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“We're going to Florida,” she said brightly.“ I hear it's really beautiful.”
“我們都是去佛羅里達的，”那個女孩輕快地說。“我聽說那里很美。”
“It is, ” he said quietly, as if remembering something he had tried to forget.
“是的，”他靜靜地回答道，他似乎記起了過去曾試圖忘卻的往事。
“Want some wine?” she said. He smiled and took a swig. He thanked her and retreated again into his silence. After a while, she went back to the others, and Vingo nodded in sleep.
“來點葡萄酒吧?”那個女孩說。他微笑著喝了一大口，說聲謝謝后又回到他的沉默中。后來她回到那班人中，溫格則低著頭睡著了。
In the morning, they awoke outside another Howard Johnson's,and this time Vingo went in. The girl insisted that he join them. He seemed very shy, and ordered black coffee and smoked nervously as the young people chattered about sleeping on beaches. When they returned to the bus, the girl sat with Vingo again, and after a while, slowly and painfully, he told his story. He had been in jail in New York for the past four years, and now he was going home.
早上，他們醒來時汽車停在另一個約翰遜連鎖餐館前，這回溫格也進去了。那個女孩極力邀請他參加他們的團體。但他看起來很靦腆，當那班年輕人談論著在海濱該怎么過夜時，他則獨自一人呆在一邊喝黑咖啡，還不停地抽煙，顯得有些局促不安。當他們回到車上時，那個女孩又坐到他身邊，過了一會兒，溫格才緩慢而且痛楚地訴說起他的經歷。他在紐約的監獄里呆了四年，現在他假釋回家了。
“Are you married?”
“你結婚了嗎?”
“I don't know.”
“我不知道。”
“You don't know?” she said.
“你不知道?”那女孩很奇怪。
“Well, when I was in jail I wrote to my wife,” he said. “ I told her that I was going to be away a long time, and that if she couldn't stand it, if the kids kept asking questions, if it hurt too much, well, she could just forget me, I'd understand. Get a new guy, I saidshe‘s a wonderful woman,really somethingand forget about me. I told her she didn't have to write me for nothing. And she didn‘t. Not for three and a half years.”
“是這樣，我在獄中時曾給我妻子寫過一封信”他說，“告訴她我要離開很長一段時間，如果她忍受不了，如果孩子不斷追問，如果這使她非常痛苦，那么她可以忘了我，我會理解的。我叫她重新嫁人，我知道她是個很不錯的女人，真的不一般。我讓她忘了我，我讓她別給我寫回信，因為這沒有用，她也真沒回信，我已有三年半沒有她的音信了。”
“And you're going home now, not knowing?”
“那么你就這樣盲目地回家去?”
“Yeah,” he said shyly. “ Well, last week, when I was sure the parole was coming through, I wrote her again. We used to live in Brunswick, just before Jacksonville, and there's a big oak tree just as you come into town. I told her that if she'd take me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I'd get off and come home. If she didn't want me, forget itno handkerchief, and I'd go on through.”
“也不是，”他略帶靦腆地說：“上周當我確知假釋得到批準時，我又給她寫過一封信。過去我們住在布倫斯威克，就在杰克遜維爾前面，在進城去的路上有一棵高大的橡樹。我告訴她，如果她愿意我回來就在樹上掛一方黃手帕，我就下車回家。如果她不要我就忘掉這件事，看不見手帕，我也就不下車了。”
“Wow,” the girl exclaimed. “Wow.”
“噢，是嗎?”那個女孩驚訝極了。
