Kahlil Gibran 

One girl rummaged（rummage乱翻） in her purse（purse钱包） and pulled out a handful of papers. “Look at this! Your passport and tickets! I had them all along.”

I laughed. What did I care about inconvenience（inconvenience不方便）? This was adventure（adventure 冒险）----and Paris.

On the Champs Elysées（the Champs Elysées香舍丽榭大街）, the boy and I walked for miles, dodging（dodging闪开） traffic as if we were citywise（citywise城里人）, rather than small-town kids who’d never been anywhere. We climbed the Eiffel Tower（the Eiffel Tower艾菲尔铁塔）, gazed（gaze盯住） at the Seine（the Seine塞纳河）, watch the torch（torch火炬） lighting at the Arc de Triomphe（the Arc de Triomphe凯旋门） tomb, ate jambon（jambon火腿） and fromage（fromage奶酪） and ice cream at sidewalk cafés（café咖啡店）. We tossed coins in every fountain we saw, always with a wish to return.

With the last of my money, I bought a miniscule（miniscule迷你的） bottle of perfume（perfume香水）, L’Air du Temps（L’Air du Temps时间的旋律）. By dabbing（dab轻拭） my wrist sparingly（sparingly节俭地）, and only on special occasions（occasion场合）, I made it last for months.

We went to the Louvre（the Louvre卢浮宫）, and the boy sang, “Venus de Milo（Venus de Milo米罗的维纳斯） was noted for her charms（charm魅力）, but strictly between us, you’re cuter（cute可爱） than Venus, and what’s more you’ve got arms…” I thought it was charming.

He save the champagne bottle from the Moulin Rouge, and when we were aboard（aboard登上） the ocean liner（liner邮轮） sailing home, far out to sea, he wrote our names on a paper, put it in the bottle and corked（cork用木塞封住） it. Then he tossed it overboard（overboard从船上落下）----and kissed me. I was dazzled（dazzled眩晕的）.

Many years have gone by. The boy and I got married, and after nineteen years and four daughters, we ended up in a bitter（bitter激烈的） divorce（divorce离异）.

But the girl in the snapshot（snapshot照片）, the one my ex-husband’s girlfriend ripped in half, doesn’t see that. She’s dazzled by a future that shimmers（shimmer闪烁） bright as the fountain spraying（spray喷洒） behind her. All the tears and pain destined（destine注定） to divide us lie ahead----and yet I wouldn’t change a thing.

Because, once in a while, I catch the scent（scent香味） in a perfume shop or from someone walking by. I recognize it instantly（instantly立即） and smile. It’s L’Air du Temps, and I’m in Paris again, and seventeen.