咖啡愛的故事
A Love Story About Coffee - The Perfect Latte
一個關於咖啡的愛情故事——完美的拿鐵咖啡
Andre plays classical guitar at the How You Bean, a coffeehouse in Boulder, Colorado. He plays for tips, but really he plays for Eva, Queen of Lattes, who works behind the counter.
在美國科羅拉多州的玻爾得有一家名叫How You Bean的咖啡館，而安德烈就在這裡演奏古典吉他。他的表演看上去是為了掙小費，但實際上是為了在櫃檯工作的「拿鐵咖啡皇后」——伊娃。
It takes him a while to notice her. Andre is drawn to a well-defined type, olive-skinned girls with robust features and dark eyes.
他並不是一開始就注意到她的。安德烈喜歡的類型很明確，即她們要有橄欖色的皮膚、周身散發著活力並擁有黑色的雙眼。
His first night at the Bean, Eva barely registers. She is slim, red-haired, freckled, a quick entry to his Not-My-Type file (he does not do this consciously, but his filters are ruthlessly consistent). He plays for two hours, to small applause but several smiles, plus sixteen dollars in his guitar case.
他在How You Bean咖啡館演出的第一個晚上，伊娃幾乎就沒注意到他。她體形柔細，一頭紅髮，臉上還有些雀斑，因而很快便被他歸為「不適合自己」的一類（他並不是有意這樣做的，但他的衡量標準是一如既往的，絲毫不夾雜著情面因素）。他每晚演出兩小時，有些觀眾會對他的演出回以微笑，但掌聲很少，演出末了，他的吉他盒裡能多出16美元來。
"Hi, Andre?" It was the tall, red-haired barista. "Do you want your drink? You get a free drink."
「嗨，安德烈？」說話的是這個高個紅髮的咖啡師。「你想要杯飲料嗎？你可以喝一杯免費飲料。」
"Sure. How about a latte? I'll pick it up after this last song."
「當然。來杯拿鐵咖啡吧？我彈完這最後一曲就過來拿。」
Andre finishes his last song.
安德烈彈完了最後一曲。
"That was great!" says the barista. "I'll leave your drink on the table."
freckled /`frekld/ adj.有雀斑的
applause /9`pl5z/ n.鼓掌歡迎
inextricably / in`ekstrik9bli / adv.不可分（割）地
compress / k9m`pres / v.壓縮；濃縮
predecessor /`pr1dises9/ n.前輩；前任
「棒極了！」這個咖啡師說，「我把你的飲料放在桌子上了。」
"Thanks." He gathers his tips, lowers his guitar into the case, then turns to find the most perfect latte he has ever seen.
「謝謝。」他收好他的小費，把他的吉他裝入盒中，然後轉過身，發現了這杯他見過的最好的拿鐵咖啡。
It sits in a tall, narrow glass. The bottom layer is four inches of steamed milk; the middle an inch-wide stripe of espresso, the color of charred wood. The top is two inches of milk foam, edging past the brim like a snow bank. Only once has Andre seen such a thing. In a cafe in Florence, on a tour of Italy after his first year in college.
咖啡就盛在一隻細長的玻璃高杯中。底層是4英寸厚的蒸牛奶，中間是1英寸寬、呈炭木色的條狀espresso咖啡。頂部是2英寸厚的牛奶泡沫，沫子已經溢出杯口，好似白雪一樣，堆積在一起。這樣的東西安德烈只見過一次。那是在他大學第一年去義大利旅行時，在佛羅倫斯一家咖啡館裡見到的。
Andre plays there again the following week, and he finds himself ①slipping up, on a piece he has played since he was six. No one notices. But it bothers him. He understands that perfection is not, logically speaking, attainable. But if you aren't going to at least chase it, what's the purpose?
第二個星期，安德烈再次在這裡演出，不過他發現自己在一首曲子上出了錯，而這首曲子竟是他從6歲起就開始彈奏的曲目。沒有人注意到這一點。但這卻使他感到不安。他知道，從邏輯上講完美是可欲不可求的。但是如果你一點也不想去追求完美，那你做事的動力又是什麼呢？
He knows what it is. Too many of his focal points are occupied by the image of Eva's latte and Eva herself. He takes an early break, and requests his free drink.
他知道是怎麼回事。他關注的焦點太多地放在了伊娃的拿鐵咖啡和伊娃本人的形象上了了。他提前結束了演奏，並要求來一杯免費飲料。
pressurization / ,preH9rai`zeiH9n / n.加壓
patent /`peit9nt/ n.專利權；專利品
stripe /straip/ n.斑紋；條紋
char /tH3/ v.燒焦
twitch / twitH / v.抽動
pulp / p7lp / n.果肉；(植物的)漿狀物
effeminate /i`feminit/ adj.柔弱的；女人氣的
deftness /deftnis/ n.靈巧
smuggle /`sm7Gl/ v.走私
① slip up疏忽；出錯
② keep one's eye on sth. 注視
③ give out公布；宣布
④ stand a chance 有希望
"Latte?" she asks.
「拿鐵嗎？」她問。
"Exactly the same."
「和以前一樣。」
She smiles. She clicks the grounds into a disc and slides it into the machine. Andre stands at the counter, watching.
她微笑了一下。她把粉末磕出，放到盤上，然後把盤子滑入機器裡。安德烈就站在櫃檯邊看著。
"What do you call it?" He asks.
「你管這個叫什麼？」他問。
Eva twitches her lips in thought. "Pretty-style."
伊娃嘴唇微微動了一下，想了一會兒。「美麗式。」
"Pretty style."
「美麗式。」
She laughs. "It is the only expression everyone seems to understand."
她笑了。「這或許是人們唯一能明白的表達方式。」
She pours the milk, then lays in the foam, till it comes to an inch from the top. Then she brings the shot cup to the edge of the glass.
她倒入牛奶，然後鋪上泡沫，直到它離頂部還有1英寸為止。接著，她將小口杯接到玻璃杯的邊緣。
"Wow! You pour it freehand? No spoon? "
「哇！你就用手來倒啊？不用勺子嗎？」
Eva smiles, ②keeping her eye on the hot brown trickle.
伊娃露出一絲微笑，眼睛注視著滾燙的棕色細流。
"You are a goddess of the caffeine arts." says Andre, taking his prize.
「你簡直就是咖啡藝術女神。」安德烈接過他的慰問品說到。
Eva is protective of her true affections, rarely ③gives them out and is very clear on the type of man who buzzes her circuits. He is big, a barrel-chested guy who could squeeze her to a pulp. In the old high-school fantasy game, her picks would be Russell Crowe, a young Sean Connery.
伊娃對於自己的真實感情是掩飾的，很少將自己的感情表露出來，她非常清楚什麼樣的男人能打動她。這個男人應該十分高大威猛，胸肌發達，有著足以把她揉成一團的力量。在高中的傳統幻想遊戲裡，她通常選的都是肖恩·康納利的青年版——拉塞爾·克羅。
Slight, effeminate Andre doesn't ④stand a chance until he starts playing. The deftness of his fingering captivates her. His choice of material is good. He also knows a good musical joke, smuggling a quote from Hotel California into a Granados tango. She's the only one who notices.
瘦小、柔弱的安德烈對伊娃而言是一點機會都沒有的，然而當他開始演奏的時候一切發生了變化。他純熟的指法讓她著迷。他對音樂的選擇也極有品位。他還很會開音樂玩笑——把《加州旅館》中的一個片段和格拉納多斯的探戈舞曲揉和在一起。她是唯一注意這一切的人。
Eva is a piano student. Her teachers love her playing, and encourage her to give recitals. But her ears tell her differently. She knows that perfection is a ruthless master, but she wants to be at least somewhere in the same county before she exposes herself to an audience. She tells no one about her studies not even her closest friends and when she hears someone like Andre, her feelings are confirmed.
伊娃是主修鋼琴的學生。她的老師欣賞她的演奏，並鼓勵她舉辦獨奏會。但她的耳朵告訴她其水平還遠遠不夠。她知道，完美就像一位不留情面的評判者，她想，她在面對觀眾表演之前，至少能夠達到接近完美的水平。她沒告訴任何人有關她學業的事情，甚至對她最親密的朋友也是一樣，而當她聽到像安德烈這樣的演奏之後，她的感覺得到了證實。
She thinks it should be Andre to ask her out first, after all.
她認為不管怎樣安德烈應該主動邀她出去。
Another night, she is stacking chairs on tables when Andre stops by, guitar case in hand.
又一天晚上，當她正在將椅子堆疊到桌上的時候，安德烈手拿吉他盒在她身邊停了下來。
"Is there something different tonight?"
「今晚有什麼不一樣的地方嗎？」
"Sure. I added some cardamom."
「當然了。我在咖啡裡放了小豆蔻。」
"I like it,"he says.
「我喜歡這個。」他說。
"Good."
「很好。」
A silence drifts in like a fog. Lots of room for someone to ask someone out on a date. Maybe they could meet for a cup of coffee.
沉默像霧氣一般彌散開來。這時是邀請別人約會的最佳時機。或許他們可以相約喝一杯咖啡。
"Well," he says. "I gotta go."
「好了。」他說。「我得走了。」
"Goodnight," says Eva. She lifts another chair.
「晚安。」伊娃說。她搬起了另一把椅子。
Andre sits on his couch. It is getting worse! That look on her face. "She is so popular. It seems like half the town knows her. What am I doing even thinking about it? Oh, Jesus, Andre, read the fucking music."
安德烈坐在他的睡椅上。情況有點不妙！想想她臉上的那種神情吧。「她是那樣地受歡迎。仿佛整座小鎮中有一半人認識她。我還有什麼好想的？噢，天啊，安德烈，你還是去讀那該死的曲譜吧。」
Eva continues the cardamom, to no discernible effect. If anything, Andre seems more distant, even vaguely annoyed. Then he's gone, replaced by a guy named Martin.
伊娃繼續往咖啡裡加入小豆蔻，可安德烈對此卻沒有什麼反映。如果有什麼不對勁的話，那就是，安德烈似乎陌生了許多，看上去甚至還有些生氣。隨後，他走了，一個叫馬丁的年輕人頂替了他的位子。
The next three months are winter. The short days and foul weather conspire to drive Eva into the ground. Even the snow, which used to excite her. Now it reminds her of lost chances, some connection she has failed to make. She spends hours in her rehearsal room playing Schubert sonatas and Chopin nocturnes.
接下來的三個月是在冬日裡度過的。短暫的白晝和沉鬱的天氣勾結到了一塊，將伊娃的情緒降到了最低點。甚至連曾經讓她那麼興奮的雪也成了她不快樂的理由。現在，雪讓她想起了與她擦肩而過的機會，她錯過的愛情。她有很長時間都在排演室裡度過，彈奏著舒伯特的奏鳴曲和蕭邦的小夜曲。
On the first day of March, she sits in a corner with her biology textbook. A shadow comes over her table like a stormcloud. The stormcloud is Andre.
三月的第一天，她坐在一個角落裡翻看著生物課本。一個陰影像暴風雲一般遮擋住了她的桌子。而這個暴風雲正是安德烈。
"Andre! Where have you been? It is good to see you."
「安德烈！這些日子你都去哪兒了？看到你真是太好了。」
"It is good to see you. I have been ⑤kind of busy. But today has been a rough day, and I thought, what you really need is one of Eva's perfect lattes. But I guess you are not on? "
「很高興見到你。我一直有點忙。但今天真是糟透了，於是我對自己說，你真正需要的是一杯伊娃的拿鐵咖啡。但我猜你可能下班了？」
"No. But I'll make you one. Be right back."
「對。不過我可以為你做一杯。稍等。」
……
Eva plays piano at the university in Boulder, Colorado. She plays for grades, but really she plays for Andre, King of Guitar, who listens from the front row.
在科羅拉多州玻爾得的大學裡，伊娃在演奏著鋼琴。她的表演看上去是為了分數，而實際上是為了此刻正端坐在前排聆聽的「吉他之王」——安德烈。
recital /ri`saitl/ n.獨奏會
cardamom / `k3d9m9m / n.（植）小豆蔻
discernible / di`s/n9bl / adj.可分別的
rehearsal /ri`h8s9l/ n.排演
sonata / s9`n3t9 / n.奏鳴曲
nocturne /`n4kt8n / n.夜曲；夜景
⑤ kind of 有點；稍微