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"Twenty years ago tonight," said the man, "I dined here at 'Big Joe' Brady's with Jimmy Wells, my best friend, and the finest man in the world. He and I were brought up here in New York, just like two brothers, together. I was eighteen and Jimmy was twenty. The next morning I was to start for the West to make my fortune. You couldn't have dragged Jimmy out of New York; he thought it was the only place on earth. Well, we agreed that night that we would meet here again exactly twenty years from that date and time, no matter what our conditions might be or from what distance we might have to come. We figured that in twenty years each of us ought to have our fate worked out and our fortunes made, whatever they were going to be."

"It sounds pretty interesting," said the policeman. "Rather a long time between meetings, though, it seems to me. Haven't you heard from your friend since you left?"

"Well, yes, for a time we wrote," said the other. " But after a year or two we lost track of each other. You see, the West is a pretty big place, and I kept running around over it pretty lively. But I know Jimmy will meet me here if he's alive, for he always was the truest, best old friend in the world. He'll never forget. I came a thousand miles to stand in this door tonight, and it's worth it if my old partner turns up." The waiting man pulled out a handsome watch, the lids of it set with small diamonds.

"Three minutes to ten," he announced. "It was exactly ten o'clock when we parted here at the restaurant door."
"Did pretty well out West, didn't you?" asked the policeman.

参考译文

“20年前的今天晚上，”男子继续说，“我和吉米•维尔斯在这儿的餐馆共进晚餐。哦，吉米是我最要好的朋友。我们俩都是在纽约这个城市里长大的。从孩提时候起，我们就亲密

无间，情同手足。当时我十八岁，他二十岁，我正准备第二天早上就动身到西部去谋生。我不能说服他离开纽约，他心里只有纽约。那天夜晚临分手的时候，我们俩约定：20年后的同一日期、同一时间，我们俩将来到这里再次相会，不管我们境遇如何、距离多远。我想经过了二十年，我们应该都各归其命，都挣了不少钱，不管是怎样的。”

“这听起来倒挺有意思的。”警察说，“我觉得，两次见面间隔很长的，你们分手以后，你就没有收到过你那位朋友的信吗？”

“哦，收到过他的信。有一段时间我们曾相互通信。”那男子说，“可是一两年之后，我们就失去了联系。你知道，西部是个很大的地方。而我呢，又总是不断地东奔西跑。可我相信，吉米只要还活着，就一定会来这儿和我相会的。他是我最信得过的朋友啦。他永远不会忘记的。今晚我跑了一千里地来到这个门口，要是我的老朋友能出现，也是值得的。”说完，男子从口袋里掏出一块漂亮的金表，表盖上的镶着一块小小的宝石。

“九点五十七分了。”他说，“我们上一次是十点整在这儿的餐馆分手的。”
“你在西部混得不错吧？”警察问道。

词汇释义

1.figure v. 演算,认为,领会到

例句：
They figured it was better to stay where they were.
他们断定还是呆在原地好。

2.lid n. 盖

例句：
The lid of this jam pot won't unscrew.
这果酱罐的盖子拧不开.

3.diamond n. 钻石

例句：
She wore a diamond clip on her new dress.
她在新衣服上戴了一枚钻石别针。