The tray didn't just hit the floor. It crashed and smashed his lunch to pieces. Serves you damn well right, I thought. You were staring again.
He stood stock-still and looked down at the food. Suddenly I got up and moved towards him. I hadn't intended to, hadn't wanted to help him. I called to the woman behind the counter. She closed her mouth and brought a cloth to clean up the mess. I picked up crockery, put it on the tray. There was a soppy stain on his trousers and through it you could see just how bony his knees were. Like the rest of him. All bones, dangling1 jacket and hanging trousers. Stooped shoulders and mile-long arms. Then he smiled at me. A wonderful smile that creased2 up his worn face and totally surprised me.
"Thank you."
I shoved the tray at him and went back to my table.
I worked at a large publishing company and ate lunch in the canteen. I had noticed him because he stared at me. He was weird-looking. His hair was badly cut and his clothes were ancient and dull; too-short corduroys, baggy3 at the knees and colour-less sweaters, dotted with fluff. Often he sat alone and just picked at his food. Or he read and jotted4 things down.
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A few days after the crash, he stopped at the table I was sharing with Mark from proof reading, and asked if he might sit down. I said the seats were taken and continued eating. He apologised and took his tray off somewhere else.
"What's your problem, Leanna?" asked Mark.
"No problem. It's just that I like to choose who I share my mealtimes with."
"A bit rough on the old chap though."
I shrugged5.
It was Mark who told me more about him. He had gone over to scrounge a cigarette. By the time he came back to the table, I had my head stuck into the news-paper.
"Interesting chap. Sub-editor. Been all over the world," said Mark.
I decided6 to find the newspaper more interesting and finally Mark shut up and finished smoking.
"Asked your name," he said.
"He what?"
"Yeah."
"What'd you say?"
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"Leanna, of course."
I folded the newspaper.
"I've loads of work this afternoon."
"Said you look familiar," said Mark. "Like someone he knew."
1 dangling
懸吊著( dangle的現(xiàn)在分詞 )； 擺動(dòng)不定； 用某事物誘惑…； 吊胃口
參考例句：
The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 結(jié)果，那顆牙就晃來(lái)晃去吊在床柱上了。 The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子們坐在一堵高墻上，搖晃著他們的雙腿。
2 creased
（使…）起折痕，弄皺( crease的過(guò)去式和過(guò)去分詞 )； （皮膚）皺起，使起皺紋； 皺皺巴巴
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參考例句：
You've creased my newspaper. 你把我的報(bào)紙弄皺了。 The bullet merely creased his shoulder. 子彈只不過(guò)擦破了他肩部的皮膚。
3 baggy
adj.膨脹如袋的，寬松下垂的
參考例句：
My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.我的T恤越洗越大了。 Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的褲子意味著時(shí)髦，而不是無(wú)禮。
4 jotted
v.匆忙記下( jot的過(guò)去式和過(guò)去分詞 )；草草記下，匆匆記下
參考例句：
I jotted down her name. 我匆忙記下了她的名字。 來(lái)自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》 The policeman jotted down my address. 警察匆匆地將我的地址記下。 來(lái)自《現(xiàn)代英漢綜合大詞典》
5 shrugged
vt.聳肩（shrug的過(guò)去式與過(guò)去分詞形式）
參考例句：
Sam shrugged and said nothing. 薩姆聳聳肩膀，什么也沒(méi)說(shuō)。 She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她聳聳肩，裝出一副無(wú)所謂的樣子。 來(lái)自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》
6 decided
adj.決定了的，堅(jiān)決的；明顯的，明確的
參考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.這使他們比對(duì)手具有明顯的優(yōu)勢(shì)。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英國(guó)人和中國(guó)人打招呼的方式有很明顯的區(qū)別。
《Staring Me In The Face 》添加時(shí)間：2024-12-14；更新時(shí)間：2025-03-09
