At our wedding reception(婚宴) 15 years ago, my new father-in-law stood up, pint in hand(手里拿着啤酒), looked me squarely in the eye(直视我的眼睛) and welcomed me to the family – and to Yorkshire. He acknowledged my obvious defect(缺陷) – my London roots – before offering a note of comfort(一句安慰). “Don’t worry, Zahaan,” he said. “You’ll fit in here eventually. It’ll just take 50 years.” He added that if I’d been from Lancashire, there’d have been an extra zero on that 50.(他还补了一句：如果我是兰开夏郡人，那个50后面还得再加个零。)
15年前的婚宴上，我的新岳父端着酒杯站起来，直视着我的眼睛，欢迎我加入这个家庭——也欢迎我来到约克郡。他先点明了我那个显而易见的缺陷——伦敦出身——然后才送上一句安慰。“别担心，扎汉，”他说，“你最终会融入这里的。只不过需要50年。”他还补了一句：如果我是兰开夏郡人，那个50后面还得再加个零。
Not long after the wedding, my wife and I relocated(搬迁) from our first place together in London to her beautiful home city of York. The quality of life and the glorious scenery on our doorstep(近在咫尺) have made the move more than worth it(非常值得) – but over the last decade and a half, it’s felt like the people of Yorkshire and I haven’t always spoken the same language(说同一种语言).
婚后不久，我和妻子就从我们在伦敦的第一个家搬到了她美丽的故乡约克。这里的生活质量和近在咫尺的壮丽景色让这次搬迁非常值得——但过去这十五年里，我总觉得约克郡人和我讲的并不总是同一种语言。
My untrained(未经训练的) southern ear quickly decided they all sounded like a cross between(……的混合体) Sean Bean in Game of Thrones and former Spice Girl Mel B. It was, of course, a gross oversimplification(过度简化) – but for someone who had previously treated Watford as the edge of the known universe, it was the best I could do.
我那未经训练的南方耳朵很快就断定，他们说话都像是《权力的游戏》里的肖恩·宾和前辣妹组合成员梅尔·B的混合体。当然，这是一种极其粗浅的简化——但对一个曾经把沃特福德当作已知宇宙边缘的人来说，这已经是我能做到的最好程度了。