I grew up bent over

我从小弯着腰长大

a chessboard.

在棋盘里。

I loved the word endgame.

我喜欢残局这个词。

All my cousins looked worried.

我所有的表兄弟都很担心。

It was a small house

那是一间小房子

near a Roman graveyard.

在罗马墓地的附近。

Planes and tanks

飞机和坦克

shook its windowpanes.

摇晃着窗户玻璃。

A retired professor of astronomy

一位退休的天文学教授

taught me how to play.

教我下棋。

That must have been in 1944.

那应该是1944年。

In the set we were using,

在我们用的棋盘，

the paint had almost chipped off

油漆大部分已剥落成

the black pieces.

黑色的碎片。

The white King was missing

白王丢了

and had to be substituted for.

必须找东西替换。

I’m told but do not believe

我被告知什么也别信

that that summer I witnessed

那个夏天我目睹了

men hung from telephone poles.

一个男人被挂在电线杆上。

I remember my mother

我记得妈妈

blindfolding me a lot.

经常蒙住我的眼睛。

She had a way of tucking my head

她有办法突然地把我的头

suddenly under her overcoat.

塞在她的大衣下。

In chess, too, the professor told me,

记得下棋时，教授告诉我，

the masters play blindfolded,

大师们都蒙着眼睛下，

the great ones on several boards

几个板上钉钉的伟大人物

at the same time.

同时下几盘棋。