I was trying to convince her to marry me.

　　之后，我努力说服她嫁给我。

　　I first proposed to her on a trip to Great Britain, the first time she had been overseas. And we were on the shoreline of this wonderful little lake, Lake Ennerdale. I asked her tomarry me and she said I can’t do it.

　　第一次求婚是在我们去英国的旅途中，在那之前她没有出过国。那时我们在一个名为恩纳代尔的美丽的小湖边，我请求希拉里嫁给我，她说，不行。

　　希拉里说，克林顿是第一个不怕她的男人。

　　So in 1974 I went home to teach in the law school and Hillary moved to Massachusetts… to keep working on children’s issues.

　　于是1974年，我回到家乡，在一所法学院任教。希拉里则搬到了马萨诸塞州，继续忙着为儿童争取权益。

　　Meanwhile, I was still trying to get her to marry me.

　　但我没有放弃，还想着要把她娶回家。

　　So the second time I tried a different tack. I said I really want you to marry me, but you shouldn’t do it.

　　所以，第二次求婚时我换了一个套路。我对她说：“我真的很希望你能嫁给我，但你不该这样做。”

　　And she smiled and looked at me, like, what is this boy up to? She said that is not a very good sales pitch. I said I know, but it’s true. And I meant it, it was true.

　　她微笑地看着我，那表情就像在问，这孩子在干嘛呢?她说道，这可不是一句很好的求婚台词。我说我知道，但我说的是实话，我也确实是这么想的。

　　I said I know most of the young Democrats our age who want to go into politics, they mean well and they speak well, but none of them is as good as you are at actually doing things to make positive changes in people’s lives.

　　我跟她说，我知道，绝大部分像我们这样年轻的民主党人如果想要步入政坛，他们多半是怀着美好的愿望，说着漂亮的话，但没有哪个比得上你，用实际行动来改变人们的生活。

　　So I suggested she go home to Illinois or move to New York and look for a chance to run for office. She just laughed and said, “are you out of you mind, nobody would ever vote for me.” 于是，我建议她回到伊利诺伊州，或者到搬到纽约去，在那些地方寻找竞选参政的机会。她笑了，然后说，“你疯了吧，没有人会给我投票的。”

　　So I finally got her to visit me in Arkansas. And when she did, the people at the law school were so impressed they offered a teaching position. And she decided to take a huge chance. She moved to a strange place, more rural, more culturally conservative than any place she had ever been.

　　总之后来我成功邀请她来阿肯色州探访我了。她来了之后，法学院的人都对她印象太好了，甚至希望她留下来教书。而她也就此决定冒一个大险，搬到这个陌生的地方，而此处比她到过的任何地方都要更偏僻，在文化上都更为保守。

　　And one day I was driving her to the airport to fly back to Chicago. When we passed this little brick house that had a for sale sign on it, she said, “boy, that’s a pretty house.” It had 1,100 square feet, an atticfan and no air conditioner in hot Arkansas, and a screened-in porch.

　　后来有一天，我开车送她去机场搭乘飞回芝加哥的航班。我们经过一座贴着“出售”布告的小砖房时，她说：“嘿，这房子真漂亮。”那房子有1100平方英尺大(约102平方米)，坐落在炎热的阿肯色州却只有吊扇而没有空调，还带一个封闭式的门廊。

　　Hillary commented on what a uniquely designed and beautiful house it was. So I took a big chance. I bought the house. My mortgage was $175 a month.

　　希拉里夸它设计独特，相当漂亮。所以，我决定赌一把，买下了这座房子。当时我按揭付款，每个月是175美元。

　　When she came back, I picked up her up and I said, “you remember that house you liked” She said yeah. I said, “while you were gone I bought it, you have to marry me now.”

　　她回来的那天，我去接她，问她：“还记得你说你喜欢的那个房子吗?”她说记得呀。我说：“你走了以后我把它买下来了，现在你必须要嫁给我了。”

　　The third time was the charm.

　　嗯，凡事做到第三次总是会成功的。

　　两人1975年10月11日在阿肯色州的费耶特维尔举行了婚礼。

　　推荐：《亲历历史：希拉里回忆录》

　　《亲历历史：希拉里回忆录》从希拉里的中学时代写起，以白宫八年生活为中心，广泛涉及克林顿执政期间美国的对内对外政策，诸多重大国际国内政治事件的背景，她与克林顿之间的情感纠葛以及她本人作为第一夫人为促进妇女与儿童的权益保障开展的广泛活动，文笔坦白、亲切、幽默、充满激情，有极强的可读性。

（编辑：何莹莹）