张小娴

　　永远的关系

　　If somebody tells you, “I’ll love you for ever,” will you believe it?

　　假如有人对你说，我永远爱你，你是否会相信呢？

　　I don’t think there’s any reason not to. We are ready to believe such commitment at the moment, whatever change may happen afterwards. As for the belief in an everlasting love, that’s another thing.

　　我想不到有什么理由不相信。无论将来变成怎样，那一刻，我们会愿意相信这个承诺。是否相信有永远的爱，那又是另外一回事。

　　Then you may be asked whether there is such a thing as an everlasting love. I’d answer I believe in it. But an everlasting love is not immutable.

　　有人问，那你是否相信有永远的爱？我相信的。然而，永远的爱，也是会变的。

　　You may unswervingly love or be loved by a person. But love will change its composition with the passage of time. It will not remain the same. In the course of your growth and as a result of your increased experience, love will become something different to you.

　　你也许永远爱一个人，或永远被一个人所爱。但是，爱的成分会在年月中改变。爱不是只有一样。当你成长，当你经历越来越多的事情，你对爱的体会也会不一样了。

　　In the beginning, you believed a fervent love for a person could last indefinitely. By and by, however, “fervent” gave way to “prosaic”. Precisely because of this change, it became possible for love to last. Then what was meant by an everlasting love would eventually end up in a sort of interdependence.

　　从前所相信的永远，是永远炽热地爱一个人。后来的永远，也许是从炽热走到平淡。因为平淡，才可以更长久。然后，所谓永远，有一天又会变成相互依存。

　　We used to insist on the difference between love and liking. The former seemed much more beautiful than the latter. One day, however, it turns out there’s really no need to make such difference. Liking is actually a sort of love. By the same token, the everlasting interdependence is actually an everlasting love.

　　我们曾经坚持把爱和喜欢分开。爱是比喜欢美好许多的。终有一天，我们开始相信，不必把喜欢和爱分开。喜欢也是一种爱。正如，永远的依存，也是永远的爱。

　　I wish I could believe there was somebody who would love me for ever. That’s, as we all know, too romantic to be true. Instead, it will more often than not be a case of lasting relationship.

　　我希望我能够相信一个人永远爱我。可是，我们都知道，那只似过于浪漫的想法。永远的关系，反而更有可能。