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"You must have wondered ", she said, "why I was so upset at the thought of young George's going to England without you.
她說："我聽你說喬治要回國，又不帶你走，心里非常不安。我這份心事你是不明白的。
I am an old woman, and perhaps I have the silly fancies of the old, but I should like to tell you my own love story, and then you can decide whether it is wise for your man to leave you before you are married."
我是一個(gè)老婆子了，大概還懷著老人們的那顆癡心吧。不過，我想把自己的愛情故事講給你聽。這樣你就能明白在你們結(jié)婚之前讓你的未婚夫離開你，是不是一個(gè)明智之舉。"
"I was quite a young girl when I first met Richard Weston. He was an Englishman who boarded with the Van Rensburgs on the next farm, four or five miles from us.
"我第一次遇見理查德·威斯頓時(shí)還是一個(gè)年輕姑娘。他是一個(gè)英國人，寄宿在我家附近四、五英里一個(gè)農(nóng)場上的范·倫斯堡家里。
Richard was not strong. He had a weak chest, and the doctors had sent him to South Africa so that the dry air could cure him. He taught the Van Rensburg children, who were younger than I was, though we often played together, but he did this for pleasure and not because he needed money.
他身體不好，胸悶氣短。醫(yī)生讓他去南非讓干燥的氣候治好他的病。他教倫斯堡的孩子們念書，他們都比我小，盡管我們經(jīng)常在一塊玩。理查德是以教書為樂，并不是為了賺錢。
"We loved one another from the first moment we met, though we did not speak of our love until the evening of my eighteenth birthday.
"我和理查德是一見鐘情，盡管直到我18歲生日那天我們才表示彼此的愛慕之情。
All our friends and relatives had come to my party, and in the evening we danced on the big old carpet which we had laid down in the barn. Richard had come with the Van Rensburgs, and we danced together as often as we dared, which was not very often, for my father hated the Uitlanders.
那天晚上的舞會上，我們的親友都來了。我們在倉房里鋪上一條寬大的舊毛毯，翩翩起舞。我和他壯起膽子頻頻起舞。但事實(shí)上，沒有多少次，因?yàn)槲业母赣H很討厭“洋人”。
Indeed, for a time he had quarreled with Mynheer Van Rensburg for allowing Richard to board with him, but afterwards he got used to the idea, and was always polite to the Englishman, though he never liked him.
有一次，他曾抱怨說倫斯堡先生不應(yīng)該讓理查德寄住在他的家里，為此還跟他吵過一場，他后來就習(xí)以為常了。雖談不上喜歡，但對這個(gè)英國人以禮相待。"
"That was the happiest birthday of my life, for while we were resting between dances Richard took me outside into the cool, moonlit night, and there, under the stars ,he told me he loved me and asked me to marry him.
“那是我一生中最快樂的一個(gè)生日，因?yàn)槔聿榈略谔栝g歇將我領(lǐng)到外面清涼的月光中，在點(diǎn)點(diǎn)繁星之下對我傾訴愛慕之情，并向我求婚。
Of course I promised I would, for I was too happy to think of what my parents would say, or indeed of anything except Richard was not at our meeting place as he had arranged.
我二話沒說答應(yīng)了他的要求，因?yàn)槲以缫研淖砩衩裕氩坏礁改赣H會說什么。我的心中除了理查德和他的愛情，什么也顧不上了。后來有一天，在他安排的約會處，理查德爽約沒有來。
I was disappointed but not alarmed, for so many things could happen to either of us to prevent out keeping our tryst. I thought that next time we visited the Van Ransburgs, I should hear what had kept him and we could plan further meetings…
失望之際，我沒有大驚小怪，因?yàn)槲覀儌z誰碰到形形色色的事都可能使我們無法幽會。我想我們以后去范·倫斯堡家看望之時(shí)，我就會明白理查德未能赴約的原因，再安排以后的約會……
"So when my father asked if I would drive with him to Driefontein I was delighted. But when we reached the homestead and were sitting on the stoep drinking our coffee, we heard that Richard had left quite suddenly and had gone back to England. His father had died, and now he was the heir and must go back to look after his estates.
"所以，當(dāng)父親問我是否愿意和他一塊開車去德里方丹時(shí)，我就高興地答應(yīng)了。但待我們趕到范·倫斯堡家，坐在他們家屋前的門廊上喝咖啡時(shí)，卻聽說理查德已經(jīng)不辭而別回英國去了。他的父親死了，他是繼承人，不得不回去料理遺產(chǎn)。
"I do not remember very much more about that day, except that the sun seemed to have stopped shining and the country no longer looked beautiful and full of promise, but bleak and desolate as it sometimes does in winter or in times of drought.
"那天的事我記不大清楚了，只記得當(dāng)時(shí)陽光慘淡，田野也失去了美麗的豐采和欣欣向榮的景象，蕭瑟凄涼得跟冬天或大旱時(shí)一樣。
Late that afternoon, Jantje, the little Hottentot herd boy, came up to me and handed me a letter , which he said the English baas had left for me.
那天傍晚，在我和父親動(dòng)身回家之前，霍但托特族的小牧童詹杰交給我一封信，他說是那位英國老爺留給我的。
