Chapter 5: Adam Changes his Money Order
第五章：亚当兑换他的汇款单
‘And who are you?’ the tall man asked.
“你是谁？”那个高个子男人问道。
Next day I told my story to all the villagers. The villagers were angry. Martha was very unhappy.
第二天，我把我的遭遇告诉了所有的村民。村民们很生气，玛莎也非常难过。
She said, ‘Saul is working very hard. He is sending money and we can’t have the money. What are we going to do?
她说：“索尔工作那么辛苦。他寄了钱回来，我们却拿不到这笔钱。我们该怎么办呢？”
So I travelled to Darpur again on Saturday, for the third time. After a long time, I found Mr Sheth’s house. The door was opened by a tall man.
于是星期六我又去了达尔普尔，这已经是第三次了。过了很久，我才找到谢斯先生的家。开门的是一个高个子男人。
I took the letter and thanked the school teacher.
我接过信，向那位学校老师道了谢。
‘Mr Sheth?’ I said, ‘Who is he?
“谢斯先生？”我说，“他是谁啊？”
‘He’s an important man in Darpur and he’s a friend of my wife’s cousin,’ replied the school teacher. ‘This letter is to Mr Sheth. The letter is about your money order. Perhaps he can help you.’
“他是达尔普尔的一位重要人物，也是我妻子表亲的朋友，”老师回答道，“这封信是写给谢斯先生的，是关于你汇款单的事。也许他能帮到你。”
‘Adam. Perhaps I can help you,’ the school teacher said. ‘Here is a letter to Mr Sheth.’
“亚当，也许我能帮你，”老师说，“这里有一封给谢斯先生的信。”
I did not know. Then in the evening the school teacher came to my house again.
我当时并不知道这事。后来到了晚上，老师又来到了我家。
‘I have a letter for Mr Sheth,’ I replied.
“我有一封给谢斯先生的信，”我回答道。
‘Can I see Mr Sheth?’ I asked.
“我能见见谢斯先生吗？”我问。
‘I see. Can I have the letter, please?’ And the tall man held out his hand.
“我明白了。请把信给我好吗？”高个子男人说着伸出了手。
‘The letter is here,’ I said. And I took the letter out of my pocket. ‘But I must see Mr Sheth.’
“信在这里，”我说着从口袋里掏出了信，“但我必须见到谢斯先生本人。”
I gave the tall man the letter. Then I waited. Later, a large black car came and a man went into the house. A long time later, the tall man opened the door again.
我把信交给了那个高个子男人，然后就在外面等着。过了一会儿，一辆黑色大轿车开了过来，一个男人走进了屋子。又过了很久，高个子男人才再次打开门。
‘This is Mr Sheth,’ said the tall man.
“这位就是谢斯先生，”高个子男人说。
‘I am Adam of Minta village,’ I replied.
“我是明塔村的亚当，”我答道。
‘Thank you,’ I said.
“谢谢，”我说。
‘Yes, I know,’ said Mr Sheth. ‘Thank you for the letter. I hope I can help you. I like to help people. Please, sit down.’ Mr Sheth smiled. His clothes were new and smart.
“是的，我知道，”谢斯先生说，“谢谢你送来这封信。希望我能帮上忙，我这人乐于助人。请坐吧。”谢斯先生微笑着说道。他衣着崭新而考究。
‘Can I see the money order, please?’ Mr Sheth asked.
“能把汇款单给我看看吗？”谢斯先生问。
‘Many people want to see Mr Sheth,’ the tall man told me. ‘He is a very busy man and a very important man. Mr Sheth is not here at the moment. But give me your letter, and Mr Sheth will read it later.’
“很多人想见谢斯先生，”高个子男人曾对我说，“他是个大忙人，也是位要人。谢斯先生现在不在，不过你可以把信交给我，他稍后会看的。”
I took the money order out of my pocket. By now, the money order was dirty and looked very old. I gave it to Mr Sheth.
我从口袋里掏出汇款单。此时这张汇款单已经脏兮兮的，看起来非常陈旧。我把它递给了谢斯先生。
‘This money order is for one hundred dollars,’ I said. ‘My son sent it from a foreign country.’
“这张汇款单是一百美元的，”我说，“是我儿子从国外寄来的。”
Mr Sheth unfolded the money order and looked at it. ‘You can’t change this money order,’ he said. ‘This money order is not worth one hundred dollars. This money order is worth nothing.’
谢斯先生展开汇款单看了看。“你没法兑换这张汇款单，”他说，“它不值一百美元，这张单子一文不值。”
I said nothing. Mr Sheth gave me the money order back.
我一言不发。谢斯先生把汇款单还给了我。
Then Mr Sheth looked at the money order again. ‘Yes, worthless. Your son does not understand about money orders. This money order is not correct for our country,’ Mr Sheth said. Then he looked at the money order again and said, ‘And this money order is also old. It is out-of-date.’
接着谢斯先生又看了看那张汇款单。“没错，毫无价值。你儿子不懂汇款单的规矩，这张单子在我们国家用不了，”他说。随后他又看了一眼补充道，“而且这张汇款单也太旧了，已经过期了。”
Then Mr Sheth smiled and said, ‘I am very sorry. You are an old man. You came a long way from your village. What can I give you to eat and drink?’
然后谢斯先生笑着说：“我很抱歉。您年纪这么大了，又从村里赶了这么远的路来。想吃点什么、喝点什么呢？”
I was not hungry. But Mr Sheth went out of the room. Then he brought me some coffee and some cakes. I drank my coffee.
我并不饿，但谢斯先生还是走出了房间。随后他端来了一些咖啡和蛋糕。我喝了咖啡。
‘Worth nothing! Worthless?’ I asked.
“一文不值？毫无价值？”我问道。
‘Old man,’ said Mr Sheth, ‘I like to help people. I am a rich man. Give me your money order.’
“老人家，”谢斯先生说，“我喜欢帮助别人。我是个有钱人，把你的汇款单给我吧。”
I gave my money order to Mr Sheth. ‘Yes, this money order is worthless,’ he said again. ‘But I am going to help you. I am going to change this money order for you. I am going to give you some money.’
我把汇款单交给了谢斯先生。“是的，这张汇款单一文不值，”他再次说道，“但我会帮你。我来替你把它兑了，给你一些钱。”
Mr Sheth went out of the room. I felt very happy again. After a few minutes, the tall man came into the room. He gave me an envelope. ‘This is from Mr Sheth. You can go now,’ the tall man said.
谢斯先生走出了房间，我心里又重新高兴起来。几分钟后，高个子男人走进房间，递给我一个信封。“这是谢斯先生给的。你现在可以走了，”他说。
I went out of the house. I walked along the road to the bus station. I opened the envelope and I took out my money. I counted the money. It was ten dollars. I thought about my only son, Saul.
我走出房子，沿着路朝汽车站走去。我打开信封取出钱数了数，只有十美元。我想起了我唯一的儿子索尔。
My son, Saul, had sent me a money order for one hundred dollars. Mr Sheth had given me ten dollars. I felt old and I felt poor again.
我的儿子索尔寄给我一张一百美元的汇款单，可谢斯先生只给了我十美元。我感到自己既苍老又贫穷。
— THE END —
—— 完 ——
Hope you enjoyed the reading!
希望您喜欢这段阅读！
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