2．Florence Bravo’s story 弗洛伦丝·布拉沃的讲述
My name is Mrs Florence Bravo. I am 31 years old. I live at The Priory, in Balham. At the time of his death, my husband, Charles Bravo, lived there too. My friend and companion, Jane Cox, was also living in the house …
我叫弗洛伦斯·布拉沃夫人，今年31岁。我住在巴尔汉姆的普赖厄里宅邸。在我丈夫查尔斯·布拉沃去世时，他也住在那里。我的朋友兼伴侣简·考克斯也住在这栋房子里……
My husband Charles and I were very happy together. Of course, we argued sometimes, but that’s normal, isn’t it? All husbands and wives argue sometimes. But Charles was a good man – a lawyer – and I loved him very much. He loved me too – everyone will tell you that. In fact, that was the last thing he said, before he died. ‘You’ve been the best of wives,’ he said. Then I kissed him, and he died.
我和丈夫查尔斯在一起非常幸福。当然，我们有时也会吵架，但这很正常，不是吗？所有的夫妻偶尔都会争吵。但查尔斯是个好人——一名律师——我非常爱他。他也爱我——每个人都会这么告诉你。事实上，那是他临终前说的最后一句话。“你是最好的妻子，”他说。然后我吻了他，他就去世了。
Charles Bravo was my second husband. I married him at the end of last year, December 1875. My first husband, Alexander Ricardo, died in 1871. I was only nineteen when I married Alexander. He was a soldier in the British army. He looked very tall and handsome in his red coat.
查尔斯·布拉沃是我的第二任丈夫。我在去年年底，即1875年12月嫁给了他。我的第一任丈夫亚历山大·里卡多于1871年去世。我嫁给亚历山大时只有19岁。他是英国军队的一名士兵。穿着红色军装的他看起来高大英俊。
Florence Ricardo – later, Florence Bravo
弗洛伦斯·里卡多——后来成为弗洛伦斯·布拉沃
Both our families were very rich, and my parents liked him. All the most important people in London came to our wedding – it was wonderful! We danced late into the night. He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. I fell in love with him, and I thought he loved me too.
我们两家都非常富有，我的父母也很喜欢他。伦敦所有最显赫的人物都来参加我们的婚礼——那真是太美妙了！我们跳舞直到深夜。他是我见过的最俊美的男人。我爱上了他，我以为他也爱我。
But I was wrong. Alexander was a terrible husband. He didn’t love me; he spent most of his time visiting girls and drinking. He drank two or three bottles of wine every night. Sometimes, when he came home, he couldn’t stand up. And when I argued with him, he hit me.
但我错了。亚历山大是个糟糕的丈夫。他不爱我；他把大部分时间都花在找女人和喝酒上。他每晚都要喝两三瓶酒。有时回到家时，他连站都站不稳。当我跟他争辩时，他就会打我。
That’s right – my tall beautiful soldier husband hit me! One day he hit me hard, in the face, three times. Then he laughed.
没错——我那高大英俊的军人丈夫竟然打我！有一天，他狠狠地扇了我三个耳光，然后还大笑起来。
I left him then and ran home, to my parents. ‘I can’t live with this man,’ I told them. ‘He’s stupid and dangerous. I don’t want to be married any more!’
于是我便离开了他，跑回父母家。“我没法跟这个男人生活下去了，”我对他们说，“他又蠢又危险。我不想再维持这段婚姻了！”
‘But Alexander is your husband,’ my father said. ‘A wife can’t leave her husband. It’s against the law. You must go back to him and do what he says.’
“可是亚历山大是你的丈夫啊，”父亲说，“妻子不能离开丈夫。这是违法的。你必须回到他身边，听从他的安排。”
‘No!’ I screamed. ‘I can’t, I won’t! You don’t understand! I don’t want to see him again, ever! I wish he was dead!’
“不！”我尖叫道，“我不能，我也不愿意！你们根本不明白！我再也不想见到他了，永远不想！我真希望他死掉！”
I cried so much that my parents thought I was ill. So my mother took me to a doctor, Dr James Gully.
我哭得太厉害了，父母以为我生病了。于是母亲带我去看医生，也就是詹姆斯·格利医生。
I’ll never forget that day. We arrived at Dr Gully’s hospital in Malvern after a long journey. I was very tired, frightened, and unhappy. Dr Gully was a man, of course. But he didn’t shout at me, like my father and my husband. He just looked at me, and listened. He was quiet and friendly and kind. In fact, I thought he was the kindest man I had ever met.
我永远忘不了那一天。经过长途跋涉，我们抵达了格利医生位于莫尔文的医院。当时我又累又怕，心情十分低落。格利医生当然是个男人。但他没有像我的父亲和丈夫那样对我大吼大叫。他只是静静地看着我，倾听我的心声。他温和、友善又仁慈。事实上，我觉得他是我遇到过的最善良的人。
He was the only man who really liked me and understood me. But after a while, I saw that it was more than that. Dr Gully didn’t just like me and understand me. He fell in love with me, too.
他是唯一一个真正喜欢我、理解我的男人。但过了一阵子，我发现事情远不止如此。格利医生不仅仅是喜欢和理解我，他也爱上了我。
He can tell you about that.
关于这件事，他可以亲自告诉你。
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