评论
打印
"Promise me," he said, "that you'll get along with everyone. You can never have too many friends." And Lydia closed her eyes and nodded.
“答应我，”他说，“你要和大家和睦相处。朋友再多也不嫌多。”莉迪亚闭上眼睛点了点头。
The next day, in honor of her birthday, she wore the necklace, as her father suggested.
第二天，为了庆祝她的生日，她按照父亲的建议戴上了项链。
"Right after school," James told her, "I'll take you over to get your permit and we'll have our first driving lesson before dinner."
“放学后，”詹姆斯对她说，“我带你去申请驾驶许可证，晚饭前我们要上第一节课。”
Her mother said, "And after dinner, we'll have cake. And I've got some special presents for the birthday girl." Which meant books, Lydia thought.
她妈妈说：“晚饭后，我们会吃蛋糕。我有一些特别的礼物送给寿星。”莉迪亚想，礼物大概会是书。
That night Nath would pack his suitcase. All day she consoled herself: In six hours, I will have my permit. In two weeks, I will be able to drive away.
那天晚上，纳将收拾行李。她一整天都在安慰自己：再过六个小时，我就能拿到许可证了。两周后，我就可以开车离开了。
At three o'clock, her father pulled up in front of the school, but when Lydia picked up her bookbag and started for the sedan, she was surprised to see someone already in the passenger seat: a Chinese woman—a girl, really—with long black hair.
三点钟的时候，她父亲把车停在学校前面，可是当莉迪亚拿起书包朝车走去时，她惊讶地发现有人已经坐在了副驾上：一个中国女人，一个黑色长发的女孩。
"So nice to finally meet you," the girl said as Lydia climbed into the backseat. "I'm Louisa, your dad's teaching assistant."
“很高兴终于见到你了，”莉迪亚爬上后座时，那个女孩说。“我是路易莎，你爸爸的助教。”
James paused the car to let a cluster of junior boys meander across the street.
詹姆斯停下车，让一群低年级的男孩缓步穿过街道。
"Louisa has an appointment and since I was coming this way anyway, I offered her a ride."
“路易莎有个预约，我顺路载她一程。”
"I shouldn't have said yes," Louisa said. "I should have just canceled it. I hate the dentist."
“我不该答应的，”路易莎说。“我应该取消预约的。我讨厌牙医。”
As he crossed in front of the car, one of the juniors grinned at them through the windshield and pulled his eyes into slits with his fingers.
一个低年级男孩走到汽车前面时，隔着挡风玻璃对他们咧嘴一笑，做出“眯眯眼”手势。
The others laughed, and Lydia scrunched down in her seat. It occurred to her: the boys probably thought Louisa was her mother.
其他男孩都笑了，莉迪亚在座位上缩成一团。她突然想到：男孩子们可能以为路易莎是她的母亲。
Squirming, she wondered if her father was embarrassed, too, but in the front seat, James and Louisa hadn't noticed a thing.
她局促不安，不知道父亲是否也感到尴尬，但前排的詹姆斯和路易莎什么也没注意到。
"Ten bucks says you don't even have one cavity," James said. "Five," Louisa said. "I'm just a poor grad student, not a rich professor."
詹姆斯说：“10美元就等于你连一个蛀牙都没有。”“五美元，”路易莎说。“我只是一个贫穷的研究生，不是一个有钱的教授。”
She patted his arm playfully, and the tenderness in her face shocked Lydia.
她开玩笑地拍拍他的胳膊，莉迪亚见她脸上那么温柔，不由得吃了一惊。
Her mother looked at her father this way, late at night, when he was caught up in his reading and she leaned against his armchair affectionately, before nudging him to bed.
母亲也会这样看着父亲，在深夜，当他埋头读书时，她深情地倚在他的扶手椅上，然后把他推到床上。
Louisa's hand lingered on her father's arm and Lydia stared at them, her father and this girl, cozy in the front seat like a little married couple, a tableau framed by the bright screen of the windshield, and she thought suddenly: This girl is sleeping with my father.
路易莎的手还挽着父亲的胳膊，莉迪亚两眼瞪着她们，她的父亲和这个女孩舒适地坐在前排座位上，就像一对小夫妻，挡风玻璃的明亮屏幕框住了这一画面，她突然想到：这个女孩和我父亲睡在一起。
It had never occurred to her before to think of her father as a man with desires.
她以前从来没有想到父亲是一个有欲望的人。
Like all teenagers, she preferred—despite her very existence—to imagine her parents as eternally chaste.
像所有的青少年一样，她更喜欢把父母想象成永远纯洁的。
But there was something in the way her father and Louisa touched, in their easy banter, that shocked her innocent sensibilities.
但父亲和路易莎轻松的谈笑中所流露出的某些东西，使她那天真的情感受到了震动。
To her, the faint crackle between them blazed so hotly that her cheeks flushed. They were lovers. She was sure of it.
在她看来，他们之间微弱的噼啪声如此炽热，连她的脸都红了。他们是恋人。她对此深信不疑。
Louisa's hand was still on her father's arm and her father didn't move, as if the caress were nothing unusual.
路易莎的手还挽着父亲的胳膊，父亲一动也不动，仿佛这种抚摸并不奇怪似的。
In fact, James did not even notice: Marilyn often rested her hand on him just this way, and the feeling was too familiar to stand out.
其实詹姆斯甚至没有注意到：玛丽琳经常这样把手放在他身上，这种感觉太熟悉了，以至于不显眼。
For Lydia, however, the way her father kept looking straight ahead, eyes still scanning the road, was all the confirmation she needed.
可是，对莉迪亚来说，父亲一直直视前方，眼睛还在扫视着路面，这就是她所需要确认的一切。
"So I hear it's your birthday today," Louisa said, twisting toward the backseat again. "Sixteen. I'm sure this will be a very special year for you."
“我听说今天是你的生日，”路易莎说着，扭向后座。“十六岁。我相信今年对你来说会是非常特别的一年。”
Lydia didn't respond, and Louisa tried again. "Do you like your necklace? I helped pick it out. Your dad asked my advice on what you might like."
莉迪亚没有回答，路易莎又试了一次。“你喜欢你的项链吗？我帮忙挑的。你爸爸问我你可能会喜欢什么。”
Lydia hooked two fingers beneath the chain, fighting the urge to yank it from her neck. "How would you know what I like? You don't even know me."
莉迪亚用两根手指勾住项链，竭力克制着想把它从脖子上扯下来的冲动。“你怎么知道我喜欢什么？你根本不认识我。”
Louisa blinked. "I had some ideas. I mean, I've heard so much about you from your dad."
路易莎眨了眨眼睛。“我有一些想法。我的意思是，我从你爸爸那里听说了很多关于你的事。”
Lydia looked her directly in the eye. "Really," she said. "Daddy's never mentioned you."
莉迪亚直视着她的眼睛，说：“真的吗？但爸爸从没提起过你。”
"Come on, Lyddie," James said, "you've heard me talk about Louisa. How smart she is. How she never lets those undergrads get away with anything."
“别这样，莉迪，”詹姆斯说，“你听我说过路易莎。她真聪明。她从不让那些本科生逍遥法外。”
He smiled at Louisa, and Lydia's vision blurred. "Daddy, where did you drive after you got your license?" she asked suddenly.
他朝路易莎笑了笑，莉迪亚的视线模糊了。“爸爸，你拿到驾照后开车去了哪里？”她突然问道。
