A Faraway Friend is someone you grew up with or went to school with or lived in the same town as until one of you moved away. Without a Faraway Friend, you would never get any mail addressed in handwriting. A Faraway Friend calls late at night, invites you to her wedding, always says she is coming to visit but rarely shows up. An actual visit from a Faraway Friend is a cause for celebration and binges of all kinds.

远方的朋友是这样的一个人：和你从小一同长大的，或者是同学，或者和你原本住在同一个镇上，后来你们中的一人搬到了别处。没有一位远方的朋友，你连一封手写的信都收不到。远方的朋友会半夜打来电话，邀请你去参加她的婚礼，她总是说要来看你，却很少露面。要是真的来访，那才叫“不亦乐乎”，各种名目的狂欢可就有了理由。

Faraway friends go through phases of intense communication, then maybe out of touch for many months. Either way, the connection is always there. A conversation with your Faraway Friend always helps to put your life in perspective: When you feel you’ve hit a dead end, come to a confusing fork in the road, or gotten lost in some cracker-box subdivision of your life, the advice of the Faraway Friend — who has the big picture, who is so well acquainted with the route that brought you to this place — is indispensable.

两个远方的朋友会经历密切交流的阶段，接下来或许几个月都不联系。但无论联系与否，友谊永远不会改变。与远方的朋友一席长谈，总是有助于你更好地认识生活；当你觉得自己走入了死胡同时，当你面对岔路而不知所措时，来自远方朋友的忠告就越发不可或缺，她看得清大局，完全了解你是怎么走到这一步的。

Another useful function of the Faraway Friend is to help you remember things from a long time ago, like the name of your seventh-grade history teacher, what was in that really good stir-fry, or exactly what happened that night on the boat with the guys from Florida.

远方的朋友还有一个益处，就是能让你记起很久以前的事情，比如七年级历史老师的名字，那盘炒菜里究竟什么东西那么好吃，或者那天晚上在船里和佛罗里达来的男孩子们都干了些什么。

Ah, the former friend. A sad thing. At best a wistful memory, at worst a dangerous enemy who is in possession of many of your deepest secrets. But what was it that drove you apart? A misunderstanding, a betrayed confidence, an underpaid loan, an ill-conceived flirtation¹. A poor choice of spouse² can do in a friendship just like that. Going into business together can be a serious mistake. Time, money, distance, cult³ religions: all noted⁴ friendship killers⁵. You quit doing drugs, you’re not such good friends with your dealer⁶ anymore.

啊，从前的朋友。让人忧伤的事情。好了的话是一段伤感的记忆，不好的话你有一个危险的敌人，而且对你许多最隐秘的事情都了如指掌。可究竟是什么把你们分开的呢？一个误解，一个被泄露的秘密，一笔没有偿还的借款，一次有欠考虑的轻俏之举。择偶不慎也会使友谊分崩离析；一起做生意会成为一个严重的错误；时间、金钱、距离、宗教狂热，这都是耳熟能详的友谊杀手。如同一旦你戒了毒，你就不再是你供货商的好朋友了。