Late for dinner
《遲到的晚餐》

Jack took a long look at his speedometer before slowing down: 73 in a 55 zone. Fourth time in as many months. How could a guy get caught so often?
杰克仔細地看了一眼邁速表——車速73，限速55，然后放慢了車速。這已經是幾個月來的第四次了，一個人怎么會如此頻繁地被抓到？
When his car had slowed to 10 miles an hour, Jack pulled over, but only partially. Let the cop worry about the potential traffic hazard. Maybe some other car will tweak his backside with a mirror. The cop was stepping out of his car, the big pad in hand.
車速減到每小時10英里時，杰克把車子靠邊停了下來，但車子停靠的位置距離路邊還有一段距離。這讓警察很擔心會造成后續的交通事故——或許其他車的后視鏡會剮到這輛車的尾部。警察走出警車，手里拿著一個大大的便箋簿。
Bob? Bob from Church? Jack sunk farther into his trench coat. This was worse than the coming ticket. A cop catching a guy from his own church. A guy who happened to be a little eager to get home after a long day at the office. A guy he was about to play golf with tomorrow.
鮑勃？就是那個與自己在同一所教堂做禮拜的鮑勃？杰克又往上提了提風衣的領口。這種情況比即將到來的罰單更糟糕。一名警察抓到了一個每周日與自己一起在教堂做禮拜的家伙。這個家伙在辦公室忙了一整天后，正好有點著急回家。明天這個家伙還要和他一起打高爾夫球。
Jumping out of the car, he approached a man he saw every Sunday, a man he'd never seen in uniform. "Hi, Bob. Fancy meeting you like this." "Hello, Jack." No smile. "Guess you caught me red-handed in a rush to see my wife and kids." "Yeah, I guess." Bob seemed uncertain. Good.
杰克從車里跳了出來，朝著那個他每個星期天都會見到，而且之前從來沒見過穿著制服的人走去。“嗨，鮑勃，很高興見到你。”“杰克，你好。”鮑勃回應道，臉上沒有一絲笑容。“我猜我是在趕著回家去見我的妻子和孩子的路上被你抓了個現行。”“是的，我猜是這樣的。”鮑勃的語氣似乎不太堅定。還好。
"I've seen some long days at the office lately. I'm afraid I bent the rules a bit -just this once." Jack toed at a pebble on the pavement. "Diane said something about roast beef and potatoes tonight. Know what I mean?"
“我最近工作非常忙，經常加班。您能通融一下嗎？僅此一次，下不為例。”杰克一邊用腳趾踢著人行道上的鵝卵石一邊說道。“黛安說今晚要做烤牛肉和土豆。明白我的意思吧？”

"I know what you mean. I also know that you have a reputation in our precinct." Ouch. This was not going in the right direction. Time to change tactics.
“我明白你什么意思。我還知道你在我們的選區很有名氣。”哎喲，情況不妙。我得換換策略了。
"What'd you clock me at?" "Seventy. Would you sit back in your car please?" "Now wait a minute here, Bob. I checked as soon as I saw you. I was barely nudging 65." The lie seemed to come easier with every ticket.
“您記錄的我當時的時速是多少？”“70邁。您坐回車里好嗎？”“等一下，鮑勃。我當時一看到您，就仔細看了一眼邁速表，也就剛剛65邁。”在罰單面前，謊言總是來的更容易些。
"Please, Jack, in the car." Flustered, Jack hunched himself through the still-open door. Slamming it shut, he stared at the dashboard. He was in no rush to open the window. The minutes ticked by. Bob scribbled away on the pad. Why hadn't he asked for a driver's license?
“杰克，請留在車里。”杰克穿過敞開著的車門進入車內，然后身體蜷成一團，樣子有點驚慌失措。碰的一聲，他把門關上了，眼睛盯著儀表盤。他沒急著打開車窗。時間一分一秒地過去，鮑勃在便箋簿上草草地寫著什么。可為什么他沒讓我出示駕駛證？
Whatever the reason, it would be a month of Sundays before Jack ever sat near this cop again. A tap on the door jerked his head to the left. There was Bob, a folded paper in hand. Jack rolled down the window a mere two inches, just enough room for Bob to pass him the slip.
不管出于什么原因，之后的一個月里，杰克都不會在星期天坐在這個警察身邊做禮拜了。輕輕敲打車門的聲音讓他的頭猛地轉向了左側。是鮑勃，手里還拿著一張折疊起來的紙。杰克把車窗搖開了只有兩英寸的一條縫，剛好能夠讓鮑勃把紙遞給他。
"Thanks." Jack could not quite keep the sneer out of his voice. Bob returned to his police car without a word. Jack watched his retreat in the mirror. Jack unfolded the sheet of paper. How much was this one going to cost? Wait a minute. What was this? Some kind of joke? Certainly not a ticket. Jack began to read:
“謝謝”杰克幾乎沒有掩飾住自己聲音中帶有的冷笑語氣。鮑勃則一聲不吭地回到了警車上。杰克從后視鏡中用目光將鮑勃送上了車，然后打開了那張紙。這次得罰我多少錢？等一下，這是什么？不是開玩笑吧？杰克手中的紙確實不是罰單。上面寫道：
"Dear Jack, once upon a time I had a daughter. She was six when killed by a car. You guessed it -- a speeding driver. A fine and three months in jail, and the man was free. Free to hug his daughters. All three of them. I only had one, and I'm going to have to wait until Heaven before I can ever hug her again. A thousand times I've tried to forgive that man. A thousand times I thought I had. Maybe I did, but I need to do it again. Even now. Pray for me. And be careful, Jack, my son is all I have left." —Bob
“親愛的杰克，我曾經有一個女兒。她六歲時一次車禍奪走了她生命。你猜對了——是因為肇事司機超速。那個奪走我女兒生命的人交了罰款，坐了三個月牢，就什么事也沒有了，就可以隨時擁抱他的女兒們了。他有三個女兒，我只有一個，而且我只有去了天堂才能再次與她擁抱。我曾經嘗試過一千次去原諒那個人。我也認為自己一千次都做到了。也許我的確原諒過他，但現在我還是需要再次嘗試去原諒他。即使在現在也是如此。請為我禱告。開車小心點，杰克，我的兒子現在就是我的全部。”——鮑勃
Jack turned around in time to see Bob's car pull away and head down the road. Jack watched until it disappeared. A full 15 minutes later, he too, pulled away and drove slowly home, praying for forgiveness and hugging a surprised wife and kids when he arrived.
杰克立即轉過身去，可鮑勃的車已經開走了，正沿著公路朝遠處駛去。杰克注視著那輛車，直到它消失在公路的盡頭。足足15分鐘后，他也啟動了汽車，速度緩慢地將車開回了家。回到家里，他擁抱了有些驚訝的妻子和孩子們，心里祈求著寬恕。
The moral of this story: Life is precious. Handle it with care. This is an important message; please pass it along. Drive safely and carefully.
這則故事的寓意：生命是寶貴的，請珍愛生命。請認真對待這一忠告，并把它傳播給更多的人。請大家小心駕駛，注意安全！