"从那以后，我们就尽可能多地见面，但往往是秘密进行。我们就这样度过了将近1年时间。后来有一天，在他安排的约会处，理查德爽约没有来。失望之际，我没有大惊小怪，因为我们俩谁碰到形形色色的事都可能使我们无法幽会。我想我们以后去范·伦斯堡家看望之时，我就会明白理查德未能赴约的原因，再安排以后的约会……
"So when my father asked if I would drive with him to Driefontein I was delighted. But when we reached the homestead and were sitting on the stoep drinking our coffee, we heard that Richard had left quite suddenly and had gone back to England. His father had died, and now he was the heir and must go back to look after his estates.
"所以，当父亲问我是否愿意和他一块开车去德里方丹时，我就高兴地答应了。但待我们赶到范·伦斯堡家，坐在他们家屋前的门廊上喝咖啡时，却听说理查德已经不辞而别回英国去了。他的父亲死了，他是继承人，不得不回去料理遗产。 "I do not remember very much more about that day, except that the sun seemed to have stopped shining and the country no longer looked beautiful and full of promise, but bleak and desolate as it sometimes does in winter or in times of drought. Late that afternoon, Jantje, the little Hottentot herd boy, came up to me and handed me a letter , which he said the English baas had left for me. It was the only love letter I ever received, but it turned all my bitterness and grief into a peacefulness which was the nearest I could get, then, to happiness. I knew Richard still loved me, and somehow, as long as I had his letter, I felt that we could never be really parted, even if he were in England and I had to remain on the farm. I have it yet, and though I am an old, tired woman, it still gives me hope and courage."
"那天的事我记不大清楚了，只记得当时阳光惨淡，田野也失去了美丽的丰采和欣欣向荣的景象，萧瑟凄凉得跟冬天或大旱时一样。那天傍晚，在我和父亲动身回家之前，霍但托特族的小牧童詹杰交给我一封信，他说是那位英国老爷留给我的。这可是我有生以来收到的唯一的情书！它将我的忧伤一扫而光，使我的心情变得平静--当时对我来说几乎类似幸福的平静。我知道理查德仍在爱着我。不知怎么回事，有了这封信，我便觉得我们不可能真正分开，哪怕他到了英国、我还留在南非的农场。这封信我至今仍保留着，尽管我已经年迈体衰，但它仍能带给我希望和勇气。"
I was always a little in awe of Great-aunt Stephina Roos. Indeed, as children we were all frankly terrified of her. The fact that she did not live with the family, preferring her tiny cottage and solitude to the comfortable but rather noisy household where we were brought up-added to the respectful fear in which she was held.
我对斯蒂菲娜老姑总是怀着敬畏之情。说实在话，我们几个孩子对她都怕得要死。她不和家人一块生活，宁愿住在她的小屋子里，而不愿住在舒舒服服、热热闹闹的家里--我们六个孩子都是在家里带大的--这更加重了我们对她的敬畏之情。
We used to take it in turn to carry small delicacies which my mother had made down from the big house to the little cottage where Aunt Stephia and an old colored maid spent their days. Old Tnate Sanna would open the door to the rather frightened little messenger and would usher him-or her - into the dark voor-kamer, where the shutters were always closed to keep out the heat and the flies. There we would wait, in trembling but not altogether unpleasant.
