The man somehow regains control, and the Model A rolls on. The child has disappeared in the rearview mirror, but the man’s body is still affected, thinking of how close he came to tragedy. The jolt of 26)adrenalin has forced his heart to pump furiously and this heart is not a strong one and the pumping leaves him drained. The man feels 27)dizzy and his head drops 28)momentarily. His automobile nearly collides with another. The second driver honks, the man veers again, spinning the wheel, pushing on the 29)brake pedal. He skids along an avenue then turns down an alley. His vehicle rolls until it collides with the rear of a parked truck. There is a small crashing noise. The headlights 30)shatter. The impact smacks the man into the steering wheel. His forehead bleeds. He steps from the Model A, sees the damage, then collapses onto the wet pavement. His arm throbs. His chest hurts. It is Sunday morning. The alley is empty. He remains there, unnoticed, slumped against the side of the car. The blood from his 31)coronary arteries no longer flows to his heart. An hour passes. A policeman finds him. A medical examiner pronounces him dead. The cause of death is listed as “heart attack.” There are no known relatives.
    那个男人终于把车控制住了，A型车继续向前驶去。那个男孩从他的后视镜里消失了，但是，他的身体还没有平复下来，心想险些闯了大祸。肾上腺素的突然变化，使他的心脏急速跳动。他的心脏本来就不健康，这样剧烈的跳动使他感到精疲力竭。他感到一阵眩晕，头立即垂了下来。顷刻之间，他的车差一点撞到了另一辆车上。另一辆车的司机按起喇叭，他赶紧掉转方向盘，脚踩刹车。他的车在大街上滑了一段路，然后拐上了一条岔道。车继续向前滑去，直到车头撞在一辆停泊的卡车车尾上，随即发出了一阵轻微的撞击声。车前灯粉碎了。冲力使他扑倒在方向盘上。他的前额流血了。他从A型车里走出来，看了一眼车撞坏的地方，然后，整个人瘫倒在湿漉漉的人行道上。他胳膊抽搐，胸口绞痛不已。这是星期天早晨。街上空无一人。他一直斜靠在车身上，没有人注意到他。冠状动脉里的血再也流不到他的心脏里了。一个小时过去了。一名警察发现了他。医务检查员宣布了他的死亡。死亡原因是“心脏病”。没有可以通知的亲属。
    In a city 32)morgue, one worker calls another worker over to marvel at the blue skin of the newest arrival.
    在市陈尸所里，一个工人把另一个工人叫过来看看刚被抬进来的尸体，他们对这尸体的蓝色皮肤惊叹不已。
    “You see?” the Blue Man whispered, having finished the story from his point of view. “Little boy?”
    “明白了吗？小男孩？”蓝皮人轻声说道，他的故事讲完了。
    Eddie felt a shiver.
    爱迪浑身一颤。
    “Oh no,” he whispered.
    “噢，不，”他低声说道。
    “Please Mister . . .” Eddie pleaded. “I didn’t know. Believe me . . . God help me, I didn’t know.”
    “求求你，先生……”爱迪辩解道。“我不知道。相信我……愿上帝帮助我，我真的不知道。”

The Blue Man nodded. “You couldn’t know. You were too young.”
    蓝皮人点点头，说：“你不可能知道。你当时还太小。”
    Eddie stepped back. He squared his body as if 33)bracing for a fight.
    爱迪退后几步，两肩端平，摆出一付迎战的架势。
    “But now I gotta pay,” he said.
    “但是，现在我得还债了，”他说。
    “To pay?”
    “还债？”
    “For my sin. That’s why I’m here, right? Justice?”
    “为我的罪孽。这就是为什么我来到这里，对吗？为了公道？”
    The Blue Man smiled. “No, Edward. You are here so I can teach you something. All the people you meet here have one thing to teach you.”
    蓝皮人笑了。“不，爱德华。你来这里，是因为我可以教你一些东西。你在这里遇见的所有的人都会教你一件事情。”
    Eddie was skeptical. His fists stayed clenched.
    爱迪仍然非常怀疑，拳头攥得紧紧的。
    “What?” he said.
    “教我什么？”他说。
    “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.”
    “世上没有偶然的行为。我们都是联系在一起的。你无法将一个生命和另一个生命分割开来，所有生命都像风和微风一样紧密相连。”

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