Reading-2017.11.08

A lonely blackbird, sitting in a Mediterranean pine, sang a few notes that were immediately drowned out by the rattle of the cicadas.

一只孤独的黑乌鸦，正站在地中海松上，唱出几个音符，随即又被吱吱呀呀的蝉鸣淹没。

The water was insufficiently cold, not fizzy enough, leaving behind an unslaked likeness of thirst.

水不够冷。气泡不够多。空留下未被满足的渴。

What did one do around here?

Nothing. Wait for summer to end.

What did one do in the winter, then?

I smiled at the answer I was about to give. He got the gist and said," Don't tell me: wait for summer to come, right?"

人们都在这里做什么？

没什么。等着夏天结束。

那人们又在冬天做什么？

我因为自己要给出的答案而情不自禁的发笑。他明白了我的回答，说道，“先别告诉我——等着夏天来临，是吗？”

I liked having my mind read. He'd pick up on dinner drudgery sooner than those before him.

我喜欢被看穿心思。他比之前的来访者更早地熟悉了“正餐苦差”。

He was teasing. I offered the same smile as before. He understood, said nothing, we laughed.

他在戏弄我。我露出与之前一样的笑容。他明白了，什么话也没接，我们一起笑了起来。

He asked what I did. I played tennis. Swan. Went out at night. Jogged. Transcribed music. Read.

他问我一般都做些什么。打网球。游泳。晚上出去。慢跑。改编曲子。读书。

It hit me in the face just when I was starting to like him again:" Later, maybe."

当我重新开始喜欢这个人的时候，他又迎面给我狠狠一击。“回头再说，或许。”

I had put reading last on my list, thinking that, with the willful, brazen attitude he'd displayed so far, reading would figure last on his.

我把阅读放在名单的最后，是想着至今为止表现出如此任性又无耻的态度的人，阅读应该放在他名单的最末位。

A few hours later, when I remembered that he had just finished writing a book on Heraclitus and that "reading" was probably not an insignificant part of his life. I realised that I needed to perform some clever back-pedalling and let him know that my real interests lay right alongside his.

几个小时后，当我记起他刚完成了一本关于赫拉克利特的书，“阅读”或许不是他生命中微不足道的一部分。我意识到我该表现得聪明点，采取些补救，让他知道我的真实兴趣与他的相差无几。

With unsettled me, though, was not the fancy footwork needed to redeem myself. It was the unwelcome misgiving with which it finally dawned on me, both then and during our casual conversation by the train tracks, that I had all along, without seeming to, without even admitting it, already been trying - and failing - to win him over.

但让我困扰不安的不是替自己扳回一城的复杂的技巧。而是怕那不受欢迎的疑惑最终会让我明白，像刚才和我们在火车轨道上随意的聊天时一样，我一直以来在不露痕迹，甚至不愿去承认的努力想要赢取他的好感——尽管徒劳无功。

I thought I'd bring him around simply by taking him up there and letting him take in the view of the town, the sea, eternity. But no. Later!

我以为我能通过带他来到塔顶，让他去看镇子上，海边，看着这些永恒的景致，就能取得他的认同。但是没有。回头再说！