美文回忆
The letters on one side were indistinct, but on the other an 'R' was clearly visible with what looked like an 'I' after it. "Some budding romance?" I asked, "did you know who they were?"
心一边的字母已无法辨认了，但在另一边，字母“R”清晰可见，后面还有个像是“I”的字母。“初恋罗曼史？”我问道，“你知道他们是谁吗？”
"Oh yes, I knew them", said Mary Smith, "it says RH loves MS."
“唔，我知道。”玛丽·史密斯说，“写的是‘RH爱MS’。
I realised that I could be getting out of my depth, and longed to be in my office, away from here and this old lady, snug, and with a mug of tea in my hand.
我意识到我可能涉入太深了，真希望自己身在办公室，远离这个地方和这个老年女士，手里还端着杯茶，舒舒服服地。
She went on, "He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve my initials. We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army. I had guessed of course. It was the last evening we ever spent together，because he went away the next day, back to his Unit."
她继续讲下去：“他拿着一把袖珍折刀，折刀上嵌有长钉，那种长钉可以用来挖出夹在马蹄上的石块，我们一起刻了我名字的第一个字母。我们深深相爱，但他却要离开了，而且不知道他将在军队里干什么。当然我也曾猜想过。那是我们在一起的最后一个夜晚，因为他第二天就回部队去了。
Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed. "His mother showed me the telegram. 'Sergeant R Holmes ... Killed in action in the invasion of France.'
玛丽·史密斯停了一会儿，接着抽泣起来。“他母亲给我看了那封电报。‘R?荷尔姆斯军士……在解放法国的战役中牺牲。’“
"'I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married,' she said, He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies' - she was like that!
我本来希望你和罗宾会结婚的。’她母亲说，‘我只有他一个孩子，我本希望能做祖母，有非常可爱的小宝宝。’——她真是那么说的！
"Two years later she too was dead. 'Pneumonia, following a chill on the chest' was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart. A child would have helped both of us."
“两年后她也去世了。医生说是‘肺炎，胸部着凉造成的’，但我认为这是典型的伤心过度。如果有个孩子那我们俩就都不会这样了。”
There was a further pause. Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him. "And now they want to take our tree away from me."
玛丽·史密斯又停了会儿没说话。她轻柔地抚摸着那棵刻过的树，就像她曾经抚摸他一样。“现在他们想把我们的树夺走。”
Another quiet sob, then she turned to me. "I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn't always the old woman you see here now. I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forwards to."
她又轻轻地抽噎了一下，然后她转过身来对着我。“当时我年轻漂亮，我爱嫁给谁都可以，我当时可不是现在这么老的。我拥有生命里所要的一切，一个值得爱的男人、健康的身体和充满梦想的未来。”
She paused again and looked around. The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound. "There were others, of course, but not a patch on my Robin!" she said strongly. "
她顿了顿，朝四周看了一眼。微风轻轻吹拂着树叶，发出叹息般的沙沙声。“当然， 那时还有其他人，但他们连罗宾的一丝一毫都比不上！”她肯定地说。
And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds.
“现在我一无所有——只剩下残留在这棵树上的记忆。
If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would kill him.
那个可恶的家伙竟建议把路修在我们所站的这个地方，我真希望掐死他。
Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did. Yes, I would tell him!"
我会对他说：你从没爱过吗，你活过吗，你从不知道什么叫记忆吗？你知道，不仅仅是我们，现在我仍能看见些男男女女像当年的我和罗宾那样到这儿来。是的，我一定要对他说！”
I turned away, sick at heart.
我转过身去，心里感到很难过。
重点讲解
1. budding romance 刚刚开始的恋情
例句："Some budding romance?" I asked, "did you know who they were?"
“初恋罗曼史？”我问道，“你知道他们是谁吗？”
2. be involved in 卷入，涉及
例句：We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army.
我们深深相爱，但他却要离开了，而且不知道他将在军队里干什么。
3.get married 结婚
例句："'I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married,' she said, He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies' - she was like that!
我本来希望你和罗宾会结婚的。’她母亲说，‘我只有他一个孩子，我本希望能做祖母，有非常可爱的小宝宝。’——她真是那么说的！
4.not a patch on 比不上
例句："There were others, of course, but not a patch on my Robin!" she said strongly. "
“当然， 那时还有其他人，但他们连罗宾的一丝一毫都比不上！”她肯定地说。
