第29章 两者之间的秘密A Secret for Two（第1页）
第29章两者之间的秘密ASecretforTwo
昆汀·雷诺兹QuentinReynolds
Montrealisaverylargecity。Likealllargecities，ithassmallstreets。Streets，forexample，likePrireet-onlyfourblog。NooneknewPrireetasierreDupin。Hehaddeliveredmilktothefamiliesohirtyyears。
Forthepastfifteenyearsalargewhitehorsepulledhismilkwagon。InMontreal，espetheFrenchpartoftheimalsaehenamesofsaints。Pierre'shorsehadfirstilkpaoldhecouldusethehorse。Hemovedhishalyandlovinglyacrossthehorse'snedsides。Helookedintotheanimal'seyes。“Thisisagentlehorse，”Pierresaid。“Iseeabeautifulspiritshiningoutofitseyes。IwillerSaintJoseph，whoalsowasagentleaifulspirit。”
&ayear，thehorseJosephgottoknoweveryhousethatreceivedmilk，andeveryhousethatdidnot。
Everymatfive，Pierrearrivedatthemilkp;apos;sstablestofindhiswagonalreadyfilledwithbottlesofmilkaingforhim，Pierrewouldyoldfriend，”ashetohisseat，whileJosephturowardthedriver。
PierrewouldtalkaboutJoseph。“Ihereins。Heknowsjustwheretostop。Why，ablindmancoulddelivermymilkwithJosephpullingthe>
Soitwentonforyears-alwaysthesame。PierreandJosephslowlygrewoldtogether。Pierre'shugewalrusmustacheandJosephdidn'tlifthiskneessohighorraisehisheadquitesomuch。Jacques，thebossmaables，icedthattheybolduntilPierreappearedgaheavywalkingstick。_____________________
“Hey，Pierre，”Jacqueslaughed。“Maybeyougotthegout，hey?”
“Maisoui，Jacques，”Pierresaid。“Onegrowsold。One'slegsgettired。”
“Youshouldteachthathorsetocarrythemilktothefrontdoorforyou，”Ja。“Hedelse。”
Thehorsekneweveryoyfamiliesthatgotmilkoreet。Theeierreotreadorwrite;so，insteadofleavingordersiymilkbottle，theysimplysangoutiftheyrabalethism，Pierre，”theyofteheyheardPieer'swagohestreet。
“Soyouhavevisitorsfht，”Pierreilyanswer。
Pierrealsohadawonderfulmemory。WhenhearrivedatthestablehealwaysrememberedtotellJacques。“ThePastookalethism;theLeMoiapintofcream。。。”
MostofthedrivershadtomakeouttheweeklybillsahemoJacques，likingPierre，odothis。AllPierrehadtodowasarriveatfiveinthem，walktohisayswasinthesamepladdeliverhismilk。Hereturwohotdownfromhisseat，calledacheery“Aurevoir”toJacques，thenwalkedslowlydow。
&hepresidentofthemilketoiheearlymmilkdeliveries。JatedtoPierreandsaid:“Watchhowhetalkstothathorse?Seehowthehorselistensauroierre?Seethelookinthathorse'seyes?Youknow，Ithiwoshareasecret。Ihaveofteisasthoughtheybothsometimeslaughatusastheygooodman。Mo，butheisgettingold。Maybeheoughttobegive，andasmallpension。”
“Butofcourse，”thepresidentlaughed。“Ikneos;swork。Hehasbeenonthisjobnowforthirtyyears，allwhoknowhimlovehim。Tellhimitistimeherested。Hewillgethispayeveryweekasbefore。”
ButPierrerefusedtoleavehisjob。HesaidhislifewouldbenothingifheotdriveJosepheveryday。“WearetwooldmeoJacques。“Letuswearouttogether。WhenJosephisreadytoleave，thenItoowilldoso。”
TherewassomethingaboutPierreandhishorsethatmadeamaenderly。Eachseemedtogetsomehiddehfromtheother。AsPierresatihJosephtiedtothewagoherseemedold。ButwhentheyfihenPierrewalkedlamelydow，seemingveryoldihehorse'sheaddroppedandhewalkedslowlytohisstall。
Thenone，JacqueshadterriblenewsforPierre。Itwasstilldark。Theairwaslikeiowhadfallenduri。
Jacquessaid，“Pierre，yourhorse，Joseph，didn't。Hewasveryold，Pierre。Hewastweislikebeiy-fiveforaman。”
“Yes，”Pierresaidslowly。“Yes。Iamseventy-five。AndIotseeJosephagain。”
“Ofcourseyou，”Jacquessaidsoftly。“Heisoverinhisstall，lookingverypeaceful。Gooverandseehim。”
&ookoepforward，aurned。“No。。。no。。。you。。。youdon'tuand，Jacques。”
Jacquespattedhimontheshoulder。“os;llfindanotherhorsejustasgoodasJoseph。Why，inamonthyou'llteachhimtoknowallthehomesashdid。os;ll。。。”
ThelookinPierre'seyesstoppedhim。ForyearsPierrehadweheavycapthatlowoverhiseyes。Itkeptoutthebitterd。Now，JacqueslookedintoPierre'seyesandhesawsomethingthatshockedhim。Hesawadead，lifelesslookinthem。
&hedayoff，Pierre，”Jacquessaid。ButPierrehadgonelimpingdow。Pierrewalkedtothedsteppedi。Therewasawarningshoutfromthedriverofabigtruck。。。therewasthescreechofrubbertiresasthetrucktriedtostop。ButPierreheardnothing。
&eslateradoctorsaid，“He'sdead。。。killedinstantly。”
“Ip;apos;thelpit，”thetruckdriversaid。“Hewalkedinfrontofmytrueversawit，Iguess。Why，hewalkedasthoughhewereblind。”
&orbentdown。“Blind?Ofcoursethemanwasblihosegrowths?Thismanhasbeenblindforfiveyears。”HeturoJacques，“Yousayheworkedforyou?Didn'tyouknowhewasblind?”
“No。。。no。。。”Jacquessaidsoftly。“Noneofusknew。Onlyone。。。onlyoneknew-afriendofhis，wasasecret，Ithink，justbetweewo。”
蒙特利尔是一个非常大的城市。像所有大城市一样，它也有很多小街道，比如，爱德华王子街就只有四个街区。没有人知道爱德华王子街，也没有人知道皮埃尔·迪潘。皮埃尔·迪潘在这条街上送奶有三十年了。
后十五年，皮埃尔驾着一匹白色的高头大马拉着的送奶车送奶。在蒙特利尔尤其是在这个城市的法语区，孩子和动物通常会以圣人的名字为名。皮埃尔的这匹马刚到奶厂时，还没有名字。有人告诉皮埃尔他可以用这匹马。他温柔而亲切地抚摸着马脖子和马身，看着它的眼睛。他说：“这是匹温顺的马，从马的眼里能看到它美丽的灵魂。我要叫它圣·约瑟夫，有位文雅且品德高尚的人就叫这个名字。”
大约一年后，约瑟夫就知道了哪些是订奶的家庭，哪些是没有订奶的家庭。
每天早晨五点钟，皮埃尔都会来到奶厂的马厩，找到已经装好奶的马车和正在等候自己的约瑟夫。约瑟夫转过头来看皮埃尔时，皮埃尔会一边爬上自己的座位，一边对马说：“老朋友，早上好。”
皮埃尔这样评价约瑟夫说：“我从来不用拽缰绳，它就知道在哪儿停。天哪，只要约瑟夫拉着车，就算是瞎子也能把奶送到。”
就这样过去了一年又一年，皮埃尔和约瑟夫都慢慢变老了。皮埃尔浓密的海象胡须现在已经变白，约瑟夫也不再像从前那样昂首阔步。直到一天早上，皮埃尔拄着沉重的拐杖出现在雅克面前，马厩的老板才注意到他们两个已老态尽显。
“嗨，皮埃尔，”雅克笑着说，“你是不是得了痛风啊？”
“恐怕是吧，雅克。”皮埃尔说，“人老了，腿也累了。”