Tim is off on a search to rescue the Princess. She has been snatched by a horrible and evil monster.
蒂姆踏上了搜救公主的旅程。她被一个凶神恶煞的怪物掳走了。
This happened because Tim made a mistake.
这都是蒂姆一手造成的。他犯了一个错误。
Not just one. He made many mistakes during the time they spent together, all those years ago. Memories of their relationship have become muddled, replaced wholesale, but one remains clear: the Princess turning sharply away, her braid lashing at him with contempt.
哦，何止这一个错误。多年以前，当他们还在一起的时候，蒂姆犯了很多错。在他脑海中，两人之间的点滴回忆或已模糊不清，或已被新的经历所冲淡。但是有一幕他却记忆犹新：在公主转身决然而去的那一刻，她的发辫鞭打在他的脸上，仿佛带着一丝轻蔑。
He knows she tried to be forgiving, but who can just shrug away a guilty lie, a stab in the back? Such a mistake will change a relationship irreversibly, even if we have learned from the mistake and would never repeat it. The Princess's eyes grew narrower. She became more distant.
他知道她曾经试着原谅他。但是面对恶意欺骗和和背后中伤，有谁能轻易释怀？这样的错误会不可逆转的改变一段感情，即便我们从中吸取了教训，决不再重蹈覆辙。公主越来越看不起他。他们的关系变得更加疏远了。
Our World, with its rules of causality, has trained us to be miserly with forgiveness. By forgiving too readily, we can be badly hurt. But if we've learned from a mistake and become better for it, shouldn't we be rewarded for the learning, rather than punished for the mistake?
我们大都相信有果必有因，任何过错都不会是无意为之。轻易原谅别人可能让我们受更多的伤。于是，我们就变得吝于宽恕。但如果我们在犯错后深刻反省，并因此成为一个更好的人，我们还需要为这过错接受惩罚么？难道不应反而因这种升华得到肯定吗？
What if our world worked differently? Suppose we could tell her: "I didn't mean what I just said," and she would say: "It's okay, I understand," and she would not turn away, and life would really proceed as though we had never said that thing? We could remove the damage but still be wiser for the experience.
假如我们的世界以另外一种规则运转呢？比方我们可以对她说：“我真的不是那个意思。”然后她会回答：“我知道，没关系。”之后她也不会转身离去，一切照旧，就好像刚才完全没说那些话一样？吃一堑可以长一智，但若能一并遗忘其间的伤害，岂不是更完满？
Tim and Princess lounge in the castle garden, laughing together, giving names to the colorful birds. Their mistakes are hidden from each other, tucked away between the folds of time, safe.
蒂姆和公主徜徉在城堡的花园里，一起笑着为美丽的鸟儿取名字。他们所犯下的错误，安静的埋藏于时间的罅隙中，不被彼此所留意。
P.S. 中文翻译系本人原创
