刎颈之交英文原文
Telemachus, Friend （O·Henry）
Returning from a hunting trip, I waited at the little town of Los Pinos, in New Mexico, for the south-bound train, whie hour late. I sat on the pormit House and discussed the funs of life with Telemachus Hicks, the hotel proprietor.
Perg that personalities were not out of order, I asked him ecies of beast had long ago twisted and mutilated his left ear. Being a hunter, I was ed i may befall o of game.
"That ear," says Hicks, "is the relic of true friendship."
"A?" I persisted.
"No friendship is a," said Telemad I was silent.
"The o case of true friendship I ever k on my host, "was a tewee man ahe monkey climbed palms in Barranquilla and threw down uts to the man. The mahem in ters, which he sold for two reales ea. The mohe milk of the nuts. Through eag satisfied with his owhe graft, they lived like brothers.
"But in the an beings, friendship is a transitory art, subject to disce without further notice.
"I had a friehe e of Paisley Fish, that I imagio me for an endless spae. Side by side for seven years we had mined, ranched, sold patent s, herded sheep, took photographs ahings, built wire fend pies. Thiher homoor flattery nor rior sophistry nor drink make trouble betaisley Fish. We was friends an amount you cuess at. We was friends in business, a our amicable qualities lap over and season our hours of re and folly. We ly had days of Damon and nights of Pythias.
"One summer me and Paisley gallops down into these Saains for the purpose of a month's surd levity, dressed iural store habiliments of mahis town of Los Pinos, whily was a roof-garden spot of the world, and flowing with ilk a had a street or two, and air, and hens, aihat was enough for us.
"We strikes the toer-time, and we ple whatever efficacy there is iing-house down by the railroad tracks. By the time we had set doried up our plates with a khe red oil-cloth, along intrudes ith the hot bisd the fried liver.
"Nooman that ted an anchet his vows. She was not so small as she was large; and a kind of wele air seemed to mitigate her viity. The pink of her face was the in hoo of a ary temper and a osition, and her smile would have brought out the dogwood blossoms in December.
"Widow Jessup talks to us a lot of garrulous the d history and Tennyson ahe sutton, and finally wants to knoe .
"'Spring Valley,' says I.
"'Big Spring Valley,' Paisley, out of a lot of potatoes and knu in his mouth.
"That was the first sighe old fidus Diogeaisley Fish was ended forever. He knew how I hated a talkative persoampedes into the versation with his ames and addendums of syntax. O ri I had heard Paisley himself call it Sprihousand times.
"Without saying a out after supper ahe railroad track. ardoo long not to knoas goiher's mind.
"'I re you uand,' says Paisley, 'that I've made up my mind to accrue that oman as part and pard to my hereditameh domestic, sociable, legal, and otherwise, uh us do part.'
"'Why, yes,' says I, 'I read it betweehough you only spoke one. And I suppose you are aware,' says I, 'that I have a movement on foot that leads up to the widow's g her o Hid leaves y to the son to ihe best man oniless socks at the wedding!'
"'There'll be some hiatuses in yram,' says Paisley, g up a piece of a railroad tie. 'I'd give in to you,' says he, 'in 'most a was secular affairs, but this is not so. The smiles of woman,' goes ohe whirlpool of Squills ao which vood ship Friendship is often drawn and dismembered. I'd assault a bear that was annoying you,' says Paisley, 'or I'd ee, or rub the pla your shoulder-blades with opodeldoc the same as ever; but there my see this fracas with Mrs. Jessup we play it aloified you fair.'
"And then I collaborates with myself, ahe followiions and by-laws:
"'Frieween man and man,' says I, 'is aorical virtue ehe days wheo protect each ainst lizards with eighty-foot tails and flyihey've kept up the habit to this day, and staher till the bellboy es up ahem the a really there. I've often heard,' I says, 'about ladies stepping in and breaking up a frieween men. Why should that be? I'll tell you, Paisley, the first sight and hot bisrs. Jessup appears to have ied a os into eas. Let the best man of us have her. I'll play yame, and won't do any underhanded work. I'll do all of her in your presence, so you will have an equal opportunity. With that arra I don't see why our steamboat of friendship should fall overboard in the medial whirlpools you speak of, whichever of us wins out.'
"'Good old hoss!' says Paisley, shaking my hand. 'And I'll do the same,' says he. 'We'll court the lady synonymously, and without any of the prudery and bloodshed usual to such os. And we'll be friends still, win or lose.'
"At one side of Mrs. Jessup's eating-house was a berees where she used to sit ier the south-bound had been fed ahere me aate after supper aial payments oo the lady of our d we was so honorable and cir our calls that if one of us got there first we waited for the other befinning any gallivantery.
"The first evening that Mrs. Jessup k ement I got to the bench before Paisley did. Supper was just over, and Mrs. Jessup was out there ink dress on, and almost ough to handle.
"I sat down by her and made a few spes about the moral surfaature as set forth by the lahe tiguous perspective. That evening was surely a point. The mooo busihe se of sky where it belohe trees was making shadows on the gr to sd here was a kind of spicuous hullabaloo going on in the bushes betwees and the orioles and the jack-rabbits ahered ihe forest. A of the mountains was singing like a Je iomato-s by the railroad track.
"I felt a kiio side--something like d in a crock by the fire. Mrs. Jessup had moved up closer.
"'Oh, Mr. Hicks,' says she, 'when one is alohe world, do mravated oiful his?'
"I rose up off the bence.
"'Excuse me, ma'am,' says I, 'but I'll have to aisley es befive a audible hearing to leadiio.'
"And then I explaio her hoas friends ctured by years of embarrassment and travel and plid how we had agreed to take no advaher in any of the more mushy walks of life, such as might be fome and proximity. Mrs. Jessup appears to think serious about the matter for a miheo a species of laughter that makes the wildwood resound.
"Ies Paisley drops around, with amot on his hair, and sits oher side of Mrs. Jessup, and iale of adventure in whid Pieface Lumley has a skinning-match of dead '95 for a silver-mounted saddle ia Rita valley during the hs' drought.
"Now, from the start of that courtship I had Paisley Fish hobbled ao a post. Eae of us had a different system out for the easy pla the female heart. Paisley's scheme etrify 'em with woio he had either e across perse print. I thi have got his idea of subjugation from one of Shakespeare's shows I see ohello.' There is a an in it who acquires a duke's daughter by disbursiure of the talk tur by Rider Haggard, Lew Dockstader, and Dr. Parkhurst. But that style don't work well off the stage.
"Now, I give you my own recipe fling a woman into that state of affairs when she be referred to as 'nee Joo pick up her hand and hold it, and she's yours. It ain't so easy. Some men grab at it so much like they was goi a dislo of the shoulder that you smell the arnid hear 'em tearing off baake it up like a hot horseshoe, and hold it th like a druggist p tincture of asafoetida in a bottle. And most of 'em catch hold of it and drag it right out before the lady's eyes like a boy findihe grass, without giving her a ce tet that the hand is growing on the ehem ways are all wrong.
"I'll tell yht way. Did you ever see a ma in the bad pick up a rock to throw at a tomcat that was sitting on a feng at him? He prete got a thing in his hand, and that the 't see him, a see the cat. That's the idea. Never drag her hand out where she'll have to take . Dohat you think she knows you have the least idea she is aware y her hand. That was my rule of tad as far as Paisley's sere hostilities aure we as well have beeo her a time- table of the Sunday trains that stop at O Grove, New Jersey.
"O aisley to the bene pipeful, my fries subsidised for a minute, and I asks Mrs. Jessup if she didn't think a 'H' was easier to write than a 'J.' In a sed her head was mashing the oleander flower in my button-hole, and I leaned over and--but I didn't.
"'If you don't mind,' says I, standi for Paisley to e before finishing this. I've hing dishoo our friendship, and this woe fair.'
"'Mr. Hicks,' says Mrs. Jessup, looking at me pe the dark, 'if it wasn't for but ohing, I'd ask you to hike yourself down the gulever disresume your visits to my house.'
"'And what is that, ma'am?' I asks.
"'Yood a friend not to make a good husband,' says she.
"Ies Paisley was on his side of Mrs. Jessup.
"'Iy, in the summer of '98,' he begiholomew chew off a 's ear i Saloon on at of a crossbarred muslin shirt that--what was that noise?'
"I had resumed matters again with Mrs. Jessup right where we had left off.
"'Mrs. Jessup,' says I, 'has promised to make it Hid this is ahe same sort.'
"Paisley wi rouhe bend of groans.
"'Lem,' says he, 'we been friends for seven years. Would you mind not kissie so loud? I'd do the same for you.'
"'All right,' says I. 'The other kind will do as well.'
"'This ,' goes ohe o shot a man named Mullins in the spring of '97, and that was--'
"Paisley ied himself again.
"'Lem,' says he, 'if you was a true friend you wouldn't hug Mrs. Jessup quite so hard. I felt the bench shake all over just then. You know you told me you would give me an even g as there was any.'
"'Mr. Man,' says Mrs. Jessup, turning around to Paisley, 'if you iion of mine and Mr. Hicks's silver weddiy-five years from now, do you think you could get it into that Hubbard squash you call your head that you are nix cum rous in this busi up with you a long time ber. Hicks's friend; but it seems to me it's time for you to and trot off down the hill.'
"'Mrs. Jessup,' says I, without losing my grasp oion as fiance, 'Mr. Paisley is my friend, and I offered him a square deal and a equal opportunity as long as there was a ce.'
"'A ce!' says she. 'Well, he may think he has a ce; but I hope he won't thi a ch, after what he's beeo all the evening.'
"Well, a month afterwards me and Mrs. Jessup was married in the Los Pi d the whole towo see the performance.
"When we lined up in front and the preacher was beginning to sing out his rituals and observances, I looks around and misses Paisley. I calls time on the preacher. 'Paisley ain't here,' says I. 'We've got to aisley. A friend once, a friend always--that's Telemachus Hicks,' says I. Mrs. Jessup's eyes snapped some; but the preacher holds up the ins ag to instrus.
"Ies Paisley gallops up the aisle, putting on a cuff as he es. He explains that the oods store in town was closed for the weddi get the kind of a boiled shirt that his taste called for until he had broke open the badow of the store and helped himself. Thehe other side of the bride, and the wedding goes on. I always imagi Paisley calculated as a last ce that the preacher might marry him to the widow by mistake.
"After the progs was over we had tea aelope as, ahe populace hiked itself away. Last of all Paisley shook me by the hand aed square and oh him and he roud to call me a friend.
"The preacher had a small house ohe street that he'd fixed up to rent; and he allowed me and Mrs. Hicks to occupy it till the ten-forty trai m, as going on a bridal tour to El Paso. His wife had decorated it all up with hollyhod poison ivy, and it looked real festal and bowery.
"About ten o'cloight I sets dow door and pulls off my boots a while in the cool breeze, while Mrs. Hicks was fixing around in the rht soo went out inside; and I sat there a while reverberatiimes ahen I heard Mrs. Hicks call out, 'Ain't you ing in soon, Lem?'
"'Well, well!' says I, kind up. 'Durn me if I wasn't waiting for old Paisley to--'
"But when I got that far," cluded Telemachus Hicks, "I thought somebody had shot this left ear of mih a forty-five. But it turo be only a lihahe hands of Mrs. Hicks."