I crossed the street to avoid meeting him, but he saw me and came running towards me. It was no use pretending that I had not seen him, so I waved to him. I never enjoy meeting Nigel Dykes. He never has anything to do. No matter how busy you are, he always insists on coming with you. I had to think of a way of preventing him from following me around all morning.
　　'Hello, Nigel,' I said. 'Fancy meeting you here!'
　　'Hi, Elizabeth,' Nigel answered. 'I was just wondering how to spend the morning -- until I saw you. You're not busy doing anything, are you?'
　　'No, not at all,' I answered. 'I'm going to...'
　　'Would you mind my coming with you?' he asked, before I had finished speaking.
　　'Not at all,' I lied, 'but I'm going to the dentist.'
　　'Then I'll come with you,' he answered. 'There's always plenty to read in the waiting room!
　　参考译文
　　我穿过马路以便避开他，但他看到我并朝我跑过来。若再装作没看见他已是没有用了，我只好向他招手。我就怕遇到奈杰尔.戴克斯。他从来都是无事可做，不管你多忙，他总是坚持要跟你去。我得想办法不让他整个上午缠着我。
　　“你好，奈杰尔，想不到在这儿见到你。”我说。
　　“你好，伊丽莎白，”奈杰尔回答说，“我正不知道怎么消磨这一上午呢，正好见到你。你不忙，是吗？”
　　“不，不忙，我打算去......”我回答。
　　“我跟你一道去行吗？”没等我说完话他就问道。
　　“没关系，但我准备去牙医那里。”我说了个谎。
　　“那我也跟你去，候诊室里总有很多东西可供阅读！”他回答。