1. One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo’s fashionable Harajuku neighbourhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl. Tell you the truth, she’s not that good-looking. She doesn’t stand out in any way. Her clothes are nothing special. The back of her hair is still bent out of shape from sleep. But still, I know from fifty yards away: She’s the 100% perfect girl for me. The moment I see her, there’s a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert. All I can remember about her for sure is that she was no great beauty. It’s weird.
一個美麗的四月清晨，在東京市內(nèi)時尚的原宿區(qū)的一條狹窄的小路上，我從一位100％完美的女孩身邊經(jīng)過。說實話，她并不那么漂亮，各個方面都不是那么出眾，穿著普通，頭發(fā)散落在身后，還保持著睡醒后翹起的狀態(tài)。但是，從距離她50碼遠的地方我就知道——她是我心目中100％完美女孩。看到她的那一刻，我的胸口“咯噔”一顫，口中像沙漠一樣干涸。我對她的所有記憶中唯一確信無疑的是，她并非一個大美人——這很奇怪。
2. She’s walking east to west, and I west to east. It’s a really nice April morning. Wish I could talk to her. Half an hour would be plenty: just ask her about herself, tell her about myself, and - what I’d really like to do. After talking, we’d have lunch somewhere, maybe see a Woody Allen movie, stop by a hotel bar for cocktails.
她從東走向西，我從西走向東。這真是一個非常美妙的四月清晨。我希望我能跟她說會兒話，半小時就足夠了——只問問關(guān)于她的事情，告訴她關(guān)于我的事情，再跟她說說我真正的興趣愛好。然后，我們再找個地方共進午餐，或許再看上一場伍迪·艾倫的電影，順便在酒店的酒吧里喝杯雞尾酒。
3. Now the distance between us has narrowed to fifteen yards. How can I approach her? What should I say? “Good morning, miss. Do you think you could spare half an hour for a little conversation?” Ridiculous. I’d sound like an insurance salesman. “Pardon me, but would you happen to know if there is an all-night cleaner in the neighbourhood?” No, this is just as ridiculous. I’m not carrying any laundry, for one thing. Who’s going to buy a line like that?
現(xiàn)在我們之間的距離已經(jīng)縮小到15碼。我怎么才能接近她？我該說些什么？“小姐，早上好。您能抽出半個小時咱們簡單談?wù)剢幔俊边@太荒謬了。我聽起來就像個賣保險的。“打擾一下，您知不知道附近有沒有通宵營業(yè)的洗衣店？”還是算了吧，這簡直太荒謬了。首先，我又沒帶著任何要洗的衣服。誰會相信我這樣的鬼話？
4. Maybe the simple truth would do? “Good morning. You are the 100% perfect girl for me.” No, she wouldn’t believe it. Or even if she did, she might not want to talk to me. Sorry, she could say, I might be the 100% perfect girl for you, but you’re not the 100% boy for me. It could happen. And if I found myself in that situation, I’d probably go to pieces. I’d never recover from the shock. I’m thirty-two, and that’s what growing older is all about.
直截了當?shù)匕褜嵡檎f出來或許可行？——“早上好。您是我心目中100％完美的女孩。”不，她不會相信的。或者，即使她真的相信了，她也不會想和我說話的。“對不起，”她可能會這么說，“雖然我可能是你心目中100％完美的女孩，但你并非我心目中100％完美的男孩。這種事情是可能發(fā)生的。而且，當我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己身處這樣的狀況時，我可能會崩潰，而且再也無法恢復(fù)過來。我已經(jīng)32歲了，這個年紀的人已經(jīng)經(jīng)不起這樣的打擊了。
5. I take a few more strides and turn: She’s lost in the crowd. Now, of course, I know exactly what I should have said to her. It would have been a long speech, though, far too long for me to have delivered it properly. It would have started “Once upon a time” and ended “A sad story, don’t you think?”
我又往前走了幾步，然后轉(zhuǎn)過身來——她已消失在人群中。當然，此時，我已經(jīng)確切地知道我本應(yīng)該對她說些什么的。不過，我的話會很長，長到我無法把這些話說明白。可能會是這樣的開頭：“從前”，然后以“一個悲傷的故事結(jié)尾，你不這樣認為嗎？”
6. Once upon a time, there lived a boy and a girl. The boy was eighteen and the girl sixteen. He was not unusually handsome, and she was not especially beautiful. They were just an ordinary lonely boy and an ordinary lonely girl, like all the others. But they believed with their whole hearts that somewhere in the world there lived the 100% perfect boy and the 100% perfect girl for them. Yes, they believed in a miracle. And that miracle actually happened.
從前有一個男孩和一個女孩。男孩18歲，女孩16歲。他不是很帥，她也不是特別漂亮。他們只是一對普通而又寂寞的男孩和女孩，跟其他人沒什么兩樣。但是，他們一心相信，世界上的某個地方生活著他們自己心目中100％完美的男孩和100％完美的女孩。是的，他們相信奇跡的存在。而且，奇跡也確實發(fā)生了。

7. One day the two came upon each other on the corner of a street. “This is amazing,” he said. “I’ve been looking for you all my life. You may not believe this, but you’re the 100% perfect girl for me.” “And you,” she said to him, “are the 100% perfect boy for me, exactly as I’d pictured you in every detail. It’s like a dream.”
一天，他們兩人在一條街的拐角處相遇。“這太神奇了，”他說，“我一生都在尋找你。你可能不相信，但你是我心目中100％完美的女孩。”“而，你，”她對他說，“也是我心目中100％完美的男孩，你的每個細節(jié)都跟我想象中一模一樣。就像做夢一樣。”
8. Then, the boy said to the girl, “Let’s test ourselves - just once. If we really are each other’s 100% perfect lovers, then sometime, somewhere, we will meet again without fail. And when that happens, and we know that we are the 100% perfect ones, we’ll marry then and there. What do you think?” “Yes,” she said, “that is exactly what we should do.” And so they parted, she to the east, and he to the west.
然后，男孩對女孩說：“我們來測試一下我們自己，僅一次。如果我們真的是彼此100％完美的戀人，那么我們肯定會在未來某個時間某個地點再次相遇。如果是這樣，我們就知道我們是100％完美的一對，然后我們就在那個時間那個地點結(jié)婚。你覺得怎么樣？”“可以，“她說，”這正是我們應(yīng)該做的。”于是，他們分開了，她向東，他向西。
9. The test they had agreed upon, however, was utterly unnecessary and the worst plan ever. For one winter, both the boy and the girl came down with the season’s terrible influenza, and after drifting for weeks between life and death they lost all memory of their earlier years.
然而，他們約定的這個測試完全是沒有必要的，甚至可以說是最糟糕的計劃。一年冬天，男孩和女孩都患上了可怕的季節(jié)性流感。幾周的生死掙扎過后，他們都失憶了，早年的記憶統(tǒng)統(tǒng)蕩然無存。
10. Time passed with shocking swiftness, and soon the boy was thirty-two, the girl thirty. One beautiful April morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking from west to east, while the girl, intending to send a special-delivery letter, was walking from east to west, but along the same narrow street in the Harajuku neighbourhood of Tokyo. They passed each other in the very centre of the street.
時間飛逝，很快男孩32了，女孩也30了。一個美麗的四月清晨，男孩從西向東走來，正在尋找一杯咖啡開始新的一天；與此同時，女孩從東向西走來，正打算去寄一封快遞信件。他們沿著東京原宿區(qū)的同一條小街相對而行，卻在街道的正中央彼此擦肩而過。
11. The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts. Each felt a rumbling in their chest. And they knew: She is the 100% perfect girl for me. He is the 100% perfect boy for me. But the glow of their memories was far too weak, and their thoughts no longer had the clarity of fourteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed each other, disappearing into the crowd. Forever. A sad story, don’t you think? Yes, that’s it, that is what I should have said to her.
剎那間，他們那段失去的記憶在各自的心中泛起了極其微弱的光芒。他們的胸口同時“咯噔”一顫。他們意識到——她是我心目中100％完美的女孩；他是我心目中100％完美的男孩。但他們記憶的光芒太過微弱了，他們的內(nèi)心對彼此的感覺已不再像14年前那樣清晰。他們一聲不吭地彼此走過，消失在人群中。從此再也沒有相遇。這是一個傷感的故事，你不覺得嗎？是的，這就是故事的全部，這就是我應(yīng)該對她說的。