Felipe came over then—that was the Brazilian's name, Felipe. He invited us all to go out to this funky local restaurant owned by European expatriates, a wildly permissive place that never closes, he promised, where beer and bullshit are served at all hours. I found myself looking to Ian (did he want to go?) and when he said yes, I said yes, also. So we all went to the restaurant and I sat with Ian and we talked and joked all night, and, oh, I really liked this guy. He was the first man I'd met in a long while who I really liked in that way, as they say. He was a few years older than me, had led a most interesting life with all the good résumé points (liked The Simpsons, traveled all over the world, lived in an Ashram once, mentioned Tolstoy, seemed to be employed, etc.). He'd started his career in the British Army in Northern Ireland as a bomb squad expert, then became an international mine-field detonation guy. Built refugee camps in Bosnia, was now taking a break in Bali to work on music . . . all very alluring stuff.

斐利贝——这是那巴西人的名字——随后走过来。他邀请我们大家去当地一家欧洲人士开的酷餐馆，一个从不打烊的狂欢地点，他保证，随时提供啤酒和屁话。我看着伊恩（"他想不想去？"），他说好，于是我也说好。因此我们去了这家餐馆，我和伊恩坐在一起，整晚说说笑笑，哦，我真喜欢这家伙。我已经很久没有认识这么让我喜欢的男人。他比我年长几岁，生活过得相当精采，有很好的个人简历（喜欢《辛普森家庭》，周游全世界，住过道场，引用托尔斯泰，似乎有工作，等等）。他最先服役于英军，在北爱尔兰担任轰炸队专员，而后成为跨国地雷引爆人员。在波斯尼亚盖难民营，目前来巴厘岛度假学音乐……相当迷人的履历。

I could not believe I was still up at 3:30 AM, and not to meditate, either! I was up in the middle of the night and wearing a dress and talking to an attractive man. How terribly radical.

我真不敢相信自己凌晨三点半还没睡，也没禅坐！我半夜三更不睡，身穿洋装，和一位有魅力的男子在聊天，真是激进得可怕。

At the end of the evening, Ian and I admitted to each other how nice it had been to meet. He asked if I had a phone number and I told him I didn't, but that I did have e-mail, and he said, "Yeah, but e-mail just feels so . . . ech . . ." So at the end of the night we didn't exchange anything but a hug. He said, "We'll see each other again when they"—pointing to the gods up in the sky—"say so."

聚会结束时，伊恩和我都承认很高兴认识彼此。他问我有没有电话号码，我跟他说我没有，但我有电子邮件，他说："可是电子邮件感觉太……"因此聚会结束时，我们只交换一个拥抱。他说："我们会再见面的，只要他们，"——他指了指天上诸神——"同意。"

Just before dawn, Felipe the handsome older Brazilian man offered me a ride home. As we rode up the twisting back roads he said, "Darling, you've been talking to the biggest bullshitter in Ubud all night long."

破晓前，老巴西美男子斐利贝载我回家。我们开在蜿蜒的村路上，他说："甜心，你和乌布最臭屁的家伙聊了一整晚。"

My heart sank.

我的心一沉。