4月14号
Dear Friend,
亲爱的朋友,
How clever and capricious you are, cloaking yourself in anonymity, and I must confess I cannot for the life of me guess which of my many friends you can be.
你是多么聪明和任性,匿名写信。我承认我真的猜不出你到底是我哪一个朋友。
You have sent my head spinning and my imagination whirling.
你让我头晕目眩,想象力高速运转。
Could you be found among my dear friends, intimate friends, close friends, childhood friends, pen friends, family friends, friends of a friend, friends in distress, friends who are closer than a brother, friends in need, or school friends?
你可能是我的亲密朋友,亲近朋友,发小,笔友,家人朋友,朋友的朋友,落难的朋友,好哥们,需要帮助的朋友还是学校朋友?
Your letter quite clearly shows that you are not illiterate, and therefore we can rule out my school friends.
你的信显然说明你不是文盲,所以可以排除你是我学校的朋友。
Your masterly command of the language banishes the thought that you could be found among my friends from overseas.
你熟练的语言运用可以排除你是我国外的朋友。
Your witty criticism of my performance makes me think that I might find you among my nearest and dearest “bosom friends,” that is if you did not choose to address me as “Dear Madam”--a clever move this, and one that reduces my last thought to mere stupidity and you to a casual acquaintance, and yet I must banish the thought “casual acquaintance.”
你对我表演幽默的批评让我觉得你可能是我的密友,如果你不称我为“尊敬对女士”的话。你用这个称呼很聪明,但这也让我觉得我那个想法很愚蠢,我和你应该是点头之交,但我又必须排除这点。