夢想之舟 BrokenPromises

洛林·M.格雷/Lorraine M.Gregoire

“Sheesh!Give me a few points for self control!”I snapped at my cranky husband.I wanted to stop at a sporting goods store“Going Out of Business”sale we passed in the mall.“Theres nothing we need,”his usual grumpy male comment.“It’s all overpriced junk.If they had anything good they wouldn’t be going out of business.”

“But,its sporting goods,”I wheedled.“could be some good deals for the grandkids.And,you like boats and fishing stuff.I’ve put up with that photo of your’dream-canoe‘stuck on the bathroom mirror for years now.Maybe you’d enjoy just looking around?”

“Are you crazy?”his eyes got funny and he said something like.“The boat I want is the Supremo Numero-Uno blah-blah.Soon as I finish saving up 6000 bucks for that baby I’m going to order right from the manufacturer.Custom.In silver.This loser store wouldn’t carry something like THAT.And Im sure not going near those sucker crowds.”

“Youre so darn negative and boring!”I retorted.“I happen to like crowds.They make me feel like I’m part of something.I promise I won’t buy anything but I’m going to look around for fun anyways.You go for coffee and I’ll meet you back here in half an hour.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,old girl.”He chuckled in that self-satisfied“Ill believe it when I see it”way that always gets me riled.“I know youre going to come out of there with useless junk.You always do.”

His words made me mad.How dare he accuse me of being frivolous!I prided myself on being a wise shopper.I had a darn good nose for bargains and stretched our old age pensions like nobody’s business.Now I had a mad on,that’s for sure.“Boy,Ill show him.”I promised myself I would not buy a darn thing,no matter what.Ha!I wouldnt give Mr.Know-It-All smarty-pants reason to gloat.

I squared my chin and marched into the crowded store.Aisles and aisles of hockey equipment,basketballs,golf clubs,exercise equipment,fishing gear,boy toys galore were strung with huge blaring signs.CLOSING OUT SALE-Up to 80%OFF.NO REFUNDS.

Up and down the aisles I strolled,ducked and dodged,humming to myself and enjoying the frenetic energy and excitement of a sale.

All of a sudden,there,at the back of the store,in gleaming silver,full of lifejackets,paddles and fishing stuff,sat the exact canoe of my husbands picture.I gasped and blinked three times.Yup.It was still there.The Supremo Numero-Uno blah,blah.My heart beat wildly.I elbowed my way through the crowds,scrambled over junk in the aisles and darned near fell into the canoe looking for the price tag.

There it was a little tattered,with the manufacturers suggested retail price at$6750 plus tax crossed out and a handwritten TO CLEAR$750 AS IS.NO RETURNS.Must be a mistake.$6000 off?Salesman.I had to talk to a salesman.

I spotted a young fellow with a“Hi.Im Mathew”tag trying to hide out from the mob of bargain hunters.I clutched his sleeve.“Mathew.Tell me about this El Supremo canoe.Whats wrong with it?Why is it only$750？”

“Oh.There’s nothing wrong with it.It’s brand new.We’re closing the store.That is all.It’s on clearance like everything else.I think that includes lifejackets,paddles and a bunch of fishing gear,too.Ill go check.”

A few minutes later he came back and said,“I’m sorry ma’am.Someone made a mistake on the sale tag.It’s supposed to be$4750 for the whole package.I just talked to my Dad who is running the close-out.He said it was worth more than$8000 regular price so it’s still a real good deal.”

I felt tears well up in my eyes.“Oh well”，I said sadly.“Of course,it was too good to be true.This is exactly like my husband’s dreamboat.I guess I started to dream myself when I saw that price tag.He’s going to be 62 years old Friday.Had to retire early for his health.It’s been hard on just the pension but the stubborn old fool has been saving$10 every week for years to buy one just like this.Just an old man’s silly dream,you know.Always said he wanted to spend his retirement out fishing in a canoe,”my voice trailed off and I turned and walked away.

I was already at the mall door when Mathew caught up with me.“Do you have$750 plus$25 for delivery and a bit more for tax,maam?”I gasped.“Yes.Yes.Thats about all I have,”I said as I thought fleetingly about the cataract surgery I was saving up for.

“Well then,you just have your husband sitting on the front porch on Friday morning around 10 o’clock so he can be there when my Dad and I come to unload his new boat.We’ll even put a bow on it for his birthday.”

I started to cry.My old hand shook and I had to squint as I wrote out my cheque.Mathew swallowed hard.

“Ma’am.There’s something you should know.This store was my Grandpas.He ran it for more than 30 years.He always promised to retire one day.Said he wanted to spend time relaxing and out fishing in a canoe.He ordered this one,custom,for himselflast year but,well,just never took the time off to use it.”

He swallowed even harder.“My Grandpa died,sudden-like,just last week.He was only 68 years old.I think hed be mighty happy that your husband will get this here canoe.My Dad thinks so too.You just have to make sure he uses it a lot,okay?Promise?”

I handed Mathew a Kleenex and we stood there together,quietly lost in our own thoughts for a moment,blowing our noses.

“I promise!”I said as I dashed off to look for my dear sweet husband.

“煩死了，為什么要約束自己！”我沖著脾氣暴躁的丈夫嚷道。經過大賣場時，碰巧一家體育用品商店停業大甩賣，我想進去看看，里面有沒有我們需要的東西。他用一貫暴躁的男人腔調抱怨道，“都是些昂貴的垃圾，要是有好東西，就不會停業了。”

“但是，我想孩子們會喜歡這里的體育用品，”我極力勸說他，“況且，那些小船、釣魚用品之類的東西，你也喜歡。要不，這么多年，衛生間的鏡子上怎么一直都貼著你那幅夢想之舟的圖片呢？我可是看夠了。也許你正想進去看看呢！”

“你瘋了嗎？”他用戲弄的眼神看著我，說道：“我想要的可是巴拉-巴拉一等小舟，一旦我攢夠了6000美元，我就會直接去廠家那兒訂購一艘銀光閃閃的小船。這種即將停業的小店不會有那種貨色，我可不想拼命擠進去上當受騙。”

“你簡直不可理喻且無趣！”我反駁道。“我偏偏喜歡湊熱鬧，我覺得這讓我不至于無所事事。我保證不買東西，只是逛著玩玩，你去喝會兒咖啡，半小時后我來找你。”

“做不到就不要發誓，老伴。”他得意地笑著，好像心里在說“等著瞧吧”，他總是這樣激我，“我知道你準會買些沒用的東西回來。你一向如此。”

他的話令我極度氣惱。他竟敢說我草率行事！我自認為自己從來都是理性購物。我向來很會討價還價，從不亂花我們的養老金，可現在，我真是生氣到家了，“好吧，老兄，我倒要讓你看看。”我暗下決心，不管有什么好東西，我絕不買回家。哈！我可不會把笑柄留給這個自以為是、自作聰明的家伙。

我下定決心，于是走進擁擠的商店。商店的過道里擺滿了曲棍球、排球、高爾夫球和健身器材、漁具以及兒童玩具等，旁邊寫著醒目的標語：停業大甩賣，2折優惠，已售商品，概不退還。

我一邊在過道里逛來逛去，一邊又提防著那擠來擠去的購物者。我嘴里哼著小調，情緒高昂，全身心地享受著逛街的樂趣。

突然，在商店的后門，一個銀光閃閃的東西吸引了我的注意，那正是我丈夫照片上的那只獨木舟，里面放著救生衣、船槳、漁具。我屏住呼吸，眨了幾下眼睛。啊，的的確確就在那兒，巴拉-巴拉一等小舟。我的心頓時激動起來。我奮力擠開擁擠的人群，跌跌撞撞地跨過過道里雜七雜八的東西，中間還差點跌進那只獨木舟里，我急不可待地去找價格牌。

那張破爛的價格牌上標著，廠家建議零售價：6750美元，另加稅價，上面打了一個大大的叉叉，旁邊加上手寫的字體，清倉價：750美元，售出不退。少了6000美元？一定是搞錯了。我得去問一下售貨員。

我瞅了一下那個胸前戴著“你好，我是馬修”字樣的年輕人。他正奮力從淘便宜貨的人群中擠出身來。我抓住他的袖子，問道：“馬修，那艘獨木舟怎么回事，為什么只賣750美元？”

“噢，沒什么問題，船是全新的。我們店要關門了，這船和其它東西一樣，清倉賤賣。我想這價格還包括救生衣、船槳以及一些釣魚用具。我去確認一下。”

幾分鐘后，他回來了，對我說道：“夫人，真的很抱歉，價格標錯了，所有一切應該是4750美元。我剛問過我父親，是他負責甩賣，他說這船原價是8000多美元，所以，買下來還是很劃算的。”

我的眼淚馬上涌了出來，“噢，是這樣，”我難過地說，“當然，這幾乎不太可能，一直以來我丈夫都夢想擁有這樣的小船。當我看到價格標簽時，我認為自己簡直在做夢。這個星期五，他就要滿62歲了。因為身體不好，他早早就退休了。靠退休金維持的生活是很艱難的，但是數年來，這個頑固的老傻瓜還是每周省下10美元，就為擁有這樣的船。誰都知道，這只是一個老人在癡人說夢。他總說退休后要駕著獨木舟去釣魚……”我的聲音哽咽了，于是轉身離去。

快到大賣場門口時，馬修趕了過來，“對不起，夫人，你有750美元嗎，加上25美元送貨費及一點兒稅金？”我激動得快要喘不過氣來了，說道：“有的，有的，我口袋里剛好有那么多錢。”我邊說，腦子里邊飛快地想著那筆我攢下來要做白內障手術的錢。

“那好吧，讓你先生星期五上午10點在家里等著，我會和我父親把那艘新船送來。我們還會為他慶祝生日，給船裝上一個船頭。”

我要哭了，兩只老手顫抖著，填支票時，我不得不瞇著眼睛。馬修也有些哽咽。

“夫人，我想告訴你一件事。這家店是我爺爺開的，他經營了30多年，總是說有一天會退休，然后好好放松一下，劃著獨木舟去釣魚，去年，他為自己訂購了這艘船。可是，唉，他最終沒能等到這一天。”

他強忍著淚水，繼續說道：“爺爺突然在上周去世了，他只活到了68歲，我想，如果他知道你丈夫買下這艘船，一定會很高興，我父親也是這樣想的。你能保證你丈夫經常使用這艘船嗎？”

我遞給馬修一張紙巾，我們一起默默地站在那里，任思緒飛揚，激動不已。

“我保證！”說完，我飛快地奔了出去，去找我親愛的丈夫。

詞匯筆記

grump[ɡr?mp]n.一陣壞脾氣；發火；抱怨；鬧情緒；慍怒

He is a grump.

他是個愛發牢騷的人。

spot[sp?t]v.注意到；發現

How did you spot those fifties were counterfeited?

你怎樣察覺出那些50元面值的紙幣是偽造的？

squint[skw?nt]v.瞇著眼睛；斜著眼睛（看某物）；瞟；從小孔或縫隙里看

Her eyes squinted against the brightness.

亮光刺得她瞇起眼睛。

swallow[sw?l?u]v.不流露；掩飾；抑制

I dont know how I managed to swallow my anger.

我不知道怎樣才能抑制住我的憤怒。

小試身手

突然，在商店的后門，一個銀光閃閃的東西吸引了我的注意，那正是我丈夫照片上的那只獨木舟，里面放著救生衣、船槳、漁具。

因為身體不好，他早早就退休了，靠退休金維持生活是很艱難的，但是數年來，這個頑固的老傻瓜還是每周省下10美元，就為擁有這樣的船。

短語家族

Soon as I finish saving up 6000 bucks for that baby Im going to order right from the manufacturer.

Save up：儲存起來

I was already at the mall door when Mathew caught up with me.

Catch up with：追上；趕上