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Close encounter four: the Algarve,
遭遇四:阿爾加瓦
Portugal, 1991.
葡萄牙,1991.
Some years later, I and this woman --
許多年過后,我和這個女人--
we'll call her "Catherine Fletcher" --
我們將稱她為“Catherine Fletcher”-
went traveling through the south of Portugal together.
我們穿越葡萄牙南部去旅行.
We stayed in old, crumbling, walled cities,
我們住在古老的搖搖欲墜的圍城里.
in tiny little hotels,
在小旅館里,
and we would climb up to the roof and drink Vinho Verde
我們爬到屋頂喝著葡萄牙清酒
and watch the sun set and play checkers.
看日落玩跳棋.
What? Did we do this? Really? Does anyone do this?
什么?我們做了這些么?真的么?有人會做這樣的事情么?
We went to some topless beaches.
我們去了沙灘邊.
Excuse me? No, not in my life.
醒醒?我不是在做夢吧.
For what it's worth, we went to Sagres,
不論真偽.我們去了葡萄牙,
which was considered, at the time, to be the end of the world.
這被認為是,世界末日.
And there I was chased by a pack of feral dogs on the dock,
在那里我被野狗追咬,
and the lead dog bit me on the ass,
最后領頭的狗咬了我的屁股,
requiring me to go to a strange Portuguese clinic
他們帶我去一個陌生的葡萄牙診所
and receive an ass shot.
接受屁股的治療.
Make of that what you will.
你可以合理的遐想一下.
Our last day in Portugal,
在葡萄牙的最后一天,
we were in the district capital of Faro,
我們在葡萄牙的首府,
and Catherine decided that she wanted to go to the beach
Catherine想去海灘轉一圈
one last time.
最后一圈.
Now, Faro is a bustling little city,
Faro是個熱鬧的小城市,
and to get to the beach, she explained, you would have to take
她說去海邊要乘公交車
a bus and then a boat.
再換乘個小船.
And did I want to come with?
你愿意跟我一起去么?
But I was exhausted and dog-bitten, and so I said, "No."
我摸著被咬壞的屁股已經筋疲力盡了,我說"我不去了."
I remember what she looked like before she left.
至今我還記得她黯然離開時失望的眼神.
The freckles had grown
這個雀斑女已經長大
and multiplied on her face and shoulders,
雀斑在她的臉龐和肩頭上倍增,
clustering into a kind of a tan.
匯聚成一種巧克力色.
A tan, we were both tan --
結果我們皮膚都曬成了巧克力色.
is this true?
這是真的嗎?
Her eyes were extra bright and extra blue, as a result.
她的眼睛是藍色的格外的亮,最后.
She was smiling.
她笑了.
She was a single woman about to go alone into a country,
一個單身女人獨自到一個陌生的國家,
not even speaking the language,
甚至沒有相通的語言,
to travel alone by bus and boat
獨自乘著公車和小船去旅行
to go to a beach she did not know
去一個連她自己都不知道在哪的海灘
or had never seen.
或者她從未見過.
I loved her, and then she went out
我愛她,當她走到那個奇怪的
into that strange, alien land.
外星人領域.
It took me some time to come to my senses.
我重新整理了我的思緒.
I had my own "lost time" moment,
我有屬于我的"失憶時段",
where I woke up and suddenly realized
我突然醒了,意識到
it was very late in the day, almost dinnertime,
時間已經不早了,差不多到了晚飯時間,
and she had not come back.
但她還沒回來
Nervous, I went down to the street to look for her.
我感到不安,于是上街去找她.
Now, I did not speak Portuguese.
現在,我不會葡萄牙語.
I did not know where the beach was.
我也不知道沙灘在哪?
I could not call her on a cell phone because this was 1991,
我同樣不能打電話給她因為那是1991年,
and the aliens had not given us that technology yet.
那時外星人也沒給我們這項技術.
I realized that the day would only have
我意識到這一天只有
two possible outcomes:
只有兩種可能的結果:
either Catherine would come back to the hotel, Catherine
自己回到小旅館
or she would never come back to the hotel.
或者她再也不回來了.
And so I sat down to wait.
我只能坐下來等.
I did not watch the skies, but the very end of the street
我沒有注視著天空,而是盯著街道的盡頭
where the buses and cars and pedestrians
那里的公車汽車和行人
and little scooters were moving along.
和小踏板車在前行著.
And I watched those constellations shift,
我看著那些星球的轉變,
hoping that they would part and I would see her face.
多希望他們能讓我看到你的臉.
It was at that moment,
就在那一刻,
in that very small town of 30,000 or so,
在一個容納30000人的小鎮上,
that I truly appreciated the vastness of the universe
我真正欣賞到宇宙的浩瀚
and the searching we might do in it.
搜尋我們想要的.
And that's when the Liberians came along.
那時利比里亞人走了過來.
Five young men -- all laughing, happy, traveling together,
5個年輕人--他們都開心的笑著同行,
coming back to this hotel where they were staying.
回到他們的住所.
One of them was named Joseph, and he asked me
其中一個名叫Joseph,他問我我來做什么,
what was I doing, and I explained.
我向他解釋.
And he said, "Don't worry." He was sure that Catherine would be safe.
他說,"不要擔心,"他確信Catherine是安全的.
But he did not seem so very sure,
但他看起來不太確信,
for he sat down to wait with me.
因為他跟我一起坐下來.
And for the next two hours, they all waited with me:
接下來的兩個小時,他們和我一起等待.
taking turns, going up to their room, coming back,
他們輪流來我房間
telling me jokes, distracting me.
講笑話安慰我,分散我的注意力.
Two hours, they gave me a message.
兩小時后,他們給我捎口信.
We are not alone.
我們并不孤獨.
And then, in the middle of a sentence, at the very birth of twilight,
這時,字里行間之中讓人感到暮光的開始.
I turned and looked down the street.
我轉過身來,看著街上.
The stars aligned, and she came back.
星星排成一排,她回來了.
She was smiling. She did not understand why I was so worried.
她笑著,她并不知道我為何而難過.
Neither did the Liberians,
利比里亞人也不理解,
although there was a huge amount of relief in their laughter
他們的笑聲里有著很多的寬慰.
as they clapped us on the back, and went back up to their room
他們在心底為我們鼓掌,默默回到房間
and left us alone in the street, holding hands.
讓我們獨自在街上,手牽手.
An event like this leaves a scar on the memory,
這像記憶中的傷痛,
much like a piece of alien technology
被一個叫做"葡萄牙的醫生"的人
that has been inserted into your buttocks
把一塊外星人的高科技
by a "Portuguese doctor."
植入到你的臀部.
And even now, a decade and a half later,
即使到現在,15年以后,
even now that we are married,
我們結婚了,
I look for her still, whenever she is not in the room.
我隨時找她時她仍不在房間.
And even though, I think you'll agree, it is probable
我認為你也同意,
that during the time she was away,
很可能是在她外出時,
she was kidnapped and replaced by an alien clone,
被外星人綁架甚至克隆,
I love her and wait for her still.
但我會一直愛她,等著她.
Thank you for your kind attention.
感謝您的關注.
