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My ignorance did not matter—of course, I did not really have to caddy—and I was not bored. All there was for me to do was to follow him around and watch him.
我對高爾夫的無知并沒什么——當然，我也沒真的去拿什么球袋——我沒覺得乏味。我所有要做的事就是跟著他轉轉并看著他。
Walking, we hardly talked at all. At some point, Mike looked along the length of the course, to where the clouds had changed color, becoming dark blue instead of white, and he said without particular alarm or disappointment, "Here comes our weather." He began methodically to pack up and fasten his bag.
一直走著，我們幾乎沒說什么。有時候，邁克沿著球場望去，望到云彩由深藍變白的地方，然后他無警示或失望地說：“那種天氣來了。”他便開始有條不紊地收拾他的包。
We were then about as far away as we could be from the clubhouse. Birds were wheeling about overhead in an agitated, indecisive way. The tops of the trees were swaying and there was a sound—it seemed to be above us—like the sound of a wave full of stones, crashing on the beach. Mike said,"O.K., then. We better get in here," and took my hand and hurried us across the mown grass into bushes and the tall weeds that grew between the course and the river.
我們不久便盡可能地遠離了俱樂部。鳥兒們在頭上不安且猶豫地盤旋著。樹冠開始搖晃起來，并發出聲音——仿佛就在我們頭頂——那聲音就像是卷著石塊的海浪沖擊著海灘。邁克說，“那好吧，我們最好到這來。”他拉著我的手匆忙穿過干草堆沖進灌木叢和高高的野草里。
The bushes right at the edge of the grass looked impenetrable, but close up there were little openings, the narrow paths that animals or people looking for golf balls had made. The ground sloped slightly downward, and we could see a bit of the river. The water was steel gray, and looked to be rolling. Between it and us there was a meadow of weeds, all in bloom—goldenrod, jewelweed with his red-and-yellow bells, and what I thought were flowering nettles with pinkish-purple clusters, and wild asters. Even the most frail-stemmed, delicate-looking plants had grown up almost as high as, or higher than, our heads. When we stopped and looked up through them we could see something coming, from the direction of the midnight clouds. It was the I behind the splatter we were getting. It looked as if a large portion of the sky had detached itself and was bearing down, bustling and resolute, taking a not quite recognizable but animate shape. Curtains of rain—not veils but relly thick and wildly slapping curtains—were driven ahead of it. We could see them distinctly, when all we were feeling were light, lazy drops. It was almost as if we were looking through a window, and not quite believing that the window would shatter, until it did, and rain and wind hit us, all together, and my hair was lifted and fanned out above my head. I felt as if my skin might do that next.
緊挨著草地邊上的灌木叢看上去似乎無法穿過，但是從近距離可以看到一些小缺口和窄窄的小徑，這是被動物或者找高爾夫球的人們踩出來的。地面微微向下傾斜，我們能看見一點點河水。河水呈現出鋼鐵般的鉛灰色，似乎正在翻滾著。我們與河水間是一片雜草地，生機盎然——秋麒麟，帶著紅黃鈴鐺般的鳳仙花，我腦子里盡是略帶粉紅色及紫色的一蔟簇盛開的蕁麻和野翠菊。甚至根莖最脆弱看起來很纖細的植物也長得和我們一樣高或者高出我們的頭頂。當我們停下腳步，抬頭從這些植物中望出去時，我們發現猶如午夜的云彩里某樣東西正在靠近。是真正的雨，緊隨噼噼啪啪的雨點而來。看上去，一大片天空掉下來了，震耳欲聾地、勢不可擋地壓向地面，那形狀雖然不能具體描述，但像是一個活物。瓢潑大雨——不是毛毛細雨，而是狂風暴雨——在那之前席卷而來。當我們倆都感覺到輕輕慵懶的雨點時，我們就能清楚地看到它們。就好像我們正在透過一扇窗子望過去，且直到窗子真的碎了，風雨開始侵襲我們時才相信這一切。我的頭發被攪得一團糟，我覺得好像我的皮膚接下來也會變成那樣。
