余光中：《尺素寸心》(节选)_小升初阅读

余光中：《尺素寸心》(节选)

尺素寸心(节选)

An Excerpt from Limited Words vs. Boundless Friendship

余光中

By Yu Guangzhong

回信，固然可畏，不回信，也绝非什么乐事。书架上经常叠着百多封未回之信，债龄或长或短，长的甚至一年以上，那样的压力，也绝非一个普通的罪徒所能负担的。一叠未回的信，就像一群不散的阴魂，在我罪深孽重的心底幢幢作祟。理论上说来，这些信当然是要回的。我可以坦然向天发誓，在我清醒的时刻，我绝未存心不回人信。问题出在技术上。给我一整个夏夜的空闲，我该先回一年半前的那封信呢，还是七个月前的这封信?隔了这么久，恐怕连谢罪自谴的有效期也早过了吧。在朋友的心目中，你早已沦为不值得计较的妄人。莫名其妙!是你在江湖上一致的评语。

Replying a letter does make me flinch; however, unreplied letters allow me no release at all. Dozens of unreplied letters pile up on my bookshelf, like a sum of debt waiting to be paid. Some have been waiting there for over one year, while some have newly arrived. The pressure from paying off that debt is far beyond what a junior debtor can endure. The stack of unreplied letters are, like a group of haunting ghosts, continually pestering my guilt-loaded soul. Conventionally, the letters will certainly be replied. I can even swear by heaven that never do I have the intention not to reply when my mind is clear. The problem is how to reply. Even if I spared myself a whole summer night, I would be wavering on which letter to reply first, the 18-month-old one or the 7-month-old? The reply has been delayed for so long that Im afraid even a heartfelt apology has already lost its power. In friends heart, Ive been marginalized as a cocky man unworthy of care. Unaccountable! That is their unanimous comment on me.