The Westhaven Express
韦斯特海文快车
What was the mistake the author made?
作者犯了什么错误？
We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual.
我们已经学会了期待火车会准时。
After years of conditioning,
经过多年的调理,
most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables.
我们大多数人都对铁路时刻表产生了不可动摇的信念。
Ships may be delayed by storms;
船舶可能会因风暴而延迟;
flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; but trains must be on time.
由于天气恶劣，航班可能会被取消，但火车必须准时。
Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall might temporarily dislocate railway services.
只有特别大的降雪可能会暂时扰乱铁路服务。
It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong.
当发生问题时，责怪铁路当局太容易了。
The truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs.
事实是，当错误发生时，他们更可能是我们的而不是他们的。
After consulting my railway timetable,
咨询我的铁路时刻表后,
I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven.
我满意地注意到有一列开往韦斯特海文的特快列车.
It went direct from my local station and the journey lasted a mere hour and seventeen minutes.
它直接从我当地的车站出发，旅程持续了一个小时十七分钟。
When I boarded the train,
当我登上火车,
I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well.
我不禁注意到很多当地人也上了床。
At the time, this did not strike me as odd.
当时，这并没有让我感到奇怪。
I reflected that there must be a great many people besides myself
我想，除了我自己，肯定还有很多人
who wished to take advantage of this excellent service.
世卫组织希望利用这项出色的服务。
Neither was I surprised when the train stopped at Widley,
火车停在威德利时，我也不感到惊讶,
a tiny station a few miles along the line.
沿着这条线几英里的一个小站.
Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals.
即使是强大的特快列车也可以通过信号保持。
But when the train dawdled at station after station, I began to wonder.
但是，当火车在一个又一个车站磨蹭时，我开始怀疑。
It suddenly dawned on me that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour,
我突然意识到，这条快车并没有以每小时90英里的速度沿着线路咆哮,
but barely chugging along at thirty.
但在三十岁的时候几乎没有突突地前进。
One hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance.
一小时十七分钟过去了,我们甚至还没有走到一半的距离.
I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, but he had not even heard of it.
我问一位乘客这是不是Westhaven Express，但他甚至没有听说过。
I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived.
我们一到,我就决定提出控告.
Two hours later, I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven.
两个小时后，我在威斯特海文与车站主任生气地交谈。
When he denied the train's existence, I borrowed his copy of the timetable.
当他否认火车的存在时，我借了他的时间表副本。
There was a note of triumph in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white.
当我告诉他那是黑白相间的时候，我的声音里有一个胜利的音符。
Glancing at it briefly, he told me to look again.
短暂地瞥了一眼，他让我再看一次。
A tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page.
一个小小的星号引导我在页面底部的脚注。
It said: 'This service has been suspended.'
它说："这项服务已暂停。'
