His hand dropped to his side and he stood very still, his eyes intent on my face. The silence lengthened. His features were immobile as stone. 他收回了手，一动不动地站着，他的眼睛紧张地看着我的脸。沉默在延续着。他的五官凝固成了石像。

"What is it?" I whispered, touching his frozen face. “怎么了？”我低声说着，轻抚着他僵住的脸。

His face softened under my hand, and he sighed. "I keep waiting for it to happen." 他的脸在我的手下柔和起来，他叹息着：“我依然等着它发生。”

"For what to happen?" “等着什么发生？”

"I know that at some point, something I tell you or something you see is going to be too much.  “我知道总会有那么一刻，我告诉你的某件事，或者你看到的某件事，将会超出你的承受范围。

And then you'll run away from me, screaming as you go." He smiled half a smile, but his eyes were serious.  然后你就会从我身旁逃开，尖叫着逃走。”他半笑着说道，但他的眼神依然很认真。

"I won't stop you. I want this to happen, because I want you to be safe. And yet, I want to be with you.  “我不会阻止你。我想要这样的事情发生，因为我想让你安全些。但是，我还是想和你在一起。

The two desires are impossible to reconcile…" He trailed off, staring at my face. Waiting. 这两个愿望根本无法调和……”他打住了话头，看着我的脸，等待着。

"I'm not running anywhere," I promised. “我哪里也不会去的。”我保证道。

"We'll see," he said, smiling again. “我们等着瞧。”他说着，又笑了起来。

I frowned at him. "So, go on — Carlisle was swimming to France." 我冲他皱起眉。“那么，继续——卡莱尔游到了法国。”

He paused, getting back into his story. Reflexively, his eyes flickered to another picture  他顿了顿，又回到了他的故事。他转过身去看向了另一幅画面

the most colorful of them all, the most ornately framed, and the largest; it was twice as wide as the door it hung next to.  所有画里最色彩斑斓的一幅，装裱得最为华丽的，也是最巨大的。它紧挨着门挂着，是门的两倍宽。

The canvas overflowed with bright figures in swirling robes, writhing around long pillars and off marbled balconies.  那幅油画里溢满了穿着波浪纹的学士服的欢快的人物，他们有的站在长柱周围，有的站在大理石的阳台上。

I couldn't tell if it represented Greek mythology, or if the characters floating in the clouds above were meant to be biblical. 我说不清这是否代表了某个希腊神话，或者这些漫步在云端之上的人物是否出自圣经故事。