英語美文欣賞：咖啡加鹽 （中英雙語）

他和她相識在一個宴會上，那時的她年輕美麗，身邊有很多的追求者，而他卻是一個很普通的人因此，身邊當宴會結束，他邀請她一塊去喝咖啡的時候，她很吃驚，然而，出于禮貌，她還是答應。

坐在咖啡館里，兩個人之間的氣氛很是尷尬，沒有什么話題，她只想盡快結束，好回去。

但是當小姐把咖啡端上來的時候，他卻突然說:“麻煩你拿點鹽過來，我喝咖啡習慣放點鹽”，當時，她都愣了，小姐也愣了，大家的目光都集中到了他身上，以至于他的臉都紅了。小姐把鹽拿過來了，他放了點進去，慢慢地喝著。她是好奇心很重的女子，于是很好奇地問他:“你為什么要加鹽呢?”，他沉默了一會，很慢的幾乎是一字一頓地說:“小時候，我家住在海邊，我老是在海里泡著，海浪打過來，海水涌進嘴里，又苦又咸。我已經(jīng)很久沒回家了，非常想家，咖啡里加鹽，就算是想家的一種表現(xiàn)吧，以把距離拉近一點。”
All of a sudden, she was touched by the man, for it was the first time for her to hear a man telling her of his longings for home. In her eyes, a man with homesickness must be a domestic man, who will surely love his family. She had an urge to confide to him, about her hometown thousands of miles away. The cold and embarrassing atmosphere melted away for the time, and they talked for quite a while. That night, she agreed to let him walk her home.

她突然被打動了，因為，這是她第一次聽到男人在她面前說想家，她認為，想家的男人必定是顧家的男人，而顧家的男人必定是愛家的男人。她忽然有一種傾訴的欲望，跟他說起了她遠在千里之外的故鄉(xiāng)，冷冰冰的氣氛漸漸變得融洽起來，兩個人聊了很久，并且，她沒有拒絕他送她回家。After that special night, they dated frequently. She gradually got to know that he was a nice man, being magnanimous, attentive and considerate, which were the essential qualities she thought a remarkable man should possess. Deep down, she felt lucky for accepting his first invitation out of politeness, otherwise, she would have missed such a remarkable man. They later dated with each other in almost all the cafes in the city, where she would always take the lead to tell the waiter to get him some salt.

再以后，兩個人頻繁地約會，她發(fā)現(xiàn)他實際上是一個很好的男人，大度，細心，體貼，符合她所欣賞的所有的優(yōu)秀男人應該具有的特性她暗自慶幸，幸虧當時的禮貌，才沒有和他擦肩而過)她帶他去遍了城里的每家咖啡館，每次都是她說:“請拿些鹽來好嗎?我的朋友喜歡咖啡里加鹽”
再后來，就像童話書里所寫的一樣，“王子和公主結婚了，從此過著幸福的生活。”他們確實過得很幸福，而且一過就是40多年，直到他前不久得病去世故事似乎要結束了，如果沒有那封信的話。

那封信是他臨終前寫的，寫給她的:“原諒我一直都欺騙了你，還記得第一次請你喝咖啡嗎?當時氣氛差極了，我很難受，也很緊張，我本想叫服務員拿糖來的，不知怎么想的，竟然對小姐說拿些鹽來，其實我不加鹽的，當時既然說出來了，只好將錯就錯了。沒想到競然引起了你的好奇心，沒辦法只好臨場編了這個故事，這一下，讓我喝了半輩子加鹽的咖啡.有好多次，我都想告訴你，可我怕你會生氣，更怕你會因此離開我……現(xiàn)在我終于不怕了，因為我就要死了，死人總是很容易被原諒的，對不對?今生得到你是我最大的幸福，如果有來生，我還希望能娶到你，只是，我可不想再喝加鹽的咖啡了，你不知道，那味道有多難喝。”
The letter was written before his death, "My dearest, please forgive me for my cheating you all the time. Do you still remember our first date in the cafe? You know, the atmosphere was not very pleasant, and I was feeling terrible and nervous. I meant to ask the waitress to bring me the sugar, which came out to be the salt. I actually didn't go for the salt, but I had to go on with the mistake, which sparked your curiosity. I had no other choice but to make up the story I told you, which 1 had no idea would made me drink coffee with salt for the rest of my life. I didn't yield to my impulse to tell you the truth several times, because I didn't want to get you upset, I was even more afraid of you leaving me for that. I am relieved now, for I'm dying, and people all forgive the dying, right? I have been endowed with the greatest happiness in the world for marring you, and if I had a second life, I would choose you to be my wife again. There is only one thing I want to make sure, that is, I would never drink coffee with salt anymore, you never know how bitter it is!"

信的內容讓她吃驚，同時有一種被騙的感覺。然而，他不知道，她多想告訴他:“她是多么高興，自己心愛的人，為了她，能夠作出這樣的一生一世的欺騙……”
She was shocked by the letter, with the feeling of being cheated. However, he would never know how strong her desire was to let him know that, she was just too happy to be cheated for her whole life by someone she loved so much.