威廉·S. 毛姆(William S. Maugham)
After that they decided to go where there was no chance at all of their being seen. They did not meet till they got over Westminster Bridge, and thence they made their way into the park; they would lie down on the grass in one another's arms, and thus spend the long summer evenings. After the heat of the day there would be a gentle breeze in the park, and they would take in long breaths of the air; it seemed far away from London, it was so quiet and cool; and Liza, as she lay by Jim's side, felt her love for him overflowing to the rest of the world and enveloping mankind itself in a kind of grateful happiness. If it could only have lasted! They would stay and see the stars shine out dimly, one by one, from the blue sky, till it grew late and the blue darkened into black, and the stars glittered in thousands all above them. But as the nights grew cooler, they found it cold on the grass, and the time they had there seemed too short for the long journey they had to make; so, crossing the bridge as before, they strolled along the Embankment till they came to a vacant bench, and there they would sit, with Liza nestling close up to her lover and his great arms around her. The rain of September made no difference to them; they went as usual to their seat beneath the trees, and Jim would take Liza on his knee, and, opening his coat, shelter her with it, while she, with her arms round his neck, pressed very close to him, and occasionally gave a little laugh of pleasure and delight. They hardly spoke at all through these evenings, for what had they to say to one another? Often without exchanging a word they would sit for an hour with their faces touching, the one feeling on his cheek the hot breath from the other's mouth; while at the end of the time the only motion was an upraising of Liza's lips, a bending down of Jim's, so that they might meet and kiss. Sometimes Liza fell into a light doze , and Jim would sit very still for fear of waking her, and when she roused herself she would smile, while he bent down again and kissed her. They were very happy. But the hours passed by so quickly, that Big Ben striking twelve came upon them as a surprise, and unwillingly they got up and made their way homewards; their partings were never ending — each evening Jim refused to let her go from his arms, and tears stood in his eyes at the thought of the separation.
- embankment [ɪmˈbæŋkmənt] n. 路堤，堤岸
- nestle [ˈnesl] v. 依偎，拥抱
fall into a light doze 打瞌睡
在那之后，他们决定去没有人可以看见的地方。两人走过威斯敏斯特桥才见上面，然后一起去公园。他们会相拥躺在草地上，就这样度过一个个悠长的夏日夜晚。白昼酷热消散后，公园里柔和的风徐徐拂面，他们深深地吸着气；这里好像远离伦敦，静谧而凉爽；莉莎躺在吉姆身旁，觉得自己沉浸在幸福之中，她对于他的爱往外溢出，流向天地间，把全人类都罩在幸福快乐之中。但愿此情绵绵流长！他们一直待着，随后星星一一出现在蓝天上，蓝天又渐渐转黑，于是成千上万颗星星在头顶上闪烁。夜晚渐渐凉下来，草地上很冷，对于他们这趟约会旅行，时间好像永远不够，于是他们只好沿原路返回，过了桥，沿泰晤士河河堤散步，在无人的长凳子上两人坐了下来。莉莎蜷缩在吉姆的怀抱中。九月的雨不讲情面，落在这对恋人身上，他们像往常一样挪到树底下的长凳子上，吉姆把莉莎放在膝上，敞开衣襟为她遮雨。她呢，双臂按住他的脖子，紧紧偎在他身上，时不时快乐地窃笑着。整个晚上，他们很少说话。他们有什么必要说呢？他们时常一言不发，脸贴着脸坐着，长达一个小时，男的感觉到自己的面颊上吹着她嘴里呼出的热气；到最后，唯一的动作就是莉莎嘴唇的上举，吉姆嘴唇的下移，于是两人的嘴唇相遇，亲吻起来。有时候莉莎会打起盹儿，吉姆会静静地坐着以免弄醒她。她醒来时，会微微一笑，他就俯身吻她，两人快乐极了。而时间一小时一小时过得真快。大本钟敲响12点的时候，他们都吓了一跳，不情愿地起立往家走，每次分手都使他热泪盈眶，不肯让她从怀抱中离去，依依不舍。