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'Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen,' by O. Henry

时间:2017-11-25 16:21来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

 

There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all Americans go back to the old home and eat a big dinner. Bless the day. The President gives it to us every year.

Sometimes he talks about the people who had the first Thanksgiving. They were the Puritans. They were some people who landed on our Atlantic shore. We don’t really remember much about them.

But those people ate a large bird called turkey on the first Thanksgiving Day. So we have turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, if we have enough money to buy turkey. That is a tradition.

Yes. Thanksgiving Day is the one day of the year that is purely1 American. And now here is the story to prove to you that we have old traditions in this new country. They are growing older more quickly than traditions in old countries. That is because we are so young and full of life. We do everything quickly.

Stuffy2 Pete sat down on a seat in the New York City park named Union Square. It was the third seat to the right as you enter Union Square from the east.

Every Thanksgiving for nine years he had sat down there at one in the afternoon. Every time, things had happened to him. They were wonderful things. They made his heart feel full of joy—and they filled another part of him, too. They filled the part below his heart.

On those other Thanksgiving Days he had been hungry. (It is a strange thing. There are rich people who wish to help the poor. But many of them seem to think that the poor are hungry only on Thanksgiving Day.)

But today Pete was not hungry. He had come from a dinner so big that he had almost no power to move. His light green eyes looked out from a gray face on which there was still a little food. His breath3 was short. His body had suddenly become too big for his clothes; it seemed ready to break out of them. They were torn. You could see his skin through a hole in the front of his shirt. But the cold wind, with snow in it, felt pleasantly cool to him.

For Stuffy Pete was overheated with the warmth4 of all he had had to eat. The dinner had been much too big. It seemed to him that his dinner had included all the turkey and all the other food in the whole world.

So he sat, very, very full. He looked out at the world without interest, as if it could never offer him anything more.

The dinner had not been expected.

He had been passing a large house near the beginning of that great broad street called Fifth Avenue5. It was the home of two old ladies of an old family. These two old ladies had a deep love of traditions. There were certain things they always did. On Thanksgiving Day at noon they always sent a servant to stand at the door. There he waited for the first hungry person who walked by. The servant had orders to bring that person into the house and feed him until he could eat no more. Stuffy Pete happened to pass by on his way to the park. The servant had gathered him in. Tradition had been followed.

Stuffy Pete sat in the park looking straight before him for ten minutes. Then he felt a desire to look in another direction. With a very great effort, he moved his head slowly to the left.

Then his eyes grew wider and his breath stopped. His feet in their torn shoes at the ends of his short legs moved about on the ground.

For the Old Gentleman was coming across Fourth Avenue toward6 Stuffy’s seat.

Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years the Old Gentleman had come there to find Stuffy Pete on his seat. That was a thing that the Old Gentleman was trying to make into a tradition. Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years he had found Stuffy there. Then he had led Stuffy to a restaurant and watched him eat a big dinner.

They do these things more easily in old countries like England. They do them without thinking about them.

But in this young country, we must think about them. In order to build a tradition, we must do the same thing again and again for a long time. The Old Gentleman loved his country. He believed he was helping7 to build a great American tradition. And he had been doing very well. Nine years is a long time here.

The Old Gentleman moved, straight and proud, toward the tradition that he was building. Truly feeding Stuffy Pete once a year was not a very important tradition. There are greater and more important traditions in England. But it was a beginning. It proved that a tradition was at least possible in America.

The Old Gentleman was thin and tall and sixty. He was dressed all in black. He wore eyeglasses. His hair was whiter and thinner than it had been last year. His legs did not seem as strong as they had seemed the year before.

As this kind Old Gentleman came toward him, Stuffy began to shake and his breath was shorter. He wished he could fly away. But he could not move from his seat.

“Good morning,” said the Old Gentleman. “I am glad to see that the troubles of another year have not hurt you. You continue to move in health about the beautiful world. For that blessing8 you and I can give thanks on this day of thanksgiving. If you will come with me, my man, I will give you a dinner that will surely9 make your body feel as thankful as your mind.”

That is what the Old Gentleman said every time. Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years. The words themselves were almost a tradition. Always before, they had been music in Stuffy’s ear. But now he looked up at the Old Gentleman’s face with tears of suffering in his eyes. The snow turned quickly to water when it fell upon his hot face. But the Old Gentleman was shaking with the cold. He turned away, with his back to the wind, and he did not see Stuffy’s eyes.

Stuffy had always wondered why the Old Gentleman seemed sad as he spoke10. He did not know that it was because the Old Gentleman was wishing that he had a son. A son would come there after he himself was gone. A son would stand proud and strong before Stuffy, and say: “In remembrance of my father.” Then it would really be a tradition.

But the Old Gentleman had no family. He lived in a room in one of the old houses near the park. In the winter he grew a few flowers there. In the spring he walked on Fifth Avenue. In the summer he lived in a farmhouse11 in the hills outside New York, and he talked of a strange bug12 he hoped some day to find. In the fall season he gave Stuffy a dinner. These were the things that filled the Old Gentleman’s life.

Stuffy Pete looked up at him for a half minute, helpless13 and very sorry for himself. The Old Gentleman’s eyes were bright with the giving pleasure. His face was getting older every year, but his clothes were very clean and fresh.

And then Stuffy made a strange noise. He was trying to speak. As the Old Gentleman had heard the noise nine times before, he understood it. He knew that Stuffy was accepting.

“Thank you. I’m very hungry.”

Stuffy was very full, but he understood that he was part of a tradition. His desire for food on Thanksgiving Day was not his own. It belonged to this kind Old Gentleman. True, America is free. But there are some things that must be done.

The Old Gentleman led Stuffy to the restaurant and to the same table where they had always gone. They were known14 here.

“Here comes that old man,” said a waiter, “that buys that old no-good fellow a dinner every Thanksgiving.”

The Old Gentleman sat at the table, watching. The waiters brought food, and more food. And Stuffy began to eat.

No great and famous soldier ever battled more strongly against an enemy. The turkey and all the other food were gone almost as quickly as they appeared. Stuffy saw the look of happiness on the Old Gentleman’s face. He continued to eat in order to keep it there.

In an hour the battle was finished.

“Thank you,” Stuffy said. “Thank you for my Thanksgiving dinner.” Then he stood up heavily and started to go to the wrong door. A waiter turned him in the right direction.

The Old Gentleman carefully counted out $1.30, and left fifteen cents more for the waiter.

They said goodbye, as they did each year, at the door. The Old Gentleman went south, and Stuffy went north.

Stuffy went around the first corner, and stood for one minute. Then he fell.

There he was found. He was picked up and taken to a hospital. They put him on a bed, and began to try to discover what strange sickness had made him fall.

And an hour later the Old Gentleman was brought to the same hospital. And they put him on another bed, and began to try to discover what his sickness could be.

After a little time one of the doctors met another doctor, and they talked.

“That nice old gentleman over there,” he said. “Do you know what’s wrong with him? He’s almost dead for the need of food. A very proud old man, I think. He told me he has had nothing to eat for three days.”

Words in This Story

Puritan(s) – n. a member of a Protestant group in England and New England in the 16th and 17th centuries that opposed15 many customs16 of the Church of England

tear(s) – n. a drop of liquid that comes from your eyes especially when you cry

bug – n. a usually small insect

cent(s) – n. a unit of money that is equal to 1/100 of the basic unit of money in many countries


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 purely 8Sqxf     
adv.纯粹地,完全地
参考例句:
  • I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
  • This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。
2 stuffy BtZw0     
adj.不透气的,闷热的
参考例句:
  • It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。
  • It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热,我们感到空气都是潮的。
3 breath 9SCyv     
n.呼吸,气息,微风,迹象,精神,一种说话的声音
参考例句:
  • I'm just going out for a breath of fresh air.我正要出去呼吸新鲜空气。
  • While climbing up the stairs the old man always loses his breath.那老人上楼时总是气喘吁吁的。
4 warmth hHFyV     
n.温暖,温情,暖和,激动,生气
参考例句:
  • He answered with warmth.他热情地回答。
  • We felt the warmth of the sun.我们感受到太阳的温暖。
5 avenue OeGyY     
n.林荫道;大街;途径,手段
参考例句:
  • This is a shady avenue.这是条林阴大道。
  • He drove slowly.The avenue was crowded with people.他慢慢地开车,因为大街上挤满了人。
6 toward on6we     
prep.对于,关于,接近,将近,向,朝
参考例句:
  • Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
  • Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了,并跑了过去。
7 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
8 blessing UxDztJ     
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿
参考例句:
  • The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
  • A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。
9 surely yrRwj     
adv.确实地,无疑地;必定地,一定地
参考例句:
  • It'should surely be possible for them to reach an agreement.想必他们可以达成协议。
  • Surely we'll profit from your work.我们肯定会从你的工作中得到益处。
10 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
11 farmhouse kt1zIk     
n.农场住宅(尤指主要住房)
参考例句:
  • We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
  • We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。
12 bug 5skzf     
n.虫子;故障;窃听器;vt.纠缠;装窃听器
参考例句:
  • There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
  • The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。
13 helpless FdAxb     
adj.无助的,无依无靠的;不能自力的
参考例句:
  • The other team was helpless and we had a real field day.对方队很弱,我们轻易取胜。
  • They felt helpless to do anything about it.他们对这事感到无能为力。
14 known hpKzdc     
adj.大家知道的;知名的,已知的
参考例句:
  • He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
  • He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。
15 opposed lmezik     
vt.和…起冲突;和敌军起冲突;反抗,抗拒;相对:放在某事物对面以对比或平衡vi.对抗,对立adj.强烈反对某事物的;(表示对比)而,相对于;相反的;敌对的
参考例句:
  • The development was bitterly opposed by the local community. 这一开发项目遭到了当地社区的愤怒抵制。
  • We hold diametrically opposed views. 我们的观点大相径庭。
16 customs evBzKy     
n.海关,关税
参考例句:
  • The customs officials turned the man over to the French police.海关官员把那个人移交给了法国警察。
  • They are collecting customs.他们正在收缴关税。
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