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It had taken him some time, this gift, and he was proud of it. He had gone so far as to ask Louisa for advice on what a teenage girl might like, and this time, he was sure Lydia would love it.
詹姆斯觉得自豪，因为自己为这份礼物花了一番心思。他征求过路易莎的建议，问她十几岁的小女孩可能喜欢什么样的东西，所以这一次，他相信莉迪亚会喜欢它。
Inside the box lay a silver heart on a chain. "It's beautiful," Lydia said, surprised.
盒子里是一条项链，拴着银制的心形挂坠。“真漂亮。”莉迪亚惊喜地说。
At last, a present that was a present—not a book, not a hint—something she wanted, not something they wanted for her.
她终于收到了像样的礼物——不是书，也不是暗示——是她想要的东西，而不是他们希望她要的。
This was the necklace she had longed for at Christmas. The chain slid through her fingers like a stream of water, so lithe it felt almost alive.
圣诞节时，她就盼望收到这样的项链。链子像流水一样滑下她的手指，非常柔软，似乎是活的。
James touched her dimple with a fingertip and twisted it, an old joke of his. "It opens."
詹姆斯戳戳她的酒窝，又捏了捏，这是他的惯常动作。“还能打开。”
Lydia flipped the locket open and froze. Inside were two pictures the size of her thumbnail: one of her father, one of her—dolled up for the ninth-grade dance the year before.
莉迪亚打开挂坠，呆住了，里面有两张她拇指指甲那么小的照片：一张是她父亲，另一张是她——这是去年她盛装打扮参加九年级的舞会时照的。
All the way home, she had told him what a wonderful time she'd had. The photo of her father smiled broadly, fondly, expectantly. The photo of herself looked away, serious, resentful, sullen.
当时，在回家的路上，她不停地告诉父亲舞会是多么精彩。她父亲在照片上笑得很开心，带着天真和期盼的神情。她自己的照片则很严肃，面带愠色，眼睛也没有看镜头。
"I know this year has been tough, and your mother's been asking a lot of you," James said. "Just remember, school isn't everything. It's not as important as friendship, or love."
“我知道今年你压力很大，你母亲对你要求很高。”詹姆斯说，“要记住，学校不是生活的全部，它并没有友情或者爱情那么重要。”
Already he could see a faint line worrying a crease between Lydia's brows, dark circles blooming beneath her eyes from late-night studying. He wanted to smooth that wrinkle with his thumb, to wipe the shadows away like dust.
他已经能从莉迪亚的眉心看出一道忧心忡忡的纹路，由于用功到深夜，她的眼睛下面也出现了黑眼圈。他想用拇指抚平那道皱纹，像擦拭灰尘那样抹掉女儿的黑眼圈。
"Every time you look at this, just remember what really matters. Every time you look at this, I want you to smile. Promise?"
“每当你看到它，不要忘记什么才是真正重要的。每当你看到它，我希望你能笑一笑。好吗？”
He fiddled with the clasp of the necklace, struggling with the tiny spring loop. "I wanted gold, but a reliable source told me everyone was wearing silver this year," he said.
他笨拙地摆弄着项链的扣环，想把它打开。“我本来想买金的，但可靠人士告诉我，今年大家都戴银的。”他说。
Lydia ran a finger along the velvet lining of the box. Her father was so concerned with what everyone was doing: I'm so glad you're going to the dance, honey—everyone goes to the dance.
莉迪亚用手指摩挲着盒子的丝绒衬里。她父亲非常关心“大家”都在做什么。你去跳舞，我很高兴，亲爱的——大家都去跳舞。
Your hair looks so pretty that way, Lyddie—everyone has long hair these days, right? Anytime she smiled: You should smile more—everyone likes a girl who smiles.
你的头发那样弄很好看，莉迪——大家最近都在留长发，对吗？当她微笑的时候，你应该多笑笑——大家都喜欢爱笑的女孩。
As if a dress and long hair and a smile could hide everything about her that was different.
好像一件衣服、一头长发、一个微笑就能掩盖她与“大家”的不同之处。
If her mother let her go out like the other girls, she thought, it might not matter what she looked like—Jackie Harper had one blue eye and one green, and she'd been voted Most Social last year.
要是母亲允许她和其他女孩那样出去的话，她想，自己不管是什么样子都无所谓——杰姬·哈珀一只眼睛是蓝色的，另一只是绿的，去年，她照样当选为“最受欢迎的学生”。
Or if she looked like everyone else, perhaps it would not matter that she had to study all the time, that she could not go out on the weekends until she'd done all her homework, that she could not go out with boys at all.
或许，如果她的外表和别人一样的话，她就不用一直都努力用功，不用连周末都要先完成作业才能出门，也不会被禁止和男孩出门。
One or the other might be overcome. To be pulled both ways—no dress, no book, no locket could help that.
这些问题都不再将是问题。至于衣服、书或者项链什么的，根本不具备如此巨大的作用。
"There we go," James said, the catch springing open at last. He refastened it at her nape, and the metal cut a line of cold, like a ring of ice, around her throat.
“好了。”詹姆斯说，他终于打开了扣环。他给女儿戴上项链，金属在她脖子上形成一道冷硬的线条，如同一只冰环围绕着她的喉咙。
"What do you think? Do you like it?" Lydia understood: this was meant to remind her of all he wanted for her. Like a string tied around her finger, only this lay around her neck.
“你觉得怎么样？你喜欢它吗？”莉迪亚明白，他是想提醒她，不要忘记他的期望。这与缠在她手指上的丝线没有什么不同，唯一的区别是，项链是挂在她脖子上的。
"It's beautiful," she whispered, and James mistook her hoarseness for deep gratitude.
“漂亮。”她小声说，詹姆斯把她的嘶哑误解为深切的感激。
