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"And my mother," she blew the truth out of proportion, "comes from a very big family. A ruling family. If you British hadn't colonized us, my mother would have been princess now."
“我媽媽，”她夸大了事實，“她來自于一個大家族，一個統治家族。如果英國不在我們這里建立殖民地的話，我媽媽現在就是一個公主。”
ye walk like princess, he said.
“你走路很像一個公主，”他說。
What a gullble, silly boy! She wiped her forehead with her hand and said, "You mean I am conceited and proud?"
真是一個容易受騙又愚蠢的男孩！她用手摸了摸額頭說，“你的意思是我自負又驕傲？”
No, Ah didnae mean that, no. The packet of sugar he was tearing open tipped from his hand, its contents scattered over the table. "Ah shit… sorry…" He tried to scoop up the sugar and knocked against his office mug, spilling a little on the table.
“不，我不是那個意思，不是的……”撕開的糖包從他手上掉了下來，里面的糖撒的桌子上到處都是。“哦，糟糕……不好意思……”他試著把糖舀上來，卻又碰到了咖啡杯，里面的咖啡又灑到了桌子上一點。
She took a tissue from her bag, reached over and mopped up the stain. It was easy to pick up all the bits of sugar with the damp tissue.
她從包里拿出一張面巾紙，擦干了上面的污跡。用濕巾很容易就能把所有的糖拾起來。
"Thanks," he mumbled and they were silent. The cafeteria was busy: full of the humming, buzzing sound of people talking to each other, trays and dishes. In Khartoum, she avoided being alone with Fareed. She preferred it when they were with others: their families, their many mutual friends.
“謝謝，”他含糊地說，他們之間突然變得很安靜。咖啡館里很吵：到處都是嗡嗡聲，人們相互之間談話的嘈雜聲，以及托盤的聲音。在喀土穆，她避免和法瑞德單獨待在一起。她更喜歡他們倆和其他人在一起；和他們的家人，或他們共同的朋友。
Bryan was speaking to her, saying something about rowing on the River Dee. He went rowing on the weekends, he belonged to a rowing club.
布萊恩和她說了一些他在迪伊河上劃船的事情。他周末的時候去劃船，他是一個劃船俱樂部的成員。
To make herself pleasing to people was a skill Shadia was trained in. It was not difficult to please people. Agree with them, never dominate the conversation, be economical with the truth. Now here was someone to whom all these rules needn't apply.
莎迪雅很擅長讓別人感到愉快。愉悅別人并不難。同意別人說的話，不要控制談話，也不要完全說實話。但是現在面對的這個人，卻是不能使用這個規則的人了。
She said to him, "The Nile is superior to the Dee. I saw your Dee, it is nothing, it is like a stream. There are two Niles, the Blue and the White, named after their colours. They come from the south, from two different places. They travel for miles over countries with different names, never knowing they will meet. I think they get tired of running alone, it is such a long way to the sea. They want to reach the sea so that they can rest, stop running. There is a bridge in Khartoum, and under this bridge the two Niles meet. If you stand on the bridge and look down you can see the two waters mixing together."
她對他說，“尼羅河比迪伊河要好太多了，我見過你說的迪伊河，什么都不是，就像一條小溪樣。我們有兩條尼羅河，青尼羅河和白尼羅河，各自以它們的顏色命名。他們從南面的兩個不同的地方而來。他們流經不同的國家，卻不知道它們會相匯。我想它們厭倦了獨自流淌，因為流向大海還有好長的路要走。但它們想要流向大海，這樣就可以休息了，不再流淌。在喀土穆有一座橋，在橋下，這兩條尼羅河相匯了。如果你站在橋上向下看，你可以看到兩條河交匯在了一起。”
Do you get homesick? he asked.
“你是不是想家了？”他問。
Things I should miss I don't miss. Instead I miss things didn't think I would miss. The azan, the muezzin call to prayer from the mosque. I don't know if you know about it. I miss that. At dawn it used to wake me up.
“我本應該思念的東西我并沒有思念，而我本以為不會思念的東西我卻很想念。我想念宣禮者從清真寺發出的唱禮。我不知道你是否了解它。在黎明的時候，它呼喚我起床。
