Joan had only a cardboard pocket set, and proper chess pieces were unobtainable in wartime conditions, so they improvised their own solution.
琼只有一副硬纸板做成的口袋棋子，在战争期间，很难弄到像样的棋子，于是他们打算自己动手做。
Alan got some clay from one of the local pits, and they modelled the figures together.
艾伦从附近的坑里挖了一些泥土，他们一起捏制棋子，
Alan then fired them on the hob of the coal fire in his room at the Crown Inn.
艾伦在皇冠旅店的房间中烧制它们。
The resulting set was quite usable, if somewhat liable to breaking.
做好之后很实用，只是有点容易碎。
He also tried to make a one-valve wireless set, telling her about the one he had made at school, but this was not such a success.
艾伦还试着自制一个无线电台，他对琼说以前在学校里做过一个，但这次却没有那么成功。
They had been to see a matinee of a Bernard Shaw play while making their London visit,
他们在伦敦旅游的时候，去观看了下午场的萧伯纳戏剧。
and besides Shaw, Alan was currently keen on Thomas Hardy, lending Tess of the d'Urbervilles to Joan.
除了萧伯纳，艾伦现在还喜欢托马斯·哈代，他把《苔丝》借给琼。
These were, after all, with Samuel Butler, the writers who had attacked the Victorian codes.
这些都是对维多利亚时代的批判。
But they spent more time taking long country bicycle rides.
他们更多的时间是在乡村的小路上骑单车。
And because she had studied botany at school, Joan was able to join in one of Alan's enthusiasms which went back to Natural Wonders.
琼在学校里学过植物学，所以能和艾伦一起重拾对《自然奇迹》的热情，
He was particularly interested in the growth and form of plants.
艾伦对植物的生长和结构特别有兴趣。