用語音信箱列出聘禮明細(xì)的求婚

An Itemized Marriage Proposal via Voice Mail

用語音信箱列出聘禮明細(xì)的求婚

When I checked the home answering machine after my ferry commute across San Francisco Bay, there was a proposal of marriage from my old friend John Basso, who was now living in Florida.

乘渡船穿過舊金山灣回到家里，我檢查電話應(yīng)答機(jī)，發(fā)現(xiàn)一則求婚的信息，來自我的老友約翰·貝索(John Basso)，他現(xiàn)在住在佛羅里達(dá)。

I listened in awe to his rambling message: “You are the love of my life, and I want you to be with me while I take care of my mom in Gainesville. She is now bedridden. She’s got half a million in stocks and bonds, a pension, two properties in Crystal River, the house in Gainesville, a fur coat, two diamond rings, antique furniture, rugs from Panama and Wedgwood china. I’ll send you a plane ticket, and you can help me take care of her.”

我目瞪口呆地聽著他東拉西扯：“你是我一生的愛，希望你和我在一起，我還得照顧在蓋恩斯維爾的老媽，她現(xiàn)在臥床不起，手頭有50多萬的股票和債券、還有退休金、在水晶河有兩處不動產(chǎn)，在蓋恩斯維爾有房子，有一件皮大衣，兩個(gè)鉆石戒指，一堆古董家具，巴拿馬地毯、韋奇伍德瓷器。我給你買張機(jī)票，你過來幫我照顧她。”

He didn’t sound drunk. He must have thought this would win me over. I hadn’t seen him in 10 years, but a few months earlier he had started mailing me letters, poems and artwork.

他聽上去不像喝多了，肯定是覺得這番話能打動我。我有十年沒見他了，不過幾個(gè)月前他開始給我寫信，寄一些詩歌和藝術(shù)品。

I met John when I was 17. He would pick me up from Miami Beach High School in his red MG and wait with an eager look for me to ask a favor.

我是17歲那年認(rèn)識約翰的，他那時(shí)會開著一輛紅色MG車子到邁阿密海灘中學(xué)(Miami Beach High School)來接我，還眼巴巴地指望我開口求他幫忙。

“Take me to get a Whopper then let’s drive down Collins Avenue,” I might suggest, and he would happily comply. He was lithe, blond and blue-eyed, but not mysterious and misunderstood enough to be the one for me.

“帶我去吃漢堡王，然后開車去科林斯大道(Collins Avenue)兜風(fēng)吧，”我建議道，然后他就高高興興地答應(yīng)。他性格溫和，金發(fā)碧眼，但是沒有神秘、難以捉摸到會讓我把他當(dāng)成真命天子。

I lost track of him when I moved to New York and then Los Angeles before finally landing as a single mother in Marin County, where I worked in San Francisco for a series of law offices.

后來我搬去了紐約，再后來又去了洛杉磯，最后作為一名單身媽媽，定居在了馬林縣(Marin County)，在舊金山的一連串律師事務(wù)所工作，和他的聯(lián)系在搬走后就斷掉了。

Serendipitously, my then-boyfriend announced one day that he had to go to the city to see his friend John Basso.

不知怎么，有一天，我當(dāng)時(shí)的男朋友說他想進(jìn)城見一個(gè)叫約翰·貝索的朋友。

“I knew a John Basso,” I said. I wrote down the first few lines of the poem John had written back then. I had repeated it so many times when I was 17 that I still knew every word.

“我也認(rèn)識一個(gè)叫約翰·貝索的，”我說。后來我寫下了幾句約翰那時(shí)候?qū)懙脑姟?7歲的時(shí)候，這些詩我看了很多遍，所以現(xiàn)在還都記得。

John’s poem began: “There is just a tincture of me until I strangle the fissioning cougar that stalks my jungle night in a neon city of flashing, clicking streetlights.”

約翰的詩是這么開頭的：“街燈閃耀，我心中懷有毒劑，直至扼死徘徊在霓虹都市夜之叢林里分裂生殖的獅子。”

“Take this to him and see if it’s the same guy,” I said.

“把這個(gè)給他瞧瞧，看我們認(rèn)識的是不是同一個(gè)人，”我說。

My boyfriend later verified it was John’s poem; he had been living in Miami but was now out here.

后來我的男朋友證實(shí)，就是這個(gè)約翰;他后來一直住在邁阿密，不過如今搬到這里來了。

We invited him to visit us, and it was déjà vu to see him again, now balding and stocky but still with the flicker of wildness in his eyes. He suggested we two sneak off, take some wine and sit under an acacia tree by the bike trail behind my house.

我們邀請他來看望我們，再次看到他讓我有一種似已經(jīng)歷過這一幕的感覺，他如今已經(jīng)謝頂，變得健壯結(jié)實(shí)，但眼神里仍帶有一絲不羈的閃光。他建議我倆溜出去，坐在我家屋后自行車道旁的金合歡樹下喝幾杯。

John told me he was living with a former student and teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he had an exhibition of his paintings. This upset my image of him as an incarnation of Dylan Thomas. He was actually a painter?

約翰告訴我，他和一個(gè)以前的學(xué)生住在一起，在舊金山藝術(shù)學(xué)院教書，他畫的油畫在學(xué)校里辦過展覽?？晌矣浀盟靖袷堑蟼?middot;托馬斯(Dylan Thomas)那種詩人呀，原來他其實(shí)是個(gè)畫家?

Eventually I visited John on my own in his apartment by Golden Gate Park. It was a Victorian gingerbread with multiple levels, an outside third-story deck with a view of rooftops where we stood drinking wine and feeling adventurous.

最后，我獨(dú)自去了約翰在金門公園的家中拜訪。那是一棟維多利亞姜餅屋式的房子，有好幾層，有一個(gè)三層樓高的露臺，可以看到城市的一片屋頂，我們在露臺上喝酒，頗有冒險(xiǎn)的感覺。

We went walking in the park’s rose garden, ate tapas in a Haight-Ashbury cafe, walked to Coit Tower for the panoramic view and ended up getting drunk at a dive on Broadway. It’s a miracle I drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and made it home to Marin after the bar closed.

我們又去了金門公園的玫瑰園散步，去海特-阿什伯里街(Haight-Ashbury)的咖啡館吃西班牙小吃，到科伊特塔(Coit Tower)俯瞰城市景色，最后在百老匯一家小酒館里大醉一場。酒吧關(guān)門后，我居然能開著車穿過金門大橋(Golden Gate Bridge)回到馬林，簡直是個(gè)奇跡。

John would phone me from time to time, but years went by without our paths crossing until one lunch hour when I hiked from the financial district to the Caffe Trieste, and as I rounded a corner there he was in front of the Condor Club, North Beach’s first topless bar, shouting at passers-by like a sideshow barker: “Step right up and get a glimpse of these lovely ladies inside.”

后來約翰就時(shí)不時(shí)地給我打個(gè)電話，但是幾年過去，我們的人生并沒有什么交集，直到有一天中午，我離開商業(yè)區(qū)，走到特里斯特咖啡屋(Caffe Trieste)吃飯，一轉(zhuǎn)過街角，我就看見他在那兒，站在“神鷹俱樂部”(Condor Club)門口——這是北灘第一家無上裝酒吧——像余興節(jié)目的拉客者那樣對著路人大聲吆喝：“進(jìn)來看看我們可人的女士們吧!”

Good grief, whatever was he doing in this low-down job? I was polite and said hi, but rushed off to get back to the office on time.

太讓人傷心了，他怎么做起了這么下等的工作?我有禮貌地和他打了招呼，為能準(zhǔn)時(shí)返回辦公室匆匆離開了。

Ten years, three jobs, one house and one condo later, I got a call from John, who was back in Gainesville, Fla. Being a technophobe, he located me using directory assistance. His familiar voice and flattery brought me back to our early days and the gratifying feeling of being worshiped.

10年間，在我換了三個(gè)工作，有了一棟房子，后來又有了一套公寓后，我接到了約翰的電話，他已經(jīng)回到佛羅里達(dá)的蓋恩斯維爾了。他討厭新技術(shù)，所以用公用電話簿找到了我。他那熟悉的聲音和恭維讓我想起早年歲月，以及那種被人愛慕的美妙感覺。

Then the onslaught of mail began. Every day I would find at least one letter from him, sometimes two, waiting in my mailbox — rambling observations, snippets of poetry and references to my once-upon-a-time teenage beauty.

后來他就發(fā)起了信件攻勢。我每天都會有至少一封他的信，有時(shí)是兩封，靜靜躺在我的信箱里——內(nèi)容有隨意的見聞、小段詩歌，有時(shí)還回憶我年少時(shí)的美貌。

He also sent me collages and colored pencil drawings of dolphins, mountains and waterfalls, always 10 by 12 inches, sized for the mailbox. This artwork ended up creating a gallery at my law-office workstation.

他還給我寄拼貼畫，以及用彩色鉛筆畫的海豚、山麓和瀑布，都是10 x 12英尺，正好能放進(jìn)信箱里。最后這些畫都被我掛在律師事務(wù)所的辦公室里，簡直像畫廊一樣。

My boss was a lawyer who relied on me to keep track of her vast collection of periodicals, articles and case notes that accumulated daily. She yearned to give up her practice and move to a small town to open an ice-cream parlor.

我的老板是個(gè)要靠我整理每天堆積如山的期刊、文件和案件筆記的律師。她很想放棄執(zhí)業(yè)生涯，到某個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)上開個(gè)冰激凌小店。

She was impressed by my growing collection of original art and began treating me more like a girlfriend with a real life outside the office. She wished me well when I took my two-week vacation to visit the artist himself.

我收集的原創(chuàng)藝術(shù)品日漸增多，她也不禁為之動容，開始真正把我視為在工作之余還有自己生活的女性朋友。所以當(dāng)我用兩周假期去探望這位藝術(shù)家本人的時(shí)候，她也祝我一切順利。

John picked me up at the Tampa airport in an old Dodge S.U.V. and drove us to a St. Pete Beach outdoor cafe, where we sat in the warm darkness eating blackened grouper sandwiches, and then to a pink motel with shabby furniture, frilly palms and a pool with a waterfall flowing over fake rocks.

約翰開著他那輛老道奇S.U.V車到坦帕機(jī)場(Tampa airport)接我，我們?nèi)チ耸ケ说煤?St. Pete Beach)的露天咖啡座，在溫暖的黑暗中吃著煙熏鯰魚三明治，然后去了一家粉紅色的汽車旅館。那里家具破破爛爛，種著搖曳的棕櫚樹，還有個(gè)池子，里面有瀑布從假山上流下來。

I was in love with Florida, wearing shorts and sandals after dark, dressing in colorful skimpy clothes, sunning and swimming all day and walking on the beach in the moonlight.

我喜歡佛羅里達(dá)，天黑后可以穿上短褲和涼鞋，一身色彩鮮艷的清涼打扮，整日曬太陽、游泳，晚上在灑滿月光的海灘上漫步。

On the last day of my vacation, I was floating offshore in the warm gulf waters, looking at the bluest sky and billowing clouds, and it struck me that I could not bear for this vacation to end.

假期的最后幾天，我漂浮在海灣溫暖的水里，望著湛藍(lán)的天空和翻涌的云朵，突然覺得舍不得這個(gè)假期就這么結(jié)束。

I extended my vacation to visit John’s mother and see his home in Gainesville. Josephine spent all day crocheting hats and watching TV. She never ventured far from her bed, so the kitchen was neglected and dated, with curling linoleum floors and dingy cabinets crammed with rusty iron pans and blackened utensils. John used the microwave only to fix his mother frozen dinners.

我延長了假期，看望了約翰的母親，去了他在蓋恩斯維爾的家。他母親約瑟芬(Josephine)整天用鉤針織帽子，看電視。她從不探索離床榻太遠(yuǎn)的地方，所以廚房無人問津，破舊不堪，地板上的油氈蜷成一團(tuán)，骯臟的柜子里塞滿生銹的鐵鍋和熏黑的廚具。約翰只用微波爐給母親熱速凍食品。

Revolted, I decided I could never make this my home.

我厭惡地想，我絕對沒法把這里當(dāng)成自己的家。

Back in my pristine condo with a view of Mount Tamalpais, the daily mail from John continued, now with packages of countertop samples, cabinet designs, pieces of tile and paint pallets.

回到我那一塵不染的、可以看到塔馬爾佩斯山(Mount Tamalpais)景色的公寓，約翰還是每天給我寫信，如今是成堆的廚房工作臺樣品、櫥柜設(shè)計(jì)圖、小片瓷磚和繪板。

I was consulted on the remodeling options for his kitchen in nightly phone calls, and I admit this contact kept the romance alive after a day of grim servitude at the law office.

每天晚上，他都在電話里向我咨詢廚房改造方案，我承認(rèn)，每日繁重的律師事務(wù)所工作之后，這種聯(lián)系確實(shí)讓我們之間的戀愛關(guān)系保持鮮活。

I arbitrarily picked cobalt blue for the counters and tile floors, maple for the cabinets, and stainless steel appliances, never imagining I was creating a dream kitchen for myself until I learned I had Type 1 diabetes and was experiencing such drastic sugar lows and highs that I no longer had the energy for the long hours and high stress of the law office.

我專斷地選了鈷藍(lán)色的廚房臺面和地磚、楓木櫥柜，還有不銹鋼廚具，我本來根本沒想過這是在為自己打造夢中的廚房，直到有一天我知道自己患了1型糖尿病，血糖高低的變化太劇烈，再也沒有精力勝任律師事務(wù)所長時(shí)間高壓力的工作。

To the chagrin of my boss, I rented my condo, surrendered my apartment-size furniture to cross-country movers and flew to the Jacksonville airport, leaving her looking for another assistant to deal with her paper pileup.

我租出了公寓，把滿屋公寓級別尺寸的家具丟給跨國搬家公司，飛往杰克遜維爾機(jī)場(Jacksonville airport)，留下我的老板懊喪地尋覓另一個(gè)助理，去應(yīng)付她那些堆積如山的文件。

On the drive back to Gainesville, John was hyper, describing all the work he had done, and indeed, his house was transformed.

開車回蓋恩斯維爾路上，約翰激動地說著他做的那些工作，他的房子也的確大變樣了。

There were chandeliers in every room, including the bathrooms. The kitchen was new, stylish and immaculate. On the back deck, a hot tub overlooked a terraced rock garden made of boulders and expensive Japanese maples and bonsai junipers.

每個(gè)房間里都有枝形吊燈，廁所里也有。廚房煥然一新，又時(shí)髦又干凈。屋子后部有一個(gè)熱水浴缸，可以俯瞰卵石磊出的梯形花園，里面種著昂貴的日本楓樹和刺柏盆景。

Only problem was that we were right on University Avenue, three blocks from the University of Florida, and traffic whizzed by, making conversations tense.

唯一的問題是，這棟房子是在大學(xué)街(University Avenue)上，三個(gè)街區(qū)以外就是佛羅里達(dá)大學(xué)(University of Florida)，街上的聲音很吵，讓我們談話也有點(diǎn)吃力。

John wanted me to take care of his mother. She wanted me to take care of John.

約翰希望我照顧他媽媽，他媽媽希望我照顧約翰。

I ended up doing both, being a daughter to Josephine, having girly talks, modeling her floppy crocheted hats, bathing and dressing her up for visits with her lawyer, doctor and financial adviser, taking glamorous photos of her when she put in her false teeth, and serving Thanksgiving dinner on her Wedgwood dinnerware.

最后我兩件事情都干了，和約瑟芬親如母女，我倆像小姑娘一樣聊天，我試戴那些松松垮垮的針織帽子給她看，在她見律師、醫(yī)生和財(cái)務(wù)顧問前幫她洗澡穿衣，在她戴上假牙的時(shí)候幫她拍漂亮的照片，還用她的韋奇伍德餐具盛上感恩節(jié)大餐。

She objected to leaving lights on, turning the A.C. below 80 and throwing away unused napkins, yet her savvy stock purchases put a half-million in her portfolio.

她不喜歡開燈，總把空調(diào)關(guān)到26攝氏度以下，沒用過的紙巾就亂扔，但是明智的投資使她擁有了50萬美元的股票。

Josephine lived for a year after I arrived. She left us her trust fund, her home and three wooden trunks filled with crocheted hats, plus the items John had listed in his voice mail proposal.

我來了以后，約瑟芬又活了一年，她給我們留下了信托基金、房子和三個(gè)大木箱，里面塞滿了針織帽子。還有約翰在他的語音信箱求婚里提過的那些東西。