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Was it truly Gavin Douglas? Why, he looked no more like an actor than—why, than her husband did; and scarcely older. With inexpressible relief she noted that he was still handsome, very masculine-looking, and he might have been—anybody; anybody, that is, with a certain background and breeding. He was of medium height; his complexion was ruddy and healthy; his eyes were blue as a robin’s egg. His voice was resonant and deep but not thrilling—not as it had been in the theater; his diction was no better than it should be. But what amazed her most of all was his dress. He looked just like Smith on a weekend in Connecticut.
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● 这是她第一次正式见到在台下的大情人。他的模样可真不像个演员。本段首二句是模仿口语的，这位主妇虽不开口，但心里自问自答却如同说话一般。第二句的两个why就是说话时才用得到的感叹词。why作感叹词用，据《简明牛津字典》解释，至少有五种意义（详情请查该字典）。此处第一个why用以表示一种“使人惊讶的发现或认识”（surprised discovery or recognition），相当于中文的“啊”（原来如此！）。第二个why用以表示“停顿而加以思索”（pause for reflection），相当于中文的“嗯”（让我想想看）。她丈夫既不类伶人，客人看来也不像，两人年龄似乎也相仿。
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● relief：心头觉得说不出的安慰。她只怕她心目中的大情人已经白发苍苍，老态龙钟，破坏了她的美丽的梦想。
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● might have been：后面跟一破折号，表示她想到这里，又停顿了一下。anybody：照那人的样子看来，她决看不出他的身份；他可能是任何人，但先说任何人，又嫌太泛，她又替自己做注解，那就是说（that is），任何有某种生活背景（background）和高尚教养的人。
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● robin’s egg：知更雀的蛋。知更雀在美国东北部是很常见的一种鸟，它的蛋有一种特殊的蓝色，作者拿来和那人的眼睛颜色相比，是很好的譬喻。
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● resonant：响亮的，余音袅袅的。deep：深沉的。thrilling：动人的。
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● diction：所用的字，措辞。（dictionary就是从这个字衍化来的）。no better than it should be：恰到分寸，并不见得特别出色。
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● on a weekend：美国男子大约有几套服装。上写字间是一套，正式宴会是一套，度周末假期又是一套。她丈夫周末去康州（离纽约非常近的一个州）时所穿的衣服并没有什么出奇之处，现在来客所穿的也不过这么一套，并无大明星派头。
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“It’s delightful meeting Rafe’s parents,” he said. “I can scarcely believe it. Neither of you seem old enough to have produced such a strapping young man.”
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Rafe? Had she heard correctly? But of course! It was the British pronunciation.
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“Are you English, Mr. Douglas?”
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“Heavens no. I was born and brought up in the tiny town of Two Buttes, Colorado. My father had a small mine. I used to say that after I left, they changed the name to One Butte, but I’ve long since gotten over such lousy jokes—I hope.”
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● 第一句主语It代替动名词meeting Rafe’s parents。
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● Neither of you后面的动词用复数式seem，不用单数式seems，这是合乎语法的。strapping：高大的。这一句话是在恭维他们夫妻二人长得年轻，看不出老。
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● Rafe：儿子的名字是Ralph，这个字在美国的读音，读者不难从字面上猜测得之。可是英国人把它读成Rafe（读a长音），听来很特别。
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● Heavens no：Heavens恐怕是Good heavens！之略。good heavens没有中文“天呀！”那么严重，语气相当于北平话的“是英国人才怪哪”。
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● mine：矿。
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● Butte：美国西部用语，解作“山岗”。他的家乡就是科罗拉多的双岗镇了。接着他还讲一个笑话，他说他离开家乡之后，家乡人士就把镇名改为单岗镇。注者猜他的幽默所在，恐怕他是把butte（u长音/ju:/）当作butt（u短音/^/）来渎。butt者，是大众嘲笑作弄的对象；中国人笑人为“土包子”，这里也许可以勉强应用。（土做的包子，有没有山岗的意义？）镇名改成单岗镇了，因为少了一个土包子。这种幽默很难翻译，何况注者不敢自信已经捉住文中幽默的要点。这两句主要表示的是：此人有他的幽默感，而且不惜拿自己来挖苦的。
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● gotten：照有些语法书规定，get的过去分词是got，不是gotten，但是美国人常有用gotten的。《英汉四用字典》说：英国人用got，美国人用gotten，想必有它的根据。gotten over：有超越或克服之意。“我已经有很久（long since）不说这种低级笑话了。”lousy：这是一个应用很广的American slang字眼。相当于北平话的“陋”或“糟”，上海话的“蹩脚”。
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● 这个人的说话，既然按英国音读Rafe，又用美国人的gotten和lousy。我们可以说他所表现的有两方面，一是他的艺术家与众不同的一方面，一是他平易近人善于“做人”的一方面。
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“Really a mining town?” she said. “How did you happen to go on the stage, Mr. Douglas?”
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“After all, one has to do something. And one night in Pueblo, when I was sixteen, I saw a road company of Way Down East. After that there was no holding me. My father kicked like a steer but it was no use. Green as I was, the stage was for me, from then on.”
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“When you were sixteen? It doesn’t seem possible….”
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“Why not?”
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● to go on the stage：从事舞台生活。
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