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She cooked dinner for him once in June. He expected her to be proud of her ability to do everything from her seat in the wheelchair—and was faintly disappointed to see that she would not feel pride at what was, for her, simply a matter of course. He watched his own hand pick up the salt shaker and place it on one of the higher unused shelves, and awaited her plea for assistance. He didn't know why he'd done it, but the look in her eyes made him realize how cruel his prank was. To make her forget what he'd done, he told her about the little white bird in the park.
6月里，她曾為他燒過一頓晚餐。她坐在輪椅上樣樣事情都能做，他以為她會為此而自豪的，但她僅僅把這視為一件理所當然的事，并無自豪感可言。發現這一點后，他不免有些悵然若失。他望著自己的手拿起鹽瓶，把它放到一塊較高的、不常用的碗柜擱板上，然后等著她請求幫助。他不明白自己為什么要這樣做，但她的眼神讓他意識到，他的惡作劇有多么殘酷。為了讓她忘掉他剛才的蠢行，他跟她談起了公園里的那只小白鳥。
"I've seen it, too," she said. "I read a poem once about a little white bird that came to rest on a windowsill and the lady who lived in the house began to put out food for it. Soon the lady fell in love, but it was a mismatched love. Every day the little bird came to the window and the lady put out food. When the love affair was over, the little white bird never returned, but the woman went on putting out the crumbs every day for years and the wind just blew them away."
“我也看見了，”她說。“我曾經讀過一首詩，詩中的小白鳥經常飛來棲息在一戶人家的窗臺上，女主人開始拿出食物喂它。很快，女主人便愛上了這只鳥兒，可這場愛戀并不般配。小鳥每天飛到窗前，女主人便每天捧出食物。戀情結束之后，小白鳥一去不返，可女主人連著幾年日復一日地把面包屑放到窗臺上，任風把它們吹走。”
In July he took her boating frequently. The most awkward event, she felt, was getting in and out of the boat. For Charles, however, these "freight handlings," as she came to call it, seemed to be the highlight of the outings. In the boat she felt helpless, unable to move around, sitting in one spot. Also, she was unable to swim, should the boat turn over. Charles didn't observe her discomfort; she did note how much he enjoyed being in control. When he called for her one day in early August, she refused to.
7月里，他時常帶她去劃船。最令她感到不自在的是只能由查爾斯把她抱上抱下，她稱之為“貨物裝卸”。但對查爾斯而言，那樣的時刻仿佛就是他們戶外活動的最精彩部分。她在船上感到很無助，只能坐在一個地方，沒法四處活動。而且如果翻船，她可不會游泳。查爾斯對她的不安不予體察。她卻發現了他是多么喜歡控制別人。8月初的一天，他來喊她去劃船，她說什么也不肯去。
