我们不过是“ships that pass in the night”

肖颖

美国诗人朗费罗在《路畔旅舍的故事》中，曾写过这样一首诗：“Ships that pass in the night， and speak each other in passing. Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness；So on the ocean of life， we pass and speak one another. Only a look and a voice， then darkness again and a silence.”诗的大意是：夜色笼罩的海面上，有两艘小船相向而行，它们在某一刻交汇，擦肩而过，彼此朝着各自的轨道继续航行，不再相遇。而人生又何尝不是如此？我们与一些人偶然相遇，大家彼此相识，然后注定成为对方生命中的过客。

在生活中，我们常常用朗费罗这首诗中的“ships that pass in the night”来表示人与人之间短暂的相遇，就像夜色中航行于海面的两艘小船。虽然仅有一面之交，但是其中的因缘际会能让彼此回味。下面，我们来看两个关于它的使用情境：

Last week， a beautiful girl moved in my neighbourhood， and I helped her carry all things into her house. But yesterday she just moved away. So we were like two ships that passed in the night.

上周，我家旁边搬来了一个大美女，我还帮她把行李搬进了家里。可是，昨天她突然搬走了。我们就好像是萍水相逢一样。

Jack：“Hi， Tom. Im just in town. Would you like to have a dinner with me？”

Tom：“Oh， Jack， I was just away on my business trip.”

Jack：“Too bad. Its almost that we were two ships that passed in the night.”

杰克：“喂，湯姆，我刚到这儿，我们一起吃晚饭吧？”

汤姆：“哎呀，杰克，我刚出发，在出差的路上。”

杰克：“真不凑巧。我们好像是注定要错过一样。”