I could not resist it. I dropped the phrase, as it were, in self-defence, and that was all she wanted, this fresh humiliation for me. She laughed maliciously.

• 我没能克制住自己，似乎用这句话去为自己进行辩护；而她需要的也恰恰就是这个，使我受到一次新的屈辱而已，她幸灾乐祸地哈哈大笑。