there once lived a lad who was deeply in love with a girl, but disliked by the girl’s father, who didn’t want to see any further development of their love. The lad was eager to write to the girl, yet he was quite sure that the father would read it first. So he wrote such a letter to the girl:
一個小伙子非常愛一位姑娘,但姑娘的父親卻不喜歡他,也不讓他們的愛情發展下去。小伙子很想給姑娘寫封情書,然而他知道姑娘的父親會先看,于是他給姑娘寫了這樣一封信:
My love for you I once expressed
我對你表達過的愛
no longer lasts, instead, my distaste for you
已經消逝。我對你的厭惡
is growing with each passing day. Next time I see you,
與日俱增。當我看到你時
I even won’t like that look yours.
我甚至不喜歡你的那副樣子。
I’ll do nothing but
我想做的一件事就是
look away from you. You can never expect I’ll
把目光移往別處,我永遠不會
marry you. the last chat we had
和你結婚。我們的最近一次談話
was so dull and dry that you shouldn’t think it
made me eager to see you again.
枯燥乏味,因此無法使我渴望再與你想見。