I do not remember seeing her at all until four years later, one Saturday night when Mavis and I were having Cokes in the Regal Cafe.

在我的记忆中，我后来根本没有见到过她，直到四年之后才又见过她一次。那是一个星期六的晚上，我和马维斯正在里歌咖啡馆喝可口可乐，

The jukebox was booming like tuneful thunder, and beside it, leaning lightly on its chrome and its rainbow glass, was a girl.

电唱机播放出雷声般的音乐，那镀铬材料和五彩玻璃造的电唱机旁斜依着一个姑娘。

Piquette must have been seventeen then, although she looked about twenty. I stared at her, astounded that anyone could have changed so much.

那时皮格特大概是十七岁，但看上去却有二十岁左右。我盯住她看，为一个人能发生这么巨大的变化而大为惊讶。

Her face, so stolidand expressionless before, was animated now with a gaiety that was almost violent.

以前，她的面孔十分呆板，毫无表情，而现在却带有一种有几分狂欢的活力。

She laughed and talked very loudly with the boys around her. Her lipstick was bright carmine, and her hair was cut Short and frizzily permed.

她和身边的小伙子们大声地说笑。她的唇膏是一种鲜亮的洋红色，她的头发剪短，烫成弯弯曲曲的小卷。

She had not been pretty as a child, and she was not pretty now, for her features were still heavy and blunt.

小时候她长得就不漂亮，现在也还一样，她的五官粗糙、呆板。

But her dark and slightly slanted eyes were beautiful, and her skin-tight skirt and orange sweater displayed to enviable advantage a soft and slender body.

但是，她那双乌黑、稍稍斜视的眼睛却是美丽的。而且，一条紧身裙和一件桔黄色毛衣将她那柔软、苗条的身材衬托得恰到好处，令人羡慕。

She saw me, and walked over. She teetered a little, but it was not due to her once-tubercular leg, for her limp was almost gone.

她看到我，就走了过来。她走路有点摇摇晃晃的，但那并不是由于她那曾经患骨结核的腿的缘故，她瘸腿的毛病已几乎没有了。

Hi, Vanessa, Her voice still had the same hoarseness . Long time no see, eh?

你好，凡乃莎，她的声音还是那样沙哑，好久不见，是吧?

Hi, I said Where've you been keeping yourself, Piquette?

你好，我说。你这些日子都到哪儿去了，皮格特?

Oh, I been around, she said. I been away almost two years now. Been all over the place-Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon. Jesus, what I could tell you!

哦，到处漂泊，她说。我离家已将近有两年了，到了好多地方--温尼佩格、雷金那、萨斯卡通。嗨，要说的可多啦!

I come back this summer, but I ain't stayin'. You kids go in to the dance?

我今年夏天才回来，但不打算呆下去。你们要不要去跳舞?

No, I said abruptly, for this was a sore point with me. I was fifteen, and thought I was old enough to go to the Saturday-night dances at the Flamingo. My mother, however, thought otherwise.

不要，我断然回答道，因为她的问话正触着我的痛处。我那时已十五岁，自己觉得到了可以去参加火烈鸟歌舞厅周末舞会的年龄了，但我母亲却不以为然。