相知相识A time to say hello
The year began softly. The weather in Southern China was warm and so were the students. The unexpected events of the year to come began to unfold, much too soon to become only an innocent treasured memory. Something precious should be held tight and not let it go. It was to be a year of surprises and a year of love. The Chinese have an expression for it, “Yuan fen”. A westerner would only question why and how. With your permission let us share the experience together.
这一年悄然开始了。在中国的南方，气候温暖宜人，学生们热情有加。来年中那些意想不到的事情开始展现出来，很快，又会变成清纯美好的回忆。应当把握真情，不言放弃。那是一年的惊喜，一年的爱意。对此，汉语里有个说法叫做“缘分”。西方人可能只会问为什么，怎么了。要是你愿意的话，那么就请与我一起来分享这段经历吧。
He sat at the front of the classroom looking anxious but attentive. In those first few days, his eyes bright with anticipation sought approval from me, his teacher. He claims now that he understood very little content in the lessons of the first few weeks. However, he successfully managed to give the appropriate illusion of understanding well. He made me laugh and his peering was also delighted in his sense of humor. He dressed with attention to detail, and his neat appearance, whether in jeans or current fashion, was distinct, a cool guy! There was always something enchanting in his smile, he was charming and handsome and he knew it! Moreover, he was a gentleman. His eyes revealed so much when they crinkled with laughter, the mask removed, or conversely remained inscrutable like still pools of liquid chocolate, containing only a hint of belief.
他坐在教室的前面，看起来有些焦急忧虑，但很专心。最初的那几天，他那明亮的眼睛里，充满了得到我这个老师认同的渴望。现在，他承认，对于头几个星期的课程，他几乎没听懂。然而，他却设法装成了理解得差不多的样子。我禁不住感到好笑，他那很有幽默感的凝视也显露出高兴的样子。他的穿着很注意细节，外表整洁，不管是牛仔裤还是时装都别具一格，简直酷极了。他的微笑总是那么迷人。他英俊潇洒，讨人喜欢，他自己也深知这一点。而且，他也是绅士。他有时眯着眼笑的时候，就抛掉了所有的掩饰，有时又故作神秘，像一杯平静的热巧克力，叫价难以捉摸。不管怎样，他的眼睛都流露出他的绅士风范。
His first writing assignment revealed the fact that he liked me and that he hoped we could be friends, “very good friends”. At that time neither of us suspected just how true that prophecy would eventually become. Inwardly, I just laughed. This was the first of several laughs that showed how little I understood. His presence permeated my classroom and my world.
他第一次写作业，就表露出他喜欢我，并希望我们成为朋友，“非常好的朋友”。那时，我们都没想到这个预言最终会变成现实。我只在心里笑了笑。那是表露我毫不知情的几次笑声中的第一次。从此，他出现在我的课堂和我的生活里。
About a month later our lives began to intertwine and the delicately woven pattern of our lives began to become more intricate in the coming year. Relationships occur on many levels. Layer upon layer must separate in order for us to speak of inner feelings. It is up to the individual to analyze the variety of feelings at each level.
大约一个月后，我们的交往变得密切起来。这种精心培植的生活模式，在新的一年中变得更加微妙。关系涉及到诸多层次，只有把各个层次分开，我们才能说出内心感受。我们必须按各自的观点去分析在每个层次的不同感受。
As time passed, we shared our viewpoints and feelings through conversation while chatting over tea and coffee, arousing the emotion deep in our hearts.
随着时间的流逝，我们快乐地在一起交谈，一边品茶、饮咖啡，一边聊天，述说自己的观点和感受，在我们内心深处涌动着热烈的情谊。
One day flowed smoothly into another. Familiar experience for me proved to be exciting and stimulating for him. Western festival celebrations like Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day provided an avenue to celebrate together, to share warmth and good times. Traveling to new places introduce me to an enticing new world.
不知不觉中，日子一天一天地过去了。我所熟悉的那些感觉竟然也使他兴奋、激动。像万圣节前夕、圣诞节和情人节这些西方的喜庆节日，为我们提供了在一起庆祝的机会，共享温馨美好的时光。我们还到一些新的地方旅游，把我带入一个迷人的新世界。
Every day there was laughter and underlying cares that carried both of us along to some degree of happiness. We learned together English and learned about life that year. Strangely the gap in our ages did not create any barrier for our friendship, he young and vital, and I was feeling young again.
每天的笑声和深情的关怀，使我们总是生活在幸福之中。这一年，我们一起学习英语，也学习如何生活。很奇怪，我们的年龄代沟没有给我们的友谊带来一点障碍。他年轻，充满活力。我也感觉自己年轻了。
He offered his assistance, whenever I needed it. He offered his company for comfort, when death visited my door. What did he drive from this agenda, but a few paltry words in a foreign language? May be it was all worthwhile, maybe it will open a window wide and provide a pass port to a new world for his future.
无论我何时需要，他都能提供帮助。当死神光顾我的时候，他陪伴我，给我安慰。从这些事情中，他得到了什么呢？仅仅为了几个微不足道的外语单词？也许那就足够了，或许会为他的将来打开一扇窗户，为他提供一种通往一个新世界的手段。
Time continues to slip by as a rushing river. You no longer inhabit my daily world, only my memory. From a distance your voice informs me that you are continuing to learn, you are growing. Some days you are happy, others not quite so much.
时间像奔流的江水，不停地逝去。你不再出现在我每天的世界里，只留在了我的记忆中。 从你远方传来的声音里，我知道了你在继续学习，不断成长，有时快乐，有时也并不如意。
However, here around me, there is nothing and yet there is everything. My mind remains idle, with only fragments of images drifting in and out. I can no longer be absolutely certain whether this was only a dream.
然而现在，我身边空无一物，只有一个梦幻般的身影从你的窗户里翩然而至，还有那每当我站在你的新课桌旁时那熟悉的气息。一无所有，但又拥有一切。我头脑空空如也，进进出出的都是那些映像的片断。我再也无法肯定这是否只是一场梦幻。
We no longer occupy the same space, but I remind myself that we still occupy the same world. When we chance to meet, hands reach out; hearts embrace, and once again confirm the same magic feeling. Such friendships come rarely in a lifetime. Thereby, I feel blessed and lucky.
我们不再拥有同一片空间，但我清楚，我们依然拥有同一个世界。倘若还有机会相遇，我们会伸出双手，真心拥抱，再次重温这奇妙的感觉。真诚友谊，终生难求。对此，我觉得很幸福，很幸运。
谋杀端倪A preface to murder
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Sometimes life deals a bad hand. Sometimes it is hard to go on. Sometimes evil triumphs over good.
有时， 事实比小说还离奇。生活有时候使人无助，有时又让人难以为继。有时，邪恶还战胜了正义。
Nancy sighed heavily as she pulled her daughter’s diary from the drawer. She leaned forward to examine the familiar writing. A postcard with a colored sketch fell onto the floor from the book the drawing was a picture of a long curved sandy beach on a tropical island; of course it would be Montserrat. She felt clumsy as she knelt to retrieve the picture. Under no circumstances could she forgive or forget the criminals who tortured her beautiful Megan. It was difficult not to feel bitter about the events of the preceding year. She had shed so many tears in the past year since her daughter’s murder. Nancy recognized that she was suffering from psychological problems and had really become indifferent to the events in her daily life. She began to shake and then to weep. When would there be an answer to this damn nightmare?
南希深深地叹了口气，从抽屉里取出女儿的日记。她身体前倾，仔细地看着那熟悉的笔迹。一张彩色素描明信片从杯子里掉落下来。画面上是一个热带岛屿上一处蜿蜒的沙滩美景。自然，那就是蒙特塞拉特岛。在她屈膝去拣明信片时，她感到手脚有些不听使唤了。她决不会饶恕或忘记那些残害她美丽的梅根的凶手。一想到一年前发生的不幸，南希就禁不住感到痛苦。她抓起一张面巾纸，擦去眼中的泪水。女儿被害后的这一年中，她不知道流了多少眼泪。南希知道自己患上了心理障碍，她确实变得对日常生活中的事情漠不关心了。她身体开始颤抖，接着抽泣起来。这该死的噩梦何时才会一个答案呢？
Megan had attended secondary school at a private girls’ school five hundred kilometers from home. In junior school she had been a straight A student. Now in high school she continued to study hard, play sports, join the school orchestra, plus a variety of school clubs. As a joke, her friends labeled her a genius, often just to make her angry. As well as being a high academic achiever she had a great capacity for fun. She thrived on an active social life. Slender, pretty and vivacious, she was the apple of her parents’ eye.
梅根在离家500公里的一所私立学校上中学。她读小学时就一直是最优秀的学生。现在进了中学，她还是继续努力学习，热爱运动，参加学校的管弦乐队，还加入了学校的各种俱乐部。朋友们在开玩笑时称她为天才，这常常只会使她生气。她不但学习成绩好，也很有情趣。她在丰富的社会活动中茁壮成长。她苗条美丽、活泼大方，是父母的掌上明珠。
Every year in accordance with school policy, a student candidate was chosen to travel and live in another commonwealth country for six months. As Megan had an interest in a diplomatic career after completing university, she figure she would be considered a prime applicant if she applied for the position. A detailed essay was necessary to provide the committee with a clear idea of her intention. The selection committee would spend a fortnight reviewing the applications in an attempt to identify the ideal student. Megan also needed to undergo a rigorous personal interview, which would validate her academic background and evaluate her general behavior.
按照学校的规定，每年要挑选一名学生到另一个英联邦国家去旅行和生活六个月。因为梅根的计划是在读完她上的大学后从事外交工作，她认为如果提出申请，自己将是被考虑的一个主要人选。这需要向委员会提交一篇文章，明确阐明她的意图。选拔委员会要花两个星期对申请人进行评定，以确定人选。梅根还要接受严格的单独面试，以验证她的学业水平并评估她的综合素质。
The interview preceded well, Megan taking the initiative to underline her strengths. After school some of her friends gathered for coffee in the café near the school. They confessed to Megan that they were rather envious of the opportunity she might have to live in another country. They enquired about the details of the interview. Two weeks later Megan received a phone call notifying her of the successful results of the interview.
面试进行得很顺利，梅根积极主动地展示了她的实力。放学后，她与一些朋友聚在学校附近的咖啡馆一块喝咖啡。她们对梅根很坦承对她要在另一个国家生活相当嫉妒。她们还询问了面试的细节。两个星期后，梅根接到电话，通知她成功地通过了面试。
Her parents were slightly nervous experiencing some negative feelings about Megan leaving the safety of home to live in another country. They knew the experience would broaden her horizons however, her destination, Montserrat, within the past year had a huge volcano erupt, disrupting people’s lives. Unstable conditions, loss of homes and fear of more eruptions all tended to breed trouble among the poor of the island. Her parents’ concerns were for Megan’s safety.
对于梅根要离开安全的家到另一个国家去生活，她的父母略感不安，有一些不祥的感觉。不过，他们知道，这次经历将会拓宽她的视野。她的目的地蒙特塞拉特，去年发生了一次巨大的火山爆发，使人民的生活陷于混乱之中。局势动荡、无家可归和对火山再次爆发的恐惧都在困扰这个岛国的穷人。她父母担心梅根的安全。
Departure day dawned clear and bright. Farewells were made to family and friends and she was off for the adventure of a lifetime.
出发的那天清早，天气晴朗。在与家人和朋友们告别后，她踏上了她的冒险旅途。
Megan’s arrival on Montserrat was both welcoming and initially uneventful. The island family where she was to live for the next six months, made her feels right at home. As the pace of life on the island was more relaxed that at home, she was very happy. Her new schoolmates included her in their lives and she adapted quickly. Swimming in the warm ocean water, and sitting underneath waving
责任编辑：sealion1986
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