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The hour went by much too swiftly. Mrs. Robertson-Glasgow had to practically push me out the door. But she sent me home with two large tomes, one full of beautiful illustrations of birds, and one of butterflies and other insects. I promised to return them the next weekend if she didn't mind my coming by. She smiled and said she'd look forward to that.
这一小时过得太快了。罗伯逊-格拉斯哥夫人几乎不得不把我推出门外。但是她送我回家，还让我带走了两大本书，一本满是鸟类的精美图片，一本是蝴蝶和其他昆虫的。我答应下周末会把书还给她，如果她不介意我再到她家来玩的话。她微笑着说会等着我再去。
I had made the best friend in the world.
就这样，我交到了世界上最好的一位朋友。
When I returned the books, she lent me more. Soon I began to see her almost every weekend, and my well of knowledge about natural history began to brim over. At school, I earned the nickname "Prof" and some respect from my fellow students. Even the school bully brought me a dead bird he had found, or probably shot, to identify.
我把书还给她后，她借给了我更多的书。不久，我几乎每个周末都去找她，而我学到的博物学知识就好比一口“井”，因装满知识而几乎要溢出来了。在学校，我得到“教授”的绰号并赢得了同学们的尊敬，甚至学校里的一个爱欺负人的同学也把他发现的或者被他打到的死鸟拿到我面前，让我辨认是什么鸟。
During the summer I spent blissfully long days with my friend. I discovered she made the finest shortbread in the world. We would explore Bear Wood, munching happily and discussing the books she had lent me. In the afternoons we would return to the cottage, and she would talk about her husband—what a fine man he'd been. Once or twice she seemed about to cry and left the room quickly to make more tea. But she always came back smiling.
夏天，我和我的朋友一起度过许多快乐的长昼。我发现她能做出世界上最好吃的黄油酥饼。我们一同探索熊树林，一同愉快地吃东西，一同讨论她借给我的书。下午，我们返回小屋，她会谈起她的丈夫——他曾经是多么好的一个人。有那么一两次她似乎要哭出来了，然后就迅速离开房间去再泡些茶。但当她回来时，总是微笑着的。
As time passed, I did not notice that she was growing frailer and less inclined to laugh. Familiarity sometimes makes people physically invisible, for you find yourself talking to the heart—to the essence, as it were, rather than to the face. I suspected, of course, that she was lonely; I did not know she was ill.
时光匆匆而逝，我没有注意到她越来越虚弱，而且也不那么爱笑了。亲近往往使人忽略彼此外表的变化，因为你觉得自己是在跟对方的心灵——可以说是和人本质的东西进行对话，而不会去注意对方的脸是什么样子。当然，我觉察到她是孤独的，却不知道她已经病了。
