It was a freezing day, a few years ago, when I stumbled¹ on’a wallet in the street. There was no identification² inside. Just three dollars, and a crumpled³ letter that looked as if it had been carried around for years.

几年前的一个寒冷的日子，我在路上拣到了一个钱包里面没有任何身份证明，只有3美元和张揉皱的信，看起来好像有好几个年头了.

The only thing legible on the torn envelope was the return address. 1 opened the letter and saw that it had been written in 1944一almost 60 years ago. I read it carefully, hoping to find some clue to the identity⁴ of the wallet's owner.

惟能够辨认的是那破旧信封上的回信地址打开后，我发现该信写于1944年，已过去大约60年了我仔细读了一遍，希望能够找到一些有关钱包主人的线索.

It was a "Dear John" letter. The writer, in a delicate⁵ script⁶, told the recipient⁷, whose name was Michael, that her mother forbade her to see him again. Nevertheless, she would always love him. It was signed Hannah.

这是一封绝交信_写信人字迹娟秀，告诉一个叫迈克尔的收信人，她的母亲禁止她再和他见面但是，她将永远爱他署名是汉娜

It was a beautiful letter. But there was no way, beyond the name Michael, to identify the owner. Perhaps if I called information the operator⁸ could find the phone

number for the address shown on the envelope.

这封信写得非常优美，但除了迈克尔这个名字之外，里面没有任何表明失主身份的东西也许如果我询问咨询处，接线员能够找到信封上地址的电话号码

"Operator, this is an unusual request. I'm trying to find the owner of a wallet I found. Is there any way you could tell me the phone number for an address that was on a letter in the wallet?"

“接线员您好，我有一个不情之请我检到了一个钱包，希望能找到失主钱包里有一封信，上面有地址您能否帮我找到这个地址所对应的电话码?”

The operator gave me her supervisor⁹, who said there was a phone listed at the address, but that she could not give me the number. However, she would call and explain the situation. Then, if the party wanted to talk, she would connect me. I waited a minute and she came back on the line. "I have a woman who will speak with you.

接线员把电话转给主管主管说虽然找到了这个地址的电话号码，但是她不能把号码给我，不过她可以替我打电话解释一下情况如果对方同意谈话，她将和我联系几分钟后，她回到电话旁告诉我:“有位女士要和你谈话。”

I asked the woman if she knew a Hannah.

我问那位女士是否认识汉娜。

"Oh, of course! We bought this house from Hannah's family thirty years ago."

“当然了，我们在30年前从汉娜手里买的这幢房子。”

"Would you know where they could be located now?" I asked.

我问道:“那您知道她们现在住哪儿吗?”

"Hannah had to place her mother in a nursing home years ago. Maybe the home could help you track down the daughter."

“几年前，汉娜把她母亲送到了养老院。也许你可以在那里得到些帮助，找到汉娜。”

The woman gave me the name of the nursing home. I called and found out that Hannah's mother had died. The woman I spoke¹⁰ with gave me an address where she thought Hannah could be reached.

这位女士给了我养老院的名字。我打过去电话，解到汉娜的母亲已经去世。接电话的女士又给了我一个地址，她说汉娜可能会在那里。

I phoned. The woman who answered explained that Hannah herself was now living in a nursing home. She gave me the number. I called and was told, "Yes, Hannah is with us"

我拨通了电话，接电话的女士说汉娜本人也住在养老院，她把号码给了我。我打过去后得知汉娜就在那家养老院生活。”

I asked if I could stop bye to see her. It was almost 10 p.m. The director said Hannah might be asleep. "But if you want to take a chance, maybe she's in the day roomy watching television."

我问能否去探望她，此时已将近晚上10点了，主任说汉娜可能已经睡了。“不过，如果你愿意可以过来看看，她可能还在休息室看电视。”

The director and a guard greeted me at the door of the nursing home. We went up to the third floor and saw the nurse, who told us that Hannah was indeed watching TV.

主任和保安在养老院的门日迎接我我们一起去了.几楼，见到丁’护士，她告诉我们汉娜确实还在看电视

We entered the day room. Hannah was a sweet, silver- haired old-timer with a warm smile and friendly eyes. I told her about tinding the wallet and showed her the letter. The second she saw it, she took a deep breath. "Young man," she said, "this letter was the last contact I had with Michael." She looked away for a moment, then said pensively’，"I loved him very much. But I was only sixteen and my mother felt I was too young. Ile was so handsome. You know, like Sean Connery, the actor."

我们走进休息室汉娜是一位非常慈祥的银发老人，她笑容满面，和蔼可亲我把检到钱包的事情告诉了她，并拿出了那封信在看到信的那一刹那，她深吸了一口气，说:“年轻人，这是我最后一次与迈克尔联系一”她转过头去凝视了一会，深沉地说“我非常爱他但当时我只有16岁，妈妈认为我太小他非常帅气，就像肖恩·康奈利(《007》扮演者)一样。

We both laughed. The director then left us alone. "Yes, Michael Goldstein was his name. If you find him, tell him 1 still think of him often. I never did marry," she said, smiling through tears that welled up in her eyes. "I guess no one ever matched up to 0 Michael..."

我们都笑了。这时，主任走r出去，屋子里只剩下我们两个她说:“是的，他叫迈克尔一戈尔茨坦，如果你找到他，请告诉他，我依然非常想念他，我一直没有结婚”她微笑着，泪水从眼眶涌出。“我想没有人能够配得上迈克尔……”

I thanked Hannah, said good-bye and took the elevator to the first floor.