使馆楼01——柬埔寨大使馆！

使馆楼01——柬埔寨大使馆！

Who would expect the Embassy of Cambodia？Nobody. Nobody could have expected it，or be expecting it. It's a surprise，to us all. The Embassy of Cambodia！

谁能料到会有什么柬埔寨大使馆？没有人。过去不会有人想得到，现在也不会有。在我们大家眼里，这就是个意外。柬埔寨大使馆！

Next door to the embassy is a health centre.On the other side，a row of private residences，most of them belonging to wealthy Arabs （or so we，the people of Willesden，contend）. They tend to have Corinthian pillars on either side of their front doors，and—it's widely believed—swimming pools out the back. The embassy，by contrast，is not very grand. It is only a four-or five-bedroom north London suburban villa，built at some point in the 1930s，surrounded by a red-brick wall，about eight feet high. And back and forth，cresting this wall horizontally，flies a shuttlecock. They are playing badminton in the Embassy of Cambodia. Pock，smash. Pock，smash.

大使馆隔壁有一家健身中心。另一侧是一排私宅，多半都是富庶的阿拉伯人（反正我们这些住在威尔斯登的人都是这么说的）。他们的大门两边通常会竖着科林斯柱，后院还有——反正大家都相信有——游泳池。相形之下，使馆楼也显不出什么气派。那只不过是一栋位于伦敦北部郊区的别墅，四五个卧室，建于一九三〇年代，四周围着八英尺高的红砖墙。在这堵墙顶上，不时有一只羽毛球飞来飞去。他们在柬埔寨大使馆里打羽毛球。击球，扣杀[1]。击球，扣杀。

The only real sign that the embassy is an embassy at all is the little brass plaque on the door （which reads：‘THE EMBASSY OF CAMBODIA’） and the national flag of Cambodia （we assume that's what it is—what else could it be？） flying from the red-tiled roof. Some say，‘Oh，but it has a high wall around it，and this is what signifies that it is not a private residence，like the other houses on the street，but rather an embassy.’ The people who say so are foolish. Many of the private houses have high walls，quite as high as the Embassy of Cambodia—but they are not embassies.

惟一能说明大使馆果真是大使馆的，是大门上的一块小铜牌（上面写着：“柬埔寨大使馆”），还有飘扬在红瓦屋顶上的柬埔寨国旗（我们猜想那是他们的国旗——难道还会是别的不成？）有人说，“哦，不过好歹这房子四面有高墙，这就说明它跟街上其他房子不一样，不是私宅，而是一座大使馆。”说这话的人可真蠢。明明很多私宅也围着高墙，跟柬埔寨大使馆一样高——可它们不是大使馆。