双语对照 ● 爱的约会　Appointment with Love

■ 爱的约会　Appointment with Love

◎ S. L Kishor

Six minutes to six, said the clock over the information booth in New York’s Grand Central Station. The tall, young Army lieutenant[75] lifted his sunburned face and narrowed his eyes to note the exact time. His heart was pounding with a beat. In six minutes he would see the woman who had filled such a special place in his life for the past 13 months, the woman he had never seen, yet whose written words had sustained him unfailingly.

在纽约的地铁中心总站，问讯处上方的时钟显示着5点54分。年轻高大的陆军中尉抬起黝黑的脸庞，眯起眼睛注意着那上面的确切时间。他的心激动地怦怦直跳。再过6分钟，他就能见到那个女人了——一个在过去的13个月占据了他心中某个特殊位置的女人。虽然他们素未谋面，但是她的信一直是支撑他的精神支柱。

Lieutenant Blandford remembered one day in particular, during the worst of the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of enemy planes. In one of his letters he had confessed to her that he often felt fear, and only a few days before this battle he had received her answer, “Of course you fear ... all brave men do. Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my voice reciting to you, ‘yeah, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.’...” He had remembered, and it had renewed his strength.

布兰德福中尉还记得那一天，那是战斗最艰苦的时刻，他的飞机被敌机重重包围着。他曾在一封信中向她坦白，他经常感到畏惧。就在战斗打响的前几天，他收到了她的回信：“当然你会感到畏惧……所有勇敢的人都会那样。下次你再怀疑自己的时候，我希望你能听到我为你朗诵的声音：‘啊，虽然我要走过死亡之谷，但是我将勇往直前，因为你与我同在。’……”他记得，就是这封信让他重新振作起来的。

Now he was going to hear her real voice. Four minutes to six.

现在，他很快就能听到她真实的声音，还差4分钟就6点了。

A girl passed close to him, and Lieutenant Blandford stared. She was wearing a flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, this girl was only about 18, and Hollis Meynell had told him she was 30. “What of it?” he had answered. “I’m 32.” He was 29.

一个女孩朝他走来，布兰德福中尉一惊。女孩戴着一朵花，但不是他们约定好的那种红色玫瑰花。她只有18岁的样子，而霍丽斯·梅内尔告诉过他，她已经30岁了。“有什么关系呢？”他还回信说，“我已经32岁。”其实他才29岁。

His mind went back to that book he had read in the training camp. Of Human Bondage it was; and throughout the book were notes in a woman’s handwriting. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man’s heart so tenderly[76] , so understandingly. Her name was on the book plate: Hollis Meynell. He had got hold of a New York City telephone book and found her address. He had written; she had answered. Next day he had been shipped out, but they had gone on writing.

他想起了在训练营里看过的一本书——《人性的枷锁》，书里有一个女人写满了批注。他简直不敢相信，一个女人能如此温和、如此透彻地读懂男人的心。她的名字就写在书签上——霍丽斯·梅内尔。于是，他找来一本纽约市的电话簿，查到了地址，给她写了信，并收到了回信。因为第二天他要执行任务，就乘船离开了，可他们还是保持通信。

For 13 months she had faithfully replied. When his letters did not arrive, she wrote anyway, and now he believed that he loved her and that she loved him .

在过去的13个月里，她始终真挚地给他回信。常常他的信还没到，她的信就来了。因此，他相信，他们彼此深爱着对方。

But she had refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. She had explained, “If your feeling for me has any reality, what I look like won’t matter. Suppose I’m beautiful. I’d always be haunted by the feeling that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose I’m plain (and you must admit that this is more likely), then I’d always fear that you were only going on writing 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 decision.”

可是，她一直拒绝送他照片，并曾解释道：“如果你是真心爱我，那我的外表就不再重要了。如果我长得很漂亮，我会认为，你爱的只是我的外表，那会令我很反感。如果我相貌平平（你必须承认这一点的可能性更大），那我便会担心，你和我通信只是因为内心孤独、无人倾诉。别向我要照片。你来纽约时就能见到我了，到时再做决定也不迟。”

One minute to six ... he pulled hard on a cigarette. Then Lieutenant Blandford’s heart leaped.

还差1分钟就6点了，布兰德福猛吸了一口烟，心跳得更快了。

A young woman was coming toward him. Her figure was long and slim; her blond hair lay back in curls over her delicate ears. Her eyes were as blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale-green suit, she was like springtime come alive.

一位年轻的女士向他走来，她身材苗条，金黄的卷发散落在小巧的耳朵旁。她的双唇红润，下巴精致，一双蓝色的眼眸像花儿一样美丽。她穿着淡绿色的西装，浑身散发出一股青春的气息。

He stared toward her, forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose, and as he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips.

他朝她看去，一时忘了她并没有戴红色玫瑰花。他走近，发现她的嘴角露出动人的微笑。

“Going my way, soldier?” she murmured. He made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Meynell.

“问路吗，军人？”她嘀咕着说。他又走近了一步，这时，他看到了霍丽斯·梅内尔。

She was standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40, her graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump[77] ; her thick ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes.

霍丽斯·梅内尔就站在这位年轻女士的身后，一个40多岁的女人，灰白的头发塞在一顶破旧的帽子下面，很胖，厚实的双脚穿着一双低跟鞋。

But she wore a red rose on her rumpled coat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly. Blandford felt as though he were being split into two, so keen was his desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own; and there she stood. He could see her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible; her gray eyes had a warm twinkle.

可是她那皱巴巴的外套上别了一朵红色玫瑰花。穿着淡绿色西装的年轻女孩匆匆离去了。布兰德福感到自己的心被撕成了两半，他多想跟着那个年轻的女孩啊，可是他又渴望见到这个女人，毕竟是她的精神一直陪伴着他，鼓励着他。现在，她就站在那儿，苍白丰满的面庞，温柔而理性，灰色的眼里闪烁着温和的光芒。

Lieutenant Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the worn copy of Human Bondage which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, a friendship for which he had been and must ever be grateful...

布兰福德中尉没有犹豫，他抓紧那本破旧的《人性的枷锁》，那是向她表明身份用的。尽管这不会是爱，却是一种珍贵的东西，是他曾经拥有并要感激的友情。

He squared his shoulders, saluted, and held the book out toward the woman, although even while he spoke he felt the bitterness of his disappointment. “I’m John Blandford, and you—you are Miss Meynell. May—may I take you to dinner?”

尽管因为深深的失望而痛苦，他还是摆正双肩，敬了个礼，然后把那本书递给她：“我是约翰·布兰德福，您——您是梅内尔小姐吧？我能——能请你吃顿饭吗？”

The woman smiled. “I don’t know what this is all about, son,” she answered. “That young lady in the green suit, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you asked me to go out with you, I should tell you she’s waiting for you in that restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of a test.”

那个女人笑着答道：“孩子，我不知道这是怎么回事，那位穿绿西装的年轻小姐请求我把这朵红色的玫瑰花戴在外套上。她说如果你邀请我一起出去，就告诉你，她在街对面的那家餐厅等着你。她说，这是一种考验。”

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