大奖来自白马城

He arrived in New York City at John F. Kennedy airport. He was a very old man, but fit, and having come a long way--from eighty miles outside of White Horse, Canada. He made his home in as desolate a place as exists anywhere in the world, but he had left it for good reason: to collect his prize. A few days earlier he had received in the mail a colorful document, which stated:
　　
　　 他乘机抵达了纽约肯尼迪机场。虽然他岁数很大，但很健康，而且刚从一个遥远的地方赶来——加拿大白马城外80公里外的某个地方。他住在一个荒芜的地方，这种地方在全世界都少有，不过，一个绝佳的理由使他走出了自己的家：去领奖。就在几天前，他收到了一封邮件，里面有一张彩色文件，上面写着：
　　
　　 Mr. Peter Finch 彼得·芬奇先生
　　 Rural Delivery, 33Y 乡村邮政处，33Y
　　 White Horse, Canada 白马城，加拿大
　　 You, Mr. Finch, have won 您，芬奇先生，获得了
　　 $1,000,000 US dollars 100万美元的
　　 from The American Magazine Company. 美国杂志公司大奖。

　　
　　
　　 A more skeptical recipient would have read the fine print, but Finch was not a skeptic, and besides his eyesight was fading. Junk mail was, for Mr. Finch, not junk at all, but something to be savored. No marketing guru concerned with upscale demographics ever wanted to single out White Horse, let alone a ten-person "suburb" of that metropolis of desolation. And since he had no relatives, and all the friends that he knew had either died or left the suburb of White Horse without any burning desire to write once they had escaped, junk mail was as close to a warm personal greeting that he ever received.
　　
　　 一个人只要生性再多疑一点，就不会不读信上的小字，可芬奇不是怀疑论者，而且他的视力一直都在下降。垃圾邮件对芬奇先生来讲根本就不是垃圾，而是某种具有欣赏价值的东西。没有哪个关注高消费群体的营销巨子曾想过要选中白马城这个地方，更别说是这个荒凉小城中只有10人居住的 “郊区”了。他没有亲戚，而他认识的所有朋友不是死了，就是已经离开了这个白马城的郊区，而且这些人一旦离开就根本不愿再往这里写信，所以，垃圾邮件就像他收到过的私人信函一样，使其倍感亲切。
　　
　　
　　 Before undertaking his journey, Mr. Finch had shown his prize document to his associates, and those that could read were as impressed as those who couldn't.
　　
　　 在动身之前，芬奇先生让他的伙伴们看了他的中奖文件，无论是识字的还是不识字的都对此惊叹不已。
　　
　　
　　 He took a cab from the airport to The American Magazine Company headquarters in midtown Manhattan.
　　 他在机场叫了一辆出租车，随后前往美国杂志公司位于曼哈顿中心区的总部。