The salty coffee

 　　舞会结束后，他邀请她去喝咖啡，她有些惊奇，但，出于礼貌，还是答应了他。他们坐在一家典雅的咖啡厅，他非常紧张，她却并不觉得浪漫，一心在想，“请让我回家吧……”

　　突然他对服务员说，“请给我一点盐好吗? 我要把它加在我的咖啡里。”咖啡厅里每个人都惊奇地看着他。他的脸红了，却很镇静。他把盐放入咖啡中。她好奇地问他，“你怎么有这样的嗜好?”

　　He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chasing¹ after her, while he was so normal, nobody paid attention to him.

　　At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him, she was surprised but due² to being polite, she promised. They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, and she thought to herself, "Please, let me go home..."

　　Suddenly he asked the waiter, "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee." Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously³, "Why you have this hobby?" He replied, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my hometown so much, I miss my parents who are still living there." While saying that tears filled his eyes. She was deeply⁴ touched. That's his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart. A man who can tell out his homesickness⁵, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, has responsibility⁶ of home... Then she also started to speak, spoke⁷ about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family.

　　That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story. They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands; he had tolerance⁸, was kind hearted, warm, careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him! Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story, the princess married to the prince, and then they were living the happy life... And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that's the way he liked it.

　　After 40 years, he passed away, left her a letter which said, "My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life's lie. This was the only lie I said to you － the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time, actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything... Now I'm dying⁹, I'm afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth, I don't like the salty coffee, what a strange bad taste... But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life! Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for the second time, still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again."

　　Her tears made the letter totally wet. Someday, someone asked her, "What's the taste of salty coffee?" She replied, "It's sweet."

1 chasing   

n.雕镂术，雕刻工作；车螺丝；抛光；螺旋板

参考例句：

• My dog likes chasing rabbits. 我的狗喜欢追捕兔子。
• The children were having fun, chasing each other's shadows. 孩子们追逐着彼此的影子，玩得很开心。

2 due   

n.应得物；adj.预定的，应付的，到期的，应有的

参考例句：

• I received nothing except what was due to me.除了我应得的东西，我并未接受任何东西。
• The rocket is due to lift off at noon on Friday.火箭定于星期五中午发射。

3 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

4 deeply   

adv.深刻地，在深处，深沉地

参考例句：

• I do feel deeply the strength of the collective.我确实深深地感到了集体的力量。
• We're deeply honoured that you should agree to join us.您能同意加入我们，我们感到很荣幸。

5 homesickness   

n.思家病；乡思；思家成疾；怀乡病

参考例句：

• He returned to his native land of homesickness. 他因怀念故土而返回（乡里）。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The girl appeared to be overcome with homesickness. 这女孩看来想家想得受不了啦。 来自辞典例句

6 responsibility   

n.责任，职责

参考例句：

• The safety of the ship is the captain's responsibility.确保船的安全是船长的责任。
• The matter is outside my area of the responsibility.此事超出我的责任范围。

7 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。

8 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

9 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。