He will settle again in his rocking chair and only then begin to wonder why I have come to see him. "You are sure there is nothing wrong?" he will ask suddenly.
他会坐回到摇椅上,这才想起问我为什么来看他。“你肯定没什么问题吗?”他会突然问道。
No, Father, all is well, I will reply. But then, just as I am about to break my news to him, I will decide to keep it back just a while longer and try the indirect approach. "I have come to ask you for advice, Father," I will say, "for I am very heavily in debt."
“没有,爸,一切都好着呢,”我会回答。随后,我正想告诉他这个消息,临时决定故意再多隐瞒一会儿,用间接的方式告诉他。“我是来向您求助的,爸,”我会说,“因为我负债累累。”
I am afraid you will not get much help from me in this matter, Father will reply. "One may well say of this place that it has everything except money."
“这事我恐怕帮不上什么忙啊,”父亲会说。“这地方可说是什么都有,就是没钱。”
Ah, but it is not money that I owe, Father. Father then will say, "But that's even worse. Begin right at the beginning, Daughter."
“噢,可我欠的不是钱,爸。”这时父亲就会说,“那就更难办了。从头说起吧,女儿。”
It is not too much to ask that you should help, Father, for it was all your fault right from the beginning. Do you remember how you used to play the piano and sing Bellman's songs to us children and how, at least twice every winter, you would let us read Runeberg and Andersen? It was then that I first fell into debt. Father, how shall I ever repay them for teaching me to love fairy tales and stories of heroes, the land we live in and all of our human life?
“我来让您帮忙,可不算过分,爸,因为全都是您的错,从一开始就是。您可记得,我们小时候,您弹着钢琴为我们唱贝尔曼的歌曲吗?还有,每年冬天至少两次,您都会让我们读鲁内贝格和安徒生呢。从那时起我就开始欠债。爸,让我怎么回报他们呢?正是他们教我热爱童话,英雄传奇,我们生活的土地,还有所有人类的生活。”