第37封信 - 1952.02.09
“细品每一封信，感受日期，感受人类的长情。”
寄语
《84, Charing Cross Road》
从前的日色变得慢
车、马、邮件都慢
一生只够爱一个人
细品每一封信
感受书信的缓慢
感受人类的长情
英文原文
14 East 95th St.
February 9, 1952
Now listen, Maxine—
I just talked to your mother, she says you don’t think the show will run another month and she says you took two dozen pairs of nylons over there, so do me a favor. As soon as the closing notice goes up take four pairs of nylons around to the bookshop for me, give them to Frank Doel, tell him they’re for the three girls and Nora (his wife).
Your mother says I am NOT to enclose any money for them, she got them last summer at a close-out sale at Saks, they were very cheap and she’ll donate them to the shop, she’s feeling pro-British.
Wait’ll you see what the shop sent me for Chistmas. It’s an Irish linen tablecloth, the color of thick cream, hand-embroi-dered in an old-fashioned pattern of leaves and flowers, every flower worked in a different color and shaded from very pale to very deep, you never saw anything like it. My junk-shop drop-leaf table CERTainly never saw anything like it, i get this urge to shake out my flowing Victorian sleeve and lift a graceful arm to pour tea from an imaginary Georgian teapot, we’re gonna play Stanislavski with it the minute you get home.
Ellery raised me to $250 a , if it keeps up till June I may get to England and browse around my bookshop myself. If I have the nerve. I write them the most outrageous letters from a safe 3,000 miles away, i’ll probably walk in there one day and walk right out again without telling them who i am.
I fail to see why you did not understand that groceryman,he did not call it “ground ground nuts,” he called it “ground ground-nuts” which is the only really SENSible thing to call it.Peanuts grow in the GROUND and are therefore GROUND-nuts, and after you take them out of the ground you grind them up and you have ground ground-nuts, which is a much more accurate name than peanut butter, you just don’t understand English.
XXX
h. hanff
girl etymologist
P.S. Your mother is setting out bravely this morning to look at an apartment for you on 8th Avenue in the 50’s because you told her to look in the theatre district. Maxine you know perfectly well your mother is not equipped to look at ANYTHING on 8th Avenue.
中文翻译
听好了!玛克辛:
我刚和你妈妈聊过。她说你们的戏也许下个月就会结束公演;她还告诉我。你带走了两打丝袜。帮我一个忙，趁你的戏下档前，拿四双去书店交给弗兰克·德尔，就说是送给店里的三个女孩和诺拉（他太太）。
你妈妈还特别交代，要我用不着付钱给你。她说那些丝袜全是她自已在去年夏天萨克斯百货店清仓大减价时便宜买到的，她决定要乐捐出来，好让她自个儿也能沾沾“共赴国难”的光。
等你回国就可以瞧见他们送我的圣诞节礼物了。这是一条漂亮的爱尔兰绣花桌巾，米黄色的底布上以手工绣着古典的花草图案——全是各自不同颜色、浓淡有致的花儿。保证你从没看过这么美的桌巾，我那张从旧货店买回来的破茶几就更肯定没见识过啦!我真是迫不及待想披上维多利亚时代的水袖，优雅地举起手，幻想自己执着一只乔治王朝的古董茶壶，轻轻地斟上一盏茗茶……你快点儿回来吧!我们可以在家里扮一出斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基！
埃勒里调高了我的剧本稿酬，现在是一集两百五十元。如果照着这样的调薪幅度。到了六月，也许我就可以启程赴英，自己去逛“我的书店”——如果我斗胆敢去的话。隔着三千英里的安全距离，我写了一堆没大没小的信，我大概只会悄悄溜进去又静静踱出来，而不敢告诉他们我是谁。
我实在不明白你怎么会在杂货铺里被搞得一楞一楞的呢?老板跟你说的不是“兔兜脚”，他说的是“土豆胶”!——我也觉得这才是惟一合理的称呼。你动点儿脑筋想想:豆子长在土里，叫它“土豆”合情人理;从土里头挖出来，一直“搅”、一直“搅”，搅成“胶”状，不就成了“土一豆一胶”!这个词儿不是要比“花生酱”更贴近事实吗?你真是不懂国语!
h.汉芙(必也正名乎的海莲)
P.S.你妈妈今天一早就打扮得花枝招展地出门，要为你在第八大道和五十大街一带找间公寓，因为你曾交代她去剧院区找。我说玛克辛啊，你该很清楚才对，她穿那一身行头在那种地方晃，谁还敢租房子给她啊?
原文图片
结尾
二十年间缘悭一面
相隔万里莫逆于心
致敬经典，《查令十字街84号》
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