He takes it from her. “Wait a minute,” he says, “This isn’t mine.”

　　他從她手里一把拿過(guò)來(lái)?！暗纫幌?，”他說(shuō)，“這不是我的?！?/P>

　　The girl runs, he bolts after her. It is like a scene in a movie—bystanders scattering, the girl zigzagging to avoid collisions, the sound of his own breathing reminding him how old he is—until he hears a woman’s voice behind him:

　　那女孩撒腿就跑，他在后面窮追不舍，真像電影中的場(chǎng)面——周圍的人紛紛避開(kāi)。那女孩飛快地左拐右轉(zhuǎn)，避免發(fā)生碰撞。他的喘息聲使他想起了自己的年紀(jì)——后來(lái)聽(tīng)到一個(gè)女人的喊叫聲從背后傳來(lái)：

　　“Stop, thief! Stop that man!”

　　“抓、抓賊！抓住那個(gè)男人！”

　　Ahead of him the brunette disappears around a corner and in the same moment a young man in a marine uniform puts out a foot to trip him up. He falls hard, banging knee and elbow on the tile floor of the terminal, but manages to hang on to the wallet which is not his.

　　前面，黑發(fā)女人已經(jīng)轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)拐角，不見(jiàn)了蹤影。與此同時(shí)，一個(gè)身穿海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)制服的年輕人伸腳一絆。那人猛地跌倒，膝蓋和胳膊肘都重重地砸在大廳的地板磚上，但他的手里仍緊緊地攥著那個(gè)不屬于他的皮夾。

The wallet is a woman’s, fat with money and credit cards from places like Sak’s and Peck & Peck and Lord & Taylor, and it belongs to the blonde in the fur-trimmed coat—the blonde he has earlier seen in conversation with the criminal brunette. She, too, is breathless, as is the police man with her.

　　這只皮夾是一名婦女的，鼓鼓囊囊地裝著鈔票和像“薩克”、“佩克與佩克”、“洛德與泰勒”這種公司的信用卡。皮夾的主人是那個(gè)穿皮毛鑲邊外套的金發(fā)女人——他早先看到在和那個(gè)作賊的黑發(fā)女人交談的金發(fā)女人。她也跑得氣喘吁吁，像那個(gè)和她一同趕來(lái)的警察一樣。

　　“That’s him,” the blonde girl says, “He lifted my billfold.”

　　“就是他，”金發(fā)女人說(shuō)，“是他偷了我的皮夾?！?/P>

　　It occurs to the man that he cannot even prove his own identity to the policeman.

　　他突然想到，他甚至無(wú)法向警察證實(shí)自己的身份。

　　Two weeks later—the embarrassment and rage have diminished, the family lawyer has been paid, the confusion in his household has receded-the wallet turns up without explanation in one morning’s mail. It is intact, no money is missing, all the cards are in place. Though he is relieved, the man thinks that for the rest of his life he will feel guilty around policemen, and ashamed in the presence of women.

　　時(shí)隔兩星期之后——他不再那樣尷尬和惱怒，家庭律師的報(bào)酬已經(jīng)支付，家里的風(fēng)波也已經(jīng)過(guò)去——他的錢夾在上午送來(lái)的郵件中意外地出現(xiàn)了，沒(méi)有附任何解釋。皮夾原封未動(dòng)，錢一點(diǎn)也沒(méi)少，所有的證卡都在。盡管松了口氣，但他覺(jué)得，在自己今后的人生旅途中，他在警察旁邊會(huì)感到內(nèi)疚，在女人們面前會(huì)感到羞愧難當(dāng)。