第22部分(第2/6 頁)
擠出來,來到這片島嶼。他們中很少有人曾在公共圖書館安靜的閱覽室裡,享受過一個悠閒的下午。圖書館運書的電梯(如同一部水車)不斷地上上下下,把書運送到流動架上。他們在包厘街上幫人看管火爐,爐膛裡的火苗在溫度只有零度的冬夜裡噼裡啪啦地響。他們也可能在金融區中心工作,卻從未見過洛克菲勒中心富麗堂皇的花卉樹木。在那兒,一到風景優美的春天清晨,黃水仙、麝香蘭屬植物和白樺樹都整理得整整齊齊的,還有各色旗幟迎風飄揚。他們也可能在市中心的辦公室裡工作,一年又一年,卻從未見過防波堤外面的總督島。這樣的上班族只要離開人世,人生的日程表上會留有一串長長的印記,可他卻不是一個流浪者。即便和那些飼養草原犬鼠的村民們相比,他的登場和謝幕離開要多幾分曲折。他最終埋葬在東河河底的汙泥裡,變成一朵浪花靜靜地拍打著大橋。僅僅長島鐵路一家公司去年就運送了四千萬這樣的上班族,但其中很多是反覆往來的人。書 包 網 txt小說上傳分享
這裡是紐約(3)
紐約的奇妙之處還在於,有時候城裡的居民反而比匆忙的上班族走得更遠。歐文·柏林當年從郊區東部的雪莉街來到市中心的一幢公寓,走的是一條普通的小路,兩者間的距離不過三四英里,但他卻如同繞地球走了三圈。
Here Is New York
Elwyn Brooks White
On any person who desires such queer1 prizes; New York will bestow the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy。 It is this largess that accounts for the presence within the city’s walls of a considerable section of the population; for the residents of Manhattan are to a large extent strangers who have pulled up stakes somewhere and e to town; seeking sanctuary or fulfillment or some greater or lesser grail。 The capacity to make such dubious gifts is a mysterious quality of New York。 It can destroy an individual; or it can fulfill him; depending a good deal on luck。 No one should e to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky。
New York is the concentrate2 of art and merce and sport and religion and entertainment and finance; bringing to a single pact arena the gladiator; the evangelist; the promoter; the actor; the trader; and the merchant。 It carries on its lapel the unexpungeable odor of the long past; so that no matter where you sit in New York you feel the vibrations of great times and tall deeds; of queer people and events and undertakings。 I am sitting at the moment in a stifling hotel room in 90…degree heat; halfway down an air shaft; in midtown。 No air moves in or out of the ro
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