Gossip

他走进咖啡馆去买可乐带走时刚过午后。就像在早年荒野的西部酒馆里出现了当地的枪手一样，热闹的谈话中断了一小会儿，大家都打量他。他讨厌这样，觉得不自在，但这是所有小镇的标准程序。有个新来的人！跟我们不一样！他是谁？他来这儿干什么？

“有人说他是个摄影师。说是看见他今天早晨在猪背桥那儿，带着各式各样的相机。”

“他卡车的牌子说明他是从西部华盛顿那边来的。”

“整个早晨都在报馆里。吉姆说他翻报纸找关于廊桥的资料。”

“是啊。德士古的小费希尔说他昨天到过那里打听去所有廊桥的路。”

“他要知道这干什么？”

“怎么会真有人要这些桥的照片？都挺破的，快塌了。”

“他头发可真长，有点儿像那些‘甲壳虫’的家伙，或者还有那个叫什么玩意儿来着？嬉皮士！是不是？”这句话引起后边雅座里和邻桌一阵哄笑。

When he had walked in the cafe and asked for a Coke to take out, it was a little after noon. Like an old Wild West saloon when the regional gunfighter appeared, the busy conversation had stopped for a moment while they all looked him over. He hated that, felt self-conscious; but it was the standard procedure in small towns. Someone new! Someone different! Who is he? What's he doing here?

“Somebody said he's a photographer. Said they saw him out by Hogback Bridge this morning with all sorts of cameras."

“Sign on his truck says he's from Washington,out west."

“Been over to the newspaper office all morning.Jim says he's looking through the papers for information on the covered bridges.”

“Yeah, young Fischer at the Texaco said he stopped in yesterday and asked directions to all the covered bridges."

What's he wanna know about them for, anyway?”

"And why in the world would anybody want to take pictures of them?They're just all falling down in bad shape."

"Sure does have long hair. Looks like one of them Beatle fellows, or what is it they been calling some of them other people? Hippies, ain't that it?"That brought laughter in the back booth and to the table next to it.