纯净
Purity of Heart
沈从文先生曾游历过诸多地方，欣赏过不同时刻的云朵，品尝过多种多样的酒，却只深爱过一个正值青春年华的女子。这是60多年前沈从文的青春告白。
Mr. Shen Congwen has crossed bridges in many places, admired the beauty of clouds at different times, and tasted a wide variety of wines, but he loved only one girl in her prime. This was his youthful confession of love more than 60 years ago.
开篇的“沈从文......道”这八个字，若直译则显得啰嗦，与后文的“......沈从文的青春告白”重复。我们选择以引语开始，这种方式更具引人入胜之效。
many a ＋单数可数名词表示“许多的”复数概念，但要注意谓语动词用单数。
prime是形容词和名词，意为“盛年；年富力强的时期；鼎盛时期”。例如，“a young woman in her prime”指的是“正当妙龄的”。
兆和女士作为一位女性、一位妻子，她抚养儿女、操持家务，经历了战乱的和生活的艰辛。但无论境况如何，她内心的真诚与坦率始终未变。
对于上了年纪、有学识的女性称其为“先生”，这符合汉语习惯。Ms这一称呼起源于20世纪20年代的，为争取男女平等而创造，不指明女性婚否状态。这一称呼体现了女性的独立于男性的地位，适用于所有成年女性，不仅仅局限于德高望重的知识妇女。
have a checkered history / career / past etc. means to have periods of failure as well as successful times in your past. For example, "This is an unusual building with a checkered history." means that this building has a history of both successes and failures.
In the postscript to the letters written by Mr. Shen to his family that she edited, she wrote candidly, "Congwen spent his life with me. Was it happy or unhappy? I don't know."
postscript is a noun that refers to an extra message or note added at the end of a letter or document.
我不完全理解他，但在整理选编他遗稿的过程中，我真正读懂了他的人生观，开始理解他承受的重压。
I didn't understand him completely. But only now, after I have selected and compiled his manuscripts, do I truly understand his views on life and begin to appreciate the heavy stress he had been under.
在引用兆和女士的原话时，“整理选编”这四个字建议翻译为“select and compile”，这个表述更符合英文习惯。
compile is a verb that means to put together different items, articles, songs, etc. to produce a book, list, report, etc. For example, "We are trying to compile a list of suitable people for the job."
为何在他有生之年，我们不能深入地了解他、帮助他？为什么会有那么多的矛盾无法解决？如今悔之晚矣。她的坦诚、勇气和大度令人钦佩。
Why couldn't we probe deep into him, read his heart and give him all the help he needed during his lifetime? Why were there so many differences of opinion between us? It is too late to repent now. Her candor and broad-mindedness are indeed admirable.