约翰正在等一个带着玫瑰花的女孩，他和她深交已久，却素未谋面。13个月前，在佛罗里达的图书馆里他从书架上拿下一本书。写在书的空白处的批注引起了他的兴趣。从柔和的字迹可以看出，这是自一位有思想，有见解的人。

　 　In front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond.

　　他从书皮上发现了这本书原来主人的名字——哈里斯·玛尼尔小姐。他花了一些时间和精力，最后终于找到了她的地址。他给她写了一封信，信中做了自我介绍，并邀请她回信。

　 　During the next year and one-month the two grew to know each other through the mail. A Romance was budding. John requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like. Later they scheduled their first meeting—7:00 pm at Grand Central Station in New York.

　　在随后的一年零一个月里，两个人通过信件加深了彼此之间的了解。一段浪漫的故事正在慢慢孕育。约翰要求她寄一张照片来，但她却拒绝了。她觉得如果他真的在乎她，那么她长相如何并不重要。后来他们安排了他们的第一次见面——晚上七点钟在纽约中心火车站。

　　 “You’ll recognize me, ” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.” So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for the girl with the red rose.

　　“你会认出我的，”她写道，“我会把一朵红玫瑰别在衣领上。”所以那天晚上七点钟他就在车站寻找那位带着红玫瑰的女孩。

　　A young woman in a green suit was coming toward him, her figure long and slim and her eyes were blue as flowers. Almost uncontrollably he made one step closer to her, and just at this moment he saw Hollis Maynell—a woman well past 40. The girl was walking quickly away. He felt as though he split in two, so keen was his desire to follow her, and yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned him and upheld his own.

　 　一位身穿绿色衣服的年轻女子向他走来，她身材修长而苗条，眼睛蓝蓝的，美如鲜花。他几乎是不由自主地向她走进近。就在那时，他看见了——哈里斯·玛尼尔 ——一位年过40的女人。女孩很快地走开了。他感觉自己好像被分裂成了两半——他是多么强烈地想跟随这位年轻女子，然而又是如此深深地向往这位在心灵上陪 伴他，鼓舞他的女人。

　　He did not hesitate. He squared his shoulders and said, “I’m John, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?”

　　他没有迟疑，挺起胸膛，说道，“我是约翰，你一定是玛尼尔小姐吧。我很高兴你来和我相见，我能请你吃饭吗？”

　 　The woman smiled, “I don’t know what this is about, son,” she answered, “but the young lady in the green suit begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”

　　女人笑了笑，回答说：“孩子，我不知道这是怎么回事，但是那位穿绿衣的年轻女子请求我把这朵玫瑰别在我的外套上面。她说如果你邀请我吃饭的话，我就告诉你她在马路对面的餐厅等你。她说这是一种考验！”

　　It’s not difficult to admire Miss Maynell’s wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in it’s response to the unattractive.

　　玛尼尔小姐的智慧让人敬佩。一个人对那些平淡无奇的事物的表现恰恰反映出他内心的本质。

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