用语音信箱列出聘礼明细的求婚

An Itemized Marriage Proposal via Voice Mail

用语音信箱列出聘礼明细的求婚

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.

乘渡船穿过旧金山湾回到家里，我检查电话应答机，发现一则求婚的信息，来自我的老友约翰·贝索(John Basso)，他现在住在佛罗里达。

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.”

我目瞪口呆地听着他东拉西扯：“你是我一生的爱，希望你和我在一起，我还得照顾在盖恩斯维尔的老妈，她现在卧床不起，手头有50多万的股票和债券、还有退休金、在水晶河有两处不动产，在盖恩斯维尔有房子，有一件皮大衣，两个钻石戒指，一堆古董家具，巴拿马地毯、韦奇伍德瓷器。我给你买张机票，你过来帮我照顾她。”

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.

他听上去不像喝多了，肯定是觉得这番话能打动我。我有十年没见他了，不过几个月前他开始给我写信，寄一些诗歌和艺术品。

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岁那年认识约翰的，他那时会开着一辆红色MG车子到迈阿密海滩中学(Miami Beach High School)来接我，还眼巴巴地指望我开口求他帮忙。

“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.

“带我去吃汉堡王，然后开车去科林斯大道(Collins Avenue)兜风吧，”我建议道，然后他就高高兴兴地答应。他性格温和，金发碧眼，但是没有神秘、难以捉摸到会让我把他当成真命天子。

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.

后来我搬去了纽约，再后来又去了洛杉矶，最后作为一名单身妈妈，定居在了马林县(Marin County)，在旧金山的一连串律师事务所工作，和他的联系在搬走后就断掉了。

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，我当时的男朋友说他想进城见一个叫约翰·贝索的朋友。

“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.

“我也认识一个叫约翰·贝索的，”我说。后来我写下了几句约翰那时候写的诗。17岁的时候，这些诗我看了很多遍，所以现在还都记得。

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.”

约翰的诗是这么开头的：“街灯闪耀，我心中怀有毒剂，直至扼死徘徊在霓虹都市夜之丛林里分裂生殖的狮子。”

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

“把这个给他瞧瞧，看我们认识的是不是同一个人，”我说。

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

后来我的男朋友证实，就是这个约翰;他后来一直住在迈阿密，不过如今搬到这里来了。

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.

我们邀请他来看望我们，再次看到他让我有一种似已经历过这一幕的感觉，他如今已经谢顶，变得健壮结实，但眼神里仍带有一丝不羁的闪光。他建议我俩溜出去，坐在我家屋后自行车道旁的金合欢树下喝几杯。

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?

约翰告诉我，他和一个以前的学生住在一起，在旧金山艺术学院教书，他画的油画在学校里办过展览。可我记得他原本更像是迪伦·托马斯(Dylan Thomas)那种诗人呀，原来他其实是个画家?

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，我独自去了约翰在金门公园的家中拜访。那是一栋维多利亚姜饼屋式的房子，有好几层，有一个三层楼高的露台，可以看到城市的一片屋顶，我们在露台上喝酒，颇有冒险的感觉。

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.

我们又去了金门公园的玫瑰园散步，去海特-阿什伯里街(Haight-Ashbury)的咖啡馆吃西班牙小吃，到科伊特塔(Coit Tower)俯瞰城市景色，最后在百老汇一家小酒馆里大醉一场。酒吧关门后，我居然能开着车穿过金门大桥(Golden Gate Bridge)回到马林，简直是个奇迹。

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.”

后来约翰就时不时地给我打个电话，但是几年过去，我们的人生并没有什么交集，直到有一天中午，我离开商业区，走到特里斯特咖啡屋(Caffe Trieste)吃饭，一转过街角，我就看见他在那儿，站在“神鹰俱乐部”(Condor Club)门口——这是北滩第一家无上装酒吧——像余兴节目的拉客者那样对着路人大声吆喝：“进来看看我们可人的女士们吧!”

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.

太让人伤心了，他怎么做起了这么下等的工作?我有礼貌地和他打了招呼，为能准时返回办公室匆匆离开了。

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年间，在我换了三个工作，有了一栋房子，后来又有了一套公寓后，我接到了约翰的电话，他已经回到佛罗里达的盖恩斯维尔了。他讨厌新技术，所以用公用电话簿找到了我。他那熟悉的声音和恭维让我想起早年岁月，以及那种被人爱慕的美妙感觉。

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.

后来他就发起了信件攻势。我每天都会有至少一封他的信，有时是两封，静静躺在我的信箱里——内容有随意的见闻、小段诗歌，有时还回忆我年少时的美貌。

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.

他还给我寄拼贴画，以及用彩色铅笔画的海豚、山麓和瀑布，都是10 x 12英尺，正好能放进信箱里。最后这些画都被我挂在律师事务所的办公室里，简直像画廊一样。

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.

我的老板是个要靠我整理每天堆积如山的期刊、文件和案件笔记的律师。她很想放弃执业生涯，到某个小镇上开个冰激凌小店。

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.

我收集的原创艺术品日渐增多，她也不禁为之动容，开始真正把我视为在工作之余还有自己生活的女性朋友。所以当我用两周假期去探望这位艺术家本人的时候，她也祝我一切顺利。

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.

约翰开着他那辆老道奇S.U.V车到坦帕机场(Tampa airport)接我，我们去了圣彼得海滩(St. Pete Beach)的露天咖啡座，在温暖的黑暗中吃着烟熏鲶鱼三明治，然后去了一家粉红色的汽车旅馆。那里家具破破烂烂，种着摇曳的棕榈树，还有个池子，里面有瀑布从假山上流下来。

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.

我喜欢佛罗里达，天黑后可以穿上短裤和凉鞋，一身色彩鲜艳的清凉打扮，整日晒太阳、游泳，晚上在洒满月光的海滩上漫步。

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.

假期的最后几天，我漂浮在海湾温暖的水里，望着湛蓝的天空和翻涌的云朵，突然觉得舍不得这个假期就这么结束。

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.

我延长了假期，看望了约翰的母亲，去了他在盖恩斯维尔的家。他母亲约瑟芬(Josephine)整天用钩针织帽子，看电视。她从不探索离床榻太远的地方，所以厨房无人问津，破旧不堪，地板上的油毡蜷成一团，肮脏的柜子里塞满生锈的铁锅和熏黑的厨具。约翰只用微波炉给母亲热速冻食品。

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

我厌恶地想，我绝对没法把这里当成自己的家。

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.

回到我那一尘不染的、可以看到塔马尔佩斯山(Mount Tamalpais)景色的公寓，约翰还是每天给我写信，如今是成堆的厨房工作台样品、橱柜设计图、小片瓷砖和绘板。

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，他都在电话里向我咨询厨房改造方案，我承认，每日繁重的律师事务所工作之后，这种联系确实让我们之间的恋爱关系保持鲜活。

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.

我专断地选了钴蓝色的厨房台面和地砖、枫木橱柜，还有不锈钢厨具，我本来根本没想过这是在为自己打造梦中的厨房，直到有一天我知道自己患了1型糖尿病，血糖高低的变化太剧烈，再也没有精力胜任律师事务所长时间高压力的工作。

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，把满屋公寓级别尺寸的家具丢给跨国搬家公司，飞往杰克逊维尔机场(Jacksonville airport)，留下我的老板懊丧地寻觅另一个助理，去应付她那些堆积如山的文件。

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

开车回盖恩斯维尔路上，约翰激动地说着他做的那些工作，他的房子也的确大变样了。

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.

每个房间里都有枝形吊灯，厕所里也有。厨房焕然一新，又时髦又干净。屋子后部有一个热水浴缸，可以俯瞰卵石磊出的梯形花园，里面种着昂贵的日本枫树和刺柏盆景。

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

唯一的问题是，这栋房子是在大学街(University Avenue)上，三个街区以外就是佛罗里达大学(University of Florida)，街上的声音很吵，让我们谈话也有点吃力。

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

约翰希望我照顾他妈妈，他妈妈希望我照顾约翰。

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.

最后我两件事情都干了，和约瑟芬亲如母女，我俩像小姑娘一样聊天，我试戴那些松松垮垮的针织帽子给她看，在她见律师、医生和财务顾问前帮她洗澡穿衣，在她戴上假牙的时候帮她拍漂亮的照片，还用她的韦奇伍德餐具盛上感恩节大餐。

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.

她不喜欢开灯，总把空调关到26摄氏度以下，没用过的纸巾就乱扔，但是明智的投资使她拥有了50万美元的股票。

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.

我来了以后，约瑟芬又活了一年，她给我们留下了信托基金、房子和三个大木箱，里面塞满了针织帽子。还有约翰在他的语音信箱求婚里提过的那些东西。