The Most Competent Taxi Driver
最称职的出租车司机
It’s 7 a. m. in Kyoto, Japan, and the taxi company has just called a second time to say they can’t find my house. Once again I spell out directions even a blind cabby could follow, glance impatiently at my watch, and wait. Only two hours remain until my flight leaves—and it’s an hour and a half trip to the Osaka airport.
日本京都早上7点钟，出租车公司第二次打电话说他们找不到我的房子。我再一次详细讲明我的位置，这一次即使是一个盲人司机也能找到。我一边不耐烦地看表，一边等待。离我的航班起飞只有两 小时了---而到达大阪机场至少需要一个半小时的旅程。
Outside, heavy rains are threatening to sweep my little house off the mountain slope. It is so far north in Kyoto that city buses came past only three times a day.
屋外，大雨好像要把我的小屋冲下山坡。这里在京都的北面，距負京都非常远,城市公共汽车每天 只经过三次。
The telephone rings again. “Terribly sorry”，begins the dispatcher. Then I realize what’s happened. Flooded with calls, the company is trying to make the most profits by handing runs only in city. I，d heard this happens when the weather gets bad. I shout into the phone that I have a plane to catch—I must be in Seoul by noon and I’ll meet the taxi a few hundred meters away on a bridge over the nearby river.
电话铃又响了。调度员说：“实在抱歉。”我立即意识到发生了什么事情——要车的电话源源不断， 出租车公司只安排城内线路而大赚其钱。我听说过天气不好就会发生这种情况。我对着电话大叫： “我要赶飞机——我中午前要赶到汉城——我会在几百米远的河边的桥上等待出租车。”
Standing above the torrent, horizontal wind-driven rain drenching my overcoat, I gaze up and down the road. No taxi. Finally, struggling with my umbrella and suitcase, I begin to hitchhike. A sedan goes by, driver and passenger staring at the mad, well-dressed foreigner walking backward and holding his thumb out in the downpour.
站在急流边，雨水湿透了我的外衣。我往路上张望没有看到出租车。最终,我奋力撑着雨伞，拿着 行李箱，步行赶路。一辆轿车驶过，司机和乘客都盯着我这个疯了似的、穿戴整齐的外国人在暴雨中倒 着行走，还向我伸出大拇指。
From the other direction a white Nissan approaches, then stops all of a sudden. A young man throws open the door, gesturing for me to get in. Shaking with cold and anger, I climb inside.
在路的另一头，一辆白色尼桑车驶过来了，突然停下。一个年轻人打开车门，打手势让我进去。因 为寒冷和愤怒,我瑟瑟发抖，爬进了车内。
In the most humble Japanese, the man introduces himself as the dispatcher with whom I have spoken three times this morning. To get me to my plane, he has left his post and raced from the company in his personal car. He apologizes a great deal, but does not explain why a taxi could not pick me up, except to say they, are “very， very busy” this morning. Delivering me straight to the boarding stop for the airport bus，he refuses the 2，000 yen I press into his hand and with more apologies asks me to patronize his company in the future.
这个人用最谦恭的日语介绍说自己就是那个早上和我讲过三次话的调度员。为了使我赶上飞机， 他离开岗位，驾私家车从公司赶来。他说了一大堆道歉的话,但就是不解释为什么没有出租车来接我， 只是说他们早上“很忙很忙”。他把我放在了机场公共汽车的停车站，拒绝了我塞进他手中的2000日 元。他又说了很多道歉的话，并请我今后对他的公司继续给予支持。
A few hours later, settling back into my seat as the storm-delayed 727 takes off, I open the newspaper. On the second page my eyes catch the headline of a short article: “ Taxi Strike Begins This Morning in Kyoto. ”
几小时之后，因暴雨而延误的727航班起飞了。坐在座位上，我打开了报纸。在第二页上，我注意 到了一篇短文的标题：“京都出租车今天早晨开始罢工。”