎么走路的？

Hi, I’m Adrian. I don’t say, but wish I could.

你好我是艾利安我在心里说，实期看我有勇气说出口。

She smiles at me, a little half smile to acknowledge my presence accompanied by a fractional nod of the head.

她朝我浅笑，微微一笑，表达对我的存在表达承认，并微微点头。

I’m… well I don’t know her name, perhaps it’s Jane or Alice. What about Elizabeth? Sarah? I think I will call her Eleanor. You know like the Beatles song. We’re all lonely people here. I’m Eleanor.

我不晓得她的名字，也许是简或者爱丽丝。伊丽莎白？莎拉？我想我会喊她埃莉诺就像披头士的歌。在那里我们都是孤单的人。我喊埃莉诺。

So Eleanor, how long have you worked… I run through my memory of the building’s occupants. Floor 23 is a legal firm, I think. Jackson and Fuller is on the official gold name plate in the foyer. How long have you worked at Jackson and Fuller?

埃莉诺，你工做多久了...... 我根究了一下大楼里的住户。我记得23楼是一家法令的事务所。杰克逊富勒的名字呈现在大厅的官方金铭牌上。您在杰克逊富勒工做了多久？

It’s my first day. Well I haven’t seen her around so it could very well be her first day, but she has a lot of papers stuffed in that briefcase.

那是我的第一天。嗯，我在四周没见过她，所以很可能是她第一天上班，但她的公函包里塞了良多文件。

Actually I have worked for them for six years. There is no way this girl can be old enough to have worked for them for six years. She looks about twenty five.

现实上我已经为他们工做了六年。那个女孩不成能老到为他们工做了六年。她看起来大约二十五岁。

I’m doing my Internship and have been here two months now. That is better. And you? She would ask me, she would be as interested in me as I am in her.

我是练习生，已经在那里两个月了。如许更好。你呢？她会问我，她会对我感兴致，就像我对她一样。

I’m an Assistant Accountant at SP and Associates on the twenty second floor. I would tell her, just so she would know where to find me, should she be interested. I have worked there for the past three years.

我是二十二楼SP结合公司的助理睬计师。我会告诉她，如许她就晓得到哪里往找我，假设她感兴致的话。我在那里工做了三年。

Do you enjoy your work? Would she really ask such an inane question? Maybe it was small talk. What else do two people trapped alone in an elevator ask one another?

你喜好你的工做吗？她实的会问那么愚笨的问题吗？也许只是闲聊。两个被困在电梯里的人还能问对方什么？

I wonder if she is single, and I cast my eyes sideways, trying to get a look at her fingers. I can’t see, but I’m going out on a limb here… She’s single.

我猎奇她是不是独身，我把目光斜向一边，想看看她的手指。看不见，我就冒险猜一下吧，她是独身。

I can see her head moving slightly, nodding to the beat of music that only she can hear. It’s entrancing as if she were in her own private world and I was viewing her through a window.

我能看到她的头微微挪动，跟着只要她能听到的音乐节拍点头。实诱人，似乎她在本身的私家世界，而我正在通过一个窗口看她。

What music are you listening to? I would ask. She’s so cute, that she would be listening to something cool and hip. Perhaps an artist I’d never heard of, or something jazzy, or classical.

你在听什么音乐？我会那么问。她太心爱了，她会听一些很酷很时髦的工具。也许是一个我从未传闻过的艺术家，或者爵士乐，或者古典音乐。

Miles Davis, she’d say. Of course I’m a big Miles Davis fan and I ask which album. Kind of Blue. Yep, she would be listening to my favourite album.

迈尔斯·戴维斯,她会说,当然,我是迈尔斯·戴维斯的忠实歌迷，我问是哪张专辑。Kind of Blue。是的，她会听我最喜好的专辑。

The ding of the elevator hitting my floor, halts the conversation we’re not having and I smile at her as I exit.

叮，电梯到了我的楼层，停行了我们无声的谈话，我对她微微一笑，走出电梯。

TUESDAY

礼拜二

Although I am technically early to work the following day, having skipped my morning workout, I linger in the foyer, hoping to see my Eleanor again. Finally I realise that I’m being an idiot, there is no reason that she will be here today, just because she was here yesterday. As I press the button to call the elevator, I hear the tip-tap of heels on the marble floor and turn my head. There she is again. Her black curls secured this time, but her satchel and brief case still bulging.

第二天早上我没往的健身，早早地往上班，我在大厅里踌躇，期看再次见到我的埃莉诺。最初我意识到我在干一件蠢事，没有理由因为她今天在那里，今天就会在那里。按下按钮唤喊电梯时，我听到高跟鞋在大理石地板上的轻拍声，转过甚来，她又来了。她的黑色卷发此次很整洁了，但她的挎包和公函包仍然鼓鼓的。

Hi, again. I would say it, but I’m still struck mute.

你好，又碰头了。我想说，但仍是哑口无言。

Hi, yourself. Her voice would be husky, or maybe not. It might be breathy or high pitched, I don’t know. But for me, it’s a warm, throaty sound, reminiscent of Scarlett Johansson.

你好。她的声音应该是沙哑的，也许不是。可能是唤吸音或者高音，我不晓得。但对我来说，是一个温热的喉音，让我想起斯嘉丽约翰逊。

Did you get to work on time yesterday? I would ask. But how the hell would I know if she was late or early?

你今天准时上班了吗？我会问。但我怎么晓得她是迟到了仍是早到了呢？

Yes, thanks, I might be a bit late today though. Slept in. She doesn’t look like she slept in, she looks clean and fresh and incredibly relaxed for a Tuesday morning.

是的，谢谢，不外我今天可能会晚一点到。睡过甚了。她看起来不像是睡过甚了，她看起来很清洁，很精神，看起来那个周二的早上十分轻松。

I find it easier to be on time if I start work at 8.00. Starting later just sees me wasting time in the morning, and all of a sudden, I’m late again! I would say and she would nod in understanding.

我发现假设我8点起头工做，就比力随便不迟到。晚一点动身只会让我一早上无处消磨时间，然后突然一会儿，我又迟到了！我会那么说，她会如斯点头表达理解。

Yes, it’s hard to get going when you have extra time to kill in the morning. I would prefer to start early and finish early too. She would agree with me, we are both morning people in my mind.

是的，当你早上有余外的时间要消磨时，很难动手做点什么。我甘愿早点起头也早点完毕。她会附和我的观点，在我看来我们都是早起的人。

Perhaps we could meet up for a coffee before work? That wouldn’t be creepy. Two adults who work in the same building meeting for coffee, it’s nothing too alarming. I almost open my mouth to ask her, and then realise two things almost simultaneously. I’ve never actually spoken to her, and this is my floor.

也许我们能够在上班前一路饮杯咖啡？那就有点怪怪的了。在统一栋楼里上班的两个成年人聚在一路饮咖啡，那没什么大不了的。我几乎张嘴问她，然后几乎同时意识到两件事：我从没实正和她说过话，还有…22楼到了。

WEDNESDAY

礼拜三

Again I wait until the last possible moment to press the button, hesitating with my hand hovering in mid air, but the click of heels on the marble floor never comes. So I reluctantly press it and wait until the elevator arrives. I delay entering until the last possible moment, before I take my solitary place within the lift.

我又一次比及最初一刻才按下按钮，手在半空中踌躇，但高跟鞋在大理石地板上的咔嗒声不断没呈现。所以我很不情愿地按下按钮，期待电梯抵达。我不断挈到最初一刻才进电梯，单独一小我站在里面。

Just as the doors begin to close, I hear the now familiar staccato tap, faster and more urgent this time, as if she was running. I shove my hand between the closing doors, causing them to bounce open again and there she is, breathless and grateful. She smiles at me and I smile back. Our first real interaction, first eye contact, first word.

就在门起头关上的时候，我听到了已经很熟悉的断断续续的敲击声，此次更快，更告急，似乎她在跑。我伸手盖住即将封闭的电梯门，门再次弹开，她站在那里，气喘吁吁和向我称谢。她对我浅笑，我也对她浅笑。那是我们的第一次实在的交换，第一次眼神交换，第一句话。

“Thanks,” she murmurs so quietly that I barely catch the sound as it tumbles from her lips.

“谢谢，”她低声说，声音很小，我几乎听不见她的声音。

I just smile and nod back, my words caught behind my lips unable to force their way free.

我只是浅笑着点点头，我的话被挡在了我的嘴唇后面。

You’re welcome. Running late again? I would ask if I could.

不客气。又迟到了？假设我敢问出口的话，我会那么问。

I just can’t seem to get the timing right in the morning. She would reply, her eyes twinkling ruefully.

早上我似乎老是不克不及掌握好时间。她会答复，她的眼睛闪烁着懊悔。

Perhaps she is not the morning person I had believed her to be. Maybe it would be better to catch up after work for a drink and maybe some live music. I know a place around the corner from here that has live Jazz every night of the week. The Duke is a classy, classic Jazz bar, one of my favourite places to listen to music and unwind. We could get a table and share a bottle of wine with a meal.

也许她不是我所认为的早起的人。也许下班后往饮一杯聊一聊会更好，也许往找个处所听听音乐会。我晓得拐角处有个处所每晚都有爵士乐演出。杜克酒吧是一家十分不错的典范爵士乐酒吧，是我最喜好往听音乐和放松的处所之一。我们能够找一张桌子，饮点红酒，食点工具。

I get my phone out to check the website, to see who is playing there this week and the elevator stops at my floor. I step out, still focused on the website and don’t notice as the doors close behind me.

我拿出手机翻开网站，想查下那周谁在那里演出，然而电梯到了我的楼层。我走了出往，仍然看动手机，没有往看电梯门在我的死后关上。

THURSDAY

木曜日

This time I’m the one who is late. I’d had a cat emergency, Whiskers had left me a gift, a partially digested, totally unrecognisable gift that I discovered just as I was about to leave home. Therefore I missed the first bus and had to wait twenty minutes for the next one. I ran from the bus station, all the way to work. Lucky I’m fit and in the habit of working out.

此次是我迟到了。我碰着一个告急情状，是我的猫。胡子先生给我留了一个礼品，一个消化了一半的，完全无法识此外礼品，就在我即将出门的时候，我发现了。因而我错过了第一班公交车，不能不等二非常钟后的下一班。我从车站一路跑往上班。幸运的是我身体好并且不断有磨练。

The foyer is empty as I race through the glass sliding doors and my heart sinks with disappointment. She isn’t there, I’ve missed her this morning, thanks to my bloody cat. The last elevator is just closing as I arrive in a breathless rush, and I run to try to catch it before it shuts. A small hand reaches out to catch the door and it bounces open.

当我飞快地穿过玻璃推拉门时，大厅空无一人，我的心失看地沉了下往。她不在，那个早上我错过了她，该死的猫。我气喘吁吁地赶到电梯时，最初一部电梯正在关门，我跑过往想夺在门关上前盖住它。一只小手伸出来挡在门上，门开了。

There she is, my Eleanor. She smiles and steps back into her corner as I enter. A sound emerges from my mouth, it’s meant to be words of thanks, but I don’t think she hears them. I’m not even sure I spoke the English Language. Perhaps it was Neanderthal. I believe that’s a language I’m fluent in, especially if you ask my mother.

是她，我的埃莉诺。她笑了笑，退到电梯一角，我走了进往。一个声音从我嘴里冒出来，原来是感激的话，但我敢必定她没听清我说什么，我都不确定我说的是什么。也许是洞居人的语言。我想我说洞居人的语言应该很顺畅，特殊是假设你问我母亲的话。

My turn to be late today, I would tell her. My cat. He’s a little bit feral still, even after fifteen years of the good life. He left a partially digested mouse in my foyer and I had to deal with it just as I was ready to leave. Would that have been too much information? Would she be squeamish? No she’s a cat lover too.

今天轮到我迟到了，我会那么告诉她。我的猫，即便过了十五年的好日子，它仍是带着点野性。它在我的门厅留下了一只部门消化了的老鼠，我不能不在临出门的时候清理清洁。那会不会说的有点太多了？她会不会有洁癖？不，她也是个爱猫的人。

She would laugh and tell me a story about her cat. Kitty is so fat she wouldn’t be able to catch mice, poor love. She eats only the best gourmet cat food, poached in spring water.

她会笑着给我讲她的猫的故事。基蒂太胖了，底子挠不到老鼠，同情的宝物。她只食美食家选举的更好的猫粮，用矿泉水煮的。

Do you only have the one cat? I would ask

你只要一只猫吗？ 我会问。

One is definitely enough, wouldn’t you agree? She would speak with a smile one that shows how much she loves her cat. I adore Kitty, but I’m not quite ready to be a crazy cat lady just yet. Do you only have the one cat?

一只就够了，你说对吗？她说话时老是面带浅笑，那阐明她是多么爱她的猫。我很喜好基蒂，但我还不诡计做一个疯狂的爱猫密斯。你也是只要一只猫吗？

Yes, Mr Whiskers was a feral kitten I found out the back of my parents place about fifteen years ago. He lives a great life with me and has me wrapped around his paw.

是的，胡子先生是一只野猫，大约十五年前我在父母家的后面发现了它。它和我一路过着美妙的生活，老是喜好围着我团团转。

Cats are like that. You need to be very careful, because they will steal your heart in an instant.

猫就是如许。你需要十分小心，因为他们会在霎时偷走你的心。

And an instant is all it took, but I was already in love with my Eleanor, however the lift stops at my floor and I step out.

时间过得很快，但我已经爱上了我的埃莉诺，电梯却在此时停在了我的楼层，我走了出往。

FRIDAY

礼拜五

This is my last day on the late shift. George’s wife has recovered from her surgery and I will be going back to my usual shift on Monday. I’m so early this morning, that I pace restlessly about the foyer of our building, sipping on the cappuccino grande I picked up on the way to work. I am going to speak with Eleanor the moment I see her, I tell myself sternly. I’m going to ask her to the Jazz club, or coffee, or lunch, or just to exchange email addresses. Something.

今天是我上晚班的最初一天。乔治的老婆已经从手术中恢复过来，我将鄙人周一恢复到我的一般班次。今天早上我起得很早，在我们楼的大厅里我一边烦躁不安地走来走往，一边饮着上班路上买的卡布奇诺格兰德。我诡计一见到埃莉诺就和她说，我勇敢地吩咐本身。我要邀请她往爵士乐俱乐部，或者往饮咖啡，或者往食午饭，或者只是交换电子邮件地址，诸如斯类的。

I pace the foyer some more, watching the minute hand on my watch creep closer and closer to twelve. I have to face it. Eleanor is not coming. Maybe she doesn’t work Friday, she could be only a part time employee. Maybe she is still studying while completing her internship and she is on campus every Friday. I admit defeat and enter the elevator. It closes grimly, no cry of “hold the lift!” It is forthcoming and I ride it silently all the way to the twenty second floor. It’s the quietest lift I’ve taken all week.

我又在大厅里踱了几步，看着我手表上的分钟指针越来越接近十二。我得面临现实，埃莉诺不会来了。也许她礼拜五不上班，她可能只是一个兼人员工。也许她是一边在学校进修一边在那里练习的，她每个礼拜五都要往学校。我认输了，进了电梯。门关得紧紧地，没有人喊“按住电梯！”电梯一路上没停，我静静地站着，中转22楼。那是那周我坐过的最平静的电梯。

This afternoon I have a heap of paperwork to finish up and sort out before I hand the files back to George on Monday, and so I am the last person in the office. Everyone else has clocked out and Dave, Maria and some others have headed off to The Craic for drinks. I wasn’t interested in loud, raucous fun. The Mike Freely Quartet was playing at The Duke, but I didn’t feel like sitting there alone, so I locked the office and walked toward the lifts, no spring in my step, just Friday exhaustion slowing me down.

今全国午我有一大堆文件要完成，要整理好，然后鄙人周一把文件交还给乔治，所以下班时我是办公室里的最初一个。其别人都打卡下班了，戴夫、玛丽亚和其他一些人已经动身往克雷格饮酒了。我对喧闹的场所不感兴致。迈克·弗里利四人组在杜克酒吧表演，但我不想一小我坐在那里，所以我锁上办公室，朝电梯走往，我缓缓地走着，周末的怠倦让我放慢了脚步。

I pressed the call button and waited, studying the tips of my scuffed shoes, without actually seeing them. Like an automaton, I shuffle into the elevator as the doors slide open.

我按下唤喊按钮，期待着，眼睛盯着磨损的鞋尖，大脑却不晓得跑哪往了。电梯门开了，我挈着脚像个机器人似的走了进往。

“Hi,” the voice is soft. “Tough week?”

“嗨，”声音很轻。“难熬的一天？”

I snap my head up and see the other occupant sharing my lift. It’s Eleanor, and all of a sudden there is ‘Sunshine on a rainy day!’ I nod, unable to speak.

我猛地抬起头，看到电梯里的另一个乘客。是埃莉诺，突然间“雨后的阳光！”我点了点头，说不出话来。

She smiles and sighs, “Me too.” This is the longest conversation we have ever had out loud!

她浅笑着叹了口气，“我也是。”那是我们实正说的最长的一次谈话！

It’s then that I notice that she is carrying a box, an A4 Reflex copy paper box, and it is full to the brim of personal effects. The item at the top catches my eye with its glinting gold plastic. A name plate, ‘Tamara Blank’. My mouth opens, then closes and I swallow. Tamara?

就在那时，我重视到她抱着一个纸箱，一个A4瑞福莱复印纸箱，里面塞满了小我用品。最上面一块闪闪发光的金色塑料牌子吸引了我的目光。一个名牌，“塔玛拉·布兰克”。我张开嘴，然后又合上，吞了下喉咙。塔玛拉？

“It’s my last day,” she says.

“那是我的最初一天，”她说。

The doors open on the ground floor and with a small sad smile she steps out before me. I hear her clipping heels tap across the marble floor toward the sliding glass exit, but I don’t move, and the elevator doors slowly shut in my face. I can see my reflection staring back at me in their shining metal surface.

门开了，一楼到了。她脸上略带哀痛，微微一笑，从我前面走了出往。高跟鞋卡塔卡塔地敲打在大理石地板上，朝出口的玻璃大门走往，我没有动，电梯门在我面前渐渐地关上。在闪亮的金属门上，看见我的倒影在那里盯着我。

‘Ah, look at all the lonely people’.

“啊，看看那些孤单的人。”