I know, I said.
我明白，我说。
Neither of us suspected that this would be the last time we would ever sit here together on the shore, listening.
当时我们俩谁也想不到那竟是我们父女俩最后一次一块儿坐在湖边听鸟叫。
We stayed for perhaps half an hour, and then we went back to the cottage.
我们坐了大约半个小时后便回到别墅的屋里。
My mother was reading beside the fireplace. Piquette was looking at the burning birch log, and not doing anything.
我母亲正在壁炉旁看书，皮格特则什么事也没做，只是望着壁炉中燃烧着的桦树木柴发楞。
You should have come along, I said, although in fact I was glad she had not.
你真该同我一道去的，我这样说着，其实心里觉得她没去倒还更好些。
Not me, Piquette said.
我才不去哩，皮格特说。
You wouldn'catch me walkin' way down there jus'for a bunch of squawkin' birds.
我说啥也不会就为听那些鸟叫而跑到那儿去。
Piquette and I remained ill at ease with one another. felt I had somehow failed my father, but I did not know what was the matter, nor why she Would not or could not respond when I suggested exploring the woods or Playing house.
我和皮格特的关系一直没能融洽起来。我觉得有负于父亲的期望，但我又不知道自己哪一点做得不对，也不知道为什么当我提议去钻树林或玩过家家时她竞不愿或是不会作出适当反应。
I thought it was probably her slow and difficult walking that held her back.
我猜想也许是由于她行走不便以致产生畏怯情绪。
She stayed most of the time in the cottage with my mother, helping her with the dishes or with Roddie, but hardly ever talking.
她大半的时间是留在别墅里与我母亲作伴，帮我母亲收拾碗碟或是照看罗迪，但却难得开口。
Then the Duncans arrived at their cottage, and I spent my days with Mavis, who was my best friend.
后来，邓肯一家也搬到他们自己的别墅里住起来了，于是我便整天同马维斯一起玩，马维斯是我最要好的朋友。
I could not reach Piquette at all, and I soon lost interest in trying.
我根本没法同皮格特接近，后来干脆也就不想去试了。
But all that summer she remained as both a reproach and a mystery to me.
但整整那一个夏天，她既让我感到自责，又让我觉得她是个谜。
That winter my father died of pneumonia, after less than a week's illness.
那一年的冬天，我父亲患了肺炎，不到一星期就去世了。
For some time I saw nothing around me, being completely immersed in my own pain and my mother's.
那一段日子里我完全沉浸在自己的和母亲的痛苦之中，对周围的一切都视而不见。
When I looked outward once more, I scarcely noticed that Piquette Tonnerre was no longer at school.
当我重新回到现实中来以后，我也几乎没有注意到皮格特坦纳瑞已不在学校了。