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"I'm glad you like it, I did it specially for you," the mother said gravely, and they both stood with tears in their eyes, savoring those seconds of tenderness.
“我很高兴你喜欢这幅挂毯，我是特意为你做的，”母亲郑重其事地说。两人站在那里， 眼里都闪着泪花，享受着那一刻的温情。
"You'll stay seventeen days," Claire said, because that was the length an economy ticket allowed. She really meant, "Are you staying seventeen days?"
“你可以待17天吧，”克莱尔说，因为那是经济舱往返机票允许的最长停留时间。她真 正的意思是:“你打算待17天吗？”
"If it's all right," her mother said over-humbly. "I don't see you that often, and I miss you."
“要是可以的话，”她的母亲过于谦卑地说，“我难得经常见你，我想念你。”
Claire withdrew into the scullery to put on the kettle for her mother's hot water bottle; she did not want any disclosures now, any declaration about how hard life had been and how near they'd been to death during many of the father's drinking deliriums.
克莱尔起身走进了洗涤室，把水壶放在炉子上，给她母亲的热水袋烧水；她现在不想听她 母亲对她诉苦，告诉她过去家里的日子有多不好过，她们娘儿俩如何在她父亲发酒疯的时候多次几乎被置于死地。
"Your father sent you his love," her mother said, nettled because Claire had not asked how he was.
“你父亲叫我转达他对你的爱，”她的母亲说，因克莱尔没有问起她父亲而感到不悦。
"How is he?"
“他好吗？”
"He's great now, never touches a drop."
“好极了，现在滴酒不沾了。”
Claire knew that if he had, he would have descended on her, the way he used to descend on her as a child.
克莱尔清楚，要是他还酗酒的话，一定会来攻击她，就像在她小时候那样。
"It was God who did it, curing him like that," the mother said.
“这是上帝的功劳，就这样把他治好了，”母亲说。
Claire thought bitterly that God had taken too long to help the frustrated man. But she said nothing, she merely filled the rubber bottle, and then conducted her mother upstairs to bed.
克莱尔愤愤地想上帝为什么要花那么长的时间才来帮助这个失意的男人。不过她什么 也没有说，只是把热水袋灌满，然后带母亲上楼睡觉。
