I began by counting the days,then the months. I don't count on anything anymore except the hope that you will return, and the silent fear that in the years since we saw each other, this war, this awful war, will have changed us both beyond our reckoning......"
亲爱的英曼，我开始数日子，日复一日，月复一月。除了盼你归来，我对一切都已经失去了兴趣。自从我们相识，几年来，沉寂和恐惧充斥了一切。这场战争。这场可恶的战争。打破了我们所有的幻想......
"Since you've left, time has been measured out in bitter chapters. Last fall, my poor father died. Our farm at Black Cove is abandoned. Every house in these mountains touched by tragedy. Each day the dread... of learning who has fallen... who will not return from this terrible war. And no word from you. Are you alive? I pray to God you are. This war is lost on the battlefield and is being lost tWice over by those who stayed behind.I'm still waiting, as I promised I would. But I find myself alone and at the end of my wits... too embarrassed to keep taking from those who can least afford to give... My last thread of courage now is to put my faith in you... and to believe I will see you again. So now I say to you, bless as I can... if you are fighting, stop fighting. If you are marching, stop marching. Come back to me...... Come back to me,this is my request..."
自从你走后，日子几经起伏，最后是我那可怜的父亲死了。我们在黑湾的农场被弃废了。山间每一幢房子都笼罩在悲剧的氛围中。每天，人们都会提心吊胆地去打听谁牺牲了，谁不再会从可怕的战场中返回。得不到你一点消息。你还活着吗？我像上帝祈祷：你还活着。战争让人在战场丧命，也给后方的人再次重创。我秉承诺言，一直守候着你。但我发现我很孤独，最后变得麻木不仁......我最后的一点勇气来自对你的信念，相信我还会再见到你。所以现在，我要尽我所能的为你祈祷。如果你还在打仗，别再打了。如果你在行军，别再去了。回到我的生变......回到我的身边，这是我对你的呼唤......
Yesterday, I saw you walkin' back to me... or thought I did. I found myself crouching over Sally Swanger's well,like a mad woman staring into its secrets. Was it you I saw walking home to me, or was it your ghost? After so long, I know I must learn to survive on my own and accept you will not return. And yet I cannot. I cannot......
昨天，我看见你朝我走来，是的，我是看见了。我蹲在丽莎.斯温格的井边，像个疯女人似的盯住自己的小秘密不放。那是你吗？朝我走来，还是你的灵魂？经历了那么久之后，我知道我必须独自面对生活，必须接受你不会回来的事实，但我做不到，做不到......
For What we have lost will never be returned to us. The land will not heal. Too much blood. The heart will not heal. All we can do is make peace with the past and try to learn from it. If you could see us now this Easter day at Black Cove, you would know every step of your journey was worth it.
失去的不会再回来了。这片土地的创伤尚未愈合，太多的血腥。伤痛的心也没有愈合。我们所能做的就是平静地对待所发生的一切，并从过去中取得经验教训。如果你能看到今年黑湾的复活节，你就会明白，你所做的一切都是值得的。 作者: 秦辉 时间: 2012-7-14 15:22
非常艰难地读了两段，差不多忘记光了