《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 75 (166):燃起光輝
This is such bad news it's almost funny. What am I going to do in Bali now? I don't know exactly what I'd imagined it would be like to meet Ketut again, but I did hope we'd have some sort of super-karmic tearful reunion. And while it's true I had feared he might be dead, it hadn't occurred to me that—if he were still alive—he wouldn't remember me at all. Although now it seems the height of dumbness to have ever imagined that our first meeting would have been as memorable for him as it was for me. Maybe I should have planned this better, for real.
這壞消息簡直逗趣。現在我在巴厘島該怎麼辦？我不確定和賴爺重聚的情況如何，但我的確希望我們能有某種喜極而泣的團圓。我雖然曾經擔心他可能過世，卻沒想過——假使他還活着——他一點也不記得我。儘管如今看來，想像我們的第一次邂逅對他就像對我而言那般令人難忘，是多麼愚蠢的事。或許我早該設想到真實狀況。So I describe the picture he had made for me, the figure with the four legs ("so grounded on earth") and the missing head ("not looking at the world through the intellect") and the face in the heart ("looking at the world through the heart") and he listens to me politely, with modest interest, like we're discussing somebody else's life entirely.
於是我描述他畫給我的那張圖，有四條腿（“堅定地踩在地上”）、無頭（“不能透過腦袋看世界”）、臉則位在心臟處（“用心觀看世界”）的形象。他客氣地聽我說，帶着適度的興趣，好似我們在談論他人的生命。I hate to do this because I don't want to put him on the spot, but it's got to be said, so I just lay it out there. I say, "You told me I should come back here to Bali. You told me to stay here for three or four months. You said I could help you learn English and you would teach me the things that you know." I don't like the way my voice sounds—just the teensiest bit desperate. I don't mention anything about the invitation he'd once floated for me to live with his family. That seems way out of line, given the circumstances.
我不喜歡這麼做，因爲不想讓他爲難，但我必須說出來，於是攤開來講。我說：“你告訴我說我應該回巴厘島來。你告訴我在這兒要待三四個月。你說我能幫你學英語，你也會把你知道的事教給我。”我不喜歡自己有些絕望的語氣。我並未提及他曾邀我與他的家人同住。在考慮到眼前的情況下，這似乎太越界。
He listens to me politely, smiling and shaking his head, like, Isn't it so funny the things people say?
他客氣地聽我說，微笑搖頭，好像在說：“人們說的事可真逗趣”。I almost drop it then. But I've come so far, I have to put forth one last effort. I say, "I'm the book writer, Ketut. I'm the book writer from New York."
我幾乎放棄。但我遠道而來，必須做最後一絲努力。我說：“賴爺，我是寫書的作家。我是紐約來的作家。”And for some reason that does it. Suddenly his face goes translucent with joy, turns bright and pure and transparent. A Roman candle of recognition sparks to life in his mind. "YOU!" he says. "YOU! I remember YOU!" He leans forward, takes my shoulders in his hands and starts to shake me happily, the way a child shakes an unopened Christmas present to try to guess what's inside. "You came back! You came BACK!"
出於某種原因，這成功了。他的臉突然亮起喜悅，變得清澈、純粹而透明。他的心中燃起認出人來的光輝。“你！”他說，“你！我記得你！”他湊過來，雙手握着我的肩，開始快樂地搖動我，好似孩子搖着未打開的聖誕禮物，想猜猜裏頭是什麼。“你回來了！你回來了！”"I came back! I came back!" I say.
“我回來了！我回來了！”我說。"You, you, you!"
“你，你，你！”"Me, me, me!"
“我，我，我！”
