【Chapter 2】P17-P18

    Connie helped him as much as she could with the work,discussing for hours the characters and their interactions with one another.She quite enjoyed these discussions for a time.

    康妮尽自己所能地帮他写作，一连几小时的和他讨论角色和角色之间的关系。她在一段时间内享受这些讨论。

    Connie's father,during one of his brief visits to Wragby commented about Clifford's writing,"It's smart,but there's nothing in it.It won't last!" Connie looked at the big Scottish artist-knight who had done himself well all his life.Nothing in it!What did he mean by nothing in it?If the critics praised it,and Clifford's name was almost famous,and it even brought in money...what did her father mean by saying there was nothing in Clifford's writing.

    康妮的父亲有时会来勒格贝，有一次，评论克里夫的作品道：“文章是好，可空洞无物，不会持续下去的！”康妮看着这位了不起的苏格兰爵士艺术家，他这一辈子都过得很精彩。空洞无物！这是什么意思呢？如果批评家称赞他的作品，再说克里夫也几乎出名了，而且还赚到了钱...那么她的父亲说克里夫的写作空洞无物是什么意思呢？

    It was her second winter at Wragby her father said to her:"I hope,Connie,you won't let circumstances force you into a life without sex."And to Clifford he said the same,when the two men were alone:"I afraid it doesn't quite suit her to live without sex."

    康妮来到勒格贝的第二个冬天，她的父亲对她说：“我希望，康妮，你不会让环境逼着你过一种没有性的生活吧！”在他和克里夫独处的时候，他对他说了同样的话：“恐怕没有性的生活不适合康妮。”

    Clifford thought for a moment,then flushed very red.He was angry and offended.

    "In what way doesn't it suit her?" he asked stiffly.

    "She's losing her shape.. Any way,it's not her style."

    Clifford wanted to say something later to Connie about this,but he could not bring himself to do it.He was at once too intimate with her and not intimate enough.He was so very much at one with her,in his mind and hers,but bodily they were non-existent to one another.

    克里夫沉思了片刻，然后面红耳赤，他既恼怒又感到被冒犯了。

    “在哪方面不适合她了？”他拘谨的问到。

    “她的身材在走形，无论如何，这不是她的风格。”

    过后，克里夫想就这事跟康妮谈谈，可他就是做不到。一方面，他和她过于亲密，另一方面，又不够亲密。他和她在心灵上融为一体，可在身体上，对彼此而言他们都不存在。

    to be continued...