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My brain, that precision instrument, slipped into high gear. "Anything?"
我的大腦，這部精密的儀器，立刻高速運轉。
I asked, looking at him narrowly.
我緊盯著他問：“什么都行?”
"Anything," he affirmed in ringing tones.
“什么都行！”他毫不猶豫。聲如銅鐘。
I stroked my chin thoughtfully. It so happened that I knew where to set my hands on a raccoon coat. My father had had one in his undergraduate days; it lay now in a trunk in the attic back home. It also happened that Petey had something I wanted. He didn't have it exactly, but at least he had first rights on it. I refer to his girl, Polly Espy.
我摸著下頜，思索。我還真知道哪兒能弄到浣熊皮大衣。我父親上大學的時候有一件，現(xiàn)在還在家里頂樓的箱子里存著。皮蒂有我想要的東西。他還不算擁有，可至少他搶先一步。我指的是他女朋友波莉·埃斯皮。
I had long coveted Polly Espy. Let me emphasize that my desire for this young woman was not emotional in nature. She was, to be sure, a girl who excited the emotions, but I was not one to let my heart rule my head. I wanted Polly for a shrewdly calculated, entirely cerebral reason.
我對波莉·埃斯皮垂涎已久。我要特別說明，我喜歡這位妙齡女孩并非出于沖動。雖然她確實讓人動情，可我絕不會讓情感沖昏頭腦。想得到波莉是經(jīng)過慎重考慮的，完全出于理性。
I was a freshman in law school. In a few years I would be out in practice. I was well aware of the importance of the right kind of wife in furthering a lawyer's career. The successful lawyers I had observed were, almost without exception, married to beautiful, gracious, intelligent women. With one omission, Polly fitted these specifications perfectly.
我是法學院新生，可過幾年就會出道。我明白一個合適的妻子對一個律師的前程有多重要。經(jīng)我觀察，所有成功的律師幾乎都毫無例外地要娶一個美麗、優(yōu)雅、聰慧的女子。波莉完全符合這些標準，可只差一點。
Beautiful she was. She was not yet of pin-up proportions, but I felt sure that time would supply the lack. She already had the makings.
她漂亮，可還趕不上封面女郎。我相信時間會彌補這一缺陷，因為她具備條件。
Gracious she was. By gracious I mean full of graces. She had an erectncss of carriage, an ease of bearing, a poise that clearly indicated the best of breeding. At table her manners were exquisite. I had seen her at the Kozy Kampus Korner eating the specialty of the house—a sandwich that contained scraps of pot roast, gravy, chopped nuts, and a dipper of sauerkraut—without even getting her fingers moist.
她優(yōu)雅，我是說特別優(yōu)雅。她亭亭玉立、體態(tài)優(yōu)雅，這一切都表明她出身高貴。進餐時，她行為雅致。我看見過她在“舒適的校園一角”如何享用名點：夾有多汁的燉肉片、碎核桃仁和德國泡菜的三明治。她吃完后居然手指都沒弄濕。
