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1、Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway THE HILLS across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a cu
2、rtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two min
3、utes and went on to Madrid. What should we drink? the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.Its pretty hot, the man said.Lets drink beer.Dos cervezas, the man said into the curtain.Big ones? a woman asked from the doorway.Yes. Two big ones.The woman brought two glasses of bee
4、r and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beer glasses on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.They look like white elephants, she said.Ive never seen one, the man drank his
5、beer.No, you wouldnt have.I might have, the man said. Just because you say I wouldnt have doesnt prove anything.The girl looked at the bead curtain. Theyve painted something on it, she said. What does it say?Anis del Toro. Its a drink.Could we try it?The man called Listen through the curtain. The wo
6、man came out from the bar.Four reales.We want two Anis del Toro.With water?Do you want it with water?I dont know, the girl said. Is it good with water?Its all right.You want them with water? asked the woman.Yes, with water.It tastes like licorice, the girl said and put the glass down.Thats the way w
7、ith everything.Yes, said the girl. Everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things youve waited so long for, like absinthe.Oh, cut it out.You started it, the girl said. I was being amused. I was having a fine time.Well, lets try and have a fine time.All right. I was trying. I said the mount
8、ains looked like white elephants. Wasnt that bright ?That was bright.I wanted to try this new drink. Thats all we do, isnt itlook at things and try new drinks?I guess so.The girl looked across at the hills. Theyre lovely hills, she said. They dont really look like white elephants. I just meant the c
9、oloring of their skin through the trees.Should we have another drink?All right.The warm wind blew the bead curtain against the table.The beers nice and cool, the man said.lts lovely, the girl said.Its really an awfully simple operation, Jig, the man said. Its not really an operation at all.The girl
10、looked at the ground the table legs rested on.I know you wouldnt mind it, Jig. Its really not anything. Its just to let the air in.The girl did not say anything.Ill go with you and Ill stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then its all perfectly natural.Then what will we do afterw
11、ard?Well be fine afterward. Just like we were before.What makes you think so?Thats the only thing that bothers us. Its the only thing thats made us unhappy.The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two of the strings of beads.And you think then well be all right and be h
12、appy.I know we will. You dont have to be afraid. Ive known lots of people that have done it.So have I, said the girl. And afterward they were all so happy.Well, the man said, if you dont want to you dont have to. I wouldnt have you do it if you didnt want to. But I know its perfectly simple.And you
13、really want to?I think its the best thing to do. But I dont want you to do it if you dont really want to.And if I do it youll be happy and things will be like they were and youll love me ?I love you now. You know I love you.I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like
14、white elephants, and youll like it ?Ill love it. I love it now but I just cant think about it. You know how I get when I worry.If I do it you wont ever worry?I wont worry about that because its perfectly simple.Then Ill do it. Because I dont care about me.What do you mean?I dont care about me.Well,
15、I care about you.Oh, yes. But I dont care about me. And Ill do it and then everything will be fine.I dont want you to do it if you feel that way.The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station.Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, bey
16、ond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees.And we could have all this, she said. And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible.What did you say?I said we could have everything.We can have everyt
17、hing.No, we cant.We can have the whole world.No, we cant.We can go everywhere.No, we cant. It isnt ours any more.Its ours.No, it isnt. And once they take it away, you never get it back.But they havent taken it away.Well wait and see.Come on back in the shade, he said. You mustnt feel that way.I dont
18、 feel any way, the girl said. I just know things.I dont want you to do anything that you dont want to do Nor that isnt good for me, she said. I know. Could we have another beer?All right. But youve got to realize.I realize, the girl said. Cant we maybe stop talking?They sat down at the table and the
19、 girl looked across at the hills on the dry side of the valley and the man looked at her and at the table.Youve got to realize, he said, that I dont want you to do it if you dont want to. Im perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you.Doesnt it mean anything to you ? We could
20、 get along.Of course it does. But I dont want anybody but you. I dont want any one else. And I know its perfectly simple.Yes, you know its perfectly simple.Its all right for you to say that, but I do know it.Would you do something for me now?Id do anything for you.Would you please please please plea
21、se please please please, stop talking?He did not say anything but looked at the bags against the wall of the station. There were labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent nights.But I dont want you to, he said, I dont care anything about it.Ill scream, the girl said.The woman came out
22、through the curtains with two glasses of beer and put them down on the damp felt pads. The train comes in five minutes, she said.What did she say? asked the girl.That the train is coming in five minutes.The girl smiled brightly at the woman, to thank her.Id better take the bags over to the other sid
23、e of the station, the man said. She smiled at him.All right. Then come back and well finish the beer.He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the other tracks. He looked up the tracks but could not see the train. Coming back, he walked through the barroom, where people
24、waiting for the train were drinking.He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people. They were all waiting reasonably for the train. He went out through the bead curtain. She was sitting at the table and smiled at him.Do you feel better? he asked.I feel fine, she said. Theres nothing wrong with
25、 me. I feel fine.A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway It was very late and everyone had left the cafe except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light. In the day time the street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man
26、 liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference. The two waiters inside the cafe knew that the old man was a little drunk, and while he was a good client they knew that if he became too drunk he would leave without paying, so they kept watch on him. La
27、st week he tried to commit suicide, one waiter said. Why? He was in despair. What about? Nothing. How do you know it was nothing? He has plenty of money. They sat together at a table that was close against the wall near the door of the cafe and looked at the terrace where the tables were all empty e
28、xcept where the old man sat in the shadow of the leaves of the tree that moved slightly in the wind. A girl and a soldier went by in the street. The street light shone on the brass number on his collar. The girl wore no head covering and hurried beside him. The guard will pick him up, one waiter sai
29、d. What does it matter if he gets what hes after? He had better get off the street now. The guard will get him. They went by five minutes ago. The old man sitting in the shadow rapped on his saucer with his glass. The younger waiter went over to him. What do you want? The old man looked at him. Anot
30、her brandy, he said. Youll be drunk, the waiter said. The old man looked at him. The waiter went away. Hell stay all night, he said to his colleague. Im sleepy now. I never get into bed before three oclock. He should have killed himself last week. The waiter took the brandy bottle and another saucer
31、 from the counter inside the cafe and marched out to the old mans table. He put down the saucer and poured the glass full of brandy. You should have killed yourself last week, he said to the deaf man. The old man motioned with his finger. A little more, he said. The waiter poured on into the glass s
32、o that the brandy slopped over and ran down the stem into the top saucer of the pile. Thank you, the old man said. The waiter took the bottle back inside the cafe. He sat down at the table with his colleague again. Hes drunk now, he said. Hes drunk every night. What did he want to kill himself for?
33、How should I know. How did he do it? He hung himself with a rope. Who cut him down? His niece. Why did they do it? Fear for his soul. How much money has he got? Hes got plenty. He must be eighty years old. Anyway I should say he was eighty. I wish he would go home. I never get to bed before three oc
34、lock. What kind of hour is that to go to bed? He stays up because he likes it. Hes lonely. Im not lonely. I have a wife waiting in bed for me. He had a wife once too. A wife would be no good to him now. You cant tell. He might be better with a wife. His niece looks after him. You said she cut him do
35、wn. I know. I wouldnt want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing. Not always. This old man is clean. He drinks without spilling. Even now, drunk. Look at him. I dont want to look at him. I wish he would go home. He has no regard for those who must work. The old man looked from his glass across
36、 the square, then over at the waiters. Another brandy, he said, pointing to his glass. The waiter who was in a hurry came over. Finished, he said, speaking with that omission of syntax stupid people employ when talking to drunken people or foreigners. No more tonight. Close now. Another, said the ol
37、d man. No. Finished. The waiter wiped the edge of the table with a towel and shook his head. The old man stood up, slowly counted the saucers, took a leather coin purse from his pocket and paid for the drinks, leaving half a peseta tip. The waiter watched him go down the street, a very old man walki
38、ng unsteadily but with dignity. Why didnt you let him stay and drink? the unhurried waiter asked. They were putting up the shutters. It is not half-past two. I want to go home to bed. What is an hour? More to me than to him. An hour is the same. You talk like an old man yourself. He can buy a bottle
39、 and drink at home. Its not the same. No, it is not, agreed the waiter with a wife. He did not wish to be unjust. He was only in a hurry. And you? You have no fear of going home before your usual hour? Are you trying to insult me? No, hombre, only to make a joke. No, the waiter who was in a hurry sa
40、id, rising from pulling down the metal shutters. I have confidence. I am all confidence. You have youth, confidence, and a job, the older waiter said. You have everything. And what do you lack? Everything but work. You have everything I have. No. I have never had confidence and I am not young. Come
41、on. Stop talking nonsense and lock up. I am of those who like to stay late at the cafe, the older waiter said. With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night. I want to go home and into bed. We are of two different kinds, the older waiter said. He was now
42、dressed to go home. It is not only a question of youth and confidence although those things are very beautiful. Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the cafe. Hombre, there are bodegas open all night long. You do not understand. This is a clean and pleasant c
43、afe. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the leaves. Good night, said the younger waiter. Good night, the other said. Turning off the electric light he continued the conversation with himself, It was the light of course but it is necessary that the place be
44、 clean and pleasant. You do not want music. Certainly you do not want music. Nor can you stand before a bar with dignity although that is all that is provided for these hours. What did he fear? It was not a fear or dread, It was a nothing that he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was a n
45、othing too. It was only that and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order. Some lived in it and never felt it but he knew it all was nada y pues nada y nada y pues nada. Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada; pues nada. Hail nothing full of nothing, nothing is with th
