評論
打印
"What do you mean you can't? If you go into any large department store…"
“你說你不行是什么意思？如果你去大商店……”
You can get good things, things that aren't available here. Gold would be good. It would match…
“你可以買到這里買不到的好東西。金子就很好。它很配……”
Gold. Gold toilet seats!
金子，金子做得馬桶座圈！
"Shadia, gold-coloured, not gold. It's smart."
“莎迪雅，是金色的，不是金子做的。它看起來很好。”
"Allah is going to punish us for this, it's not right…"
“真主阿拉會懲罰我們的，這樣是不對的……”
"Since when have you become so religious!"
“你什么時候變得如此虔誠！”
Bryan was waiting for her on the steps of the museum, familiar-looking against the strange grey of the city streets where cars had their headlamps on in the middle of the afternoon. He wore a different shirt, navy-blue jacket. He said, not looking at her, "Ah was beginning to think you wouldnae turn up."
布萊恩在博物館的臺階上等她，熟悉的樣子，剛到下午，城市街道就呈現(xiàn)一片灰蒙蒙的景象，車都已經(jīng)打開了前車燈。他穿了一件不同的外衣，一件海軍藍的夾克衫。他說，沒有看著她，“一開始我還以為你不會出現(xiàn)了。”
There was no entry fee to the museum, no attendant handing out tickets. The first thing they saw was a Scottish man from Victorian times. He sat on a chair surrounded by possessions from Africa: overflowing trucks, an ancient map strewn on the floor of the glass cabinet. Shadia turned away; there was an ugliness in the lifelike wispiness of his hair, his determined expression, the biway he sat. A hero who had gone away and come back, laden, ready to report.
到博物館參觀是免費的，服務(wù)人員也沒有在門口發(fā)票。他們看到的第一件展品是維多利亞時代的一個蘇格蘭男人。他坐在一張椅子上，周圍是他從非洲帶回來的財產(chǎn)：裝滿物品的卡車，一張古老的地圖攤在玻璃柜底部。莎迪雅把頭扭了過去，他那逼真的一縷一縷的頭發(fā)，他那堅定的表情以及坐姿都透著一種丑陋。一個剛剛出去的男人又返回來了，準(zhǔn)備做講解。
Bryan began to conscientiously study every display cabinet, to read the poster ron the wall. She followed him around and thought that he was studious, careful; that was why he did so well in his degree. She watched the intent expression on his face as he looked at everything. For her the posters were an ffort to read, the information difficult to take in.
布萊恩開始認(rèn)真地研究每一件展品，閱讀墻上的海報。她跟在他身后，覺得他很認(rèn)真、專心；這就是為什么他學(xué)習(xí)這么好。她看著他看每一件東西時臉上專心的表情。對她來說，墻上的海報勉強可以閱讀一下，但是卻難以接受里面的信息。
During the 18th and 19th centuries, northeast Scotland made a portionate impact on the world at large by contributing so many skilled and committed individuals. In serving an empire they gave and received, changed others and were themselves changed and often returned home with tangible reminders of their experiences.
在19世紀(jì)和20世紀(jì)，蘇格蘭東北部出了大量具有專業(yè)技能、敬業(yè)的人士，對整個世界做出了超出它人口比例的重大貢獻。在服務(wù)于帝國的過程中，他們做出了犧牲，也得到了回報；他們改變了他人，同時也改變了自己；他們回國時經(jīng)常帶回一些紀(jì)念他們經(jīng)歷的物品。
The tangible reminders were there to see, preserved in spite of the years. Her eyes skimmed over the disconnected objects out of place and time. Iron and copper, little statues. Nothing was of her, nothing belonged to her life at home, what she missed. Here was Europe's vision, the cliches about Africa: cold and old.
這些實物時刻都在那里供人們參觀，經(jīng)過這么多年，依舊保存得十分完好。她的眼睛略去那些與時間、空間毫無關(guān)聯(lián)的物品。鐵和銅，小型雕像。沒有什么東西是她希望看到的，是屬于她在家里的生活的，是她所思念的。這是歐洲人心目中的非洲，都是些冷漠無情的、老掉牙的陳詞濫調(diào)。
