我點點頭。
"Sorry about the food analogy — I couldn't think of another way to explain."
“很抱歉要用食物來分析——我想不出別的方法來解釋。”
I smiled. He smiled ruefully back.
我微笑著。他報以悲慘的一笑。
"You see, every person smells different, has a different essence. If you locked an alcoholic in aroom full of stale beer, he'd gladly drink it. But he could resist, if he wished to, if he were arecovering alcoholic. Now let's say you placed in that room a glass of hundred-year-old brandy,the rarest, finest cognac — and filled the room with its warm aroma — how do you think hewould fare then?"
“你看,每個人聞起來都不一樣,有著不同的本質(zhì)。如果你把一個酒鬼鎖在一間放滿壞掉的啤酒的屋子里,他會很想喝酒。但他能忍住,如果他愿意的話,如果他是一個改過自新的前酒鬼。現(xiàn)在,假設(shè)你在房間里放上一杯百年白蘭地,最寶貴的,最好的科涅克白蘭地——讓整個屋子里都彌漫著它溫暖的芳香——你想他接下來會怎么做呢?”
We sat silently, looking into each other's eyes — trying to read each other's thoughts.
我們沉默地坐著,看著彼此的眼睛——努力想要看懂對方的想法。
He broke the silence first.
他首先打破了沉默。
"Maybe that's not the right comparison. Maybe it would be too easy to turn down the brandy.Perhaps I should have made our alcoholic a heroin addict instead."
“也許這個比喻不太恰當(dāng)。也許克制自己不去喝白蘭地太容易了。大概,我應(yīng)該用癮君子來代替酒鬼舉例的。”
"So what you're saying is, I'm your brand of heroin?" I teased, trying to lighten the mood.
“那么你是在說,我是你個人品牌的海_落_因?”我揶揄著,試圖讓氣氛輕松些。
He smiled swiftly, seeming to appreciate my effort. "Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin."
他很快地笑了,似乎很感激我的努力。“是的,你確實是我個人品牌的海落因。”
"Does that happen often?" I asked.
“這種情況經(jīng)常發(fā)生嗎?”我問道。
He looked across the treetops, thinking through his response.
他抬起頭,越過樹梢望著遠處,思索著他的回答。
"I spoke to my brothers about it." He still stared into the distance.
“我和我的兄弟們談過這件事。”他依然看著遠方。