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"And my mother," she blew the truth out of proportion, "comes from a very big family. A ruling family. If you British hadn't colonized us, my mother would have been princess now."
“我妈妈，”她夸大了事实，“她来自于一个大家族，一个统治家族。如果英国不在我们这里建立殖民地的话，我妈妈现在就是一个公主。”
ye walk like princess, he said.
“你走路很像一个公主，”他说。
What a gullble, silly boy! She wiped her forehead with her hand and said, "You mean I am conceited and proud?"
真是一个容易受骗又愚蠢的男孩！她用手摸了摸额头说，“你的意思是我自负又骄傲？”
No, Ah didnae mean that, no. The packet of sugar he was tearing open tipped from his hand, its contents scattered over the table. "Ah shit… sorry…" He tried to scoop up the sugar and knocked against his office mug, spilling a little on the table.
“不，我不是那个意思，不是的……”撕开的糖包从他手上掉了下来，里面的糖撒的桌子上到处都是。“哦，糟糕……不好意思……”他试着把糖舀上来，却又碰到了咖啡杯，里面的咖啡又洒到了桌子上一点。
She took a tissue from her bag, reached over and mopped up the stain. It was easy to pick up all the bits of sugar with the damp tissue.
她从包里拿出一张面巾纸，擦干了上面的污迹。用湿巾很容易就能把所有的糖拾起来。
"Thanks," he mumbled and they were silent. The cafeteria was busy: full of the humming, buzzing sound of people talking to each other, trays and dishes. In Khartoum, she avoided being alone with Fareed. She preferred it when they were with others: their families, their many mutual friends.
“谢谢，”他含糊地说，他们之间突然变得很安静。咖啡馆里很吵：到处都是嗡嗡声，人们相互之间谈话的嘈杂声，以及托盘的声音。在喀土穆，她避免和法瑞德单独待在一起。她更喜欢他们俩和其他人在一起；和他们的家人，或他们共同的朋友。
Bryan was speaking to her, saying something about rowing on the River Dee. He went rowing on the weekends, he belonged to a rowing club.
布莱恩和她说了一些他在迪伊河上划船的事情。他周末的时候去划船，他是一个划船俱乐部的成员。
To make herself pleasing to people was a skill Shadia was trained in. It was not difficult to please people. Agree with them, never dominate the conversation, be economical with the truth. Now here was someone to whom all these rules needn't apply.
莎迪雅很擅长让别人感到愉快。愉悦别人并不难。同意别人说的话，不要控制谈话，也不要完全说实话。但是现在面对的这个人，却是不能使用这个规则的人了。
She said to him, "The Nile is superior to the Dee. I saw your Dee, it is nothing, it is like a stream. There are two Niles, the Blue and the White, named after their colours. They come from the south, from two different places. They travel for miles over countries with different names, never knowing they will meet. I think they get tired of running alone, it is such a long way to the sea. They want to reach the sea so that they can rest, stop running. There is a bridge in Khartoum, and under this bridge the two Niles meet. If you stand on the bridge and look down you can see the two waters mixing together."
她对他说，“尼罗河比迪伊河要好太多了，我见过你说的迪伊河，什么都不是，就像一条小溪样。我们有两条尼罗河，青尼罗河和白尼罗河，各自以它们的颜色命名。他们从南面的两个不同的地方而来。他们流经不同的国家，却不知道它们会相汇。我想它们厌倦了独自流淌，因为流向大海还有好长的路要走。但它们想要流向大海，这样就可以休息了，不再流淌。在喀土穆有一座桥，在桥下，这两条尼罗河相汇了。如果你站在桥上向下看，你可以看到两条河交汇在了一起。”
Do you get homesick? he asked.
“你是不是想家了？”他问。
Things I should miss I don't miss. Instead I miss things didn't think I would miss. The azan, the muezzin call to prayer from the mosque. I don't know if you know about it. I miss that. At dawn it used to wake me up.
“我本应该思念的东西我并没有思念，而我本以为不会思念的东西我却很想念。我想念宣礼者从清真寺发出的唱礼。我不知道你是否了解它。在黎明的时候，它呼唤我起床。
