迟到的情书(3)

　　After that I would often slip away to the little cottage by the mealie lands. Once she was somewhat disappointed on hearing that we had decided 1 to wait for two years before getting married, but when she learned that my father and mother were both pleased with the match she seemed reassured 2.

　　从那以后，我常常到那所位于玉米地边的小屋。有一次，当斯蒂菲娜老姑听说我们决定再过两年结婚时，露出了失望的神色，但一听说我的父母亲都对这门亲事满意时，她又放宽了心。

　　Still, she often appeared anxious about my love affair, and would ask questions that seemed to me strange, almost as though she feared that something would happen to destroy my romance 3. But I was quite unprepared for her outburst when I mentioned that George thought of paying a lightning visit to England before we were married."He must not do it,"she cried."Ina, you must not let him go. Promise me you will prevent him."she was trembling all over. I did what I could to console 4 her, but she looked so tired and pale that I persuaded her to go to her room and rest, promising 5 to return the next day.

　　但她对我的婚姻大事还是经常挂在嘴边。她常常问一些怪怪的问题，几乎像担心我的婚事会告吹一样。当我提到乔治打算在婚前匆匆回一趟国时，她竟激动了起来。只见她浑身哆嗦着大声嚷道："他不能回去！爱娜！你不能放他走，你得答应我不放他走！"我尽力安慰她，但她还是显得萎靡不振。我只得劝她回屋休息，并答应第二天再去看她。

　　When I arrived I found her sitting on the stoep. She looked lonely and pathetic 6, and for the first time I wondered why no man had ever taken her and looked after her and loved her. Mother had told me that Great-aunt Stephina had been lovely as a young girl, and although no trace of that beauty remained, except perhaps in her brown eyes, yet she looked so small and appealing that any man, one felt, would have wanted to protect her.

　　我第二天去看她时，她正坐在屋前的门廊上，流露出抑郁孤寂的神情。我第一次感到纳闷：以前怎么没有人娶她、照料和爱抚她呢？记得母亲曾经说过，斯蒂菲娜老姑以前曾是一个楚楚可爱的小姑娘。尽管除了她那褐色的眼睛尚能保留一点昔日的风韵之外，她的美貌早已荡然无存。但她看上去还是那样小巧玲珑、惹人爱怜，引起男人们的惜香怜玉之情。 　　She paused, as though she did not quite know how to begin.
Then she seemed to give herself, mentally, a little shake. "You must have wondered ", she said, "why I was so upset at the thought of young George's going to England without you. I am an old woman, and perhaps I have the silly fancies of the old, but I should like to tell you my own love story, and then you can decide whether it is wise for your man to leave you before you are married."

　　我走到她的跟前。她拍着身边的椅子，淡淡一笑。"坐下吧，亲爱的，"她说，"我有话要告诉你。"她欲言又止，好像不知道话从何说起似的。接着，她仿佛振作了起来。她说："我听你说乔治要回国，又不带你走，心里非常不安。我这份心事你是不明白的。我是一个老婆子了，大概还怀着老人们的那颗痴心吧。不过，我想把自己的爱情故事讲给你听。这样你就能明白在你们结婚之前让你的未婚夫离开你，是不是一个明智之举。"

　　"I was quite a young girl when I first met Richard Weston. He was an Englishman who boarded with the Van Rensburgs on the next farm, four or five miles from us. Richard was not strong. He had a weak chest, and the doctors had sent him to South Africa so that the dry air could cure him. He taught the Van Rensburg children, who were younger than I was, though we often played together, but he did this for pleasure and not because he needed money.

　　"我第一次遇见理查德·威斯顿时还是一个年轻姑娘。他是一个英国人，寄宿在我家附近四、五英里一个农场上的范·伦斯堡家里。他身体不好，胸闷气短。医生让他去南非让干燥的气候治好他的病。他教伦斯堡的孩子们念书，他们都比我小，尽管我们经常在一块玩。理查德是以教书为乐，并不是为了赚钱。