Beauty Within
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Tell me whom you love，and I will tell you who you are.
告诉我你爱的人是谁，我就会知道你是什么样的人。——荷塞
John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way1 through Grand Central Station2.
He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn t, the girl with the rose. His interest in her had begun 12 months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself absorbed3, not by the words of the book, but by the notes penciled in the margin4. The soft handwriting showed a thoughtful soul and insightful5 mind.
In the front of the book, he discovered the previous6 owner s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he found her exact address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to write him. The next day he was shipped to another country for service in World War II.
During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile7 heart. A love began to develop. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She explained: “If your feeling for me has any reality, any honest basis, what I look like won t matter. Suppose I m beautiful I d always be worried by the feeling that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would make me sick. Suppose I m plain 8(and you must admit that this is more likely). Then I would always fear that you were going on writing to me only because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don t ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your own decision. Remember, both of us are free to stop or to go on after that—whichever we choose... ”
约翰·布兰查德从长凳上站起身来，整了整军装，留意着格兰德中央车站进出的人群。
他在寻找一位姑娘，一位佩带玫瑰的姑娘，一位他只知其心，不知其貌的姑娘。十二个月前，在佛罗里达州的一个图书馆，他对她产生了兴趣。他从书架上取下一本书，很快便被吸引住了，不是被书的内容，而是被空白处铅笔写的批语所吸引。柔和的笔迹显示出其人多思善虑的心灵和富有洞察力的头脑。
在书的前页，他找到了书的前任主人的姓名：霍利斯·梅奈尔小姐。他花了一番工夫和努力，找到了她的确切地址。她住在纽约市。他给她写了一封信介绍自己，并请她回复。第二天他被运送到海外，参加第二次世界大战。
在接下来的一年零一个月中，两人通过信件来往增进了对彼此的了解。每一封信都如一颗种子撒入肥沃的心灵之土。浪漫的爱情之花就要绽开。布兰查德提出要一张照片，可她拒绝了。她解释道：“如果你对我的感情是真实的，是诚心诚意的，那我的容貌如何并不重要。设想我美丽动人，我会始终深感不安，惟恐你只是因为我的容貌就贸然与我相爱，而这种爱情令我厌恶。设想本人相貌平平(你得承认，这种可能性更大)，那我就会始终担心，你和我保持通信仅仅是出于孤独寂寞，无人交谈。不，别索要照片。等你到了纽约，你会见到我，到时你可再作定夺。切记，见面后我俩都可以自由决定中止关系或继续交往——无论你我怎么选择……”
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