突然间，我不再思考爱情，

Suddenly, I stopped thinking about Love,

多年来这是我思考的唯一问题，

after so many years of only that,

除此之外一切都无关紧要。

after thinking that nothing else mattered.

当我停止思考爱情，

And what was I thinking of when I stopped

我会思考什么？死亡，当然——

thinking about Love? Death, of course—what else

还有什么可以取代爱情的位置？还有什么具有这样的力量？

could take Love’s place? What else could hold such force?

我在想死亡曾经看来多么遥远，

I thought about how far away Death once

当它降临在我相当熟悉的人身上时，

had seemed, how unexpected that it could

我感到多么突然，

happen to someone I knew quite well,

我在想无论如何它都不会是一件平常事，

how impossible that this should be the

不会自然而然如秋霜冬雪。我在想

normal thing, as natural as frost and

当我们老去会是什么样子，

winter. I thought about the way we’d aged,

皮肤如何陷落在皱纹中，眼睛

how skin fell into wrinkles, how eyes grew

如何变模糊；然后（当然）

dim; then (of course) my love, I thought of you.

我想起了你，我的爱人。