English Original
Located in the checkroom in Union Station, I see everybody that comes up the stairs.
Harry came in a little over three years ago and waited at the head of the stairs for the passengers from the 9:05 train. I remember seeing him that first evening. He wasn't much more than a thin, anxious kid then, all dressed up. I knew he was meeting his girl and that they would be married twenty minutes after she arrived.
The passengers came up and I got busy. I didn't look toward the stairs again until nearly time for the 9:18, and I was surprised to see the young fellow still there. She didn't come on the 9:18 either, nor on the 9:40. When the passengers from the 10:02 had all left, Harry looked desperate. He came close to my window, and I asked him what she looked like.
"She's small and dark," he said, "nineteen years old, and very neat in the way she walks. She has a face... that has lots of spirit. I mean she can get mad but she never stays mad for long, and her eyebrows come to a little point in the middle. She's got a brown fur, but maybe she isn't wearing it."
I couldn't remember seeing anybody like that. He showed me the telegram: "ARRIVE THURSDAY. MEET ME STATION. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. MAY." It was from Omaha, Nebraska.
"Why don't you phone home?" I suggested. "She's probably called if she got in ahead of you."
He gave me a sick look. "I've only been in town two days. We were going to meet and then drive South where I've got a job. She hasn't any address for me."
The next day he was still there. "Did she work anywhere?" I asked.
He nodded. "She was a typist. I telegraphed her former boss. All they know is that she left her job to get married."
Harry met every train for the next few days. The railroad and police made routine checks, but nobody was any real help. They seemed to think May had played a trick on him, but I never believed that.
After about two weeks, I told Harry my theory. "If you wait long enough," I said, "you'll see her coming up those stairs someday." He turned and looked at the stairs as though he had never seen them before.
The next day, Harry was behind the counter of Tony's magazine stand. "Well, I had to get a job somewhere, didn't I?" he said sheepishly. He began working for Tony. We never spoke of May again, but I noticed Harry always watched every person who came up the stairs.
Toward the end of the year, Tony was killed in a gambling argument. His widow left Harry in charge of the stand. Later, when she remarried, Harry bought it. He borrowed money, installed a soda fountain, and soon had a nice little business.
Then came yesterday. I heard a cry and things falling. It was Harry. He had jumped over the counter, upsetting dolls and other items. He ran and grabbed a girl not ten feet from my window. She was small and dark, her eyebrows coming to a little point in the middle.
For a while, they just held each other, laughing and crying. She said things like, "It was the bus station I meant..." and he kissed her and told her all he had done to find her. Apparently, three years before, May had come by bus, not train. In her telegram, "station" meant bus station, not railroad station. She had waited at the bus station for days, spent all her money trying to find Harry, and finally got a typing job.
"What?" said Harry. "Have you been working in town? All the time?"
She nodded.
"Heavens! Didn't you ever come down here to the station?" He pointed to his magazine stand. "I've been there all the time. I own it. I've watched everybody that came up the stairs."
She began to look pale. She looked at the stairs and said weakly, "I never came up these stairs before. You see, I went out of town yesterday on a short business trip... Oh, Harry!" Then she threw her arms around his neck and began to cry.
After a minute, she backed away and pointed stiffly toward the north end of the station. "Harry, for three years, for three solid years, I've been right over there... working in this very station, typing, in the office of the stationmaster."
中文翻译
由于我在联合车站的行李寄存处工作，我能看见每一个走上楼梯的人。
大约三年多前，哈里来到这里，站在楼梯顶端等待9点05分那趟火车的旅客。我还记得第一晚见到他的情景。那时，他不过是个瘦削、焦虑的年轻人，穿戴整齐。我知道他在等他的女孩，并且计划在她到达二十分钟后就结婚。
旅客们上来了，我开始忙碌。直到快9点18分时我才再次看向楼梯，惊讶地发现那个年轻人还在那里。她也没乘9点18分的车来，9点40分的也没来。当10点02分那趟车的旅客都离开后，哈里显得绝望了。他走近我的窗口，我问他她长什么模样。
“她个子娇小，肤色较深，”他说，“十九岁，走路的样子很利落。她的脸……很有个性。我是说她会生气，但从不气很久，而且她的眉毛在中间有个小尖儿。她有一件棕色毛皮大衣，但可能没穿。”
我想不起见过这样的人。他给我看了电报：“周四到。车站接我。爱爱爱爱。梅。”电报来自内布拉斯加州的奥马哈。
“你为什么不往家里打个电话？”我建议道，“如果她比你先到，可能已经打过电话了。”
他懊恼地看了我一眼。“我到城里才两天。我们计划见面后开车去南方，我在那儿有份工作。她……没有我的地址。”
第二天他还在那里。“她在哪儿工作过吗？”我问。
他点点头。“她是个打字员。我给她以前的老板拍了电报。他们只知道她离职结婚去了。”
接下来的几天，哈里接了每一趟火车。铁路方面和警察做了例行调查，但没人真正帮上忙。他们似乎认为梅只是捉弄了他，但我从不相信。
大约两周后，我告诉了哈里我的想法。“如果你等得足够久，”我说，“总有一天你会看见她走上那些楼梯。”他转过身，仿佛从未见过似的看着楼梯。
第二天，哈里站在了托尼杂志摊的柜台后面。“呃，我总得在哪儿找个工作，是不是？”他不好意思地说。他开始为托尼工作。我们再也不提梅，但我注意到哈里总是留意每一个上楼的人。
快到年底时，托尼在一次赌博争执中丧生。他的遗孀让哈里全权打理书摊。后来她再婚时，哈里把书摊买了下来。他借了钱，装了个冷饮柜，很快生意就做得不错了。
然后就是昨天。我听到一声叫喊和东西掉落的声音。是哈里。他跳过柜台，碰倒了一堆玩具和其他物品。他跑过去，在离我窗口不到十英尺的地方抓住了一个女孩。她个子娇小，肤色较深，眉毛在中间有个小尖儿。
有好一会儿，他们只是紧紧相拥，又哭又笑。她说着“我指的是汽车站……”之类的话，而他吻着她，告诉她他为找她所做的一切。原来，三年前，梅是乘汽车来的，不是火车。在她的电报里，“车站”指的是汽车站，不是火车站。她在汽车站等了好几天，花光了所有钱寻找哈里，最后找到了一份打字的工作。
“什么？”哈里说，“你一直在城里工作？一直？”
她点点头。
“天啊！你就从来没来过这个车站吗？”他指向他的杂志摊。“我一直就在那儿。那摊子是我的。我看过每一个上楼的人。”
她的脸色开始变得苍白。她看着楼梯，虚弱地说：“我以前从没上过这些楼梯。你看，我昨天出城办了点公事……哦，哈里！”然后她伸手搂住他的脖子，哭了起来。
过了一会儿，她后退一步，僵硬地指向车站的最北端。“哈里，三年了，整整三年，我就在那边……就在这个车站里工作，在站长办公室里打字。”