And the dilutions of his letters with affectionate diminutives began to be mechanical and unspontaneous—almost as though, having completed the letter, he had looked it over and literally stuck them in, like epigrams in an Oscar Wilde play.

他用深情的细语稀释了他的信件，开始变得机械和不自发——就好像在写完这封信后，他仔细看了一遍，然后真的把它们塞进去了，就像奥斯卡·王尔德戏剧中的警句一样。