Burmese Days 缅甸岁月 Chapter 24

It was nearly six o'clock in the evening, and the absurd bell in the six-foot tin steeple of the church went clank-clank, clank- clank! as old Mattu pulled the rope within. The rays of the setting sun, refracted by distant rainstorms, flooded the maidan with a beautiful, lurid ¹ light. It had been raining earlier in the day, and would rain again. The Christian ² community of Kyauktada, fifteen in number, were gathering ³ at the church door for the evening service., ,Flory was already there, and Mr Macgregor, grey topi and all, and Mr Francis and Mr Samuel, frisking about in freshly laundered ⁴ drill suits--for the six-weekly church service was the great social event of their lives. The padre, a tall man with grey hair and a refined, discoloured face, wearing pince-nez, was standing ⁵ on the church steps in his cassock and surplice, which he had put on in Mr Macgregor's house. He was smiling in an amiable ⁶ but rather helpless way at four pink-cheeked Karen Christians ⁷ who had come to make their bows to him; for he did not speak a word of their language nor they of his. There was one other Oriental Christian, a mournful, dark Indian of uncertain race, who stood humbly ⁸ in the background. He was always present at the church services, but no one knew who he was or why he was a Christian. Doubtless he had been captured and baptized in infancy ⁹ by the missionaries ¹⁰, for Indians who are converted when adults almost invariably lapse ¹¹., ,Flory could see Elizabeth coming down the hill, dressed in lilac- colour, with her aunt and uncle. He had seen her that morning at the Club--they had had just a minute alone together before the others came in. He had only asked her one question., , ,'Yes.', ,There had been no need to say any more. He had simply taken her by the arms and drawn ¹² her towards him. She came willingly, even gladly--there in the clear daylight, merciless to his disfigured face. For a moment she had clung to him almost like a child. It was a though he had saved her or protected her from something. He raised her face to kiss her, and found with surprise that she was crying. There had been no time to talk then, not even to say, 'Will you marry me?' No matter, after the service there would be time enough. Perhaps at his next visit, only six weeks hence, the padre would marry them., ,The lurid sunset puts a red light on their faces.血红一般的夕阳映红了他们的脸。,They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼 。