她真是一个美人——个子高高的，肤若凝脂，带着浴后的清新。长而有亮泽的头发在她的肩上起舞。她有一双大而有神的褐色眼睛，分明的轮廓在晨曦里更加清晰可见。
Sunrise on the eastern coast is a special event. I stood at Dolphin’s Nose, a spur jutting out into the Bay of Bengal, to behold the breaking of the sun’s upper limb over the horizon of the sea. As the eastern sky started unfolding like the crimson petals of a gigantic flower, I was overcome by a wave of romantic feelings and nostalgia—vivid memorie not diminished by the fact that almost ten years had passed.
东海岸的日出是一道特别的景观。我站在海豚鼻——一块向外延伸至孟加拉海湾的地方——观看太阳的上半边缘冉冉升起在海平面上。当东边的天空开始如一朵巨大的花展开深红色的花瓣般逐渐红透时，我被一股浪漫的感觉和怀旧之情征服了——如此清晰的记忆，并没有因为近乎十年的光阴已经逝去这个事实而褪去。
I was a young bachelor then, and Visakhapatnam did not have much to offer. Every Sunday morning, I used to rise before dawn and head for Dolphin’s Nose, to enjoy the dazzling spectacle of the sun majestically rising out of the sea. The fresh, salty sea breeze was a panacea for all the effects of hangovers caused by Saturday night excesses.
那时，我还是一个年轻的单身汉，维萨卡帕特南市对我来说并没有太多好玩的东西。每个周日早晨，我习惯天不亮就起床，前往海豚鼻，享受太阳从海面上庄严升起的壮丽景观。清新又有一丝咸味的海风不啻是一种万能药，能够缓解周六晚上因尽情玩乐而引发的宿醉后的不适感。
After viewing the metamorphosis at sunrise, I would walk downhill along the steep mountain-path, towards the rocky beach, for a brief swim. Each time, I noticed a flurry of activity in a distant compound with a single decrepit building. I used to ignore it, but curiously, one day I decided to take a closer look. It was a fish market. Most customers were housewives from the nearby residential complexes. They were at their “Sunday-worst”—sans make-up, slovenly dressed, faces unwashed, and unkempt hair—in stark contrast with their carefully made-up appearances at the club the previous evening.
在观看了日出时奇妙的变化以后，我会沿着陡峭的山路下行，走到一个遍布岩石的海滩，游一会儿泳。每次，我都注意到远处有一个居民区，里面有一座破旧的建筑物，人声沸沸扬扬。我通常都对它视而不见，但很奇怪的是，有一天，我竟决定走过去看看。这是一个鲜鱼市场。大部分顾客都是附近居民楼里的家庭主妇。她们完全是一副最糟糕的周日装扮——不施粉黛，衣着邋遢，脸也没洗，头发蓬乱——这与她们前一晚在夜店里那副精心装扮的外表形成了鲜明的对比。
I had began to walk away, quite dejected, when I saw her for the first time. I stopped, dead in my tracks. She was a real beauty—tall, fair and freshly bathed, her long lustrous hair dancing on her shoulders. She had large, expressive brown eye and her sharp features were accentuated by the rays of the morning Sun. I can’t begin to describe the sensation she evoked in me; it was the first time in my life that I felt my heart ache with such intense yearning. I knew this was love. Yet, in my heart, I knew that Istood no chance—she had a mangalsutra around her neck. She was married—maybe happily, too. Nevertheles I drew closer to her and made the pretence of buying some fish. Smiling guardedly at me, she selected a couple of pomfrets and held them out to me. I managed to briefly touch her soft hands—the feeling was electric and a shiver of thrill passed through me. She communicated an unspoken “good-bye” with her teasing, dancing eyes and briskly walked away. Too dazed to follow her, I returned to my room and had fried pomfret for breakfast. Needless to say, they tasted delicious.
我很失望，正要离开时，我第一次看见了她。我停了下来，脑子里一片空白。她真是一个美人——个子高高的，肤若凝脂，带着浴后的清新。长而有亮泽的头发在她的肩上起舞。她有一双大而有神的褐色眼睛，分明的轮廓在晨曦里更加清晰可见。我无从描述她在我内心唤起的感受。在我的一生中，我还是头一次由于强烈的渴望而感到内心疼痛。我知道这是爱。然而，我心里清楚我已经没有机会了——她脖子上戴着用来护佑婚姻的幸运项链。她结婚了——说不定还很幸福。然而，我不由地向她靠近，假装要买鱼。她警觉地朝我笑了笑，挑选了两条鲳鱼，捞出水面递给我。我设法碰了碰她柔软的双手——犹如触了电一般，一阵颤栗袭遍全身。她揶揄似的转动双眸，无声地示意“再见”，然后脚步轻快地走了。我昏昏沉沉的，以至无法跟从她，便回到自己的房间，炸了鲳鱼做早餐。不用说，味道好极了。
Soon, I was following this routine every Sunday morning with almost religious zeal. She never missed her rendezvous with me—same place, same day, at precisely the same time, Seven o’clock. Still, not a word was exchanged between us. I was too shy and she probably wanted to keep it this way—a beautiful ethereal relationship—a love so delicate that one wrong move might ruin everything. Meanwhile, I had developed a taste for fried pomfret—quite surprisingly, considering that I had never eaten fish before.
