英语散文名篇欣赏:林中漫步(下)
英语散文名篇欣赏:林中漫步(下)
The letters on one side were indistinct, but on the other an 'R' was clearly visible with what looked like an 'I' after it. "Some budding romance?" I asked, "did you know who they were?"
"Oh yes, I knew them", said Mary Smith, "it says RH loves MS."
学习啦在线学习网 心一边的字母已无法辨认了,但在另一边,字母“R”清晰可见,后面还有个像是“I”的字母。“初恋罗曼史?”我问道,“你知道他们是谁吗?”
学习啦在线学习网 “唔,我知道。”玛丽·史密斯说,“写的是‘RH爱MS’。
学习啦在线学习网 I realised that I could be getting out of my depth, and longed to be in my office, away from here and this old lady, snug, and with a mug of tea in my hand.
She went on, "He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve my initials. We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army. I had guessed of course. It was the last evening we ever spent together,because he went away the next day, back to his Unit."
我意识到我可能涉入太深了,真希望自己身在办公室,远离这个地方和这个老年女士,手里还端着杯茶,舒舒服服地。
学习啦在线学习网 她继续讲下去:“他拿着一把袖珍折刀,折刀上嵌有长钉,那种长钉可以用来挖出夹在马蹄上的石块,我们一起刻了我名字的第一个字母。我们深深相爱,但他却要离开了,而且不知道他将在军队里干什么。当然我也曾猜想过。那是我们在一起的最后一个夜晚,因为他第二天就回部队去了。
学习啦在线学习网 Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed. "His mother showed me the telegram. 'Sergeant R Holmes ... Killed in action in the invasion of France.'
"'I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married,' she said, He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies' - she was like that!
学习啦在线学习网 玛丽·史密斯停了一会儿,接着抽泣起来。“他母亲给我看了那封电报。‘R?荷尔姆斯军士……在解放法国的战役中牺牲。’“
学习啦在线学习网 我本来希望你和罗宾会结婚的。’她母亲说,‘我只有他一个孩子,我本希望能做祖母,有非常可爱的小宝宝。’——她真是那么说的!
学习啦在线学习网 "Two years later she too was dead. 'Pneumonia, following a chill on the chest' was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart. A child would have helped both of us."
There was a further pause. Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him. "And now they want to take our tree away from me."
学习啦在线学习网 “两年后她也去世了。医生说是‘肺炎,胸部着凉造成的’,但我认为这是典型的伤心过度。如果有个孩子那我们俩就都不会这样了。”
玛丽·史密斯又停了会儿没说话。她轻柔地抚摸着那棵刻过的树,就像她曾经抚摸他一样。“现在他们想把我们的树夺走。”
学习啦在线学习网 Another quiet sob, then she turned to me. "I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn't always the old woman you see here now. I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forwards to."
She paused again and looked around. The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound. "There were others, of course, but not a patch on my Robin!" she said strongly. "
她又轻轻地抽噎了一下,然后她转过身来对着我。“当时我年轻漂亮,我爱嫁给谁都可以,我当时可不是现在这么老的。我拥有生命里所要的一切,一个值得爱的男人、健康的身体和充满梦想的未来。”
她顿了顿,朝四周看了一眼。微风轻轻吹拂着树叶,发出叹息般的沙沙声。“当然, 那时还有其他人,但他们连罗宾的一丝一毫都比不上!”她肯定地说。
And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds.
If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would kill him.
“现在我一无所有——只剩下残留在这棵树上的记忆。
学习啦在线学习网 那个可恶的家伙竟建议把路修在我们所站的这个地方,我真希望掐死他。
Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did. Yes, I would tell him!"
I turned away, sick at heart.
学习啦在线学习网 我会对他说:你从没爱过吗,你活过吗,你从不知道什么叫记忆吗?你知道,不仅仅是我们,现在我仍能看见些男男女女像当年的我和罗宾那样到这儿来。是的,我一定要对他说!”
我转过身去,心里感到很难过。