雙語對照 ● 愛的約會 Appointment with Love
■ 愛的約會 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.
在紐約的地鐵中心總站，問訊處上方的時鐘顯示著5點54分。年輕高大的陸軍中尉抬起黝黑的臉龐，瞇起眼睛注意著那上面的確切時間。他的心激動地怦怦直跳。再過6分鐘，他就能見到那個女人了——一個在過去的13個月占據(jù)了他心中某個特殊位置的女人。雖然他們素未謀面，但是她的信一直是支撐他的精神支柱。
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.
布蘭德福中尉還記得那一天，那是戰(zhàn)斗最艱苦的時刻，他的飛機(jī)被敵機(jī)重重包圍著。他曾在一封信中向她坦白，他經(jīng)常感到畏懼。就在戰(zhàn)斗打響的前幾天，他收到了她的回信：“當(dāng)然你會感到畏懼……所有勇敢的人都會那樣。下次你再懷疑自己的時候，我希望你能聽到我為你朗誦的聲音：‘啊，雖然我要走過死亡之谷，但是我將勇往直前，因為你與我同在?！彼浀?，就是這封信讓他重新振作起來的。
Now he was going to hear her real voice. Four minutes to six.
現(xiàn)在，他很快就能聽到她真實的聲音，還差4分鐘就6點了。
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.
一個女孩朝他走來，布蘭德福中尉一驚。女孩戴著一朵花，但不是他們約定好的那種紅色玫瑰花。她只有18歲的樣子，而霍麗斯·梅內(nèi)爾告訴過他，她已經(jīng)30歲了。“有什么關(guān)系呢？”他還回信說，“我已經(jīng)32歲?！逼鋵嵥?9歲。
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.
他想起了在訓(xùn)練營里看過的一本書——《人性的枷鎖》，書里有一個女人寫滿了批注。他簡直不敢相信，一個女人能如此溫和、如此透徹地讀懂男人的心。她的名字就寫在書簽上——霍麗斯·梅內(nèi)爾。于是，他找來一本紐約市的電話簿，查到了地址，給她寫了信，并收到了回信。因為第二天他要執(zhí)行任務(wù)，就乘船離開了，可他們還是保持通信。
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 .
在過去的13個月里，她始終真摯地給他回信。常常他的信還沒到，她的信就來了。因此，他相信，他們彼此深愛著對方。
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，她一直拒絕送他照片，并曾解釋道：“如果你是真心愛我，那我的外表就不再重要了。如果我長得很漂亮，我會認(rèn)為，你愛的只是我的外表，那會令我很反感。如果我相貌平平（你必須承認(rèn)這一點的可能性更大），那我便會擔(dān)心，你和我通信只是因為內(nèi)心孤獨、無人傾訴。別向我要照片。你來紐約時就能見到我了，到時再做決定也不遲?！?
One minute to six ... he pulled hard on a cigarette. Then Lieutenant Blandford’s heart leaped.
還差1分鐘就6點了，布蘭德福猛吸了一口煙，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.
一位年輕的女士向他走來，她身材苗條，金黃的卷發(fā)散落在小巧的耳朵旁。她的雙唇紅潤，下巴精致，一雙藍(lán)色的眼眸像花兒一樣美麗。她穿著淡綠色的西裝，渾身散發(fā)出一股青春的氣息。
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，一時忘了她并沒有戴紅色玫瑰花。他走近，發(fā)現(xiàn)她的嘴角露出動人的微笑。
“Going my way, soldier?” she murmured. He made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Meynell.
“問路嗎，軍人？”她嘀咕著說。他又走近了一步，這時，他看到了霍麗斯·梅內(nèi)爾。
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.
霍麗斯·梅內(nèi)爾就站在這位年輕女士的身后，一個40多歲的女人，灰白的頭發(fā)塞在一頂破舊的帽子下面，很胖，厚實的雙腳穿著一雙低跟鞋。
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.
可是她那皺巴巴的外套上別了一朵紅色玫瑰花。穿著淡綠色西裝的年輕女孩匆匆離去了。布蘭德福感到自己的心被撕成了兩半，他多想跟著那個年輕的女孩啊，可是他又渴望見到這個女人，畢竟是她的精神一直陪伴著他，鼓勵著他?，F(xiàn)在，她就站在那兒，蒼白豐滿的面龐，溫柔而理性，灰色的眼里閃爍著溫和的光芒。
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...
布蘭福德中尉沒有猶豫，他抓緊那本破舊的《人性的枷鎖》，那是向她表明身份用的。盡管這不會是愛，卻是一種珍貴的東西，是他曾經(jīng)擁有并要感激的友情。
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?”
盡管因為深深的失望而痛苦，他還是擺正雙肩，敬了個禮，然后把那本書遞給她：“我是約翰·布蘭德福，您——您是梅內(nèi)爾小姐吧？我能——能請你吃頓飯嗎？”
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.”
那個女人笑著答道：“孩子，我不知道這是怎么回事，那位穿綠西裝的年輕小姐請求我把這朵紅色的玫瑰花戴在外套上。她說如果你邀請我一起出去，就告訴你，她在街對面的那家餐廳等著你。她說，這是一種考驗?！?
