It was vacationing on the Greek island of Corfu for about a month in August of 1992. I rent a motorcycle and head into the interior of the island in search of isolated trails and sleepy villages. I rode for hours along dirt trails flanked by bright yellow wildflowers, over steep and rugged hills, and past wide fields where farmers struggled to grow anything that would take root in the barren, rocky soil. I had to keep a close watch on the gas tank because there were no gas stations anywhere except at the village where I had rented the motorcycle. At half a tank, I had no choice but to turn back.
1992年8月，我去希臘的科孚島度了一個月假。我在那租了輛摩托車，騎著進了島的深處，探索那些與世隔絕很久的遺跡和沉睡的小村莊。我在爛泥路上一騎就是幾個小時，翻過一座座陡峭的小山，穿過了一大片貧瘠的沙土地，可以看得出來，農民們費盡了心思把所有可能在這種地上扎根的東西都種過了。我必須得時刻留神油表，因為除了在我租摩托車的村子以外是沒有加油站的。一旦用完了半箱油，我就不得不返回了。

The needle had just hit halfway and I was turning around to head back when I noticed an old cemetery in the distance, far away from any village or other sign of habitation. I decided to stretch my legs before beginning the long trip home. I rode to the gate, killed the engine and laid the bike down. As I passed through the creaky, wrought iron gate, I couldn't help but notice how silent the place was. I had to whistle to reassure myself that I hadn't gone deaf. There were only a few hours of daylight left and a strong wind was blowing, stirring the overgrown grass which partially obscured the scattered tombstones.
隨后，指針指向了油表的中央，我掉頭正準備回去，這時候發現遠處有座古墓，距離這些村子和民居有很遠的一段距離。我決定在往回趕之前走一走，放松一下我的雙條腿，于是我騎車到了墓室的大門口，關上引擎然后把車倒放在地上。我走過那扇曾經是很精致但是現在已經搖搖欲墜的大鐵門，里面竟然安靜得連一點聲音都沒有，以至于我不得不吹了個口哨來提醒自己并沒變成了聾子。再有一兩個小時太陽就要下山了，一股勁風刮來，吹得叢生的已經蔓延到了墓碑上的雜草來回搖搖晃晃的。

In Greece, people aren't always buried. The bodies of the deceased are usually laid to rest inside marble tombs above ground with lids that can be easily lifted or slid aside. This tugged at my heart more than anything else - to see the faces of the people buried there as they were in life; their warm smiles and the kindness in their eyes. I spent a long time wandering around, kneeling in the grass next to the graves, talking to the people lying there and wondering how their lives had been.
在希臘，并不是所有死去的人都會被埋葬的。有時候放著尸體的石棺就放在地面上，人們可以很輕易的就把蓋子抬起來或者推到一邊去。以前還從沒有其他任何事情能讓我如此的震撼——看著這些去世的人的臉龐，還展現著熱情的笑容和慈祥的眼神，就和他們在生活中所表現出來的一樣。我徘徊了良久，在墳墓旁邊的草叢里跪下來，與長埋地下的人們交談，想知道他們當初的生活狀況。

When I walked to the rear edge of the cemetery, an unusual sight caught my eye - a tomb that was twice as large as any of the others. When I looked inside the cabinet, I found out why. There was a photograph of a young couple with their arms around each other, laughing. The date of their deaths, etched in the stone, were identical. Apparently, they were married and had died together in some kind of an accident. They had been laid in each other's arms inside the tomb. I can't relate all the feelings I had while looking at that picture of them together, bursting with youthful energy, their eager smiles full of excitement and anticipation of their lives together.
我信步走到古墓的最后方，不尋常的一幕場景映入眼簾——有一座墳的大小是其它墳的兩倍那么大。我向放照片的相框里看去，知道了原因。那是一對年輕夫婦的照片，他們挎著胳膊開懷大笑。石碑上刻著他們去世的時間，是相同的，顯然兩個人是在一次事故里雙雙去世的。此刻他們一定是互相依偎著躺在地下的，看著這張洋溢著年輕人青春活力的照片，我百感交集，他們熱情的笑容里面，充滿了幸福與對未來生活的展望。

A line from a poem by Andrew Marvell crossed my mind -"The grave is a fine and private place but none, I think, do there embrace."I hoped it wasn't true.
安德魯.馬維爾的一句詩浮現在我的腦海里，“墳墓是個隱密的好地方，但沒人會在那里擁抱吧，我想。”但愿這不是真的。

A white marble cross that marked their graves had been broken off at the base, perhaps by vandals or a lightning bolt, and had fallen on the ground at the head of the tomb. Small, orange wildflowers were growing up around it. This might not have been so unusual except for the fact that they were the only flowers growing anywhere in the cemetery. The contrast of these symbols of life and springtime next to a symbol of death was so striking, I decided to take a photograph of it.
墳墓上立著的白色大理石十字架從底部斷開了，掉到了前面的地上，可能是盜墓人破壞得吧，要么就是被閃電擊到了。橘黃色的小花從四周長出來，野花生長在墓地的任何地方，本都不是希奇的(補：但問題是，整個墓地，只有這個地方長著花)。在這里生命與春天萬物復蘇的氣息與死亡的象征形成了強烈的對比，我決定要拍張照片，永遠留住這幅畫面。

I took my camera out of my backpack and started looking for a good angle for the photograph but couldn't find one. I decided that the best angle would be from the top of the tomb looking straight down at the cross, but I felt that standing on it would be disrespectful so I took a few shots from other angles. Unsatisfied, I said to the young couple buried there, "Excuse me. I don't mean any disrespect but I'd just like to stand on your tomb for a second to take a picture of your flowers. I hope you don't mind."
我從背包里拿出照相機，想要找一個合適的角度拍照但是怎么也選不好。我最后發現最好的角度應該是從墳墓上立著十字架的位置朝下照，但是我覺得站到上面去可能會褻瀆亡靈，因此只是從其它的角度拍了幾張。但是這些我都不大滿意，于是我就對下面的年輕夫婦說，“請原諒，我沒有任何冒犯的意思，我只是到你們的墳墓上面幾秒鐘去給你們的花兒拍張照片。希望你們不會介意。”

Hoping I had won their approval, I stood on the lid and took the photo from the angle I wanted. I can't recall feeling any cold sensations or chills other than the ones I was already riddled with due to my overactive imagination. I stepped down from the tomb and said thank you. Before I left, I picked up their cross and put it back in place on their tomb. The break was clean so it fit like a puzzle piece.
但愿我是得到了他們的同意，我站了上去從恰當的角度拍了照片。其實由于我那過分活躍的想象力，我的大腦里面剛才一直充斥著恐懼與不安，但是此刻我并沒有因為又踩踏了他們的墳墓而感到膽戰心驚。我從上面走下來，對他們說了謝謝。離開之前，我撿起他們的十字架重新放回去，斷裂的痕跡一目了然，因此看上去就像是個拼圖一樣。

The sun was setting quickly and I was worried about finding my way back in the dark, so I decided to head home. I walked through the creaky, old gate again and kick-started the motorcycle. After being immersed in such profound silence for so long, the noise of the engine seemed louder than ever.
太陽已經轉到了西邊，馬上就要落下去了，我恐怕天黑后找不到路所以決定趕緊回去。我又一次走過那扇古老的晃晃悠悠的大門，發動了摩托車。在那個安靜至極的地方呆了這么長時間以后，馬達的聲音真有點震耳欲聾。

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