“Ive always loved this place， it has a lot of memories for me， and for others.”
A Walk in the Woods
I was puzzled！ Why was this old woman making such a fussfuss n.忙乱， 大惊小怪， 大惊小怪的人 about an old copse which was of no use to anybody？ She had written letters to the local paper， even to a national， protesting about a projected bypass to her village， and， looking at a map， the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasnt as if the area was attractive. I was more than puzzled， I was intriguedintrigue vt.激起……的兴趣vi.密谋， 私通n.阴谋， 诡计 .
“我一直深爱着这个地方，这里收藏着我与其他许多人的记忆。”
林间漫步
我实在不能明白！为什么这个年老的女人会对一片没有任何用处的老灌木林如此在乎呢？她给当地的报纸写了信，甚至也给全国性的报纸写了信，对准备将在她们村里修建路的计划表示抗议。但从地图上看，这条准备修建的小路离她家并不近，那一带的风景也并不迷人。这不仅使我感到困惑，还引起了我的好奇。
The enquiry into the route of the new bypass to the village was due to take place shortly， and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her. So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door， being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods.
“Ive always loved this place，” she said， “it has a lot of memories for me， and for others. We all used it. They called it ‘Lovers lane’. Its not much of a lanelane n.（乡间）小路， 巷， 里弄， 狭窄的通道， 航线 ， and it doesnt go anywhere important， but thats why we all came here. To be away from people， to be by ourselves.”
It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard. Squirrels gazed from the branches， quite bold in their movements， obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear.
很快就要进行对新路的调查了，我想弄清楚她反对的理由，于是我敲响了小屋的门，一位名叫玛丽·史密斯的女士招待了我，然后她带我走进林间。
“我一直深爱着这个地方，”她说，“这里收藏着我与其他许多人的记忆。我们都曾在这个地方停留。人们称之为‘情人路’。它其实并不能算是路，也不通往什么重要的地方，但这正是我们来到这里的原因。远离人世，只剩我们自己。”
那天林间非常迷人，小鸟们唱着歌，松鼠在树枝之间张望，自由自在地活动，显然这里很少有人来，它们毫无惧色。
I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the bypass was built， so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinionsopinion n.意见， 看法， 主张， 判断， 评价 about the needs of the community overriding the opinions of private individuals， I said nothing. The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children， their safety was more important to me than an old womans whimswhim n.一时的兴致， 幻想， 反复无常， 怪念头， 奇想 .
“Take this tree，” she said pausing after a short while. “To you it is just that， a tree. Not unlike many others here.” She gently touched the bark. “Look here， under this branch， what can you see？”
“It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife.” I said after a cursorycursory adj.匆匆忙忙的， 粗略的， 草率的 inspection.
“Yes， thats what it is！” she said softly. “There are letters and a lovers heart.”
我可以想像得出，在小路修好之后，汽车穿过这片宁静树林时将会是如何的喧闹，因此我猜这对她来说可能有什么影响。但我坚持认为社区的需要重于个人的意见，所以我没有说话。目前村里的交通，特别是对于老年人和小孩儿来说尤其危险，所以对我来说他们的安全比这个老女士的奇怪念头更为重要。
“拿这棵树来讲，”她停了一会儿说，“对你来说它只是一棵普通的树，与这里其他的树没有任何区别。”她轻抚着这棵树的树皮说：“看这儿，在这个枝条的下边，你看见了什么？”
“好像有人用小刀在上面刻过什么东西。”我大略地看了一下后说。
“是的，就是这样！”她轻轻地说，“是一些字母和一颗情人的心。”