與未來的總統談戀愛是一種什么樣的經歷

繪◎馬豆子

與未來的總統談戀愛是一種什么樣的經歷

Love Story of Bill and Hillary Clinton

繪◎馬豆子

美國前總統比爾·克林頓說不定要成為該國the fi rst “First Gentleman”了。不過要當好這個角色須有一項必備技能，演講！ 在2016年7月26日晚的民主黨大會上，比爾·克林頓也為自己的妻子站上了演講臺，力挺希拉里。這場演講，克林頓贊美希拉里的政績之余，還破天荒大談兩人的甜蜜戀愛史。

In the spring of 1971 I met a girl.

The first time I saw her we were， appropriately①appropriately 英 ［??pr??pri?tli］ 美 ［?'propr?，etl?］adv. 適當地；合適地；相稱地enough， in a class on political and civil rights. She had thick blond hair， big glasses， wore no makeup， and she had a sense of strength and self-possession②possession 英 ［p?'ze?（?）n］ 美 ［p?'z???n］ n. 擁有；財產；領地；自制；著迷that I found magnetic③magnetic 英 ［m?g'net?k］ 美 ［m?g'n?t?k］ adj. 地磁的；有磁性的；有吸引力的.

A couple of days later， I saw her again. I remember， she was wearing a long， white， flowery skirt. And I went up to her and she said she was going to register④register 英 ［'red??st?］ 美 ［'r?d??st?］ vt. 登記；注冊；記錄；掛號郵寄；把……掛號；正式提出vi. 登記；注冊；掛號n.登記；注冊；記錄；寄存器；登記簿for classes for the next term. And I said I'd go， too. And we stood in line and talked — you had to do that to register back then — and I thought I was doing pretty well until we got to the front of the line and the registrar looked up and said， “Bill， what are you doing here， you registered morning？”

I turned red and she laughed that big laugh of hers. And I thought，well， heck， since my cover' s been blown I just went ahead and asked her to take a walk down to the art museum.

We've been walking and talking and laughing together ever since. And we've done it in good times and bad， through joy and heartbreak. We cried together this morning on the news that our good friend and a lot of your good friend， Mark Weiner， passed away early this morning.

We've built up a lifetime of memories. After the first month and that first walk， I actually drove her home to Park Ridge， Illinois， to meet her family and see the town where she grew up， a perfect example of post World War II middle-class America， street after street of nice houses， great schools， good parks， a big public swimming pool， and almost all white.

I was trying to convince her to marry me.

I first proposed to her on a trip to Great Britain， the first time she had been overseas. And we were on the shoreline⑤shoreline 英 ［'???la?n］ 美 ［'??rla?n］ n. 海岸線；海岸線地帶of this wonderful little lake， Lake Ennerdale. I asked her to marry me and she said I can't do it.

So in 1974 I went home to teach in the law school and Hillary moved to Massachusetts… to keep working on children's issues.

Meanwhile， I was still trying to get her to marry me.

So the second time I tried a different tack. I said I really want you to marry me， but you shouldn't do it.

And she smiled and looked at me， like， what is this boy up to？ She said that is not a very good sales pitch⑥pitch 英 ［p?t?］ 美 ［p?t?］ vi. 傾斜；投擲；搭帳篷；墜落vt. 投；擲；定位于；用瀝青涂；扎營；向前傾跌n. 瀝青；音高；程度；樹脂；傾斜；投擲；球場. I said I know， but it's true. And I meant it， it was true.

I said I know most of the young Democrats our age who want to go into politics， they mean well and they speak well， but none of them is as good as you are at actually doing things to make positive changes in people's lives.

So I suggested she go home to Illinois or move to New York and look for a chance to run for office. She just laughed and said， “are you out of you mind，nobody would ever vote for me.”

And one day I was driving her to the airport to fl y back to Chicago. When we passed this little brick house that had a for sale sign on it， she said， “boy，that's a pretty house.” It had 1，100 square feet， an atticfan and no air conditioner in hot Arkansas， and a screened-in porch⑦porch 英 ［p??t?］ 美 ［p?rt?］ n. 門廊；走廊.

Hillary commented on what a uniquely designed and beautiful house it was. So I took a big chance. I bought the house. My mortgage⑧mortgage 英 ［'m??g?d?］ 美 ［'m?rg?d?］vt. 抵押n. 抵押was $175 a month.

When she came back， I picked up her up and I said， “you remember that house you liked” She said yeah. I said， “while you were gone I bought it， you have to marry me now.”

The third time was the charm.

1971年的春天，我遇到了一個女孩。

我第一次見到她，是在政治與公民權利的課堂上，真應景。她金發濃密，戴著一副大眼鏡，素面朝天，自帶一種堅毅和沉著的氣場，我被她深深地吸引了。

幾天后，我再次遇見她。我還記得，她穿的是一件長長的白色印花裙。我走過去，她告訴我，她正準備去登記注冊下學期要上的課程。我說，真巧我也要去。然后我們就排著隊聊著天（是的，那時候注冊課程就是要現場排隊），我還想著自己真是太機智了，誰知當我們排到隊伍最前頭的時候，工作人員抬頭看看我，然后問：“比爾，你來做什么？你不是上午就注冊過了嗎？”

我的臉“唰”地一下紅了，而她當場大笑——就像你們后來所見過那種大笑。我那時想，好吧，見鬼，既然被戳穿了，那我干脆直接邀請她和我散步到藝術博物館去吧。

從那時起，我們就一直這樣，一起走著聊著笑著，不論生活順與不順，不論我們是喜悅還是傷悲。就在今天早上，我倆還因為共同的好朋友Mark Weiner去世的消息而一起落淚。

我們共同創造了一輩子的記憶。就在那個月和那次散步之后，我開車送她回到位于伊利諾伊州帕克里奇的家中，見到了她的家人，也看到了她從小長大的城鎮。那是一座典型的后二戰中產美國城鎮。一條街連著一條街林立著漂亮的房子、學校、公園，還有一個很大的公共游泳池，幾乎清一色的白色。

之后，我努力說服她嫁給我。

第一次求婚是在我們去英國的旅途中，在那之前她沒有出過國。那時我們在一個名為恩納代爾的美麗的小湖邊，我請求希拉里嫁給我，她說，不行。

于是1974年，我回到家鄉，在一所法學院任教。希拉里則搬到了馬薩諸塞州，繼續忙著為兒童爭取權益。

但我沒有放棄，還想著要把她娶回家。

所以，第二次求婚時我換了一個套路。我對她說：“我真的很希望你能嫁給我，但你不該這樣做。”

她微笑地看著我，那表情就像在問，這孩子在干嗎呢？她說，這可不是一句很好的求婚臺詞。我說我知道，但我說的是實話，我也確實是這么想的。

我跟她說，我知道，絕大部分像我們這樣年輕的民主黨人如果想要步入政壇，他們多半是懷著美好的愿望，說著漂亮的話，但沒有哪個比得上你，用實際行動來改變人們的生活。

于是，我建議她回到伊利諾伊州，或者搬到紐約去，在那些地方尋找競選參政的機會。她笑了，然后說：“你瘋了吧，沒有人會給我投票的。”

后來有一天，我開車送她去機場搭乘飛回芝加哥的航班。我們經過一座貼著“出售”布告的小磚房時，她說：“嘿，這房子真漂亮。”那房子有1100平方英尺大（約102平方米），坐落在炎熱的阿肯色州卻只有吊扇而沒有空調，還帶一個封閉式的門廊。

希拉里夸它設計獨特，相當漂亮。所以，我決定賭一把，買下了這座房子。當時我按揭付款，每個月是175美元。

她回來的那天，我去接她，問她：“還記得你說你喜歡的那個房子嗎？”她說記得呀。我說：“你走了以后我把它買下來了，現在你必須要嫁給我了。”

嗯，凡事做到第三次總是會成功的。