介绍:
《Salty Coffee》 朗读者: 任富强
He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chased after her, while he was so normal, nobody paid attention to him. At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him. She was surprised, but due to her being polite, she promised.
They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything. She felt uncomfortable. She thought, “please, let me go home…” Suddenly he asked the waiter, “Would you please give me some salt? I’d like to put it in my coffee.”
Everybody stared at him. It was so strange! His face turned red, but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, “why you have this habit?”
He replied, “When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I liked playing in the sea. I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time when I have salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown. I miss my hometown so much. I miss my parents who are still living there”. While saying that, tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. That’s his true feelings, from the bottom of his heart. A man who can tell about his homesickness must be a man who loves home, cares about home, has responsibility for home.
Then she also stared to speak, spoke about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family. That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story.
They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands: he had tolerance, was kind-hearted, warm, careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him! Thanks to his salty coffee!
Then the story was just like every beautiful love story: the princess married to the prince, then they were living the happy life. And every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that’s the way he liked it.
After 40 years, he passed away, left her a letter which said: “My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life’s lie. This was the only lie I said to you---the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time. Actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change, so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that. As I have promised not to lie to you about anything. Now I’m dying, I’m afraid of nothing, so I tell you the truth---I don’t like salty coffee. What a strange bad taste, but I have had the salty coffee for my whole life since I knew you. I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for the second time, I still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again”.
Her tears made the letter totally wet.
One day, someone asked her, what’s the taste of salty coffee?”
“It’s sweet.” She replied.
咸味咖啡
他和她的相识是在一个宴会上，那时的她年轻美丽，身边有很多的追求者，而他却是一个很普通的人，没有人注意他。因此当宴会结束，他邀请她一块去喝咖啡的时候，她很吃惊，然而，出于礼貌，她还是答应了。
他们坐在一间漂亮的咖啡馆里，他很紧张，不知道该说什么。她也觉得很尴尬，她心里想：“天呐，让我回家吧！”突然他对服务员说：“你能给我一些盐吗？我习惯在咖啡里加盐。”
大家的目光都集中到了他身上。太奇怪了！他的脸红了。但是他还是把盐加在咖啡里然后喝了。她很好奇地问他：“你为什么会有这个习惯呢？”，他回答说：“小时候，我家住在海边，我老是在海里泡着，海浪打过来，海水涌进嘴里，又苦又咸，就像这加了盐的咖啡一样。所以每当我喝起加了盐的咖啡的时候总会想起我的童年，想起我的家乡。我很思念我的家乡，我很思念现在在老家的父母”。当说到这些话的时候，眼泪在他的眼眶里打转。她被深深地感动了。那是他发自内心最真实的情感。因为，这是她第一次听到男人在她面前说想家，她认为，一个想家的男人必定是一个爱家的男人、一个顾家的男人和对家有强烈责任感的男人。
最后她主动聊了起来，聊到了她离家在外，聊到了她的家乡，她的童年和她的家人。他们聊得很愉快，而且他们的故事也从这美妙的一刻开始了。
再以后，两个人频繁的约会，她发现他实际上是一个很好的男人，大度、善良、细心、体贴，符合她所欣赏的所有的优秀男人应该具有的优点。她暗自庆幸，差点儿就错过了他，感谢他的咸味咖啡！
再后来，就像童话书里所写的一样，“王子和公主结婚了，从此过上了幸福的生活。”而她每天给他冲咖啡的时候也不忘在里面加一点盐，因为他喜欢这个味道。
四十年后，他去世了，留了一封信给她：“亲爱的，请原谅我，原谅我一直都欺骗了你，这也是我唯一的一次对你说谎—咸味咖啡。还记得第一次我们约会吗?当时我很紧张，想要一些糖，不知怎么想的，竟然对服务员说拿些盐来，我只好将错就错。但是没想到这竟然变成了我们谈话的开始！有好几次我都想告诉你事实的真相，但是我不敢，因为我怕失去你，从那个时候我就发誓以后绝对不会对你说谎。现在我就要死了，我什么也不怕了，所以我要告诉你：其实我并不喜欢加盐的咖啡，多么奇怪糟糕的味道啊！但是自从遇见你之后我就喝了半辈子加盐的咖啡。对你做过所有的事我没有一件后悔过，和你在一起是我一生中最大的幸福，如果还有来生的话，我还是想认识你并且和你共度一生，即使是再喝一辈子的加盐咖啡，我也愿意。”
她的眼泪湿透了信纸。
有一天，有人问她：“加盐的咖啡是什么样的？”
“它是甜的。”她回答道。
