双语畅销书《艾伦图灵传》第3章:思考什么是思考(3)

On receiving Alan's letter, Mrs Turing wrote to Mrs Morcom:

收到了艾伦的信，图灵夫人给默卡夫人写信：

Dear Mrs Morcom,

亲爱的默卡夫人：

Our boys were such great friends that I want to tell you how much I feel for you, as one mother for another. It must be terribly lonely for you, and so hard not to see here the fulfilment, that I am sure there will be, of all the promise of Christopher's exceptional brains and lovable character. Alan told me one couldn't help liking Morcom and he was himself so devoted to him that I too shared in his devotion and admiration: during exams he always reported Christopher's successes. He was feeling very desolate when he wrote asking me to send flowers on his behalf and in case he feels he cannot write to you himself I know he would wish me to send his sympathy with mine.

我们的孩子，是那么好的朋友，我想告诉你，作为孩子的母亲，我为你感到多么难过。你一定感到极为孤独，很难忘记那些卓越的成绩，因为克里斯朵夫有那么聪明的头脑和可爱的性格。艾伦告诉我，每个人都会情不自禁地喜欢默卡，他自己就是那么喜欢他，于是我也和他分享了这种热爱和钦佩。在考试期间，他经常给我讲克里斯朵夫的成绩。他写信让我代表他去献花时，是那么悲痛。他觉得自己不能给你们写信，希望我把他的慰籍一并致予你们。

Yours sincerely, Ethel S. Turing

你真诚的 艾赛儿·S·图灵

Mrs Morcom immediately invited Alan to stay at the Clock House in the Easter holiday. Her sister Mollie Swan sent him a photograph of Christopher. Sadly, the Morcoms had very few pictures of him, and this was a poor likeness, taken on an automatic machine with a reversed image. Alan replied:

默卡夫人立即邀请艾伦，在复活节假期时留在钟屋，她的妹妹摩莉·斯万，还把克里斯的照片送给艾伦。但遗憾的是，她那里只有少量呆板的证件照，而且是低级傻瓜相机拍的。艾伦回信说：

Dear Mrs Morcom,

亲爱的默卡夫人：

Thank you very much for your letter. I should enjoy coming to the Clockhouse immensely. Thank you so much. We actually break up on April 1, but I am going to Cornwall with Mr O'Hanlon my housemaster until the 11th – so that I could come any time that suits you between then and the beginning of May. I have heard so much about the Clockhouse – Rupert, the telescope, the goats, the Lab and everything.

很感谢你的来信。我应该有很大的可能会去钟屋，非常感谢。我们4月1号放假，但在11号之前，我要和院长奥汉兰先生去一趟考恩沃，所以我会在那之后、在五月之前去拜访你。我听说过很多关于钟屋的事，拉普特，望远镜，山羊，还有实验室。

Please thank Miss Swan very much for the photograph. He is on my table now, encouraging me to work hard.

请代我感谢斯万小姐的照片。我把它摆在桌子上，鼓励我努力工作。

Apart from the photograph, Alan had to keep his emotions to himself. He was allowed no mourning period, but had to go through Corps and Chapel like everyone else. Alan's devotion to Christopher's memory had come as a surprise to the Morcoms. Christopher had always been reticent at home about his school friends, and had a way of referring to 'a person called' so-and-so as though he had never been mentioned before. 'A person called Turing' had featured in a few of his remarks about experiments, but no more than that, and the Morcom parents had only very briefly met Alan in December. They knew him only from his letters. At the beginning of March they changed their plans and decided to take the holiday in Spain which had been planned before Christopher died. So it was testimony to Alan's letters that on 6 March they invited him to take Christopher's place on the journey, instead of coming to their home. Alan wrote to his mother the next day:

艾伦失去克里斯的悲痛程度，让默卡一家有点惊讶。克里斯朵夫在家时，一般不谈论学校的朋友，要提起谁的时候就会说“有个人”，大家对“一个叫图灵的人”的印象就是他的实验。默卡的父母只是在十二月时见过艾伦一面，他们是从他的信中了解他的。三月初，他们改变了计划，决定去西班牙度假，这在克里斯在世时就打算过。3月6日，他们邀请艾伦一起去旅行（代替克里斯朵夫），而不是去钟屋。第二天，艾伦写信给母亲：