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I'd rather... if you don't mind...
“我愿意……如果你不介意……”
No, darling, this is on me. And Mr. Dwight, of course.
“不，亲爱的。由我来付，当然，也算由德怀特先生来付。”
He submitted just as two of the Japanese gentlemen gave tongue simultaneously, then stopped abruptly and bowed to each other, as though they were blocked in a doorway.
男孩不再争了。这时其中两个日本男人恰好同时开口说话，接着又都缄默不语，相互躬身致意，就像在门口撞到了彼此。
I had thought the two young people matching miniatures, but what a contrast in fact there was. The same type of prettiness could contain weakness and strength. Her Regency counterpart, I suppose, would have borne a dozen children without the aid of anaesthetics, while he would have fallen an easy victim to the first dark eyes in Naples. Would there one day be a dozen books on her shelf? They have to be born without an anaesthetic too. I found myself hoping that The Chelsea Set would prove to be a disaster and that eventually she would take up photographic modeling while he established himself solidly in the wine-trade in St James's. I didn't like to think of her as the Mrs. Humphrey Ward of her generation—not that I would live so long. Old age saves us from the realization of a great many fears. I wondered to which publishing firm Dwight belonged. I could imagine the blurb he would have already written about her abrasive powers of observation. There would be a photo, if he was wise, on the back of the jacket, for reviewers, as well as publishers, are human, and she didn't look like Mrs. Humphrey Ward.
我原想这对年轻人很是般配，但事实却大相径庭。同样漂亮的类型有的人或许无能，有的人或许强大。我在想，如果她处在摄政时期，她可能已经在不需要麻醉的情况下生了十多个孩子，而他将很容易被那不勒斯岸上碰上的第一个女人所降伏。她的书架上有一天会摆满她所写的书吗？（那么）这些书也一定是在她没有打麻醉药的情况下创作的。我希望《切尔西的名流》销量不好，这样，她最终会成为摄影模特，而他会在圣詹姆斯的葡萄酒贸易中站稳脚跟。我不敢想象她会成为她这一代的汉弗莱·沃德太太，这倒不是因为我还能活到那会。年老让我们免于面对许多恐怖的现实。我很好奇德怀特先生是哪个出版社的。我可以想象得到他对于她那洞察力的吹捧短评早已写好。如果他明智的话，应该在书的护封上加上她的照片，评论家和出版商都是普通人，而她可比汉弗莱·沃德太太漂亮得多。
I could hear them talking while they found their coats at the back of the restaurant. He said, "I wonder what all those Japanese are doing here?"
他们在餐厅后面拿外套时，我又听到了他们的谈话。男孩说那些日本人在这干嘛呢？”
Japanese? she said. "What Japanese, darling? Sometimes you are so evasive think you don't want to marry me at all."
“日本人？”女孩问道，“什么日本人啊，亲爱的？有时候我觉得你是有意在闪烁其词，我猜你压根就没想要跟我结婚。”
