Where Are You Bound?
I didn’t run into Johnny in the Turquoise Room at the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona.
我没有在亚利桑那州温斯洛拉波萨达酒店的绿松石房间里遇到约翰尼。
I was stepping away from the bar, where I had ordered a glass of water and a glass of Mont Gravet, to return to the small round table and my waiting mother.
我已经点了一杯水和一杯 Mont Gravet 的酒吧，正要离开酒吧，回到小圆桌和等待的母亲身边。
The bar, in an alcove just inside the restaurant entrance, was already crowded, stools all occupied, and the bartender was making drinks for her customers plus the guests in the dining room.
酒吧位于餐厅入口处的凹室里，里面已经挤满了人，凳子都被占满了，调酒师正在为她的顾客和餐厅里的客人调制饮料。
She was half-frazzled.
她已经半憔悴了。
I could tell it might be a while.
我看得出来可能需要一段时间。
She said she would set the drinks on the counter when ready.
她说准备好后会把饮料放在柜台上。
Not a problem—our table was three steps away.
没问题——我们的桌子离我们只有三步远。
The dining room proper was on one side, beyond two great arches, and on the other side was the host table, where guests would wait to be seated.
餐厅本身位于一侧，在两个巨大的拱门之外，另一侧是主人桌，客人会在那里等待就座。
Reservations were recommended, and we had one—for the next evening.
建议预订，我们预订了第二天晚上的房间。
That first night we were merely scoping out the place.
第一天晚上我们只是在观察这个地方。
“Oh, sorry,” I said as I almost bumped into a pleasant-looking man leaving the dining room.
“哦，对不起，”我说，因为我差点撞到一个离开餐厅的看上去很和蔼可亲的男人。
He had become aware of me stepping into his path before I saw him, and had already made some pleasant apology.
在我见到他之前，他就已经意识到我踏入了他的道路，并且已经做出了一些令人愉快的道歉。
He was more formally dressed than most of the guests, and thinner too, more alert.
他比大多数客人穿得更正式，也更瘦，也更警觉。
He let me pass, then went on.
他让我过去，然后继续前行。
People were drifting through the foyer, having a look around, deciding what to do.
人们在门厅里闲逛，环顾四周，决定要做什么。
A couple of them put me in mind of large, ponderous instruments, like a double bass, and others seemed slow and sonorous, trombone-like.
其中一些让我想起了大型、笨重的乐器，比如低音提琴，而另一些则显得缓慢而响亮，像长号一样。
The man I’d almost collided with would be a banjo—versatile, quick.
我差点撞到的那个人是一把班卓琴——多才多艺，速度很快。
Within a minute of passing by our table, he had surreptitiously reappeared to ask if we had everything we needed.
经过我们桌子后不到一分钟，他就偷偷地再次出现，询问我们是否有我们需要的一切。
Not some nimble guest weaving between the wait staff after all, but Johnny, the manager of the crew.
毕竟不是一些在服务员之间穿梭的灵活客人，而是船员经理约翰尼。
We’d ordered our drinks at the bar, I explained, and were waiting.
我解释说，我们在酒吧点了饮料，正在等待。
“Oh, very good,” he said, encouragingly.
“哦，很好，”他鼓励地说。
Then went to check on our order.
然后去检查我们的订单。
With Johnny on it, we did not wait long, and soon he brought our drinks and inquired if we would have an appetizer.
有了约翰尼，我们没等太久，很快他就给我们送来了饮料，并询问我们是否需要开胃菜。
Why yes, we said, and pointed at a couple of items on the menu.
为什么是的，我们说，并指着菜单上的几个项目。
“Which would you recommend?”
“你会推荐哪一个？”
Johnny seemed to want nothing more than to find the perfect fit for us, and when we told him that a friend had spoken very highly of the signature black bean and corn soup, he added his recommendation.
约翰尼似乎只想找到最适合我们的汤，当我们告诉他一位朋友对招牌黑豆玉米汤评价很高时，他补充了他的推荐。
The soup plus fried calamari made our evening meal.
汤加上炸鱿鱼就是我们的晚餐。
Both were delicious.
两者都很美味。
“Will we see you tomorrow?” we asked on leaving, and Johnny said we would.
“我们明天见吗？”我们要求离开，约翰尼说我们会的。
And we did.
我们做到了。
The following evening, he led us to a booth at the far end with a view of the entire restaurant.
第二天晚上，他带我们去了远端的一个摊位，可以看到整个餐厅。
Among other sights was Johnny, moving up, moving down, seating guests, and checking on them.
其他的景象包括约翰尼，他上来下去，为客人安排座位，并检查他们。
He was speedy without hurry, attentive and affable but not fawning.
他速度很快，但并不匆忙，细心，和蔼可亲，但不阿谀奉承。
So who was this guy?
那么这个人是谁？
We kept eyes and ears open, observing.
我们睁大眼睛、竖起耳朵观察。
On our way out, we stopped to say goodbye.
出去的路上，我们停下来告别。
And we learned that Johnny had earlier worked at La Posada on the front-of-house team until he left for the Oregon Coast with his family.
我们了解到，约翰尼早些时候曾在拉波萨达的前台团队工作，直到他与家人一起前往俄勒冈海岸。
Several years later, when the Turquoise Room put out a call for a new manager, he answered it.
几年后，当绿松石厅招募新经理时，他答应了。
We’d met him on his first night back.
我们在他回来的第一个晚上就见到了他。
He had two girls, 13 and 11.
他有两个女儿，一个 13 岁，一个 11 岁。
They were still in Oregon with his wife but would come in a few weeks.
他们和他的妻子仍在俄勒冈州，但几周后就会来。
“In time to start the new school year?” I asked.
“能及时开始新学年吗？”我问。
No. The school year in Oregon ended late and in Winslow it started in early August.
不会。俄勒冈州的学年结束较晚，而温斯洛的学年则于八月初开始。
The girls would hardly get a vacation at all.
女孩们根本就没有假期。
That would be a pity, thought Johnny and his wife, and local school officials agreed.
约翰尼和他的妻子认为那太遗憾了，当地学校官员也同意这一点。
Let the kids enjoy their summer.
让孩子们尽情享受夏天。
They wouldn’t miss anything in the first couple of weeks.
在最初的几周里，他们不会错过任何事情。
Oh yes, Johnny answered.
哦，是的，约翰尼回答。
He and his wife had been nervous about telling them, but the girls were looking forward to it.
他和他的妻子一直对告诉他们感到紧张，但女孩们却很期待。
My own big move from one state to another occurred the summer I was nine years old, between third and fourth grades, going from Illinois to Durango, Colorado.
我自己从一个州搬到另一个州的重大举动发生在我九岁那年的夏天，当时我在三四年级，从伊利诺伊州搬到了科罗拉多州的杜兰戈。
I would be leaving a flat, windy land for one of mountains and rivers.
我会离开一片平坦、多风的土地，前往一座山川。
Freight trains rumbled across town in Illinois, but in Durango, my brother told me, there was a narrow-gauge train with a boiler and a smokestack and a plume of smoke floating above as it chugged out of town and up into the mountains.
货运列车轰隆隆地穿过伊利诺伊州的城镇，但在杜兰戈，我哥哥告诉我，有一列窄轨列车，配有锅炉和烟囱，当它驶出城镇进入山区时，上面飘着一缕浓烟。
At a store in town called The Treasure Tunnel, you could buy polished gems that came from the river, he said.
他说，在镇上一家名为“宝藏隧道”的商店里，您可以购买来自河流的抛光宝石。
He had gone on the scouting trip with my father and seen the trains, the store, the river, and the swinging bridge over the water.
他和我父亲一起去侦察旅行，参观了火车、商店、河流和水上的吊桥。
I had been in an ecstasy of anticipation.
我一直处于欣喜若狂的期待之中。
What about Johnny’s daughters, I wondered—what might entice them about dry, flat Winslow, Arizona, and the dozens and dozens of freight trains passing through each day, going somewhere else?
我想知道约翰尼的女儿们怎么样——亚利桑那州温斯洛干燥、平坦，每天有几十辆货运列车经过，开往其他地方，什么会吸引她们呢？
I asked Johnny.
我问约翰尼。
He smiled.
他笑了。
Just as he surely does all night at the questions and whims of customers.
正如他整晚都会针对顾客的问题和突发奇想所做的那样。
“They asked if they could have a dog.
“他们问是否可以养狗。
We said, ‘Sure!
我们说：‘当然！
Two dogs if you want!’”
如果你想要的话，可以养两只狗！’”
In mid-August in Winslow, the sky starts to get light around 5:30 a.m.
八月中旬的温斯洛，早上 5:30 左右天空开始亮起。
Sitting by the tracks in a hotel Adirondack chair, I watched the trains go by.
我坐在铁轨旁的阿迪朗达克酒店椅子上，看着火车驶过。
On one I counted 95 cars, three engines, and one caboose.
我数了一下其中一辆有 95 辆汽车、三台发动机和一辆守车。
“Freight train, freight train,” I hummed, “running so fast.” Nothing fast about these trains, just steady.
“货运列车，货运列车，”我哼道，“跑得真快。”这些火车速度并不快，只是平稳。
“Freight train, freight train.” Peter, Paul, and Mary sang the version I knew.
“货运列车，货运列车。”彼得、保罗和玛丽唱的是我知道的版本。
Not likely the girls would know that old song.
女孩们不太可能知道那首老歌。
Would they know even The Eagles and “Take It Easy?” If not, they would soon learn.
他们甚至会认识老鹰乐队和“Take It Easy”吗？如果没有，他们很快就会学会。
Would Johnny know my train song?
约翰尼会知道我的火车歌曲吗？
If not, I bet he’d know another.
如果没有，我打赌他还会认识另一个人。
With another train, bound for somewhere.
搭乘另一列火车，开往某个地方。