2,We talked abstractly of love, ignoring that lying on the table was not the nature of love per se but the burning question of who we were and would be to one another.

我们抽象的谈论爱情，无视有待解决的不是弄清爱自身的本质，而是更急迫的问题，即我们之间现在（以及将来）到底是什么关系。

3,Or was there in fact nothing on the table other than a half-eaten carrot cake and two cups of tea?

或者这是不是一个可笑的想法？是不是除了吃去一半的胡萝卜蛋糕和两杯茶以外桌上真的什么也没有？

smile at：对……微笑

despair：失望 【常用短语】①despair of 对……失去希望②yield to

despair 陷于悲观

2,Faced with ambiguous signals, what better explanation than shyness: the beloved desires, but is too shy to say so.The seducer who wishes to call his victim shy will never be disappointed.

面对心上人模凌两可的信号，没有什么比把这不予应允理解为羞涩——渴望在心，但口难开——更好的解释了。羞涩之人其欲望的强烈可以通过表情的难受程度来验证。

 3,It is one of the  ironies of love that it is easiest confidently to seduce those to whom we are least attracted. My feelings for Chloe meant I lost any belief in my own worthiness.

充满自信地去吸引我们不感兴趣的人是非常容易的，欲望中包含的郑重成分阻止不了爱情游戏所需要的漫不经心，从心上人身上发现完美所产生的吸引力又会引发我们的自卑感，这些都是爱情中具有反讽意味的事情。我对克洛艾的爱恋意味着我不再能看到自身的价值。

2,My sense of inferiority bred a need to take on a personality that was not my own, a seducing self that would respond to every demand and suggestion made by my exalted companion.

出于意识到的自卑感，我需要得到一种自己本身并不具有的个性：一种为了吸引对方而去迎合心上人的需求的自我。

3,The first course arrived, arranged on plates with the symmetry of a formal French garden.

第一道菜来了。菜肴摆放得极其精致，就像地道的法国花园那样一丝不苟。

indifferent：漠不关心的，无关紧要的，平凡的，中立的 【常用词组】①indifferent to：不感兴趣，冷漠  ②indifferent attitude：冷淡的态度，态度冷淡

deem：认为，视作  【常用词组】deem highly of： 对……给予高度评价

2,Chloe was facing a different dilemma, for it was time for dessert, and though she had only one choice, she had more than one desire.

克洛艾面对的却是一个不同的难题。到吃甜点的时候了，尽管只能挑选一种。她却期望有更多的选择。

dilemma：困境，进退两难 【常用词组】①on the horns of a

dilemma：进退两难(进退维谷) ②be in a dilemma：处于进退两难之境

3,The steps I had on occasion seen women take to seduce me were rarely the ones I had responded to.

我有时会碰到一些女性有意吸引我，但她们的伎俩最终不能生效。

2,When I discussed my attraction with friends, I struggled to suggest that it had to do with an indefinable 'aura' - but I could not disguise to myself that I had fallen in love with a hairy upper lip.

当我与朋友谈起自己对她的迷恋时，我努力表明是由于她身上拥有一种不可言传的“气质”——但是我掩盖不住事实上我只是爱上她毛茸茸的上唇。

3,When I saw the woman again, someone must have suggested electrolysis, for the down was gone, and (despite her many qualities) my desire soon followed suit.

当我再次看见她时，肯定是谁建议她用了电烫除毛，她上唇的绒毛不见了，（尽管她有很多好的品质）我的热情也很快随之消退。

2,But after such a tense and chocolate-rich meal, my stomach suddenly developed different priorities, and I was forced to ask to be allowed up to the flat.

但是在吃完这样一顿紧张而富含巧克力的晚餐后，我的肚子突然有了一种截然相反的需求，我不得不请求进房间里去。

3,I followed Chloe up the stairs, into the living room and was directed to the bathroom.

我跟着克洛艾上楼，进入起居室，直奔卫生间。