2021诺贝尔文学奖得主古尔纳：小说段落翻译赏析&双语阅读

写在前面

10月7日，2021年诺贝尔文学奖“桂冠”花落坦桑尼亚小说家阿布拉扎克·古尔纳(Abdulrazak Gurnah)。瑞典文学院说，古尔纳“不妥协于殖民主义的影响和难民处在不同文化与大陆间鸿沟的命运”，他将此“富有同情心地渗透到”其作品当中。

那么今天，我们就来阅读一篇古尔纳的双语短篇小说——《我母亲在非洲住过农场》，是对电影《走出非洲》的反写，旨在打破人们对非洲的浪漫幻想，还原非洲的现实。译者林晓妍。

文章篇幅很长，故只选取了其中几句话进行翻译赏析。但还是有很多知识点可供大家细细品味的。

pdf文档获取方式：同名公众号后台回复：古尔纳。👇

翻译赏析

The house stood on a slope, at the bottom of which ran a small stream. The farm ran behind the house for six acres on both sides of the stream. She always remembered the first night she spent on the farm, and the deep silence of the country. 

房子建在一个斜坡上，斜坡底部有一条小溪。农场在房子后，溪流两侧占地六英亩。她一直记得在农场度过的第一个晚上，以及乡村的沉寂。

这一段是对非洲农场的景色描写，先来看第一句：

The house stood on a slope, at the bottom of which ran a small stream.

房子建在一个斜坡上，斜坡底部有一条小溪。

「stood」是对过去情况的描述，其原型stand不要傻傻地译为“站”，在此处表示“位于”之意，相当于我们熟悉的be located和be situated。

来看一个例句：

It was a little town standing by the sea那座小镇坐落在海边。

「slope」为“斜坡”，故此处，我们也可以译作“这座房子坐落在斜坡上”。 

「at the bottom of which ran a small stream」接下来这句定语从句，是修饰斜坡的，「at the bottom of」意为“在...底部”，此处即“在斜坡底部”，由于地点状语位于句首，故其后采用倒装ran a small stream，

「run」修饰液体有“流淌”之意，故此处译者译作存在句「有一条小溪 」，也可处理为「有小溪流经 」。

The farm ran behind the house for six acres on both sides of the stream.

 农场在房子后，溪流两侧占地六英亩。

此处的数量单位「acre」要注意为“英亩”，英亩是英美制面积单位，一般在英国、美国等地区使用，1英亩=0.004 047平方千米。再补充一短语「acres of」，意为“大量”，例如：巨大的空间：acres of room.

「stream」是“溪流”，作为文学翻译中常见的意象，我们还要掌握它的同义表达，brook还有creek。

She always remembered the first night she spent on the farm, and the deep silence of the country.

她一直记得在农场度过的第一个晚上，以及乡村的沉寂。

「the first night she spent on the farm」：这个定语从句中，the first night是先行词，关系代词被省略，充当spent的宾语，我们在使用时，切忌误用when。试比较两例：

She always remembered the first night (that) she spent on the farm.(the first night做spent的宾语，关系代词that省略)

She always remembered the first night when she spent time grazing sheep by the farm.（spent的宾语是time，the first night做时间状语，要用到关系副词when，相当于on which，关系副词不可省略）

故翻译时，直接把night译为宾语即可，得到：她在农场度过的第一晚。

「the deep silence of the country」deep silence翻译的很好，译作“沉寂”，也不妨处理为四字格“万籁俱寂”。

At various times in the year, the room she slept in was also used as a store, so there were splash marks and plant juices which had soaked into the whitewashed wall and could not now be removed. 

在一年中的不同时间，她睡觉的那个房间也被用作商店，所以有飞溅的痕迹和植物汁渗入白色的墙壁，无法去除。

At various times in the year, the room she slept in was also used as a store,

在一年中的不同时间，她睡觉的那个房间也被用作商店，

「At various times in the year」指“在一年中的不同时间”，汉译英的话介词不要出错；

「was used as a store」很好理解——“被用来做商店”之意。而如果是“专门留出，专门用于做某事呢”？希望大家能记住set apart这个词组，英文释义为To reserve something for a specific use，可以接时间，地点，金钱等。例如：

Traditionally, these days were set apart for prayer and fasting.

传统上，这几天是专门用于祷告和斋戒的。

Two rooms were set apart for use as libraries. 

留出两个房间作为图书室。

You must set apart some money for the future. 

你必须留出一些钱来以备将来之用。

so there were splash marks and plant juices which had soaked into the whitewashed wall and could not now be removed. 

所以有飞溅的痕迹和植物汁渗入白色的墙壁，无法去除。

「so there were splash marks and plant juices which had soaked into the whitewashed wall and could not now be removed.」难点就在于这句话里的定语从句，先行词是「splash marks and plant juices」，分别表示“飞溅的痕迹和植物汁液”，splash既可做动词又可做名词，表示“飞溅”或“飞溅的液体”，juice不做“果汁”解，而要译作“汁液”，此外，植物汁液还常用sap表示，两者在定语从句里做主语。

定语从句里的谓语动词为「soaked into the whitewashed wall and could not now be removed. 」：soak本身是“打湿”之意，那么soak in/into，往里头打湿，就是“渗入，渗进去”之意。此时，译者采用的翻译技巧是：从定语从句的结构中跳脱出来，直接把先行词部分译作定语从句的话题，即“有飞溅的痕迹和植物汁液”，再处理为主谓句，此时得到：有飞溅的痕迹和植物汁渗入白色的墙壁，无法去除。

双语阅读

My Mother Lived on a Farm in Africa

我母亲在非洲住过农场

`My mother lived on a farm in Africa,' she heard her daughter Khadija say. She preferred to be called Kadi, especially in front of her friends, and Munah tried her best to remember. She and her friends, the usual two, Clare and Amy, had been watching Out of Africa on the video that afternoon. They did that most Sunday afternoons, took turns to go to each other's houses to watch videos. It was video in their house anyway, DVD in the others.

我母亲在非洲住过农场，她听到女儿卡迪加说，穆娜尽力记住卡迪加更喜欢被称为卡迪，尤其是在她的朋友面前。那天下午，卡迪加和她的朋友，通常是和克莱尔、艾米一直在看《走出非洲》。大多数星期天下午她们都是这样度过，轮流去各家看电影录像。在卡迪家里看影像，在其他人家里看DVD。

Then when the film finished, and in the brief silence that sometimes follows the end of a story, Kadi said that. It was an echo of the film's repeated dirge, I had a farm in Africa, spoken like a hoarse lament over the landscape, to make Karen Blixen into a tragedy. Lost love, lost farm, lost paradise, the Fall. Then Kadi said that: My mother lived on a farm in Africa.

当电影结束时，或是在故事结尾后的短暂沉默中，卡迪那样说。这是对电影中重复挽歌的模仿；我在非洲有一个农场，用嘶哑的声音说着，像是为这片土地哀叹，让凯伦·布力圣陷入悲剧之中。失去爱情，失去农场，失去天堂，最后破落。卡迪接着说了那话：我母亲在非洲住过农场。

Munah wanted to rush in there and tell them that it wasn't like that. It was nothing like that. But she heard someone snigger just a second after Kadi spoke, and that made her hesitate and retreat. It was Amy, she thought, giggling with surprise or pleasure. Did your mum really!? Perhaps Kadi's remark was nothing more than a boastful exchange between adolescent friends.

穆娜想要冲进去告诉她们不是那样，根本不是那样的。但在卡迪说话之后，她听到有人嗤之以鼻，这让她犹豫不决。她想，这是艾米，惊讶或开心地咯咯笑。你妈妈真的！？也许卡迪的话只不过是青少年朋友之间的吹嘘。

It was one of the stories of her childhood back home. When the children were younger; they loved to hear the stories. They would sometimes prompt her to tell one, as if they had recognized a cue in something she had said. Jamal, her elder, used to remember them in detail, and speak about the people who appeared in them as if he knew them. Oh, Uncle Abdalla is always like that with money, isn't he?

这是她童年的故事之一。孩子们小的时候，总喜欢听故事。他们有时会催着她讲故事，好像他们能从中得到启示。她最大的孩子贾马尔常常准确地记得这些故事，谈论故事中的人，就好像认识他们一样。哦，亚伯达拉叔叔总是喜欢让别人付钱讲故事，不是吗？

Really mean. Now Jamal was old enough to answer back and stay out all night, sleeping over at a friend's house but really doing who knows what. His clothes had the slightly nauseating smell of sweat and smoke and cheap food that she associated with the places young people went to, but he shouted and sulked at her if she went into his room to sort through his clothes for the wash. He liked them as they were. He walked in a disjointed shuffle, as if his legs and hips were dissolving slowly under him. In any case, he no longer had any interest in her childhood spectres. Or when he had no choice but to show interest, because she had reminded him of someone he once used to speak about with some familiarity, he nodded his head constantly, eager for her to finish, anxious for her not to allow the story to sprawl as she used to.

真是小气。现在贾马尔长大了，开始顶嘴了，还整夜待在外面，在朋友家里睡觉，不知道在做什么。他衣服上的汗水和烟，还有廉价食物的味道，都让穆娜想到年轻人去的那些地方，如果她走进贾马尔的房间去收拾脏衣服，他会生气地大声吼叫，他喜欢这些味道，他走路拖沓，就像双腿和臀部慢慢在他身下溶解。无论如何，他对她童年的幽灵不再有任何兴趣。或者因为她提醒他曾经熟悉的故事人物，他别无选择只能表现出兴趣听时，他不断点头，迫切希望她结束故事，希望她不要像以往那样扩展故事。

Kadi did not remember with the same fidelity, and often had to be reminded. Yes, you do know who he is, my Uncle Omar, who owned the farm where I went to live for several weeks when I was fourteen. 

卡迪没有那么真切地记住故事，经常不得不提醒她。是的，你知道他是谁，奥马尔姨夫，我14岁的时候在他的农场住过几周。

Then unexpectedly, at times she would remember. Like now, after watching some empire nostalgia and passion, she remembered the farm and told her friends, My mother lived on a farm in Africa. Only it was nothing like that, no sweeping drive and horses and crystal glass, no servants, no subject people to save from themselves. She was the subject people, subject to life and to others, sent from here to there and back by those who loved her and owned her. That was what made Kadi's friend snigger. She knew very well it could not have been anything like the beautiful life they had just seen on the television. She would have known without reflection that Kadi's mother could not have lived on a farm in the real Africa of open skies and deep shadows, and avenues of acacia and lamplit verandas. More likely, Kadi's mother's Africa was the other one that you also caught glimpses of on television, streets crowded with people, and dusty fields full of children clinging to their mothers.

出乎意料的是，卡迪有时会记得像现在这样，在看了一些帝国的怀旧激情电影后，她想起了农场，然后告诉她的朋友，我的母亲在非洲住过农场。但那个农场和电影里一点也不一样，没有飞驰而过的车马和水晶玻璃，没有仆人，没有人可以自救。她是受管制的人，服从于生命和其他人，被那些爱她并拥有她的人从这里送到那里，再送回来。这就是卡迪的朋友窃笑的原因她非常清楚，不可能像她们刚刚在电视上看到的美好生活一样。不用多想，她就会知道卡迪的母亲不可能生活在真正的非洲农场里，那里有开阔的天空和浓浓的树荫，有刺槐大道和灯火通明的走廊。更可能的是，卡迪母亲的非洲是你在电视上瞥到的另一个非洲，街道上挤满了人，尘土飞扬的田野里孩子依偎着母亲。

Perhaps Kadi's friend did not know she thought like that. Perhaps she did not snigger. It made Munah feel foolish that she had even considered rushing in there to rail at them. She wondered at the bitter taste the feeling left behind. Was it her age? She had heard a plea in what Kadi said. Please pretend that my mother looked like that when she was in Africa, and that I look like you. Perhaps it was not a plea at all, and Kadi could only think of Africa as the pictures she had just seen and could only see her mother living like that.

也许卡迪的朋友不知道她这么想，也许她没有窃笑。穆娜感到自己很愚蠢，她甚至想冲进去对她们抱怨。她好奇那种感觉留下的苦涩味道。是她的年龄？她听到卡迪的请求。请假装我妈妈在非洲时的样子，假装我像你。也许这根本不是一个请求，卡迪只能把非洲想象为她刚看到的照片，只能看到她母亲像那样生活。

They were fourteen years old, and she would have embarrassed them, and Kadi most of all, if she had gone in there and told them that the farm she lived in was nothing like that make-believe luxury, that it was small and paltry and human, that it was not in Africa, but in a real place with names for everything, from the smell of grass and leaves to the smallest change in the weather.

她们已经14岁了，她会让他们感到尴尬，最重要的是卡迪。如果她进去了，告诉她们，她住的那个农场和那个虚构的奢侈品一点也不一样，它小而且贫带也有人，它不在非洲，而是在一个真实的地方，从草和叶子的气味到天气的最小变化，一切都有名字。

She had not moved since her daughter spoke, paralysed by the rage she felt. Then slowly the rage receded, and was replaced by regret and spreading guilt. What was there to feel such rage about? They lived in different worlds. Her warmhearted daughter and her kind friends would weep over the fate of a wounded turtle or a stranded seal, but would turn away with indifference from the mean suffering of those they had learned to think of as deserving of it.

自女儿说了那句话，她没有动过，因愤怒而呆滞。等愤怒慢慢退去，这种感觉被遗憾和一阵内疚取代。有什么能让人感到如此愤怒？她们生活在不同的世界。热心的女儿和她善良的朋友会为受伤的乌龟或搁浅的海豹的命运而哭泣，但她们会对那些受苦难的人漠不关心，因为她们认为这是那些人应得的。

Memories troubled her. She could not forget. She did not even know why some things would not leave her. She wondered if that was how it was with all those people she saw in the streets who were far away from their homes. She wondered how distance made remembering different.

回忆困扰着她，她无法忘记，她甚至不知道为什么有些事情一直缠绕着她。她想知道如果是这样的话，那她在街上看到的那些离家很远的人是不是也这样。她想知道距离是否使人记忆不同。

The arrangements were made in her earshot, but as if she was a casual listener rather than the person whom they concerned. Her father was absent, away for some months already and not expected in the near future. When she was a child, she never wondered at these long absences of her father. She became so used to them that she did not really notice, or rather only became aware of them when their father was living at home. Things happened when he was living with them, as if their mother waited until he was back before making any decisions or carrying out any big task. Maybe this was how he liked it too, or maybe they had to wait for the money he brought back from his long absences before they could get anything done. In later years, Munah thought her mother slowed down in his absence, and that the life she and her sister lived with her was subdued.

这些安排她是听不到的，好像她是一个随便的听众，而不是他们所关心的人。父亲不在，已经离开好几个月了，短时间内也不会出现。小时候，她从来没有想过为何父亲长期不见。她习惯了，也没有特意注意到，或者只是在父亲住在家里时才意识到这些。当父亲和她们住在一起时，好像母亲直到父亲回来，才会做出任何决定或执行任何重大任务。也许这也是他喜欢的方式，或者也许她们必须等着他带回来的钱才能做事情。在后来的几年里，穆娜认为母亲在父亲不在时放慢了速度，而她和姐姐与母亲一起生活的日子是被抑制的。

The weight of things became too heavy for her at this one time, and she became unwell. She sat for lengths of time with her head in her hands, complaining of headaches and unable to do the simplest things. Munah and her elder sister Hawa tiptoed round her, sat with her when her slow breathing was the only sound between them, tried to keep their bickering down. They were helpless with her tears. When they started, nothing could stop their mother's tears until, so it seemed, she had shed all of them. Sometimes she cried all day long over a petty offence or a small hurt, until in the end all three of them were paralysed with weeping over their incomprehensible pain.

这一次，事情对母亲来说太沉重了，她不舒服。她长时间手抱着头坐着，抱怨头痛让她不能做最简单的事情。穆娜和她的姐姐哈瓦在她周围轻轻地走动，当她缓慢的呼吸是她们之间唯一的声音时，她们坐在她身边，试图停止争吵。她们不知道该怎么安慰母亲。当她们开始安慰时，没有什么可以阻止母亲的眼泪，直到她似乎已经流完了泪。有时她整天都会因为轻微的冒犯或小伤而哭泣，直到最后她们三个都因为难以理解的痛苦哭到浑身无力。

One day their Aunt Amina came to visit, and it was then that Munah heard the arrangements that would take her to the country. Aunt Amina, who was their mother's elder sister, said that the two of them were too much work, and that she would take Munah away with her until their mother was feeling less tired. `Hawa can look after her mother and allow her to rest and get her health back. You come to the country and we'll find work for you.'

有一天，阿米娜姨妈来探望。这时，穆娜听到了将她带到乡下的安排。阿米娜姨妈是他们母亲的姐姐，她说两个孩子太累了，她会把穆娜带走，直到母亲不那么累了。“哈瓦可以照顾母亲，让她休息，恢复健康。你去乡下，我们会给你找点活干。

Later she could not remember if anyone said anything about missing school, but it was one of the first things Munah herself thought. A few days off school. Within the hour Munah had made a bundle of her belongings for a few days' stay and was walking beside her aunt to the bus halt, wearing one of the new silky shawls her father had brought as a gift the last time he came home. She remembered that, because it was the first time she wore it. The farm was only fifteen miles out of town, and she had visited several times as a child, and she saw Uncle Omar four or five times a year because he sometimes called on them when he came to town. She had no idea that she would spend weeks there.

后来她不记得是否有人说过失学，但这是穆娜自己想到的第一件事。离开学校几天。一小时之内，穆娜就把几天的随身物品准备好了，披着父亲上次回家时带来的新丝绸披肩，和姨妈一起走到公交车站。她记得这个是因为这是她第一次戴着它。农场距离城镇只有15英里看到的，她小时候曾去过多次，她每年见到奥马尔姨父四五次，因为他来镇上时，偶尔会打电话给他们。她不知道她会在那里度过几个星期。

Uncle Omar did not smile much, but you knew it was not because he was annoyed or unhappy. He just did not smile, although he did when he saw Munah walking up the footpath to the house. He was sitting on the covered porch, weaving a basket out of palm leaves. Then he looked up when he heard them walking from the road, and his face turned into a speechless smile.

奥马尔姨父不爱笑，但这不是因为他生气或不开心。他只是不笑，但当他看到穆娜走向房子的时候，他笑了。他坐在带顶的门廊里，用棕桐叶编篮子。当他听到她们从路上走来时，他抬起头，脸上出现了无声的笑容。

The house stood on a slope, at the bottom of which ran a small stream. The farm ran behind the house for six acres on both sides of the stream. She always remembered the first night she spent on the farm, and the deep silence of the country. It was not really silence, because there were scratchings and rustlings and an indescribable suspension of the inaudible noises of night. It was a silence that leaped at her with a muted roar when she went out to the outhouse. In her sleep she heard raucous yells that were gone when she opened her eyes, and she heard the thick breathing of the frogs in the stream.

房子建在一个斜坡上，斜坡底部有一条小溪。农场在房子后，溪流两侧占地六英亩。她一直记得在农场度过的第一个晚上，以及乡村的沉寂。这不是真正的寂静，因为有刮擦的声音和沙沙声，以及夜间无法形容的无声的暂歇段。当她走到外屋时，寂静带着无声的吼声向她扑过来。睡眠中听到的沙哑的喊叫声，在睁开眼睛时消失了，她听到溪水中青蛙沉重的呼吸声。

They gave her a room of her own. `You'll be here for a few weeks,' Aunt Amina said, `so make yourself comfortable.' The house was small, just two rooms and a store, not a shack but a small farmer's dwelling. At various times in the year, the room she slept in was also used as a store, so there were splash marks and plant juices which had soaked into the whitewashed wall and could not now be removed. The small window was barred and looked away from the stream, up the slope towards a grove of banana trees.

他们给她一间自己的房间。“你会在这里住几个星期，”阿米娜姨妈说，“随意点。”房子很小，只有两个房间和一个商店，不是棚屋，而是一个小农宅。在一年中的不同时间，她睡觉的那个房间也被用作商店，所以有飞溅的痕迹和植物汁渗入白色的墙壁，无法去除。小窗户被封上了，远离溪流，溪水沿着斜坡流向一片香蕉树。

In the day, she was expected to stay close to Aunt Amina, and wait for chores to be given to her. She understood it was really to keep an eye on her because she was fourteen and a girl. She helped with sweeping the yard, with cooking, with washing clothes and with cleaning the fruit and packing it in the baskets for transport to the market in town. It was tiring at first, but she settled into a dull routine that she found surprisingly pleasant. In the afternoons, if she was not too tired and Uncle Omar was in the mood, he showed her the work on the farm, and sometimes took her out to the road where they walked as far as the huge mango tree where people waited for the bus to town. There was also a little shop there, and the shopkeeper made coffee for them while Uncle Omar stopped to exchange greetings and news with the people sitting on the bench. `Go and greet the people inside,' he said the first time. After that she always went to greet the women in the house and sat with them until Uncle Omar had finished his conversation with the men sitting under the tree.

白天，她希望与阿米娜姨妈离得近点，等待她安排做家务。她明白她应该和姨妈在一起，因为她14岁了，而且是个女孩。她帮着清扫院子，做饭，洗衣服，清洗水果，把水果装在篮子里，运到镇上市场。起初很累，但她习惯了重复单调的事，觉得异常愉快。下午，如果她不是很累，奥马尔姨夫心情好，他就带她看农场的工作，有时带她走到大路上，一直走到人们等公交的巨大芒果树下。那里有一家小店，当奥马尔姨夫停下与坐在板凳上的人互相问候和交流消息时，店主为他们煮咖啡。“去和里面的人打招呼，”第一次的时候他这样说。之后，她每次都与房子里的女人打招呼，和她们坐在一起，直到奥马尔姨夫与坐在树下的人聊完。

One day, another man rose from the conversation and walked with them. He was many years younger than Uncle Omar, perhaps in his early thirties, with a smiling face and bright curious eyes. His name was Issa, Uncle Omar told her, and he was their nearest neighbour. She walked behind them and could hear from the tone of their voices that they liked each other. 

有一天，一个男人从谈话中站起来，和他们走在一起。他比奥马尔姨夫年轻很多，也许他刚三十出头，脸上带着笑容，眼睛明亮，充满好奇。奥马尔姨夫告诉她，他叫伊萨，是他们最近的邻居。她走在他们后面，从他们的声音中可以听出，他们喜欢彼此。后来她发现，伊萨经常来拜访他们，之前他陪着妻子和孩子到奔巴岛去看亲戚了。当他来的时候，他和奥马尔姨夫一起坐在门廊里，聊着笑着，喝着咖啡。有时，阿米娜姨妈和他们坐在一起，他是个好朋友。她问候他的妻子和孩子，有时称他儿子。

Issa usually called on them often, she found out later, but he had been away accompanying his wife and children on a visit to their relatives in Pemba. When he came, he sat with Uncle Omar in the porch, chatting and laughing and drinking coffee. Sometimes Aunt Amina sat with them, he was such a good friend. She asked after his wife and children and sometimes called him son.

后来她发现，伊萨经常来拜访他们，之前他陪着妻子和孩子到奔巴岛去看亲戚了。当他来的时候，他和奥马尔姨夫一起坐在门廊里，聊着笑着，喝着咖啡。有时，阿米娜姨妈和他们坐在一起，他是个好朋友。她问候他的妻子和孩子，有时称他儿子。

He always asked for Munah to come and greet him. Munah could not help noticing that he glanced at her when no one was looking. She could not help noticing his interest. It went on like that for many days, and as time passed his visits became daily, and her body became heated under his scrutiny and his stolen glances. His looks became less hurried, and one day he gave her a secret smile. She smiled back and looked away, pleased.

他总是要求穆娜来迎接他。穆娜注意到，当没人看的时候，他瞥了她一眼。她不禁注意到他的兴趣。这持续了很多天，慢慢地，他每天都来一次，她的身体在他的审视和偷偷的目光下变得发热。他的表情变得不那么匆忙了，有一天他冲她神秘一笑。她回笑一下，别过头，心里很高兴。

It was impossible to mistake what was going on. Uncle Omar looked nervous and uncomfortable when she appeared while Issa was there. Aunt Amina always had something for her to do. Neither of them said anything to her. His smiles and glances thrilled her but also frightened her, but since he said nothing and her uncle and aunt were so vigilant, she felt safe, as if in a game.

接下来发生的事绝不可能弄错。当伊萨在那里时，穆娜一出现，奥马尔姨夫就看起来很紧张，不舒服。阿米娜姨妈总是使穆娜有事可做口他们什么都没对她说，伊萨的微笑和目光使她激动，但也使她害怕，但由于他什么也没说，她姨夫和姨妈都很警惕，她觉得很安全，好像在游戏中。

One night he appeared at her window. Perhaps it wasn't the first time, perhaps he had done so before. The window was high in the wall, and had two wooden shutters. When she first arrived she was afraid of the country darkness and shut both shutters. Later she took to keeping one open. She woke up with a sense that something had happened, and her eyes went directly to the window. There was enough glow in the night air for her to see a silhouette of a head at the window. She could not prevent a frightened gasp before she put a hand over her mouth. It took only an instant, and then she knew it was Issa. She steadied herself, as if she was still asleep, and after a moment she heard his breathing. She realized that some straining quality in it must have been what woke her up. The head disappeared after a while, but she dared not shut the window, in case he reached in for her when she went to shut it. She lay awake for most of the night, dozing and waking, her face turned towards the window.

一天晚上，他出现在她的窗口。也许这不是第一次，也许他以前就这样做过。窗户在墙上很高的地方，有两扇木制百叶窗。当她第一次在这里时，她害怕乡下的黑暗，把两扇百叶窗都关上了。后来她一直开着一扇。感觉到发生了什么事，她醒了，眼睛直接看向窗户。夜晚的微光足以让她看到窗户上一个头的影子。手捂住嘴之前，她无法抑制，发出恐惧的吸气声。只一瞬，她认出是伊萨。她使自己镇定，假装还在睡觉，过了一会儿，她听到他的呼吸声。她意识到一定是紧张唤醒她的。一会儿那头消失了，但是她不敢关上窗户，以防在关窗时他伸手拉她。一晚上，大部分时间她都处于清醒状态，迷糊一会，又醒来，她的脸一直朝向窗户。

The next morning she went to look outside and saw that there was a small mound of hard earth that he would have stood on to look in, although even then he would have had to hang on by the bars on the window. When Issa came to visit that afternoon, she stayed inside the yard and heard a tremor in her voice as she called out a greeting. 

第二天早上，她去外面，看到有一个坚硬的小土堆，他也许站在这上面往里看，尽管他还不得不靠在窗户栏上。当天下午，伊萨来时，她待在院子里，当她打招呼时，她听到自己的声音在颤抖。

That night she shut both shutters and lay awake, waiting for him. She heard him when he arrived, and sensed his hand on the shutter, pushing at it. `Don't hide from me,' he said softly, pleading. She lay in the dark, listening to his breathing. After a moment she heard the soft thud as he let go of the window bars. She could not bear the fear of it, and told Aunt Amina when she saw her in the morning. Aunt Amina said nothing for a moment, just looked sad, as if Munah had given her news of a terrible loss. `Don't say anything to Omar,' she said.

那天晚上，她关上两扇百叶窗，醒着，等他。她听到他到了，感觉到他的手在百叶窗上，推着它。“不要躲着我，”他温柔地说，带着恳求。她躺在黑暗中，听着他的呼吸声。过了一会儿，她听到他放开窗户栏时发出的轻微砰砰声。她无法忍受这种恐惧，早上看到阿米娜姨妈时，她告诉了姨妈。阿米娜姨妈有一会儿什么都没说，只是看起来很伤心，好像穆娜给了她一个巨大损失的消息。“不要跟奥马尔说，”她说。

She told her to get her things ready, and within the hour they were on their way to the bus halt under the mango tree. Uncle Omar could not understand the rush. `Has something happened?' he asked.

姨妈告诉她准备好她的东西，并在一小时内她们出发去芒果树下的公交站。奥马尔姨夫不知道为什么这么匆忙。“发生什么事了吗？”他问。

`No,' Aunt Amina told him. `I just forgot that I'd promised to take her back today. She's been here for weeks, you know.'

“没有，”阿米娜姨妈告诉他。“我只是忘了，我答应今天带她回家。你知道她已经在这儿待了好几个星期了。”

Munah heard Kadi calling for her. `Where are you?' she called out.

穆娜听到卡迪叫她。“你在哪儿？”她喊道。

She came into the kitchen, fourteen and smiling, safe as houses, and came to where Munah was sitting at the table with her memories. She leaned over her mother from behind, her long hair falling round her mother's head.

卡迪走进厨房，14岁的孩子，微笑着，十分稳重。她来到穆娜坐着回忆的桌子旁。她从后面靠在母亲身上，长长的头发落在母亲的头上。

`What are you doing?' she asked, kissing the top of her head and then retreating. Without waiting for an answer she said: `We're going round to Amy's. I'll be back in a couple of hours.'

“你在干嘛？”卡迪问道，亲吻她的头顶，后退一步。没有等待妈妈说话，卡迪就说：“我们要去艾米家了，几个小时后回来。”

`It wasn't like that, the farm in Africa,' Munah said.

“非洲农场并不是那样的，”穆娜说。

`Oh, you heard,' Kadi said. `I was just winding them up, trying to make them jealous.'

“妈妈，你听到了？”卡迪说。“我只是那样说，想让她们嫉妒。”