Somethingseemed to twist his heart, and suddenly he felt an exultation, a sense ofwonderful freedom. He felt himself at home, and he made up his mind there andthen, in a minute, that he would live the rest of his life in Alexandria. Hehad no great difficulty in leaving the ship, and in twenty-four hours, with allhis belongings, he was on shore."TheCaptain must have thought you as mad as a hatter, " I smiled."I didn'tcare what anybody thought. It wasn't I that acted, but something strongerwithin me. I thought I would go to a little Greek hotel, while I looked about,and I felt I knew where to find one. And do you know, I walked straight there,and when I saw it, I recognised it at once. ""Had youbeen to Alexandria before?""No; I'dnever been out of England in my life. "Presently heentered the Government service, and there he had been ever since."Have younever regretted it?""Never,not for a minute. I earn just enough to live upon, and I'm satisfied. I asknothing more than to remain as I am till I die. I've had a wonderful life."I leftAlexandria next day, and I forgot about Abraham till a little while ago, when Iwas dining with another old friend in the profession, Alec Carmichael, who wasin England on short leave. I ran across him in the street and congratulated himon the knighthood with which his eminent services during the war had beenrewarded. We arranged to spend an evening together for old time's sake, andwhen I agreed to dine with him, he proposed that he should ask nobody else, sothat we could chat without interruption. He had a beautiful old house in QueenAnne Street, and being a man of taste he had furnished it admirably. On the wallsof the diningroom I saw a charming Bellotto, and there was a pair of Zoffanysthat I envied. When his wife, a tall, lovely creature in cloth of gold, hadleft us, I remarked laughingly on the change in his present circumstances fromthose when we had both been medical students. We had looked upon it then as anextravagance to dine in a shabby Italian restaurant in the Westminster BridgeRoad. Now Alec Carmichael was on the staff of half a dozen hospitals. I shouldthink he earned ten thousand a year, and his knighthood was but the first ofthe honours which must inevitably fall to his lot.“船长一定会觉得你发疯了。”我笑着说。“别人爱怎么想就怎么想，我才不在乎呢。做出这件事来的不是我，是我身体里一种远比我自己的意志更强大的力量。上岸以后，我四处看了看，想着我要到一家希腊人开的小旅馆去；我觉得我知道在哪里能找到这家旅馆。你猜怎么着？我一点儿也没有费劲儿就走到这家旅馆前边，我一看见这地方马上就认出来了。”“你过去到过亚历山大港吗？”“没有。在这次出国前我从来没有离开过英国。”不久以后，他就在公立医院找到个工作，从此一直待在那里。“你从来没有后悔过吗？”“从来没有。一分钟也没有后悔过。我挣的钱刚够维持生活，但是我感到心满意足。我什么要求也没有，只希望这样活下去，直到我死。我生活得非常好。”第二天我就离开了亚历山大港，直到不久以前我才又想起阿伯拉罕的事。那是我同另外一个行医的老朋友，阿莱克·卡尔米凯尔一同吃饭的时候。卡尔米凯尔回英国来短期度假，我偶然在街头上遇见了他。他在大战中工作得非常出色，荣获了爵士封号。我向他表示了祝贺。我们约好一同消磨一个晚上，一起叙叙旧。我答应同他一起吃晚饭，他建议不再约请别人，这样我俩就可以不受干扰地畅谈一下了。他在安皇后街有一所老宅子，布置很优雅，因为他是一个很富于艺术鉴赏力的人。我在餐厅的墙上看到一幅贝洛托①的画，还有两幅我很羡慕的佐范尼②的作品。当他的妻子，一个穿着金色衣服、高身量、样子讨人喜欢的妇女离开我们以后，我笑着对他说，他今天的生活同我们在医学院做学生的时代相比，变化真是太大了。那时，我们在威斯敏斯特桥大街一家寒酸的意大利餐馆吃一顿饭都认为是非常奢侈的事。现在阿莱克·卡尔米凯尔在六七家大医院都兼任要职，据我估计，一年可以有一万镑的收入。这次受封为爵士，只不过是他迟早要享受到的第一个荣誉而已。①贝尔纳多·贝洛托（1720—1780），意大利威尼斯派画家。②约翰·佐范尼（1733—1810），出生于德国的英国画家。