73.“Hombre，there are bodegas open all night long。”
74.“You do not understand。This is a clean and pleasant cafe。It is well lighted。The light is very good and also，now，there are shadows of the leaves。”
評注：這個酒吧幹淨明亮的燈光對於那些深夜買醉的老醉漢來說意味著某種更深層次的慰藉。
75.“Good night，”said the younger waiter。
76.“Good night，”the other said。Turning off the electric lighthe continued the conversation with himself，It was the light of course but it is necessary thatthe place be 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 nothing 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 thee。He smiled and stood before a bar with a shining steam pressure coffee machine。
評注：此處年長侍者開始不斷地說著與nada有關的話，其中部分引自《聖經》，它們混雜在一起，表達了年長侍者心中不為人知的苦澀和絕望。
peseta：n。比塞塔，西班牙貨幣單位。
hombre：n。一種友好的稱呼，意為老兄
bodega：n。西班牙賣酒的雜貨店
nada：西班牙語，相當於英文中的nothing
y：西班牙語，相當於英文中的and
pues：西班牙語，相當於英文中的then
Hail nothing full of nothing，nothing is with thee：祈禱語“歡呼虛無縹緲，與虛無縹緲同在！”
77.“What’s yours？”asked the barman。
78.“Nada。”
79.“Otro loco mas，”said the barman and turned away。
80.“A little cup，”said the waiter。
81.The barman poured it for him。
82.“The light is very bright and pleasant but the bar is unpolished，”the waiter said。
83.The barman looked at him but did not answer。It was too late at night for conversation。
84.“You want another copita？”the barman asked。
copita：西班牙語，雪利酒杯85“No，thank you，”said the waiter and went out。He dislikedbars and bodegas。A clean，well-lighted cafe was a very different thing。Now，without thinkingfurther，he would go home to his room。He would lie in the bed and finally，withdaylight，he would go to sleep。After all，he said to himself，it’s probably only insomnia。Many must have it。
評注：年長侍者對黑夜的恐懼和對亮光的依賴，實際上反映了他與小說開頭那位醉酒的老人是一樣的境遇。
Comprehension Exercises
1.A clean，well-lighted place is simply a decent place for people to drink，butin this story it implies more than that。How do you interpret the irony of the title in this story？
2.In the story，Hemingway holds a black，naturalistic view of the world and sees it as“all a nothing”。How do you understand“nothing”？
厄內斯特·海明威（1899—1961）：二十世紀美國著名作家。生於芝加哥郊外的一個醫生家庭。第一次世界大戰時，年僅18歲的他便到意大利前線駕駛救護車，不久身受重傷，在醫院治療20個月，僅從腿上就取出彈片237塊，重傷的後果是嚴重的失眠和內心深處的恐懼。傷愈後，他作為《多倫多星報》的記者赴巴黎，結識了僑居法國的美國女作家斯坦因等人，並成為“迷惘一代”的代表作家。20年代，他發表了短篇小說集《在我們的時代裏》、長篇小說《太陽照樣升起》和《永別了，武器》等作品，透視了一代人精神世界的深刻變化，揭示了戰爭給人們生理上、心理上造成的巨大創傷，以及戰後青年心中苦悶無聊，與己無關的迷惘情緒。50年代，他主要完成了長篇小說《過河入林》和中篇小說《老人與海》。後者使作家獲得了1952年的美國普利策獎和1954年的諾貝爾文學獎。海明威作品的最大特點就是語言簡練，但卻蘊義深刻，這種風格被稱為“冰山”風格，即海麵上露出的是冰山一角，更重要的部分隱藏在海麵之下，因此，他的短篇小說雖然用詞簡單，句式簡短，但卻讓人回味無窮。