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Part One
1988–1992
Early Twenties
any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it and think how different its course would have been. Pause, you who read this, and think for a long moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on that memorable day."
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
CHAPTER ONE
The Future
FRIDAY 15 JULY 1988
Rankeillor Street, Edinburgh
"I suppose the important thing is to make some sort of difference," she said. "You know, actually change something."
"What, like ―"change the world", you mean?"
"Not the whole entire world. Just the little bit around you."
They lay in silence for a moment, bodies curled around each other in the single bed, then both began to laugh in low, predawn voices. "Can‘t believe I just said that," she groaned.
"Sounds a bit corny, doesn‘t it?"
"A bit corny."
"I‘m trying to be inspiring! I‘m trying to lift your grubby soul for the great adventure that lies ahead of you.‘ She turned to face him."Not that you need it. I expect you‘ve got your future nicely mapped out, ta very much. Probably got a little flow-chart somewhere or something."
"Hardly."
"So what‘re you going to do then? What‘s the great plan?"
"Well, my parents are going to pick up my stuff, dump it at theirs, then I‘ll spend a couple of days in their flat in London, see some friends. Then France—‘"
"Very nice—"
"Then China maybe, see what that‘s all about, then maybe onto India, travel around there for a bit—"
"Travelling," she sighed. "So predictable."
"What‘s wrong with travelling?"
"Avoiding reality more like."
"I think reality is over-rated,‘ he said in the hope that this might come across as dark and charismatic.
She sniffed. "S‘alright, I suppose, for those who can afford it. Why not just say ―I‘m going on holiday for two years"? It‘s the same thing."
"Because travel broadens the mind,‘ he said, rising onto one elbow and kissing her.
Oh I think you‘re probably a bit too broad-minded as it is,‘ she said, turning her face away, for the moment at least. They settled again on the pillow. "Anyway, I didn‘t mean what are you doing next month, I meant the future-future, when you‘re, I don‘t know . . .‘ She paused, as if conjuring up some fantastical idea, like a fifth dimension. " . . . Forty or
something. What do you want to be when you‘re forty?‘
Forty?‘ He too seemed to be struggling with the concept. ‗Don‘t know. Am I allowed to say ―rich‖?‘
Just so, so shallow.‘
It‘s not morbid, it‘s . . . exciting.‘
―Exciting!‖‘ He was imitating her voice now, her soft Yorkshire accent, trying to make her sound daft. She got this a lot, posh boys doing funny voices, as if there was something unusual and quaint3 about an accent, and not for the first time she felt a reassuring4 shiver of dislike for him. She shrugged5 herself away until her back was pressed against the cool of the wall.
Yes, exciting. We‘re meant to be excited, aren‘t we? All those possibilities. It‘s like the Vice-Chancellor said, ―the doors of opportunity flung wide . . .‖‘
―Yours are the names in tomorrow‘s newspapers . . .‖‘
Not very likely.‘
第一部分 1988年7月15日（1）
星期五
爱丁堡兰基勒街
未来
“我想最关键的，就是要有所改变，”她说，“你知道，切实地改变。”
“你是说要‘改变世界’？”
“不是整个世界。你周遭的小世界而已。”
两人交缠着躺在单人床上，沉默片刻后又一同笑了出来。笑声低沉，如同破晓前的微光。“我怎么说出这么一句，”她沉吟道，“透着点滥俗，是吗？”
“是有一点俗套。”
“我只是想鼓舞你的斗志，托起你卑琐的灵魂，准备好迎接未来，迎接精彩的征程。”她转身面对他，“也许我多此一举。估计你对未来早有漂亮的规划，谢天谢地。多半连流程图都画好了吧。”
“没有啊。”
“那你会做点什么？有什么宏伟计划吗？”
“哦，我爸妈会来搬走我的行李，放回家里，然后我去伦敦，在他们的公寓住两天，会几个朋友。然后去法国—”
“非常好。”
“下一站也许是中国，去见识见识，接下来也许是印度，到处瞧瞧。”
“旅行，”她叹了口气，“太没创意了。”
“旅行有什么不好的？”
“恐怕更像是逃避现实。”
“人们把现实看得过重了。”他觉得这样的回答可能会显得深沉而有魅力。
她嗤之以鼻，“大概吧，我琢磨着，只要你付得起费用……那为何不干脆说‘我要度假两年’？不是一回事儿吗？”
“因为旅行能开阔心胸。”他说着单肘支起身子作势吻她。
“哦，我认为你现在恐怕是心胸太宽了些。”她说着扭头避开—至少在那一刻。他们再次躺下。“我不是问你下个月要去做什么，我是问将来，等到你，让我想想……”她顿了顿，似乎在凭空幻想着什么，比如第五维空间。“四十岁，你四十岁的时候希望成为什么样的人？”
“四十？”对这个字眼他似乎也颇感陌生，努力想象着，“不知道。我可不可以说要做个‘富人’。”
“这太—浅薄了。”
“好好好，那就做个‘名人’，”他开始用鼻子蹭她的脖颈，“有点病态，是不是？”
“不，应该算是……振奋。”
“振奋！”他开始模仿她说话，故意让那柔软的约克郡口音显得又痴又笨。这一套她见得多了：时髦少年故作滑稽地学人说话，似乎方言口音是什么稀奇古怪的东西。她又一次对他心生厌恶，身子向后一缩，背脊直贴到凉丝丝的墙上。
“是啊，振奋。咱们本来就该振作精神，是吧？大把机会就在眼前，像校长说的，‘一扇扇机遇的大门，已经为你们敞开。’”
“‘你们的名字，将出现在明天的报纸上……’”
“得了吧。”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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