Last night I was driving from Harrisburg to Lewisburg, Pa., a distance of about eighty miles. It was late. I was late and if anyone asked me how fast I was driving, I’d have to plead the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination. Several times I got stuck behind a slow-moving truck on a narrow road with a solid white line on my left, and I was clinching my fists with impatience.

昨天晚上我駕車從哈里斯堡駛往賓西法尼亞州的劉易斯堡，路程約為80英里。天色已晚。我遲到了，如果有人問我行駛速度有多快，我得求助于美國憲法的第五條修正案，不要自證有罪。我好幾次被堵在一輛開得緩慢的卡車后面，路面很窄，而且我左邊是不可超越的白線，于是我捏緊雙拳，有點按捺不住了。

At one point along an open highway, I came to a crossroads with a traffic light. I was alone on the road by now, but as I approached the light, it turned red and I braked to a halt. I looked left, right and behind me. Nothing. Not a car, no suggestion of headlights,but there I sat, waiting for the light to change, the only human being for at least a mile in any direction.

在公路的某一處，我行駛到了有交通燈的一個十字路口。這時路上只剩下我一個了，但當我快到路口時，交通燈變成了紅燈，于是我剎了車。我左看右看，又向后面望了望.毫無動靜。沒有車子，也沒有車燈的影兒，但我就那么坐在那兒，等著紅燈變綠，方圓一英里內(nèi)就我一個人。

I started wondering why I refused to run the light. I was not afraid of being arrested, because there was obviously no cop around, and there certainly would have been no danger in going through it.

我開始想，為什么我不闖紅燈呢?我不怕被抓著，因為很明顯周圍并沒有警察，闖紅燈肯定也不會有任何危險。

Much later that night, after I’d met with a group in Lewisburg and had climbed into bed near midnight, the question of why I’d stopped for that light came back to me. I think I stopped because it’s part of a contract we all have with each other. It’s not only the law, but it’s an arrangement we have, and we trust each other to honor it: we don’t go through red lights. Like most of us, I’m more apt to be restrained from doing something bad by the social convention that disapproves of it than by any law against it.

那天夜里，我在劉易斯堡會見了一些朋友，接近午夜時上床后，我又回想起了我為什么要停下來而不闖過去呢。我想，我停了下來，是因為它是我們相互間的一種公約。這不僅是法律，而且也是我們共有的一個協(xié)議;我們互相信任，都要遵守：我們不能闖紅燈。像我們大多數(shù)人一樣，我要善于克制自己，不做社會行為準則不許做的壞事，而不僅是因為有法律禁止它。

It’s amazing that we ever trust each other to do the right thing, isn’t it? And we do, too. Trust is our first inclination. We have to make a deliberate decision to mistrust someone or to be suspicious or skeptical. Those attitudes don’t come naturally to us.

我們從來都是彼此信任會做正確的事，這難道不令人驚奇嗎?我們也的確是這樣的。信任是我們的第一本能。要讓我們不信任某人，猜疑，不相信，那是非常不容易的，因為這種態(tài)度對我們很不自然。

It’s a damn good thing too, because the whole structure of our society depends on mutual trust, not distrust. This whole thing we have going for us would fall apart if we didn’t trust each other most of the time. We do what we say we’ll do; we show up when we say we’ll show up; we deliver when we say we’ll deliver; and we pay when we say we’ll pay.

這也是一件很好的事情，因為我們整個社會結(jié)構(gòu)是靠互相信任而不是猜疑來維系的。如果我們大部分時間互不信任，那么整個社會秩序?qū)⒈罎ⅰＮ覀冋f到做到;我們說什么時候到場，就什么時候到場;我們說什么時候交貨，就什么時候交貨;我們說什么時候付款，就什么時候付款。

We trust each other in these matters, and when we don’t do what we’ve promised, it’s a deviation from the normal. It happens often that we don’t act in good faith and in a trustworthy manner, but we still consider it unusual, and we’re angry or disappointed with the person or organization that violates the trust we have in them.

在這些問題上，我們互相信任，要是我們違約的話，那是不正常的。雖然我們常發(fā)生不守信用的事，但我們?nèi)哉J為這是不正常的;對有負我們對其信任的個人或組織，我們感到生氣或失望。

I was so proud of myself for stopping for the red light that night.

我為那天晚上沒有闖紅燈而感到驕傲。

（兼職編輯：張博）