The Secrt to a Good Night ' s Sleep

The Secrt to a Good Night ' s Sleep

"A few weeks back, I saw a guy sleeping on the train."

"I see that all the time."

"Yeah, but this guy was sleeping on a girl's shoulder."

I'd seen this, too.

"And she was looking at her phone," he said, "probably playing Puzzle & Dragons or something, while the guy slept. Gentle breaths, in and out. That awkward posture of a person sleeping in a cramped①cramped 英 ［kræmpt］ 美 ［kræmpt］ adj. 狭窄的；难懂的；难辨的space."

He took a swig②swig 英 ［swɪɡ］ 美 ［swɪɡ］ vi. 牛饮；大喝特喝 n. 痛饮，大喝；牛饮vt.牛饮；大喝特喝，豪饮eg. He took a swig of whisky from his hip flask. 他猛灌了一口扁酒瓶中的威士忌。of his beer. Watched memories swirl③swirl 英 ［swɜːl］ 美 ［swɝl］ vi. 盘绕；打旋；眩晕；大口喝酒 vt. 使成旋涡 n.旋涡；打旋；涡状near the bottom of the mug. Continued.

"I looked at her, and I looked at him, and I figured they were together. I remember thinking how nice it must be to sometimes have a shoulder to sleep on."

"Instead of just sitting there with your head back and your mouth wide open, looking like an idiot?"

"Right, right. But then the train stopped at Ikebukuro, and the guy woke up. He turned to the girl, muttered④muttered mutter的过去式 英 ［'mʌtə］ 美 ［'mʌtɚ］ vt. 咕哝；抱怨地说；低声含糊地说vi. 咕哝；喃喃自语 n. 咕哝；喃喃低语an apology, sumimasen, and then he was out the door. She nodded, watched for a moment, and then just went back to her phone."

"They weren't together?"

He shook his head.

"They weren't together."

"In that moment," he said, "I thought, damn, here's an opportunity I've been missing out on⑤miss out on sth 失去……的机会eg. If you shut yourself off from love， you'll miss out on that woman， and thehappiest times of your life.如果你把自己关在爱的门外，你就会错过这个女子，和你生命中最快乐的时光。for the six years I've been in Tokyo."

"This isn't going where I think it's going, is it?"

He shrugged.

"So over the next week I tried it out. I sat next to friendly looking people, and as the train rolled from the platform, I yawned and pretended to fall asleep. I swayed⑥swayed sway的过去式 英［sweɪ］ 美［swe］ vt.影响；统治；使摇动 vi.影响；摇摆 n.影响；摇摆；统治to the rumble⑦rumble 英 ［'rʌmb（ə）l］ 美 ［'rʌmbl］ n. 隆隆声；抱怨声 vt.使隆隆响；低沉地说 vi. 隆隆作响of the train, and slowly let my head fall on the shoulder of the person next to me."

"And?"

"And most of the time, it worked. Most people will sit there and let you do it. I don't know if it's a Japan thing, but more often than not⑧more often than not 通常、多半, they shift slightly to accommodate⑨accommodate 英 ［ə'kɒmədeɪt］ 美 ［ə'kɑmədet］ vt. 容纳；使适应；供应；调解 vi. 适应；调解the weight, and go back to their books, or their phones, or their newspapers."

I thought of the times I'd seen people asleep on the train. Imagined them swaying towards my shoulder. What I'd do. What I'd say.

I weighed the effort of saying something against just letting it go.

Came up blank.

"What was your success rate?"

"A little over sixty percent, I'd guess. But even then, when you fail, people simply nudge⑩nudge 美 ［nʌdʒ］ vt. 推进；用肘轻推；向……不停地唠叨you in the opposite direction. One day, I went from one shoulder straight to another. It was wonderful."

"Kindness abounds⑪abounds abound的单三形式 abound 英 ［ə'baʊnd］ 美［ə'baʊnd］ vi. 富于；充满in the darkness of the subway."

"On the shoulders of its commuters."

"But why'd you keep doing it?"

"I don't get out much, man. You know? I don't have a girlfriend. Haven't had one in a while. I don't make friends easy. I work from home, and I'm always alone. I guess I wanted contact. Affection. This was a warmth I could steal. No baggage. No consequences. Just a little relationship that starts at one station and ends at another. No break-up, no goodbye, just a single moment of shared warmth."

The words echoed in a way that enticed⑫enticed entice的过去分词形式 entice 英 ［ɪn'taɪs; en-］ 美 ［ɪn'taɪs］ vt.诱使；怂恿. Tempted. They made sense, and yet the environment felt wrong. Like fixing the colors in a painting that was already upside down and inside out.

The problem here was deeper than the palette selection.

"After a while though," he said, "I really started falling asleep. I closed my eyes, hit a person's shoulder, and dozed off⑬dozed doze的过去式 doze off 打瞌睡；困倦."