Even at school there had been an unhealthy competition between George and Richard.
即使在学校，乔治和理查德之间也存在着不健康的竞争。
“I’ll be the first millionaire in Coleford!” Richard used to boast.
“我将成为科尔福德的第一个百万富翁！”理查德曾吹嘘道。
“And you’ll be sorry you knew me,” George would reply, “because I’ll be the best lawyer in the town!”
“你会后悔你认识我，”乔治会回答，“因为我会是镇上最好的律师！”
George never did become a lawyer and Richard never made any money. Instead both men opened bookshops on opposite sides of Coleford High Street. It was hard to make money from books, which made the competition between them worse.
乔治从未当过律师，理查德也从未赚到钱。相反，两人都在科尔福德大街对面开了书店。卖书赚钱很难，这使得他们之间的竞争更加激烈。
Then Richard married a mysterious girl. The couple spent their honeymoon on the coast—but Richard never came back. The police found his wallet on a deserted beach but the body was never found. He must have drowned.
然后理查德娶了一个神秘的女孩。这对夫妇去了海岸度蜜月，但理查德再也没有回来。警察在一片荒芜的海滩上找到了他的钱包，但尸体始终没有找到。他一定是淹死了。
Now with only one bookshop in town, business was better for George. But sometimes he sat in his narrow, old kitchen and gazed out of the dirty window, thinking about his formal rival. Perhaps he missed him?
现在城里只有一家书店，乔治的生意好了。但有时他坐在狭小的旧厨房里，凝视着脏兮兮的窗外，想着他的竞争对手。也许他想理查德了？
George was very interested in old dictionaries. He’d recently found a collector in Australia who was selling a rare first edition. When the parcel arrived, the book was in perfect condition and George was delighted. But while he was having lunch, George glanced at the photo in the newspaper that the book had been wrapped in. He was astonished - the smiling face was older than he remembered but unmistakable! Trembling, George started reading.
乔治对旧字典很感兴趣。他最近在澳大利亚找到了一位收藏家，他正在出售一本罕见的初版。包裹到达时，书完好无损，乔治很高兴。但是，当他吃午饭时，乔治瞥了包裹书的报纸上的照片。他惊讶地发现，这张笑脸比他记忆中的要老，但却毫无疑问！乔治颤抖着开始看书。
“Bookends have bought ten bookstores from their rivals Dylans. The company, owned by multi-millionaire Richard Pike, is now the largest bookseller in Australia.”
“书商从他们的竞争对手迪伦手中买下了十家书店。这家由亿万富翁理查德·派克拥有的公司现在是澳大利亚最大的书商。”
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