The Lost Phoebe 怀念亡妻

Old Henry and his wife Phoebe loved one another the way people do who have lived together a long, long time. They were simple farm people. Their world was the fruit trees, the cornfield and backyard with its pigs and chickens. The rest of the world was far away like stars in the sky.
Sometimes Henry worried about death. During his worries he would raise his old voice and say, ”Phoebe, where is my corn pipe? You are always taking things that belong to me.”
“Now you hush, Henry,” his wife would say, “If you keep talking like that, I will go away and then what would you do? There is nobody to look after you. Your corn pipe is on the table where you put it.”

年迈的亨利和他的妻子相濡以沫几十年，和任何一对老夫老妻一样，彼此深爱。他们是俭朴的庄稼人，他们的生活就是果树，玉米地，以及后院里那些猪和鸡，其他的都遥不可及，宛若天上的星星。

有的时候亨利老是担心死去。一想起这个，他就会吊着衰老的嗓门说：“菲比，我的玉米烟斗去哪了？你总是把我的东西拿走。”

“安静点，亨利，”他的妻子答道。“如果你再那样说，我就走了，你怎么办呢？就没有人再来照顾你了。你的玉米烟斗就在桌子上，你放那的。”

Old Henry knew his wife would never leave him. The only leaving he feared was death. He often wondered how he could live without Phoebe. In the evening when he went to the door to see that they were safely shut in, it warmed his heart to know Phoebe was there with him. When Henry moved during the night, she always spoke to him.
“Now, Henry, be quiet! You are as jumpy as a chicken.”
“Well, I cannot sleep, Phoebe.”
“If you stop rolling around so much, you will sleep. Then I can get some rest, too.”
Knowing she was there beside him in the dark made Henry quiet again.
When she wanted a pail of water, Henry liked to say, “Do this … do that… always asking me to do something. Women are never satisfied.” Phoebe would smile; she could see the inner happiness shining in his eyes. Henry talked sharply, but he never forgot to get water and wood for the fire. In this way, they lived happily in their simple world.

老亨利知道他的老伴不会离开他的，他最担心的是真正的分离---死亡的来临。他经常会想象没有了菲比他将怎样生活。晚上的时候，他会去检查一下门窗，看见它们都关好了，心里就暖暖的，他知道菲比还在身边。亨利在黑黑的屋子里来回走动的时候，菲比就会轻轻的说：

“亨利，安静点！怎么像只鸡一样坐卧不宁。”

“唉，我睡不着，菲比。”

“你不要再动来动去就能睡着了。这样我也可以安生了。”

知道老伴在身边，亨利就又踏实了。

每次菲比需要水的时候，亨利就会说“干这个，干那个，老是让我干活，女人总是那么不满足。”菲比听了只是笑，因为她知道老头子心里还是很乐意的。亨利总是抱怨，但他还是不会忘记去打水，往炉子里添些柴火。就这样，他们在自己简单的世界里快乐地生活着。

One day in the early spring Phoebe became sick and died, Old Henry—in a fog of sorrow and pain—watch them put her body in the earth. Neighbors asked Henry to come and live with them, but he would not leave. He wanted to be near the place where his Phoebe lay in the earth. He tried to work around the farm, but it was difficult to return to an empty house at night.
At night he read the newspaper. But most of the time he just sat—looking at the floor—wondering where Phoebe was and how soon he would die.
For five months he lived like this. Then there was a change. It happened one night after he had gone to bed. There was a bright moon in the sky. Its silver light fell on the old chairs and table in bedroom. The moonlight on the chair and the half-open door made a shadow. The shadow looked like Phoebe. She was sitting by the table the way she had done so many times before.
“Phoebe,” he called in a weak voice, “have you come back?”
The shadow in the chair did not move. Henry got up and slowly walked toward it. When he came near the table, he saw that there was nothing on the chair but his old coat.

春寒料峭的一天，菲比病了，并且很快就离开了人世。亨利深深陷入巨大的痛苦与悲伤之中，眼睁睁地看着人们把菲比埋在冰冷的地下。好心的邻居担心他，请他和他们一起住，但是亨利不肯离开。他想离菲比近一点。白天他拼命在地里干活，可是晚上却很难面对空荡荡的屋子。

夜里，他拿出报纸来看，但往往只是坐着，盯着地面发呆——他在想菲比在哪，还得多久他才能熬到头。

就这样五个月过去了。后来有了些变化。一天晚上他躺在床上准备睡觉。皎洁的月亮高高挂在夜空中，月光洒落在卧室里陈旧的桌椅上，椅子和半掩着的门投下一个影子。这影子很像菲比。她坐在桌子旁边，像以前一样。

“菲比，”他嗫嚅道，“你回来了吗？”

椅子上的影子没有动。亨利起身慢慢地走过去。当他靠近桌子的时候，才发现椅子上什么都没有，除了他的一件旧大衣。

（空间有限，待续）