I went into Kate’s room. She sat in her chair, motionless, hands in her lap, staring. Taking her hands in mine, I said, “Kate, it’s Phyllis.”

我走进凯特的房间。她正坐在椅子里，一动不动地，双手放在膝上，目光凝视。我把她的双手放在自己手里，说，“凯特，我是菲莉斯。”

Her eyes never shifted; she only stared. I placed my hand under her chin and slowly turned her head so she had to look at me.

她的双眼一动不动，只是凝视着。我把我的手放到她的下巴下，慢慢的把她的头转过来，这样她就不得不看着我。

“Kate, I just found out about Chris. I’m so sorry.”

“凯特，我才知道克里斯的事。我很难过。”

At the word “Chris”, her eyes came back to life. She looked at me, puzzled, as though wondering how I had suddenly appeared. “Kate, it’s me, Phyllis. I’m so sorry about Chris.”

听到“克里斯”，她的双眼才回过神来。她看着我，满脸迷惑，仿佛在想我是怎么突然之间就出现了。“凯特，是我，菲莉斯。我为克里斯的死感到难过。”

Recognition and sadness flooded her face. Tears welled up and slid down her cheeks. “Chris is gone,” she whispered.

醒悟和悲伤布满了她的脸。满含着的泪水顺着脸颊流了下来。“克里斯走了，”她低语道。

“I know,” I said. “I know.”

“我知道，”我说。“我知道。”

We pampered Kate for a while, letting her eat in her room, surrounding her with special attention. Then gradually the staff worked her back into the old schedule. Often, as I went past her room, I would observe Kate sitting in her chair, scrapbooks on her lap, gazing sadly at pictures of Chris.

我们安慰了凯特一会，让她在自己的房间吃饭，并对她进行特殊的看护。接着，工作人员逐渐地让回到了原来的作息时间。通常，每当经过她的门口，我就能观察到凯特坐在椅子里，剪切薄在膝上放着，悲哀地凝视着克里斯的照片。

Bedtime was the worst part of the day for Kate. Although she was allowed to move from her bed to Chris’s bed, and although the staff chatted and laughed with her as they tucked her in for the night, still Kate remained silent and sadly withdrawn. Passing her room an hour after she had been tucked in, I’d find her wide awake, staring at the ceiling.

对凯特来说，休息时间是一天中最难熬的了。虽然她被允许可以从自己的床挪到克里斯的床，虽然工作人员在晚上帮她掖被子和她有说有笑，凯特仍然沉默寡言，悲痛异常。在帮她掖好被子一小时后，再次路过她的门口，我发现她还睡意全无地凝视着天花板。

The weeks passed, and bedtime wasn’t any better. She seemed so restless, so insecure. Why? I wondered. Why this time of day more than the other hours?

几个星期后，休息时间的凯特不见任何好转。她看起来不平静也没有安全感。我就想，为什么呢？为什么这个时间的她比其它时间这种表现都这么明显呢？

Then one night as I walked into her room, only to find the same wide-awake Kate, I said impulsively, “Kate, could it be you miss your good-night kiss?” bending down, I kissed her wrinkled check.

随后的一天晚上，我走进了凯特的房间，发现她还象上次那样睡意全无。我冲动地说，“凯特，难道你是在怀念你的睡前的吻吗？”我弯下身来，吻了她褶皱的脸颊。

It was as though I had opened the floodgates. Tears ran down her face; her hands gripped mine. “Chris always kissed me good-night,” she cried.

这就好比我已经打开了水闸，眼泪顺着她的脸就流了下来。她用双手抓住我的手，哭喊道，“克里斯总是在睡前要吻我的。”

“I know,” I whispered.

“我知道，”我低声说。

“I miss him so, all those years he kissed me good-night.” She paused while I wiped the tears. “I just can’t seem to go to sleep without his kiss.”

“我很怀念他。这么多年了，他每晚都吻我。”我给她擦眼泪时，她停了会。“我看起来，没有他的吻，就无法入睡。”

She looked up at me, her eyes full of tears. “Oh, thank you for giving me a kiss.”

她扬起脸来看着我，满含泪水。“哦，谢谢你给了我一个吻。”

A small smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “You know,” she said confidentially, “Chris used to sing me a song.”

浅浅的微笑浮现在她的嘴角。“你知道，”她神秘地说，“克里斯过去常常为我唱歌。”

“He did?”

“他真的这么做了？”

“Yes,” ---her white head nodded---“and I lie here at night and think about it.”

“恩，”——她布满银发的头点了点——“晚上我躺在这就会想起那首歌。”

“How did it go?”

“歌是怎么唱的呢？”

Kate smiled, held my hand and cleared her throat. Then her voice, small with age but still melodious, lifted softly in song:

凯特微笑着，攥着我的手并清了清喉咙。接着，她的声音，由于年龄变得小而低，但是音调仍然优美，温柔地唱了起来：

So kiss me, my sweet, and so let us part.

And when I grow too old to dream,

That kiss will live in my heart.

吻我吧，我的小甜心，也好让我们分开来。

当我因年老而做梦，

你的吻会活在我心中。

译后语：

1、 Two young lovers smiling through the passing seasons. Two young lovers可通过拆烦就简法译为“一对情侣”。

2、 I would think for the thousandth time. The thousandth time是个概数，好比李白的“白发三千丈”一样。因此翻译类句子时就要归化为汉语的表达式，我们选择是“不止一次”。

3、 Often, as I went past her room,…. Room本意为“房间”、“房子”。如果直接将此句译为“经过她的房间”，就显得有点笼统。我们再次尝试以局部代整体的方法翻译，把它译为“门口”或“房门口”，就比较易于接受了。

4、 颊：读音为“jia”。