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She went to the door and called them. There entered a tall man in khaki, with the parson's collar, handsome in a somewhat heavy fashion, but with the frank eyes that I remembered in him as a boy. He was followed by his sister. She must have been the same age as was her mother when first I knew her, and she was very like her. She too gave one the impression that as a girl she must have been prettier than indeed she was.
她走到門口去招呼他們。走進來一個穿卡其服的高大男人，脖子上系著牧師戴的硬領。這人生得身材魁梧，有一種壯健的美，一雙眼睛仍然和他童年時期一樣真摯爽朗。跟在他后面的是他妹妹；她這時一定同我初次見到她母親時年齡相仿。她長得非常象她母親，也給人這樣的印象：小時候長得一定要比實際上更漂亮。
"I suppose you don't remember them in the least," said Mrs. Strickland, proud and smiling. "My daughter is now Mrs. Ronaldson. Her husband's a Major in the Gunners."
“我想你一定一點兒也不記得他倆了，”思特里克蘭德太太說，驕傲地笑了笑。“我的女兒現在是朵納爾德遜太太了，她丈夫是炮兵團的少校。”
"He's by way of being a pukka soldier, you know," said Mrs. Ronaldson gaily. "That's why he's only a Major."
“他是一個真正從士兵出身的軍人，”朵納爾德遜太太高高興興地說，“所以現在剛剛是個少校。”
I remembered my anticipation long ago that she would marry a soldier. It was inevitable. She had all the graces of the soldier's wife. She was civil and affable, but she could hardly conceal her intimate conviction that she was not quite as others were. Robert was breezy.
我想起很久以前我的預言：她將來一定會嫁一個軍人。看來這件事早已注定了。她的風度完全是個軍人的妻子。她對人和藹親切，但另一方面她幾乎毫不掩飾自己內心的信念，她同一般人是有所不同的。羅伯特的情緒非常高。
"It's a bit of luck that I should be in London when you turned up," he said. "I've only got three days' leave."
“真是太巧了，你這次來正趕上我在倫敦，”他說，“我只有三天假。”
"He's dying to get back," said his mother.
“他一心想趕快回去，”他母親說。
"Well, I don't mind confessing it, I have a rattling good time at the front. I've made a lot of good pals. It's a first-rate life. Of course war's terrible, and all that sort of thing; but it does bring out the best qualities in a man, there's no denying that."
“啊，這我承認，我在前線過得可太有趣兒了。我交了不少朋友。那里的生活真是頂呱呱的。當然了，戰爭是可怕的，那些事兒大家都非常清楚。但是戰爭確實能表現出一個人的優秀本質，這一點誰也不能否認。”
