365个英语简短小故事-276. The Final Phone Call

“But I love you so much,” she said. “I think I must be crazy. I can’t stop thinking¹ about you. I want to be with you all the time. I want to marry you.”

“Maybe you are a little crazy,” he said. “Although I think that’s part of being² in love. But you hardly know me. I like you, but I’m not in love with you. I don’t think I could ever be in love with you.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know,” he lied. “You’re not my type.”

“I’m not your type,” she repeated³. “What is your type? A woman with no wrinkles⁴ and a perfect body? A woman who is beautiful even when she wakes up? A movie star? Is that your type?”

“No, of course not,” he lied again. “I don’t know. I’m like everybody else—you’re either attracted to a certain person or you’re not.”

“So you’re not attracted to me?”

“Well, I didn’t say that,” he lied a third time.

“I’m making a fool of myself. You might even be laughing at me. You don’t love me. You just said that you never could love me.”

“No, I said I could never be IN love with you,” he said.

“‘Love,’ ‘in love.’ What difference does it make any more? I apologize⁵. It was nice of you to put up with me. Please forgive⁶ me for making a fool of myself and for bothering⁷ you. I will never call you again. I must try to forget you now. I am dropping out of school tomorrow; I can’t go there without thinking of you. My heart is so sad.”

She hung up. Alan walked outside. What was he supposed to do? He liked her, but he certainly didn’t love her. Lead her on with lies, or tell her the truth now?

There was a beautiful full moon. But he felt sad. He knew that Natalie was probably crying right now. She must be so lonely.

 

1 thinking   

n.思考，思想；adj.思考的，有理性的；vbl.想，思考

参考例句：

• All thinking men will protest against it.凡是有思想的人都会抗议这件事。
• Thinking is mainly performed with words and other symbols.思想主要是用言语和其他符号来表达的。

2 being   

n.存在；生存；生命存在，生命，人， 本质；art.在，有，是

参考例句：

• Can you explain to me the purpose of being?你能对我解释一下存在的目的吗？
• What is the purpose of our being?我们生存的目的是什么？

3 repeated   

adj.反复的，再三的，重复的；累；频仍

参考例句：

• repeated absences from school 一再缺课
• the prisoner's repeated denials of the charges against him 囚犯再三否认对他的指控

4 wrinkles   

n.（尤指皮肤上的）皱纹( wrinkle的名词复数 )；皱褶；有用的建议；妙计v.使起皱纹( wrinkle的第三人称单数 )；（尤指皮肤）起皱纹

参考例句：

• There were fine wrinkles around her eyes. 她眼角上出现了鱼尾纹。
• His face was lined with wrinkles. 他的脸上都是皱纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 apologize   

vi.道歉，谢罪；vt.道歉，谢罪，辩白

参考例句：

• You must apologize to her for having kept her waiting.让她等了这么久，你应该为此向她表示歉意。
• I must apologize for calling so late.我真是抱歉这么晚了才打电话给你。

6 forgive   

vt(forgave, forgiven)原谅；饶恕

参考例句：

• I'll never forgive you for what you said to me last night.我绝不会宽恕你昨晚对我所说的话。
• I hope you'll forgive me.希望你能原谅我。

7 bothering   

v.打扰( bother的现在分词 )；烦扰；迷惑；（使）不安

参考例句：

• My little daughter is always bothering me when I'm at work. 我工作时，我的小女儿老爱打扰我。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pardon me for bothering you with such a small matter. 请原谅我为这点小事麻烦你。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》