退休后看到的世界

　　It was 10 p.m. Fritz said good night to his wife. She was watching TV. He went to bed. Tomorrow was a big day. It was his last day of work. Thirty years with the federal government. Thirty years of flying out of town for weeks on end. Thirty years of interviews, meetings, and heavy briefcases. Tomorrow it would all be over. Not that he didn't like it. He had enjoyed his career.

　　这是下午10时，弗里茨说晚安老婆。她在看电视。他上床睡觉了。明天是个大日子。这是他工作的最后一天。与联邦政府的三十年。飞离镇周结束三十年。面试，会议，三十岁，和沉重的公文包。明天一切将结束。不，他不喜欢它。他喜欢他的职业生涯。

　　Fritz felt blessed. His father had had a tough life as an unskilled laborer. Whenever Fritz was a bit discouraged or upset, he thought about his overworked and underpaid father. He thanked God for his own good life, and for the fact that he had been able to make his dad's last years comfortable.

　　弗里茨感到幸福。他的父亲有一个艰难的生活，不熟练的工人。每当弗里茨是一点沮丧或生气的时候，他想到了他的劳累和过低的父亲。他感谢上帝他自己的美好生活，而且他能使他的爸爸的最后一年的舒适。

　　His two children were married and had their own careers. His wife Paige kept busy with, among other things, her bridge club. She had tried to get him interested in bridge, but without success. Fritz was content with his own Friday night poker group.

　　他的两个孩子结婚并有了自己的事业。他的妻子佩姬忙着，在其他事情上，她桥牌俱乐部。她曾试图让他感兴趣的桥，但没有成功。弗里茨是被他自己的星期五晚上的扑克组的内容。

　　Friday morning, he went to work for the very last time. Those who knew him well would miss him. Fritz was a genuinely nice guy. He never had a bad word to say about anyone. Some people might have thought he was a little dull, but he was intelligent, a hard worker, and a team player. He had taken only three weeks of sick leave in 30 years.

　　星期五的早上，他去为最后的时间工作。谁知道他会想念他。弗里茨是一个真正的好人。他从不说任何人的坏话。有些人会认为他是有点迟钝，但他很聪明，工作努力，具有团队精神。他只上过三个星期的病假在30年。

　　A small group took him out to lunch. When he returned from lunch, the whole office gathered around for cake, ice cream, a farewell card, and a few short speeches. They presented him with various going-away gifts, including a big, paperback US atlas. It listed all the motels, campgrounds, national parks, tourist spots, and other information to help guide a leisurely traveler throughout the good old USA. He had told his friends that he and Paige were going to spend a couple of years visiting all the places that he never had gotten to explore while there on business. As a final gift, his supervisor told him to take the rest of the day off.

　　一小群带他出去吃午饭。当他吃完午饭回来，整个办公室围着蛋糕，冰淇淋，告别卡，和一些简短的演讲。他们给了他各种去的礼物，包括一个大的，平装本美国阿特拉斯。它列出所有的汽车旅馆，露营地，国家公园，旅游景点，和其他信息，帮助指导一个悠闲的旅行者在良好的旧美国。他告诉他的朋友，他和佩姬将要花费几个访问所有，他从不曾探索虽然在营业场所年。作为最后的礼物，他的上司告诉他要休息了一天了。

　　Paige's car wasn't in the driveway when he got home. She was probably shopping for some traveling clothes. Maybe she was out arranging a dinner at a restaurant that evening for just the two of them. That would be nice.

　　佩姬的车没停在车道上，当他回到家时。她可能是一些旅游购物。也许她是安排在餐厅，只有他们两个晚上的晚餐。那好吧。

　　But something was wrong. When he hung up his jacket, he saw that the bedroom closet was half empty. Paige's clothes were gone. Her shoes were not on the closet floor. Confused, he looked around the bedroom.

　　但什么是错的。当他挂了他的外套，他看到卧室的壁橱里空了一半。佩姬的衣服都不见了。她的鞋不在衣橱。困惑的，他看起来在卧室。

　　He saw an envelope on the lamp stand. Inside it were two pieces of paper. One notified him of a divorce proceeding. The other was a hand-written note from Paige. "I'm so sorry," it began. She said that her lawyer had told her to wait until today. If she had sought divorce a year earlier, like her boyfriend had suggested, she would not have been able to qualify for 50 percent of Fritz's pension. She hoped that he would find it in his heart to forgive her. She felt terrible about this, she wrote, because "you've been so good to me. But I can't ignore my own heart."

　　他看见灯架一个信封。里面有两张纸。一个通知他离婚诉讼。另一个是手写的笔记佩姬。我很抱歉，它开始。她说，她的律师已经告诉她，等到今天。如果她要求离婚一年的早些时候，喜欢她的男朋友了，她也不会有资格对弗里茨的养老金的百分之50。她希望他会在心里原谅她找到它。她感到难过，她写道，“因为你对我太好了。但我不能忽视自己的心。

　　Fritz sat immobile on the edge of the bed. Her note was in his hand; her words were burning in his brain.

　　弗里茨一动不动地坐在床边。她注意到了他的手;她的话在他脑中燃烧。

　　Maybe an hour later, the phone rang. He picked it up on the fifth ring. It was Bob, wondering if Fritz was going to play poker later that night.

　　一小时之后，也许，电话铃响了。他把它捡起来，在第五圈。这是鲍勃，如果弗里茨去玩扑克的那天晚上。