"Of course you were," Felipe said. "You were young and stupid then. Only the young and stupid are confident about sex and romance. Do you think any of us know what we're doing? Do you think there's any way humans can love each other without complication? You should see how it happens in Bali, darling. All these Western men come here after they've made a mess of their lives back home, and they decide they've had it with Western women, and they go marry some tiny, sweet, obedient little Balinese teenage girl. I know what they're thinking. They think this pretty little girl will make them happy, make their lives easy. But whenever I see it happen, I always want to say the same thing. Good luck. Because you still have a woman in front of you, my friend. And you are still a man. It's still two human beings trying to get along, so it's going to become complicated. And love is always complicated. But still humans must try to love each other, darling. We must get our hearts broken sometimes. This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something."

"这不奇怪，"斐利贝说，"你当时又年轻又愚蠢。只有年轻、愚蠢的人对性和谈情说爱感到自信。你觉得我们有谁知道自己在做什么？你觉得人类有办法简简单单、毫不复杂地彼此相爱吗？你应该看看在巴厘岛发生的事情，甜心。这些西方男人在家把生活搞得一团糟之后来到这里，觉得已经受够西方女人，于是娶了个娇小、甜美、听话的巴厘岛小姑娘。我了解他们的想法。他们认为这种漂亮的小姑娘能让自己快乐，让自己过安逸舒服的生活。但每回看见这种事，我总想说相同的话"祝你好运"。因为，我的朋友啊，还是有个女人在你面前哪。而你也还是个男人啊。两个人依然必须尝试和谐相处，因此肯定会变得复杂。而爱向来是复杂的事。可是人类总得尝试彼此相爱，甜心。我们必须偶尔心碎。心碎是好兆头。表示我们已经尽力。"

I said, "My heart was broken so badly last time that it still hurts. Isn't that crazy? To still have a broken heart almost two years after a love story ends?"

我说："上回我严重心碎，至今仍感到伤痛。这不是很荒唐吗？爱情故事几乎已经结束两年，却依然感到心碎？"

"Darling, I'm southern Brazilian. I can keep a broken heart going for ten years over a woman I never even kissed."

"甜心，我是巴西南部人。我能为我从未吻过的一名女人心碎十年之久。"

We talk about our marriages, our divorces. Not in a petty way, but just to commiserate. We compare notes about the bottomless depths of post-divorce depression. We drink wine and eat well together and we tell each other the nicest stories we can remember about former spouses, just to take the sting out of all that conversation about loss.

我们谈论各自的婚姻，各自的离婚故事。不是发牢骚，而是表示同情，彼此比较离婚后深陷抑郁的无底深渊。我们一同品酒、尝美食，和对方说前夫或前妻在自己记忆中的美好故事，以便让整个有关失落过程的对话少去杀伤力。

He says, "Do you want to do something with me this weekend?" and I find myself saying yes, that would be nice. Because it would be nice.

他说："这个周末想不想和我做些事？"我说好，那很不错。因为那真的很不错。

Twice now, dropping me off in front of my house and saying goodnight, Felipe has reached across the car to give me a goodnight kiss, and twice now I've done the same thing—allowing myself to be pulled into him, but then ducking my head at the last moment and tucking my cheek up against his chest. There, I let him hold me for a while. Longer than is necessarily merely friendly. I can feel him press his face into my hair, as my face presses somewhere against his sternum. I can smell his soft linen shirt. I really like the way he smells. He has muscular arms, a nice wide chest. He was once a champion gymnast back in Brazil. Of course that was in 1969, which was the year I was born, but still. His body feels strong.

至今已有两回，斐利贝在我住家门前放我下车道晚安时，探头过来要给我一个睡前亲吻，而我也已有两回做相同的事——任凭自己被他拉过去，但在最后一刻低下头，脸颊贴在他的胸膛上，让他搂着我一会儿。持续的时间长过仅是友好的表示。我感觉到他把脸贴在我的头发上，我的脸则贴在他的胸骨上。我闻到他柔软的亚麻衬衫的味道。我真的喜欢他的味道。他的手臂结实，胸膛宽阔。他在巴西曾是体操冠军。当然那是1969年的事了，即我出生那年，但他的身体感觉起来仍很强壮。

My ducking my head like this whenever he reaches for me is a kind of hiding—I'm avoiding a simple goodnight kiss. But it's also a kind of not-hiding, too. By letting him hold me at all during those long quiet moments at the end of the evening, I'm letting myself be held.

每当他探手过来时，我便这么低下头，这是一种回避——我在回避简简单单的睡前之吻，却同时也是一种不回避。在夜晚结束时的漫长寂静时刻，让他搂着我，这是我让自己被搂住。

Which hasn't happened for a long time. Eat, Pray, Love

这已经有好一段时间未曾发生。