The Westhaven Express
原文
Lesson 37
The Westhaven Express
What was the mistake the author made?
We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual.
After years of conditioning, most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables.
Ships may be delayed by storms;
flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; but trains must be on time.
Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall might temporarily dislocate railway services.
It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong.
The truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs.
After consulting my railway timetable, I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven.
It went direct from my local station and the journey lasted a mere hour and seventeen minutes.
When I boarded the train, I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well.
At the time, this did not strike me as odd.
I reflected that there must be a great many people besides myself who wished to take advantage of this excellent service.
Neither was I surprised when the train stopped at Widley, a tiny station a few miles along the line.
Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals.
But when the train dawdled at station after station, I began to wonder.
It suddenly dawned on me that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour, but barely chugging along at thirty.
One hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance.
I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, but he had not even heard of it.
I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived.
Two hours later, I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven.
When he denied the train's existence, I borrowed his copy of the timetable.
There was a note of triumph in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white.
Glancing at it briefly, he told me to look again.
A tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page.
It said: 'This service has been suspended.'
译文
第37课
西黑文特快列车
作者犯了什么错误？
我们已经习惯了火车会准点到达这一情况。
经过多年的习惯养成，我们大多数人都对铁路时刻表产生了坚定不移的信念。
船只可能会因为风暴而延误。
航班可能会因为恶劣天气而被取消；但火车必须准时运行。
只有当降雪量异常大时，铁路服务才可能暂时中断。
当出现问题时，人们很容易将责任归咎于铁路管理部门。
事实上，当错误发生时，这些错误更有可能是我们自己造成的，而不是他们的。
在查看了铁路时刻表后，我满意地发现有一趟直达韦斯特黑文的快车。
它直接从我所在的车站出发，全程仅需一小时十七分钟。
当我登上火车时，我不禁注意到有很多当地人也都上了车。
当时，我并没有觉得这有什么奇怪的。
我想，除了我之外，肯定还有很多人希望能够利用这项优质的服务。
当火车在威德利（Widley）这个位于铁路线上几英里外的小车站停下来的时候，我也没有感到惊讶。
即使是强大的特快列车也可能被信号灯拦停。
但是当火车在一个又一个车站上缓慢停留、迟迟不前时，我开始感到疑惑了。
我突然意识到，这趟特快列车并非以每小时90英里的速度飞驰，而是以每小时30英里的速度缓慢行驶。
一个小时十七分钟过去了，我们甚至还没有走完一半的路程。
我问了一位乘客这是否是“Westhaven Express”列车，但他甚至从未听说过这趟列车。
我们一到达，我就决定立即提出投诉。
两小时后，我正在西黑文（Westhaven）愤怒地与车站站长交谈。
当他否认火车的存在时，我就借用了他的时刻表。
当我告诉他白纸黑字写着这趟列车时，我的声音带着一丝得意的语气。
他匆匆瞥了一眼后，让我再仔细看一遍。
一个小小的星号指引我看到了页面底部的脚注。
上面写着：‘此班次已暂停运营。’