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He glanced over at her. She was watching him and her eyes were bright. "Look," he said, taking a reasonable tone, "this is stupid. If you were black you wouldn't be you." As he said this he realized it was absolutely true. There was no possible way of arguing with the fact that she would not be herself if she were black.
他看了妻子一眼，她正看着他，双眼亮晶晶的。“你看，”他以一种理智的语调说，“这很愚蠢。如果你是黑人，你就不是你了。”当他说这句话的时候，他觉得这绝对正确。如果她是黑人，她就不是她自己了。这是一个事实，事实胜于雄辩。
"I know," she said, "but let's just say."
“我知道，”她说，“但是我们只是假设。”
He took a deep breath. He had won the argument but he still felt cornered. "Say what?" he asked.
他深吸了一口气，他已经赢得了这场争辩，但是他仍然觉得被逼得无法脱身。“假设什么？”他问。
"That I'm black, but still me, and we fall in love. Will you marry me?"
“假设我是黑人，但我还是我，而且我们相爱了。你会娶我吗？”
He thought about it.
他想了想。
"Well?" she said. Her eyes were even brighter. "Will you marry me?"
“说呀？”她说，她的眼睛更亮了，“你会娶我吗？”
"I'm thinking," he said.
“我正想着呢，”他说。
"You won't, I can tell."
“我能看出来你不会的。”
"Let's not move too fast on this," he said. "There are lots of things to consider. We don't want to do something we would regret for the rest of our lives."
“不要这么快下结论，”他说，“有许多情况需要考虑。谁也不想做会让自己抱憾终生的事。”
"No more considering. Yes or no?"
“别再考虑了。会还是不会？”
"Since you put it that way—"
“你要这么说的话……”
"Yes or no."
“会还是不会？”
"Jesus, Ann. All right, No."
“天哪，安，好吧，不会。”
She said, "Thank you," and walked from the kitchen into the living room. A moment later he heard her turning the pages of a magazine. He knew that she was too angry to be actually reading it, but she didn't snap through the pages the way he would have done. She turned them slowly, as if she were studying every word. She was demonstrating her indifference to him, and it had the effect he knew she wanted it to have. It hurt him.
她说了句“谢谢”，然后离开厨房进了客厅。过了一会儿，他听见她翻杂志的声音。他知道她太生气了，根本看不进杂志，但她不像他生气时那样把杂志翻得哗哗响。她慢慢地翻动书页，好像在研读里面的每一个字。她在表示对他的冷漠。他知道这起到了她想要的效果。这伤害了他。
