1. Eve Hendrie sat up in bed. For two hours she had been trying to get to sleep, but without success. There were two reasons for this: her mind was disturbed, and she was very hungry. As the paid companion of Mrs. Rastall-Retford, she had to follow the same Spartan diet as Mrs. Rastall-Retford had to follow due to her size and therefore, failing health. Mrs. Rastall-Retford was a massive lady, with a prominent forehead, some half-dozen chins, and a very bad temper. And since the beginning of her diet she had been at her worst.
伊芙·亨德利起身坐在床上。已經(jīng)兩個(gè)小時(shí)了，她一直努力著入睡，但沒有成功。這有兩個(gè)原因：她有些心神不寧，還有她餓壞了。作為拉斯多爾-雷特福德太太的有償伴侶，她不得不遵循與拉斯多爾-雷特福德太太一樣的斯巴達(dá)式的飲食習(xí)慣——至于拉斯多爾-雷特福德太太為什么要遵循這樣的飲食習(xí)慣，是因?yàn)樗捏w重以及由此導(dǎo)致的不佳的健康狀況，使她不得不這樣做。拉斯多爾-雷特福德太太身材龐大，前額突出，長著五六層雙下巴，而且脾氣很壞。并且，自從她控制飲食開始，她的情況變得更糟了。
2. What was agitating Eve so extremely tonight though, was the unexpected arrival of Peter Rayner. Eve could still see the look on Peter's face as, having shaken hands with his hostess earlier that evening, he turned to her. It said that this was no accidental meeting; they were passionate lovers not long ago.
不過，讓伊芙今晚如此不安的是彼得·雷納的意外到來。伊芙眼前仍然可以浮現(xiàn)出當(dāng)天傍晚，彼得跟她的女主人握手并轉(zhuǎn)向她時(shí)，臉上的那副表情——“這不是偶然的見面”。他們不久前還是熱戀中的情人。
3. Eve sat in her bed thinking for five minutes; and then it suddenly struck her that she was hungrier than ever. She was quite faint with hunger. A cuckoo clock struck one. Eve remembered that on the sideboard in the dining-room there were biscuits. A moment later she was creeping softly down the stairs. She pushed open the door of the dining room, and uttered a cry. "You! What are you doing here, Mr. Rayner?" On the table were half a chicken, a loaf, some cold potatoes, and a bottle of beer. "I'm eating, thank goodness!" said Peter, helping himself to a cold potato. "Eating?!" Eve gasped. “I was hungry. May I cut you a slice of chicken?", Peter said calmly.
伊芙坐在床上沉思了五分鐘，然后她突然意識到自己比之前更餓了。她因饑餓身體非常虛弱。布谷鳥鐘敲響了1點(diǎn)的鐘聲。伊芙記得餐廳的餐具柜里還有些餅干。過了一會兒，她躡手躡腳地走下樓梯，推開餐廳的門，然后突然大叫了起來：“是你！你在這做什么，雷納先生？”桌子上擺著半只雞、一條面包、一些冷土豆和一瓶啤酒。“我在吃東西，謝天謝地，這里有吃的！”彼得邊說，邊自顧自地吃著冷土豆。 “吃東西？！”伊芙氣喘吁吁地說。“我餓了。我給你切一塊雞肉，怎么樣？“彼得平靜地說。
4. "No," she snapped. "You're sure? What made you come down? I suppose you heard a noise and thought it was burglars?" he said. "Yes," said Eve, thankfully accepting the idea. " Won't you sit down?" "No, I'm going back to bed. Good night, Mr. Rayner." "Sit down. You've given me a great deal of trouble. It took ages to find you. You must come with me at once. We'll be married after Christmas, and in the meantime you can go and live with my sister----"
“不，”她厲聲說道。 “你確定嗎？你因?yàn)槭裁吹綐窍聛淼模课蚁肽闶锹牭搅艘恍┼须s聲，并認(rèn)為是有盜賊潛入吧？”他說。“是的，”伊芙說，欣然接受了這個(gè)想法。“你不坐下嗎？” “不，我要回去睡覺了。晚安，雷納先生。” “坐下吧。你給我?guī)砹撕芏嗦闊Ｎ艺夷阏业没▋憾贾x了。你必須馬上跟我一起走。我們圣誕節(jié)后就結(jié)婚，然后，你可以和我姐姐住在一起……”
5. Eve got up with a short laugh. "Good night, Mr. Rayner," she said. "You have been very amusing." "I'm glad it's all settled," said Peter. "Good night." Eve stopped. "Do you imagine," she said, "that I intend to marry you? Do you suppose, for one moment----" "You shall have a splendid time from now on. I'm going to be awfully good to you, Eve. You shan’t ever have any more worries." He looked at her affectionately.
伊芙微微笑了一下，然后站起身來。 “晚安，雷納先生，”她說。“你一直很有趣。”彼得說：“我很高興一切都安頓好了。” “晚安。”伊芙頓了一下。“你想過，”她說，“我真的打算嫁給你嗎？你花過時(shí)間考慮這個(gè)問題嗎？”“從現(xiàn)在起，你將度過一段美好的時(shí)光。我會對你非常好的，伊芙。你不該再有什么擔(dān)心的了。“他深情地看著她。
6. "You are a great, big, greedy pig!" burst out Eve, "who thinks about nothing but eating and drinking." "I wasn't going to have put it quite like that," said Peter, thoughtfully. "I hate a greedy man," said Eve, between her teeth. "I have a healthy appetite," protested Peter. "Nothing more. It runs in the family." Eve reached the door and turned. "I despise you," she said. "Good night," said Peter, tenderly. "Tomorrow morning we'll go for a walk."
“ 你是一頭貪婪的大蠢豬！”伊芙突然大喊起來，“除了吃喝以外什么都不想。” “我不會像你這樣說話的，”彼得若有所思地說。“我討厭貪婪的男人，”伊芙從牙縫里蹦出了這句話。“但，我胃口很好，”彼得抗議道。“也就這個(gè)優(yōu)點(diǎn)了，還是家族遺傳的。”伊芙走到門口，轉(zhuǎn)過身來。 “我鄙視你，”她說。“晚安，”彼得溫柔地說道。 “明天早晨我們會去散步。”
7. His prediction proved absolutely correct. Eve came to him in the morning. There was a gleam in her eye. It was not till they were nearing home on their return journey that she spoke. "Mr. Rayner," she said. "Yes?" said Peter. " I told Mrs. Rastall-Retford you were a vegetarian," she added, carelessly.
他的預(yù)言證明是完全正確的。第二天早晨，伊芙來找他了。她眼中泛著微光。直到他們即將回到家時(shí)，她才開口說話。 “雷納先生，”她說。“怎么了？”彼得說。“我告訴拉斯多爾-雷特福德太太你是素食主義者，”她淡淡地補(bǔ)充道。

8. There was a long silence. Then Peter spoke three words, straight from the heart. "You little devil!" "You see!" she said. "Now perhaps you will go." "Without you?" said Peter, stoutly. "Never!" " But in London you will be able to eat all day--anything you like. But if you stay here…," said Eve.
一段很長的沉默后，彼得直言不諱地說出了五個(gè)字——“你個(gè)小惡魔！”“你看！”她說。 “這下你該走人了。” “你不跟我一起走？”彼得堅(jiān)決地說，“那我絕不離開！” “但在倫敦，你可以整天吃個(gè)不停——你喜歡吃什么就吃什么。但如果你留在這里......，”伊芙說。
9. " I shall stay here and look after you. After all, what is food?" "Oh, and I forgot," interrupted Eve. "I told her you were a teetotaller as well." There was another silence, longer than the first. "The best train," said Eve, at last, "is the ten-fifty." He looked at her inquiringly. "The best train?" "For London." "What makes you think that I am interested in trains to London?" Eve bit her lip.
“ 我會留下來照顧你的。畢竟，吃的算什么呢？” “哦，忘了，”伊芙打斷道，“我還告訴她你是一個(gè)絕對的戒酒主義者。”又是一段沉默，而且這次比上次持續(xù)的時(shí)間更長。“最好的一班列車，”伊芙最后說到，“是明早10點(diǎn)50的。”他滿臉疑惑地看著她。“最好的一班列車？” “去倫敦的。” “你為什么覺得我對去倫敦的火車感興趣？”伊芙咬著嘴唇，沒有回答。
10. "Oh I remember too! I made another stupid mistake” said Eve again. “I told the cook you were devoted to parsnips. I'm sorry." Peter looked at her gravely. "I'm putting up with a lot for your sake," he said. "You needn't. Why don't you go away?" "I've got to take you away from this place. Honestly, it's killing you. I was watching you last night. You're scared. I'm going to stay on here till you say you'll marry me, or till they throw me out."
“哦，我又記想起一件事情！我還犯了另一個(gè)愚蠢的錯(cuò)誤”，伊芙再次開口了，“我告訴廚師你只喜歡吃歐洲防風(fēng)草。非常抱歉。”彼得嚴(yán)肅地看著她。 “我受夠你了，”他說。 “你不必這樣的。你為什么不直接離開？” “我必須帶你離開這個(gè)地方。老實(shí)說，這鬼地方會殺了你的。我昨晚發(fā)現(xiàn)，你很害怕。我會留在這里直到你說你會嫁給我，或者直到他們把我扔出去。”
11. “There are parsnips for dinner tonight," said Eve, softly. "Then I shall get to like them. They are an acquired taste, I expect. Perhaps I am, too. Perhaps I am the human parsnip, and you will have to learn to love me. So tomorrow, see you by the first train. I wonder how soon we can get married. Do you know anything about special licenses?"
“今天晚餐有歐洲防風(fēng)草，”伊芙溫柔地說。“然后，我會喜歡上這東西的。我很期待那種后天養(yǎng)成的口味。也許我也是如此。也許我就是人類中的歐洲防風(fēng)草，然后你必須學(xué)會去愛我。所以明天，我們一起乘第一班火車離開。我很想知道我們最快多久能結(jié)婚。你對特別許可了解嗎？”
12. She looked at him curiously. "You're very obstinate," she said. "Firm," he corrected. "Firm. Could you be ready for that ten-fifty tomorrow morning?" "I can't imagine why you are fond of me!" she said. "I've been very horrid to you." "Nonsense. You've been all that's sweet and womanly." "And I want to tell you why," she went on. "Your--your sister----"
她好奇地看著他。 “你個(gè)頑固的家伙，”她說。“堅(jiān)定，”他糾正道， “請堅(jiān)定地回答我，你做好準(zhǔn)備乘坐明天上午10點(diǎn)50分的火車了嗎？” “我無法想象你為什么喜歡我！” 她說，“我一直對你非常糟糕。” “別胡說，你一直都很甜，很有女人味。” “我想告訴你為什么，”她繼續(xù)說道。“是因?yàn)槟悖憬憬恪?br />13. "Ah, I thought as much!" "She--she saw that you seemed to be getting fond of me, and she----" "She would!" "Said some rather horrid things that--hurt," said Eve, in a low voice. Peter crossed over to where she sat and took her hand. "Don't you worry about her," he said. "She's not bad really, but about once every six months she needs a brotherly talking-to, or she gets above herself. I will have one with her in a few days." He stroke her hand. "Fasting," he said, thoughtfully, "clears and stimulates the brain. I fancy I shall be able to think out some rather special things to say to her this time."

“啊，果然不出所料！” “她……她發(fā)現(xiàn)你似乎很喜歡我，但她……”“的確如此！” “總是說一些相當(dāng)可怕的話……我受到傷害了，”伊芙低聲說道。彼得走到她坐的位置，握住她的手。“你不必?fù)?dān)心她，”他說，“她真的不壞，但大約每半年，她需要一次兄弟般的交談，否則她就會變得自以為是。我會和她單獨(dú)呆幾天。” 他輕輕撫摸著她的手。 “禁食，”他若有所思地說，“會刺激到你的大腦，并讓它變得一片空白。我想我這次可以對她說點(diǎn)兒特別的。”