散文:Love Story by Erich Segal

Oliver Barrett IV, a Harvard student from a wealthy WASP¹ family, fell in love with Jennifer, a Radcliff music major, daughter of a pastry² chef of Italian descent. Jennifer returned his love. The two of them started talking about marriage, thinking they were made for each other. A banker and a squeamish parent, Oliver Barrett III refused to give his blessing³ to the proposed alliance. Oliver and Jennifer thereupon went ahead on their own, contented⁴ with their "love in a cottage".

We join the novel in Chapter 13, three years after Oliver married Jennifer regardless of his father's fierce opposition⁵. One day, they received an invitation from Oliver's parents to the old man's sixtieth birthday party. Jennifer preferred accepting the invitation, regarding it as a good opportunity for a reconciliation⁶ between father and son. But Oliver wouldn't give it a thought. Thus the two of them had a violent quarrel…

Love Story by Erich Segal

CHAPTER 13

Mr. And Mrs. Oliver Barrett III

request the pleasure of your company

at a dinner in celebration of

Mr. Barrett's sixtieth birthday

Saturday, the sixth of March

at seven o'clock

Dover House, Ipswich, Massachusetts

R. S. V. P.

"Well?" asked Jennifer.

"Do you even have to ask?" I replied. I was in the midst of abstracting The State v. Percival, a very important precedent⁷ in criminal law. Jenny was sort of waving the invitation to bug⁸ me.

"I think it's about time, Oliver," she said.

"For what?"

"For you know very well what," she answered. "Does he have to crawl here on his hands and knees?"

I kept working as she worked me over.

"Ollie — he's reaching out to you!"

"Bullshit, Jenny. My mother addressed the envelope."

"I thought you said you didn't look at it!" she sort of yelled.

Okay, so I did glance at it earlier. Maybe it had slipped my mind. I was, after all, in the midst of abstracting The State v. Percival, and in the virtual shadow of exams. The point was she should have stopped haranguing⁹ me.

"Ollie, think," she said, her tone kind of pleading now. "Sixty goddamn years old. Nothing says he'll still be around when you're finally ready for the reconciliation."

I informed Jenny in the simplest possible terms that there would never be a reconciliation and would she please let me continue my studying. She sat down quietly, squeezing herself onto a corner of the sofa where I had my feet. Although she didn't make a sound, I quickly became aware that she was looking at me very hard. I glanced up.

"Someday," she said, "when you're being bugged¹⁰ by Oliver V —"

"He won't be called Oliver, be sure of that!" I snapped at her. She didn't raise her voice, though she usually did when I did.

"Listen, Ol, even if we name him Bozo the Clown that kid's still going to resent you because you were a big Harvard athlete. And by the time he's a freshman¹¹, you'll probably be in the Supreme¹² Court!"

I told her that our son would definitely not resent me. She then inquired how I could be so certain of that. I couldn't produce evidence. I mean, I simply knew our son would not resent me, I couldn't say precisely¹³ why. Jenny then remarked:

"Your father loves you too, Oliver. Her loves you just the way you'll love Bozo. But you Barretts are so damn proud and competitive, you'll go through life thinking you hate each other."

"If it weren't for you," I said jokingly.

"Yes," she said.

"The case is closed," I said, being, after all, the husband and head of household. My eyes returned to The State v. Percival and Jenny got up. But then she remembered.

"There's still the matter of the RSVP."

I said that a Radcliffe music major could probably compose a nice little negative RSVP without professional guidance.

"Listen, Oliver," she said, "I've probably lied or cheated in my life. But I've never deliberately¹⁴ hurt anyone. I don't think I could."

Really, at that moment she was only hurting me, so I asked her politely to handle the RSVP in whatever manner she wished, as long as the essence of the message was that we wouldn't show unless hell froze over. I returned once again to The State v. Percival.

"What's the number?" I heard her say very softly. She was at the telephone.

"Can't you just write a note?"

"In a minute I'll lose my nerve. What's the number?"

I told her and was instantly immersed in Percival's appeal to the Supreme Court. I was not listening to Jenny. That is, I tried not to. She was in the same room, after all.

"Oh — good evening, sir," I heard her say.

She had her hand over the mouthpiece.

"Ollie, does it have to be negative?"

The nod of my head indicated that it had to be, the wave of my hand indicated that she should hurry up.

"I'm terribly sorry," she said into the phone. "I mean, we're terribly sorry, sir…"

We're! Did she have to involve me in this? And why can't she get to the point and hang up?

"Oliver!"

She had her hand on the mouthpiece again and was talking very loud.

"He's wounded, Oliver! Can you just sit there and let you father bleed?"

Had she not been in such an emotional state, I could have explained once again that stones do not bleed. But she was very upset. And it was upsetting me too.

"Oliver," she pleaded, "could you just say a word?"

To him? She must be going out of her mind!

"I mean, like just maybe 'hello'?"

She was offering the phone to me. And trying not to cry.

"I will never talk to him. Ever," I said with perfect calm.

And now she was crying. Nothing audible, but tears pouring down her face. And then she — she begged.

"For me, Oliver. I've never asked you for anything. Please."

Three of us. There of us just standing¹⁶ (I somehow imagined my father being there as well) waiting for something. What? For me?

I couldn't do it.

Didn't Jenny understand she was asking the impossible? That I would have done absolutely anything else? As I looked at the floor, shaking my head in adamant¹⁷ refusal and extreme discomfort¹⁸, Jenny addressed me with a kind of whispered fury I had never heard from her:

"You are a heartless bastard," she said. And then she ended the telephone conversation with my father saying:

"Mr. Barrett, Oliver does want you to know that in his own special way…"

She paused for breath. She had been sobbing¹⁹, so it wasn't easy. I was much too astonished to do anything but await the end of my alleged²⁰ "message."

"Oliver loves you very much," she said, and hung up very quickly.

There is no rational explanation for my actions in the next split second. I must never be forgiven for what I did.

I ripped the phone from her hand, then from the socket²¹ — and hurled²² it across the room.

"God damn you, Jenny! Why don't you get the hell out of my life!"

I stood still, panting like the animal I had suddenly become. Jesus Christ! What the hell had happened to me? I turned to look at Jen.

But she was gone.

I mean absolutely gone, because I didn't even hear footsteps on the stairs. Christ, she must have dashed out the instant I grabbed the phone. Even her coat and scarf were still there. The pain of not knowing what to do was exceeded only by that of knowing what I had done.

I searched everywhere.

In the Law School library, I prowled the rows of grinding students, looking and looking. Up and back, at least half a dozen times. Though I didn't utter a sound, I knew my glance was so intense, my face so fierce, I was disturbing the whole place. Who cares?

But Jenny wasn't there.

Then all through Harkness Commons, the lounge, the cafeteria. Then a wild sprint²³ to look around Agassiz Hall at Radcliffe. Not there, either. I was running everywhere now, my legs trying to catch up with the pace of my heart.

Paine Hall? (Ironic goddamn name!) Downstairs are piano practice rooms. I know Jenny. When she's angry, she pounds the keyboard. Right? But how about when she's scared to death?

It's crazy walling down the corridor, practice rooms on either side. The sounds of Mozart and Bartok, Bach and Brahms filter out from the doors and blend into this weird²⁴ infernal sound.

Jenny's got to be here!

Instinct made me stop at a door where I heard the pounding (angry?) sound of a Chopin prelude²⁵. I paused for a second. The playing was lousy — stops and starts and many mistakes. At one pause I heard a girl's voice mutter, "Shit!" It had to be Jenny. I flung open the door.

A Radcliffe girl was at the piano. She looked up. Au ugly, big-shouldered hippie Radcliffe girl, annoyed at my invasion.

"What's the matter, man?" she asked.

"Sorry," I replied, and closed the door again.

Then I tried Harvard Square. Nothing.

Where would Jenny have gone?

I just stood there, lost in the darkness of Harvard Square, not knowing where to go or what to do next. A colored guy approached me and inquired if I was in need of a fix. I kind of absently replied, "No, thank you sir."

I wasn't running now. I mean, what was the rush to return to the empty house? It was very late — almost 1 A. M. — and I was numb¹⁵ — more with fright than with the cold (although it wasn't warm, believe me). From several yards off, I thought I saw someone sitting on the top of the steps. This had to be my eyes playing tricks, because the figure was motionless.

But it was Jenny.

She was sitting on the top step.

I was too tired to panic, too relieved to speak. Inwardly I hoped she had some blunt instrument with which to hit me.

"Jen?"

"Ollie?"

We both spoke²⁶ so quietly, it was impossible to take an emotional reading.

"I forgot my key," Jenny said.

I stood there at the bottom of the steps, afraid to ask how long she had been sitting, knowing only that I had wronged her terribly.

"Jenny, I'm sorry —"

"Stop!" she cut off my apology, then said very quietly, "Love means not ever having to say you're sorry."

I climbed up the stairs to where she was sitting.

"I'd like to go to sleep. Okay?" she said.

"Okay."

We walked up to our apartment. As we undressed, she looked at me reassuringly²⁷.

"I meant what I said, Oliver."

And that was all.

1 wasp   

n.黄蜂，蚂蜂

参考例句：

• A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
• Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。

2 pastry   

n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。

3 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

4 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

7 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

8 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

9 haranguing   

v.高谈阔论( harangue的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He continued in his customary, haranguing style. 他继续以他一贯的夸夸其谈的手法讲下去。 来自辞典例句
• That lady was still haranguing the girl. 那位女士仍然对那女孩喋喋不休地训斥。 来自互联网

10 bugged   

vt.在…装窃听器（bug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The police have bugged his office. 警察在他的办公室装了窃听器。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had bugged off before I had a chance to get a word in. 我还没来得及讲话，他已经走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

14 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

15 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

16 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

17 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

18 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

19 sobbing   

<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的

参考例句：

• I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
• Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。

20 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

21 socket   

n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口

参考例句：

• He put the electric plug into the socket.他把电插头插入插座。
• The battery charger plugs into any mains socket.这个电池充电器可以插入任何类型的电源插座。

22 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

24 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

25 prelude   

n.序言，前兆，序曲

参考例句：

• The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
• The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。

26 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

27 reassuringly   

ad.安心，可靠

参考例句：

• He patted her knee reassuringly. 他轻拍她的膝盖让她放心。
• The doctor smiled reassuringly. 医生笑了笑，让人心里很踏实。