本来觉得“Stoner人生中的高光时刻”这个话题只需要一篇文章就能写完了，真正实施起来却又一再拖延。好容易写了个开头吧，才发现其实有很多段落可以好好剖析。然而又缺乏专业素养，写起来也只是些闲话罢了。嗯，写了总比不写好，今日继续。

Stoner人生中的高光时刻 - 爱情线 - Chapter Three

Several people were gathered around the table, at the head of which a young woman, tall and slender and fair, dressed in a gown of blue watered silk, stood pouring tea into gold-rimmed china cups. Stoner paused in the doorway, caught by his vision of the young woman. Her long, delicately featured face smiled at those around her, and her slender, almost fragile fingers deftly manipulated urn and cup; looking at her, Stoner was assailed by a consciousness of his own heavy clumsiness.

For several moments he did not move from the doorway; he heard the girl’s soft, thin voice rise above the murmur of the assembled guests she served. She raised her head, and suddenly he met her eyes; they were pale and large and seemed to shine with a light within themselves. In some confusion he backed from the doorway and turned into the sitting room; he found an empty chair in a space by the wall, and he sat there looking at the carpet beneath his feet. He did not look in the direction of the dining room, but every now and then he thought he felt the gaze of the young woman brush warmly across his face.

在一次庆贺一战退伍士兵重返校园的聚会上，Stoner遇见了“那个女人”，一见倾心。他的大胆与执拗令人吃惊：当即要求好友Finch为自己引荐，散会时耐心等候得到去她寄居的姨母家里拜访的许可，在随后数周趁着Edith尚未归家每天前去“尬聊”，认识还没一个月呢凭着最原始的冲动就求了婚见了岳父岳母......而这桩在外人看来要多不般配就有多不般配的婚姻，居然就这么成了......

青年时期的Stoner所向往并如愿得到的爱情，后来慢慢发酵，成为他人生中最大的噩梦。作者在二战到来的动荡岁月里曾细心描写过Stoner的性格，谦卑如尘土，生来就是为了忍受生活中的种种磨难与不幸。于家庭生活，他也同样选择了隐忍与克制，直到生命的终结。

读到后来，常常在Stoner身上瞥见自己的影子。打出这句话的当下却又觉得那些相似其实大有不同，很多时候只是关键词的重合与意境所生发出的共鸣而已。他始终没能攒够带Edith前往欧洲，完成 Grand Tour 的经费。虽然书中从未大篇幅地描写Edith对此事的想法，但她心里肯定不止一次因此怨他恨他吧。

说句粗俗的大实话：当年大概是眼瞎。