A sad smile. "It was her time to die. Now I tell you how I find my wife. When I am twentyseven years, I meet a girl and I love her."

他露出悲伤的微笑。"她大限已到。我跟你说我是如何认识我太太的。我二十七岁的时候遇上一位姑娘，爱上她。"

"What year was that?" I asked, desperate as always to figure out how old he is.

"那是哪一年的事？"我问，和往常一样亟欲得知他的年纪。

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe 1920?"

"我不清楚，"他说，"大概是1920年吧？"

(Which would make him about a hundred and twelve by now. I think we're getting closer to solving this . . .)

（这让他现在大约是一百一十二岁。我想我们就快找出解答了……）

"I love this girl, Liss. Very beautiful. But not good character, this girl. She only want money. She chase other boy. She never tell truth. I think she had a secret mind inside her other mind, nobody can see inside there. She stop to loving me, go away with other boy. I am very sad. Broken in my heart. I pray and pray to my four spirit brothers, ask why she not anymore love me? Then one of my spirit brothers, he tell me the truth. He say, 'This is not your true match. Be patient.' So I be patient and then I find my wife. Beautiful woman, good woman. Always sweet for me. Never once we argue, have always harmony in household, always she smiling. Even when no money at home, always she smiling and saying how happy she is to see me. When she die, I very sad in my mind."

"我爱这位姑娘，小莉。她很美，但人品不佳。她只想要钱。她追求另一位男孩。她老是说谎。我想她心机隐密，谁也看不见。她不再爱我，和另一位男孩跑了。我非常难过，心都碎了。我向我的四兄弟祈祷啊祈祷，问他们为什么她不再爱我？然后其中一个兄弟告诉我真相。他说："她不是你真正的女人。耐心点。"于是我耐心等候，然后找到我的太太，美丽的好女人，始终对我很好。我们没吵过架，家庭始终平静和谐，她总是挂着微笑。即使家里缺钱，她也总是挂着微笑，说看见我让她多么快乐。她过世的时候，我心里非常难过。"

"Did you cry?"

"你哭了吗？"

"Only little bit, in my eyes. But I do meditation, to clean the body from pain. I meditate for her soul. Very sad, but happy, too. I visit her in meditation every day, even to kissing her. She the only woman I ever make sex with. So I do not know . . . what is new word, from today?"

"只流了点泪。但我禅坐，清除体内的痛苦。我为她的灵魂禅坐。虽然伤心，却又快乐。我每天禅坐时探访她，甚至亲吻她。她是和我有过性爱的唯一一个女人。因此我不晓得……今天那词儿是什么？"

"Romance?"

"谈情说爱。"

"Yes, romance. I do not know romance, Liss."

"是的，谈情说爱。我不清楚谈情说爱，小莉！

"So it's not really your area of expertise, eh?"

"因此这不是你的专业领域啰？"

"What is this, expertise? What this word means?" Eat, Pray, Love

什么意思，这词儿？专业？