The visit was not quite the expected grim chore of conventional politeness, for Alan approved of Jack Crawford,
这次拜访不像艾伦想象的那么冷淡乏味，他与杰克·克劳福德很聊得来。
who in his youth had studied at the then Royal College of Science in Dublin:
杰克年轻的时候，曾在都柏林的皇家科学学院学习：
I enjoyed the time I spent at Cousin Jack's.
我很喜欢在杰克家的日子。
He is an energetic old bird. He has a little observatory with a telescope that he made for himself.
他是一个精力充沛、成熟稳重的人。他自己建了一个小型观测台，有一架望远镜，
He told me all about the grinding of mirrors.…
他还给我讲怎么打磨镜子……
Cousin Mary is a little bit of a thing you could pick up and put in your pocket.
玛丽很小，似乎可以把她抱起来放在口袋里，
She is very hospitable and rather timid: she worships Cousin Jack.
她很调皮，很喜欢杰克。
They were ordinary people, who made Alan feel more at home than did the grand Princeton figures.
他们都是很传统的人，艾伦觉得这里比普林斯顿更像一个家。
In their old-fashioned country way, they put Alan and Maurice in the same double bed.
他们并没有多虑，很自然地让艾伦和莫瑞斯睡在一张双人床上。
The compartments of life were fractured.
于是，友谊的铁链骤然崩断，
Maurice was amazed—he had not had the slightest suspicion.
莫瑞斯大惊失色，因为他毫无戒备。
Alan apologised and withdrew at once.
艾伦赶忙道歉，然后撤出，
Then he blazed out, not with a trace of shame, but with anger,
他没有一丝害羞，只是充满了愤怒。
with a story of how his parents had been away in India so long, and of his years in boarding schools.
他愤怒地讲述，他的父母去印度待了那么久，把他留在寄宿学校。