克里斯致亲爱的蓓希(1)
Dear Bessie,
亲爱的蓓希，
Yesterday I got your letter card dated the 3rd of April. There was one from deb and another one from Mum, and, of course, I had to read these first. And I could read yours only once, and then had to put it in my pocket, while my poor old head tried to cope with its content as far as I could remember. You have come at me with such terrific rush of warmth, and I am so very much in need of you.
昨天我收到你4月3日的来信。有一封来自黛布，另一封来自妈妈，当然，我必须先读他们的信件。你的信我只看了一遍，然后不得不把它放进口袋里，而我不记事儿的脑袋却在竭力回想信件里的内容。你热情似火，款款向我走来，我是如此地渴求你。
Well, I washed and made my bed (it was six o’clock before I received your letter) and fidgeted around. Then I thought, ‘I must read it again before I go to sleep’, so I pushed off to the latrine (where the humblest may be sure of privacy) and read your words again. The comic expression ‘It shakes me’ is true in a serious sense about this deeply thrilling state of well being that you have caused or created.
我洗漱完毕后，整理好床铺(直到六点钟我才收到你的来信)，我有些坐立不安。我心想，‘必须在睡觉前再读一遍’，所以我去了厕所(只有在那里，最卑微的人才有隐私可言)，又读了一遍你的话。你带来或营造的令人极度兴奋的幸福状态，用“吓坏了”来形容虽说滑稽了些，但严格意义上来说却是真实的。
After I had re-read your letter, out came the chessman, and we played one game (which I won) before adjourning to the canteen to gather round wireless for the news (a rite in these surroundings). Then we were collared for Bridge which we played till ten o’clock. All the time, the only thing I wanted to do was read your words, this tiny part of you, again and again.
我刚读完你的信，突然走过来一位棋手，我们下了一盘棋(结果我赢了)，然后我们去餐厅集合，一伙儿人围坐在无线电台听新闻(在这种环境下，这算是一种仪式)。然后我们被抓去打桥牌，一直玩儿到十点钟。在这期间，我唯一想做的就是一遍又一遍地摩挲你的信。
Back in the tent, and to bed. How impossible to sleep with thought and wonder of you hot within me. As I toss and turn and wriggle and writhe I think of you, probably doing the same. Isn’t it blooming awful? I know that if I think of you, I will not sleep, yet I keep on thinking of you, and get hotter and hotter. Phew! I could do with a couple of ice-blocks around me.
回到帐篷后，我准备就寝了。可是脑海里尽是你热辣的模样，我又怎能安眠。当我辗转反侧、难以入睡，我想，此时的你或许亦如此。思念成疾是不是很可怕？明知道想你想到夜不能寐，但依旧情难自抑，愈加炙热、不曾消退。嗨!我身边要是有几块冰就好了。
Finally to sleep. Up in the morning, my first thoughts, of your nearness and your distance from me, and the hope that I can race off this first six pages, to post this afternoon. Unfortunately there is no likelihood of my early return. I must be another year, I may be another three or four. Relax, my girl, or you’ll be a physical wreck in no time. Regard me as what you will, but don’t altogether forget circumstance, distance, environment. I do so joyfully, happily, eagerly, but you must have more sense.
不知不觉还是睡着了。清晨起床，脑海中第一个念头依旧是你，远在天边却恍惚触手可及，我希望能尽快把这六页信笺写完，好赶在今天下午邮寄出去。不幸的是，我不可能提前回来。我必须再待一年，也许是三、四年。你先别急，亲爱的，不然你会立刻被思念侵蚀。视我如你所愿，但请不要将境遇，距离，外界统统抛诸脑后。我可以这样急切、狂喜、无所顾忌，但你必须要尽量保持理智。