我等候了几分钟，然后那位负责人回到线上："有一位女士将会和你说。"我问电话另一端的女士，她是否认识一个叫汉娜的人。她吃惊地说："哦！我们从一户人家买来这栋房子，他们家的女儿叫汉娜。但已经是30年前的事了！""你知道那户人家现在可能住在哪里吗？"我追问。"我记得汉娜数年以前将她的母亲送到一家养老院，"女人说，"如果你和他们联系，他们可能会找到她女儿。"她给了我养老院的名字，我拨通了电话。电话中的女人告诉我老妇人数年前就已经过世，但是养老院确实有个电话号码，老妇人的女儿可能住在那里。我谢过养老院的人并按她给我的号码去了电话。接电话的女人解释说现在汉娜自己也是住在一家养老院内。我想这整件事真是太傻了，为什么我费这么大的劲去找只有３美元和一封信的钱夹主人，而那封信差不多已有６０年了？
Nevertheless, I called the nursing home in which Hannah was supposed to be living, and the man who answered the phone told me , "Yes, Hannah is staying with us. "Even though it was already 10 P. M. , I asked if I could come by to see her. "Well, "he said hesitatingly, "if you want to take a chance, she might be in the day room watching television. "
然而不管怎么样，我还是打电话给汉娜所在的养老院，接电话的男人告诉我，"是的，汉娜是和我们在一起。"即使已经是晚上10点了，我还是问是否可以前去看她，那人犹豫地说："好吧，你可以试试运气，她可能在客厅里看电视。"
I thanked him and drove over to the nursing home. The night nurse and a guard greeted me at the door. We went up to the third floor of the large building. In the day room, the nurse introduced me to Hannah. She was a sweet, silverhaired old－timer with a warm smile and a twinkle in her eyes. I told her about finding the wallet and showed her the letter. The second she saw the powder－blue envelope with that little flower on the left, she took a deep breath and said, "Young man, this letter was the last contact I ever had with Michael. "She looked away for a moment, deep in thought, and then said softly, "I loved him very much. But I was only sixteen at the time and my mother felt I was too young. Oh, he was so handsome. He looked like Sean Connery, the actor. "
我谢过了他并开车到养老院。值夜班的护士和一个守卫在门口接待了我。我们上了大楼的三层。在客厅中，护士向汉娜介绍了我。她是一个和蔼的老人，满头银发，面带微笑，神采奕奕。我告诉她关于拾到钱夹的事并给她看了信。她看见左边有花的淡蓝色信封的一刻，深深地吸了一口气并说："年轻人，这封信是我和迈克尔的最后联系。"她把视线转向别处，陷入沉思，然后柔和地说："我非常爱他，但是我那时只有１６岁，我母亲觉得我年龄太小了。哦，他是如此英俊，看起来像演员肖恩·康纳利一样。"
"Yes, " she continued, "Michael Goldstein was a wonderful person. If you should find him, tell him I think of him often. And, " she hesitated for a moment, almost biting her lip, tears welled up in her eyes, "I never did marry. I guess no one ever matched up to Michael. . . "I thanked Hannah and said good－bye. I took the elevator to the first floor and as I stood by the door, the guard there asked, "Was the old lady able to help you？"I told him she had given me a lead. "At least I have a last name. But I think I'll let it go for a while. I spent almost the whole day trying to find the owner of this wallet. "I had taken out the wallet, which was a simple brown leather case with red lacing on the side. When the guard saw it, he said, "Hey, wait a minute! That's Mr. Goldstein's wallet. I'd know it anywhere with that bright red lacing. He 's always losing that wallet. I must have found it in the halls at least three times. "
"是的"，她继续说，"迈克尔·戈尔茨坦是一个非常好的人。如果你能找到他，告诉他我时常想念他，且……"她犹豫了一会儿，几乎是咬着嘴唇，热泪盈眶，"我一直没有结婚，我想没有人比得上迈克尔……"我谢过汉娜并向她道别，乘电梯下到一楼，当我站到门口时，那门卫问："老人能帮助你吗？"我告诉他老太太已经给我线索，"至少我知道了姓氏，但我想我暂时放一阵子，因为我已花费了几乎一整天时间来找这个钱夹的主人。"我取出钱夹，那是个朴实无华褐色带红边的皮夹。当门卫看到它的时候，他说，"嗨，等一下！那是戈尔茨坦先生的皮夹。无论在何处，只要见到那鲜亮的红边，我就能认出来。他总是丢失那个皮夹，我曾在门厅中至少发现过３次。"