The Date Father Didn’t Keep
By Robert Zocks
It happened in one of those picturesque Danish taverns that cater to tourists and where English is spoken.I was with my father on a business⁃and⁃pleasure trip，and in our leisure hours we were having a wonderful time.
“I wish Mother were here，”said I.
“If your mother had come with us，”said Father，“it would have been wonderful to show her around.”
He had visited Denmark when he was a young man.I asked him，“How long is it since you were here ”
“Oh，about thirty years.I remember being in this very inn，by the way.”He looked around，remembering.“Those were gracious days
”He stopped suddenly，and I saw that his face was pale.I followed his eyes and looked across the room to a woman who was setting a tray of drink before some customers.She might have been pretty once，but now she was stout and her hair was untidy.
“Do you know her ”I asked.
“I did once，”he said.
The woman came to our table.“Drinks ”she inquired.
“We’ll have beer，”I said.She nodded and went away.
“How she has changed Thank heaven she didn’t recognize me，”muttered Father，mopping his face with a handkerchief.“I knew her before I met your mother，I was a student，on a tour.She was a lovely young thing，very graceful.I fell madly in love with her，and she with me.
I was a foreigner to her family.So her family objected to our romance.When I wrote to my father that I wanted to get married，he cut off my allowance.And I had to go home.But I met the girl once more，and told her I would return to America，borrow enough money to get married on，and come back for her in a few months.”
“We knew，”he continued，“that her father might intercept a letter，so we agreed that I would simply mail her a slip of paper with a date on it，the time she was to meet me at a certain place；then we’d get married.Well，I went home，got the loan and sent her the date.She received the note.She wrote me ‘I’ll be there.’But she wasn’t.Then I found that she had been married about two weeks before，to a local innkeeper.She hadn’t waited.”
Then my father said，“Thank God she didn’t.I went home，met your mother，and we’ve been completely happy.We often joke about that youthful love romance.I suggest that one day you writea story about it.”
The woman appeared with our beer.
“You are from America ”she asked me.
“Yes.”I said.
She beamed.“A wonderful country，America.”
“Yes，a lot of your countrymen have gone here.Did you ever think of it ”
“Not me.Not now，”she said.“I thought so one time，a long time ago.But I stayed here.It’s much better here.”
We drank our beer and left.Outside I said，“Father，just how did you write that date on which she was to meet you ”
He stopped，took out an envelope and wrote on it.“Like this，”he said.“12/11/13，of course，December 11，1913.”
“No ”I exclaimed.“It isn’t in Denmark or any European country.Over here they write the day first，then the month.So that date wouldn’t be December 11 but the 12th of November ”
Father passed his hand over his face.“So she was there ”he exclaimed，“and it was because I didn’t show up that she got married.”He was silent a while.“Well，”he said，“I hope she’s happy，she seems to be.”
As we resumed walking I blurted out，“It’s a lucky thing it happened that way.You wouldn’t have met Mother.”
He put his arm around my shoulders，looked at me with a heartwarming smile，and said，“I was doubly lucky，young fellow，for otherwise I wouldn’t have met you，either ”
爸爸的旧情人
【美国】罗伯特·佐克
故事发生在丹麦的一家风景如画、为游客提供食宿的小客栈，小客栈提供英语服务。我和爸爸为了一桩生意远道而来，工作之余来此共度快乐时光。
“我想妈妈要是也在就好啦。”我说。
“要是你妈跟咱们在一起，领她到处走走看看该多好。”爸爸说。
爸爸年轻的时候来过丹麦，于是我问：“您离开这里有多久了？”
“哦，大概有30多年了吧，我还记得那次住的也是这家客栈。”他环顾四周，回忆道，“那是多么无忧无虑、心旷神怡的日子……”爸爸忽然打住了话头，我看到他的脸色变得苍白。我顺着他的目光望去，发现对面有个女人在用托盘给客人上饮料。她也许曾经很好看，但现在身材臃肿，头发也乱蓬蓬脏兮兮的。
“您认识她？”我问道。
“曾经认识。”他说道。
这时，那个女人来到我们桌旁。“要饮料吗？”她询问。
“我们要啤酒。”我说。她点了点头走了。
“她的变化怎么这么大！谢天谢地，她没有认出我来。”爸爸用手帕擦着头上的汗，低声说道，“我是在认识你妈妈之前认识她的，当时我是个学生，正在丹麦旅行。她当时是个妙龄少女，非常优雅。我为她而神魂颠倒，她也疯狂地爱上了我。而她家里却嫌我是外国人，极力反对我们的婚事。我写信给父亲说要娶她为妻之后，你爷爷也切断了我的经济来源。在万不得已的情况下，我踏上归程，临行前与她约定：我要回美国，等我一借到足够的钱，就回来与她成婚，时间大概需要几个月。”
“我们料到，”爸爸继续讲，“他父亲会截获我的信，所以商定在信里只写一个日期，到了那个日子，我俩就到事先约好的地方相会，然后结婚。我回到了家，借够了钱，就给她寄了封只有日期的信。她收到了信，给我回信说：“我会去的。”可是她并没有出现。我四处寻找，却发现她在两个礼拜以前已经结了婚，丈夫是当地的一个旅店的店主。她没等我。”
父亲长叹了一声：“谢天谢地，她没有等我。我回到美国，认识了你妈妈，我们琴瑟相和，十分幸福。有时候我们还就这段年少的罗曼史开开玩笑。我建议你以后以这个素材写个小说。”
那个女人拿着我们要的啤酒来了。
“你们是从美国来的？”她问道。
“是的。”我答道。
她笑眯眯地说：“美国，一个了不起的国家。”
“是的，你们国家有好多人离开这里去了美国，你想过吗？”
“我不想去，现在不想，”她说，“我曾经非常想去过，那是很久以前的事了，可我留了下来，这里更好。”
我们喝完啤酒就离开了。到了外面，我问道：“爸爸，你当时是怎么写那个相会日期的？”
爸爸站住，掏出了一个信封，在上面写。“像这样，”他说，“12/11/13，也就是1913年12月11的意思。”
“错了！”我惊叫道，“在丹麦以及其他欧洲国家，人们写日期的时候总是习惯先写日，然后写月，所以您写的这个日期不会被他们认为是12月11日，而是11月12日！”
爸爸用手抹了一把脸，“这么说她没有失约！”爸爸叫了起来，“只是因为我没有赴约，她才伤心而嫁。”他沉默片刻，“哦，我希望她幸福，看起来她过得也确实不错。”
我们继续走，我脱口道：“这样的过程真是一件幸事，否则，您也不会认识妈妈了。”
爸爸一手搭着我的肩，看着我，笑容暖心，说：“年轻人，我是双重幸运，因为事情如果是那样的话，我也不会认识你啰！”