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"What do you mean you can't? If you go into any large department store…"
“你说你不行是什么意思？如果你去大商店……”
You can get good things, things that aren't available here. Gold would be good. It would match…
“你可以买到这里买不到的好东西。金子就很好。它很配……”
Gold. Gold toilet seats!
金子，金子做得马桶座圈！
"Shadia, gold-coloured, not gold. It's smart."
“莎迪雅，是金色的，不是金子做的。它看起来很好。”
"Allah is going to punish us for this, it's not right…"
“真主阿拉会惩罚我们的，这样是不对的……”
"Since when have you become so religious!"
“你什么时候变得如此虔诚！”
Bryan was waiting for her on the steps of the museum, familiar-looking against the strange grey of the city streets where cars had their headlamps on in the middle of the afternoon. He wore a different shirt, navy-blue jacket. He said, not looking at her, "Ah was beginning to think you wouldnae turn up."
布莱恩在博物馆的台阶上等她，熟悉的样子，刚到下午，城市街道就呈现一片灰蒙蒙的景象，车都已经打开了前车灯。他穿了一件不同的外衣，一件海军蓝的夹克衫。他说，没有看着她，“一开始我还以为你不会出现了。”
There was no entry fee to the museum, no attendant handing out tickets. The first thing they saw was a Scottish man from Victorian times. He sat on a chair surrounded by possessions from Africa: overflowing trucks, an ancient map strewn on the floor of the glass cabinet. Shadia turned away; there was an ugliness in the lifelike wispiness of his hair, his determined expression, the biway he sat. A hero who had gone away and come back, laden, ready to report.
到博物馆参观是免费的，服务人员也没有在门口发票。他们看到的第一件展品是维多利亚时代的一个苏格兰男人。他坐在一张椅子上，周围是他从非洲带回来的财产：装满物品的卡车，一张古老的地图摊在玻璃柜底部。莎迪雅把头扭了过去，他那逼真的一缕一缕的头发，他那坚定的表情以及坐姿都透着一种丑陋。一个刚刚出去的男人又返回来了，准备做讲解。
Bryan began to conscientiously study every display cabinet, to read the poster ron the wall. She followed him around and thought that he was studious, careful; that was why he did so well in his degree. She watched the intent expression on his face as he looked at everything. For her the posters were an ffort to read, the information difficult to take in.
布莱恩开始认真地研究每一件展品，阅读墙上的海报。她跟在他身后，觉得他很认真、专心；这就是为什么他学习这么好。她看着他看每一件东西时脸上专心的表情。对她来说，墙上的海报勉强可以阅读一下，但是却难以接受里面的信息。
During the 18th and 19th centuries, northeast Scotland made a portionate impact on the world at large by contributing so many skilled and committed individuals. In serving an empire they gave and received, changed others and were themselves changed and often returned home with tangible reminders of their experiences.
在19世纪和20世纪，苏格兰东北部出了大量具有专业技能、敬业的人士，对整个世界做出了超出它人口比例的重大贡献。在服务于帝国的过程中，他们做出了牺牲，也得到了回报；他们改变了他人，同时也改变了自己；他们回国时经常带回一些纪念他们经历的物品。
The tangible reminders were there to see, preserved in spite of the years. Her eyes skimmed over the disconnected objects out of place and time. Iron and copper, little statues. Nothing was of her, nothing belonged to her life at home, what she missed. Here was Europe's vision, the cliches about Africa: cold and old.
这些实物时刻都在那里供人们参观，经过这么多年，依旧保存得十分完好。她的眼睛略去那些与时间、空间毫无关联的物品。铁和铜，小型雕像。没有什么东西是她希望看到的，是属于她在家里的生活的，是她所思念的。这是欧洲人心目中的非洲，都是些冷漠无情的、老掉牙的陈词滥调。
