我们一边品尝着凉爽的 Soave Classico 葡萄酒，一边享用店主 Benvenuto Puricelli 烹制的美食：熏火腿、烤鳟鱼、木炉烤鸡、Parmigiano Reggiano 奶酪块。 然后Puricelli从厨房里出来，将白兰地和糖倒入一个装满浓咖啡的铜壶中，告诉我们喝他的特制咖啡是让岛上免遭诅咒的唯一方法。

Susan takes two sips. “It’s too strong for my taste. But good.” “You’re going to finish it all, right?” I ask, having downed my portion.

She shakes her head.

“But you have to,” I say. “Otherwise the curse will follow you off the island.”

苏珊喝了两口。 “这对我的口味来说太浓了。 不过很好。” “你会喝完这些，对吧？” 我问，已经放下我的杯子。

她摇头。

“但你必须这样做，”我说。 “否则诅咒会跟着你离开岛屿。”

The early afternoon sun seems to hover over her shoulders, the deep-blue lake sparkling behind her. I realise how foolish I sound, jabbering about some curse to a dying woman. She turns, looks out on Lake Como and is silent. 

Finally she says, “I’m beyond the reach of any curse.”
 午后的阳光似乎在她的肩膀上盘旋，而深蓝色的湖在她身后闪闪发光。 我意识到我的话听起来多么愚蠢，对一个垂死的女人喋喋不休地谈论一些诅咒。 她转过身，望着科莫湖，一言不发。

最后她说：“我不受任何诅咒。”

The towns along Como’s shores have constituted one of the world’s great silk centres since the 18th century, thanks to an abundant supply of water (needed to boil the silkworm cocoons for their silk fibres) and mulberry trees, which the silkworms feed on. Today Lake Como’s silk works supply such high-end fashion houses as Versace, Ungaro and Hermès.

自 18 世纪以来，科莫海岸沿线的城镇已成为世界上最大的丝绸中心之一，这要归功于丰富的水源（煮熟蚕茧以获取蚕丝纤维所需）和以蚕为食的桑树。如今，Lake Como 的丝绸作品为Versace、Ungaro 和 Hermès 等高端时装品牌供货。

“Silk helped turn this region into a destination of choice for those in need of rest and relaxation,” a visitor from Milan tells us one afternoon. “These days, I suppose there’s one man in particular to thank.”

“丝绸帮助这个地区成为那些需要休息和放松人的首选目的地，”一位来自米兰的游客在一天下午告诉我们。 “这些天来，我想有一个人特别要感谢。”

“Who?” I ask.

“Ralph Lauren. He bought the silk for his clothes here when he first started his business.”

“谁？” 我问。

“拉尔夫·劳伦。 他刚开始做生意的时候，就在这里买了用来做衣服的丝绸。”

One century-old Como silk house, Mantero, frames its craft as “weaving emotions”. Susan and I have strolled past its headquarters and showroom on Via Volta in Lake Como’s provincial capital, also called Como, a few minutes’ drive south of Cernobbio.

拥有百年历史的科莫丝绸屋 Mantero 将其工艺描述为“编织情感”。 苏珊和我漫步在位于科莫湖省会（也称为科莫）的沃尔塔大街上的丝绸总部和陈列室，距离切尔诺比奥以南仅有几分钟的车程。

Through the windows we make out a shimmering rainbow of silk scarves, ties and shawls. I’m ready to step in when Susan spots one of Como’s other gems, the 12th-century Basilica of San Fedele. Places that have stood the test of time now call to her.
透过窗户，我们看到一条由丝巾、领带和披肩组成的闪闪发光的彩虹。当苏珊发现科莫的其他瑰宝之一，即 12 世纪的圣费德勒大教堂时，我已准备好了进入。在 经受住时间考验的地方现在呼唤她。 

Image via Adventure Women

“Let’s sit for a bit,” she says, pointing to a freshly painted wood bench.

Susan grabs my hand and rests it on her leg. “I need you to promise me something. Not for now, for after.”

图片来自冒险女性

“我们坐一会儿吧，”她说，指着一张刚刚粉刷过的木凳。

苏珊抓住我的手放在她的腿上。“我需要你答应我一件事。不是现在，而是以后。”

I take a deep breath and find it hard to form words; all I do is nod.

“I want you to do the things you always talked about doing but never did,” she says. “The house on a lake you wanted. Buying the vineyard that will use up all your money. Just don’t let too much time pass before you do. Each day is like a year, as I found out the hard way. And I want you to be happy, as I always have been.”

我深吸一口气，发现很难说出话来； 我所做的只是点头。

“我希望你做那些你一直说要做但从未做过的事情，”她说。“你想要湖边房子， 而购买葡萄园将花光你所有钱 。只是不要等太久再做；每一天都像一年，因为我发现很艰难。我希望你像往常一样快乐。”

“I don’t want to do any of that without you,” I say. “It won’t mean the same.”

“It’ll have to be without me,” Susan says. “That decision has been made.”

She leans against me and stares out at the lake. “Promise me that,” she whispers. “It’s one last promise.”

I kiss the top of her head and close my eyes. “I promise,” I whisper.
 “没有你，我什么都不想做，”我说。 “意思不一样。”

“它必须没有我，”苏珊说。 “这个决定已经做出了。”

她靠在我身上，凝视着外面的湖水。 “答应我，”她低声说。 “这是最后一个承诺。”

我亲吻她的头顶，闭上眼睛。 “我保证，”我低声说。

Image via Taipan 

We sit on the bench until late afternoon, temporarily setting aside our fears and concerns yet bracing for the reality that soon we’ll have no choice but to face them all head-on.

图片来自泰班

我们坐在板凳上直到下午的晚些时候，暂时搁置我们的恐惧和担忧，但我们很快就会别无选择，只能正面面对他们。

Lake Como is the perfect place to visit when starting a new chapter in life—a new romance, a marriage—or to enjoy the company of someone with whom you’ve shared much.

科莫湖是开启人生新篇章，一段新恋情、一段婚姻或享受陪伴与您共同分享人的理想去处。

It also, I’m discovering with some pain, is a loving place to say goodbye. Susan and I find ourselves often gazing at the lake, compelled by its shape-shifting waters, shading from an ocean indigo to a deeper midnight blue.

它也是，我有些痛苦地发现，是一个说再见的爱之地。苏珊和我发现自己经常凝视着湖水，被它变形的海水所驱使，从海洋靛蓝到更深的午夜蓝。

We’re at its shores at sunrise, warm cups of coffee in hand, watching the first waves cross its surface. We make a point of being by it at sunset, when snow on the hillsides seems to melt right into the lake as the landscape slowly descends into darkness.

日出时分，我们在它的岸边，手里拿着一杯温暖的咖啡，看着第一波海浪穿过它的表面。我们特别注重在日落时分呆在它的旁边，此时山坡上的雪似乎直接融化到湖中，景色慢慢沉入黑暗之中。

We also walk and talk a lot, going over the life we’ve shared, smiling about the many good times, shaking our heads at the mistakes made along the way. Other than shortness of breath, Susan shows no sign of the war being waged inside her body. The lake seems to lift her spirits and put her mind at ease.

我们也经常边走边谈，回顾我们共同的生活，对许多美好时光微笑，对一路上犯下的错误摇头。 除了呼吸急促，苏珊没有表现出她体内正在发生战争的迹象。 湖水似乎让她精神振奋，让她心情舒畅。

“This time will stay with me always,” she murmurs one night, her voice soft. “People who live here are lucky to call it home. They wake to such a beautiful sight. It never leaves them.”

“这一次将永远和我在一起，”一天晚上，她低声说，她的声音很轻。 “住在这里的人很幸运，能称这里为家。他们醒来看到如此美丽的景象，科莫湖永远不会离开他们。”

It’s as if time has frozen for us. The woman I love will forever be next to me, staring at the still, blue waters, talking about her hopes for our children, the plans she wants to make—and the places on Lake Como she still wants to see.

对我们来说，时间仿佛凝固了。我爱的女人将永远在我身边，凝视着平静的蓝色水域，谈论她对我们孩子的希望，她想要制定的计划，以及她仍然想去科莫湖上的某些地方…………