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"Sunny and Johnston don't know sbout it," he said. "None of the people know that we met since we moved. It seemed as if it might work better that way. Even the other kids—they don't hardly ever mention him. Never mention his name."
“賽妮和約翰斯頓并不知道這件事?！彼f，“從我們搬走之后認識的人中沒人知道這些。好像這樣更好一些。甚至其他孩子——他們幾乎不曾再提起他，從來不提他的名字?！?/div>
I was not one of the people among whom they would make their new, hard, normal life. I was a person who knew—that was all. A person he had, on his own, who knew.
我不屬于那些他們可以結交到的、可以展開他們嶄新而又艱難的普通生活的朋友。我是了解他一切的人，一個他自己擁有的、了解他的朋友。
While we were driving back, Mike and I both noticed, and spoke about, al prickling, an itch or burning, on our bare forearms, the backs of our hands, and around our ankles. Places that had not been protected by our clothing when we crouched in the weeds. I remembered the nettles. But those plants with the big pinkish-purple flowers are not nettles. I have since discoveied that they are called joe-pye weed. The stinging nettles that we must have got into are more insignificant plants, with stalks wickedly outfitted with fine, fierce, skin-piercing and inflaming spines.
當我們駕車返回時，我和麥克都注意到并大聲地說起我們赤裸的前臂、手背和腳踝都有種灼癢和刺痛感。這都是我們蹲在雜草地里時沒有衣服保護的部分。我記起了那些蕁麻。但那些有著碩大的粉紫色的花的植物并不是蕁麻。我后來才發現它們叫斑莖澤蘭。我們一定是進到帶刺的蕁麻叢里了。這些蕁麻是些更不起眼兒的植物，它們的莖上陰險地長滿著細細的、鋒利的能劃破人皮膚并能引起發炎的小刺。
Sitting in Sunny's farmhouse kitchen, we told about out adventure and revealed our rashes. Sunny knew what to do for us. On an earlier weekend the boys had gone down into the weedy field behind the barn and come back covered with welts and blotches. Cold compresses were prescribed and antihistamine lotion, and pills. There was still part of a bottle of lotion left and there were some pills, too.
坐在賽妮的農舍廚房里，我們講述了我們的歷險，還展示了我們起的疹子。賽妮知道該為我們做些什么了。以前有一個周末，男孩兒都跑到空地后的雜草地里去，回來時滿身污漬和傷痕。大夫吩咐將傷口冷敷，又開了抗組胺藥膏和一些藥片?，F在仍剩著不到一瓶藥水和一些藥片。
The children thought it was funny to see us sitting there with out feet in basins, our arms and hands clumsy with their wrappings of thick cloths. Claire especially was delighted with the sight of our naked, foolish, adult feet. Mike wriggled his long toes for her, and she broke into fits of alarmed giggles.
孩子們看見我們坐在那，雙腳泡在盤里，手和胳膊厚厚地纏著紗布，覺得滑稽極了?？巳R爾看見我們光著的大腳尤其高興。邁克用長腳趾向她慢慢靠近，她就猛地發出一陣警覺似的咯咯的笑聲。
Well. It would be the same old thing, if we never met again. Or if we didn't. Love that was not usable, that knew its place. Not risking a thing yet staying alive as a sweet trickle, an underground resource. With the weight of this new stillness on it, this seal.
如果我們能再見的話，也會有同樣的結果。愛是不可隨便使用的，它清楚自己的位置。愛無須冒風險，它像一股涓涓的甘泉，一份埋在地下的寶藏，永葆鮮活的生命力。
I never asked Sunny for news of him or got any, during all the years of our dwindling friendship.
在我們的友誼逐漸淡化的那些歲月里，我沒有再向賽妮詢問，也沒有得到過任何關于他的消息。
