“Later,” Malone said.
出租车在里基特酒吧前停下。在通往酒吧的门口，马龙停了下来，一只手放在门把手上。他在酒吧里的人群中看到了一缕特定的金发。当然，这个城市可能还有其他女人有那种淡金色的头发，但他不想冒险。突然，他转过身，抓住杰克的胳膊，沿着芝加哥大道向西走去。
The cab dropped them in front of Rickett’s. At the door leading to the bar Malone paused, one hand resting on the knob. He had seen a certain shade of blonde hair among the heads at the bar. Of course there might be other women in the city with hair that particular pale gold, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Suddenly he wheeled around, took Jake by the arm, and started west on Chicago Avenue.
“你到底要干嘛？”
“Where the hell are you going?”
“刚想起来。我得打个电话。”
“Just remembered. Gotta make a phone call.”
“你不能从里基特酒吧打吗？”
“Couldn’t you make it from Rickett’s?”
“这个电话不行。”
“Not this call.”
在街角的药店，他走进去买了一枚硬币，然后走回电话亭。杰克对这一切看起来非常怀疑，在电话亭的门口徘徊。经过片刻的思考，马龙灵机一动，拨通了气象局的电话。他想知道那天下午有没有下过雪。
小主，
At the corner drugstore he went in, bought a slug, and walked back to the phone booth. Jake, looking very dubious about the whole thing, hovered by the door to the booth. After a moment of thought, Malone had a flash of inspiration and called the weather bureau. He wanted to know if it had been snowing that afternoon.
没有，没有下雪。气温一直在四十五度（华氏度）左右徘徊。
No, it had not been snowing. The thermometer had hovered around forty-five degrees.
那有下雨吗？
Then had there been any rain?
有，下午下了一场短暂的大雨。
Yes, there had been one short, heavy rainfall during the afternoon.
“有了。” 马龙高兴地说。“就是那场雨。它具体是什么时候下的？”
“There.” Malone said happily. “That’s the one I mean. Exactly what time did it occur?”
气象局过了一会儿才报告说雨是四点十分开始下的，下了十五分钟的大雨，大约在四点三十五分停了。
It was a little while before the weather bureau reported that the rain had started falling at four-ten, rained hard for fifteen minutes, and stopped falling at about four-thirty-five.
马龙对气象局千恩万谢，然后挂了电话。他努力想再找个人打电话，但就是想不出可以打给谁。
Malone thanked the weather bureau profusely and hung up. He tried to think of someone else he might call, but inspiration refused to deliver.
杰克恼怒又痛苦地说：“行了，快点去吃你那该死的晚餐，然后我们去莫娜家。这对你来说可能不重要，但对我很重要。”
Jake said in anguished exasperation, “Come on and get your damned dinner and let’s get up to Mona’s. This may not seem important to you, but it is to me.”
这位小个子律师任由杰克把他带到人行道上。他正祈求上天给他下一步提示时，看到街对面有一小群人正上一辆车。他的目光捕捉到淡金色头发在电灯下的反光。
The little lawyer allowed himself to be led out to the sidewalk. He was just asking providence to suggest the next move, when he saw a little group of people getting into a car halfway down the street. His eye caught the gleam of electric light on pale-gold hair.
“好吧，但让我安静地吃顿饭。别烦我。”
“All right, but let me eat in peace. Don’t heckle me.”
里基特酒吧可能会很拥挤，等待服务的时间可能会很长。但实际上并不拥挤。他们刚坐下，一个女服务员就出现了。
There was a chance that Rickett’s would be crowded, and it would take a long time to be waited on. It was not. They had barely reached the table before a waitress appeared.
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“三份双份黑麦威士忌。我的意思是两杯三倍的黑麦威士忌。不管怎样，快点。”
“Three double ryes,” Malone said. “I mean two triple ryes. Anyway, hurry.”
女孩向吧台的方向匆匆跑去。
The girl fled toward the bar.
杰克生气地说：“我以为你要吃的呢。”
Jake said crossly, “I thought you wanted food.”
“我要，” 马龙向他保证。“酒精也是一种食物。你知道一个人完全靠酒精能维持多久吗？”
“I do,” Malone assured him. “Alcohol is a food. Do you know how long it’s possible for a human being to exist entirely on alcohol?”
“不知道，” 杰克说。“总有人在我有机会弄清楚之前就把我弄清醒了。但你说你还没吃晚饭。你说过……”
“No,” Jake said. “Someone always sobered me up before I had a chance to find out. But you said you hadn’t had any dinner. You said—”
“没错，” 马龙赶紧说，想起来了。他看了看菜单，发现一种特制牛排要三十分钟才能做好，女孩回来的时候他就点了这个。“等一下。” 他一口气喝下那杯黑麦威士忌，把杯子递给她，说：“先把这个倒满。这是紧急情况。”
“That’s right,” Malone said hastily, remembering. He looked over the menu, found a special steak that took thirty minutes to prepare, and ordered it when the girl returned. “Wait a minute.” He downed the rye in one shuddering gulp, handed her the glass and said, “Fill this up first. It’s an emergency.”
现在的问题是要怎么消磨时间。
It was just a matter of using up time, now.
杰克静静地坐着，焦虑地看着这位小律师。他的行为有点不太正常。
Jake sat silent, watching the little lawyer anxiously. There was something about his behavior that didn’t seem quite normal.
最后牛排送来了。马龙厌恶地看着它。“我说要全熟的。”
Eventually the steak arrived. Malone glared at it. “I said well done.”
“你非常明确地说要三分熟的。” 女孩告诉他。
“You very positively said rare,” the girl told him.
马龙皱着眉头看着她，用叉子戳了刺牛排，把它举起来，露出一条宽宽的鲜红的条纹。“这叫三分熟？这甚至能叫熟了吗？” 他厌恶地把牛排扔下去。“该死，我见过伤得比这还重的牛都能康复。”
Malone scowled at her, poked a fork into the steak and lifted it up so that a broad stripe of scarlet showed. “Call this rare? Call this even cooked?” He flopped it down disgustedly. “Damn it, the steers hurt worse than this, and get well.”
女服务员深吸了一口气。“您要我把它拿回去吗，先生？”
The waitress drew a long breath. “Do you wish me to take it back, sir?”
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“给我拿一份全熟的来，” 律师坚定地说。“我说全熟，是要煎得脆脆的。”
“Bring it to me well done,” the lawyer said firmly. “And when I say well done, it means crisp.”
她盯着他，拿起牛排。
She stared at him and picked up the steak.
“我等的时候再给我拿一杯黑麦威士忌。”
“And bring another rye while I’m waiting.”
杰克倾过身子，满脸焦虑的表情。“马龙，你最近感觉怎么样？”
Jake leaned across the table, his face wrinkled with anxiety. “Malone, how have you been feeling lately?”
“我这辈子从没感觉这么好过。” 马龙向他保证。
“Never felt better in my life,” Malone assured him.
杰克张了张嘴又闭上了。
Jake opened his mouth and closed it again.
牛排终于又送回来了。马龙厌恶地看着它。显然，里基特酒吧不想让任何人饿着肚子离开。他惋惜地想起晚上早些时候他和冯?弗拉纳根一起吃的咸牛肉、炸土豆和苹果派，然后遗憾地叹了口气。
The steak returned at last. Malone eyed it distastefully. Rickett’s evidently didn’t want anyone to go away hungry. He thought regretfully of the corned beef he had shared earlier in the evening with von Flanagan, the corned beef and fried potatoes and apple pie, and sighed regretfully.
“你刚才说什么了吗？” 杰克问。
“Did you say something?” Jake asked.
“我说如果我们饿死了，那也不是因为没食物。”
“I said if we starve to death, it won’t + 断句不一致，已修正为 “I said if we starve to death, it won’t be for lack of food.”
三十分钟后，他只吃了正好三平方英寸的牛排。然后他把盘子推开，摇了摇头。真爱的事业是伟大的，值得巨大的自我牺牲，但他实在吃不下一口了。
Thirty minutes later he had consumed exactly three square inches of the steak. Then he pushed the plate away from him and shook his head. The cause of true love was a good one, and deserved great self-sacrifice, but he was damned if he could manage another mouthful.
杰克说：“你不再吃点了吗？”