35 It was still mild when they walked home from the party，and Irene looked up at the spring stars。“How far the little candle throws its beams，”she exclaimed。“So sine a good deed in a naughty world。”She waited that night until Jim had fallen asleep，and then went out into the living room and turned on the radio。
評注：“How far the little candle throws its beams，”，“So sine a good deed in a naughty world。”這兩句話出自莎士比亞戲劇《威尼斯商人》，譯文分別為“一隻小小的蠟燭，她的光照耀得多麼遠，”和“一件善事也正像這支蠟燭一樣，在這罪惡的世界上發出廣大光輝。”
36 Jim came home at about six the next night。Emma，the maid，let him in，andhe had taken off his hat and was taking off his coat when Irene ran into the hall。Her face was shining with tears and her hair was disordered。“Go up to 16-C，Jim！”she screamed。“Don’t take off your coat。Go up to 16-C。Mr。Osborn’s beating his wife。They’ve been quarreling since four o’clock，and now he is hitting her。Go up there and stop him。”
37 From the radio in the living room，Jim heard screams，obscenities，and thuds。“You know you don’t have to listen to this sort of thing，”he said。He strode into the living room and turned the switch。“It’s indecent，”he said。“It’s like looking into windows。You know you don’t have to listen to this sort of thing。You can turn it off。”
38 “Oh，it’s so terrible，it’s so dreadful，”Irene was sobbing。“I’vebeen listening all day，and it’s so depressing。”
39 “Well，if it’s so depressing，why do you listen to it？I brought this damned radio to give you some pleasure，”he said。“I paid a great deal of moneyfor it。I thought it might make you happy。I wanted to make you happy。”
40 “Don’t，don’t，don’t，don’t quarrel with me，”she moaned，and laid her head on his shoulder。“All the others have been quarreling all day。Everybody’s been quarreling。They’re all worried about money。Mrs。Hutchinson’s mother is dying of cancer in Florida and they don’t have enough money to send her to the Mayo Clinic。At least，Mr。Hutchinson says they don’t have enough money。And some woman in this building is having an affair with the handyman—with that hideous handyman。It’s too disgusting。And Mrs。Melville has heart trouble，andMr。Hendricks is going to lose his job in April and Mrs。Hendricks is horrid about the whole thing and that girl that plays the“Missouri Waltz”is a whore，a common whore，and the elevator man has tuberculosis and Mr。Osborn has been beating his wife。”She wailed，she trembled with grief and checked the stream of tears down her face with the heel of her palm。
vague：adj。含糊的，不明確的
Salvation Army：救世軍，屬於基督教的慈善機構
tambourine：n。鈴鼓
conduct：n。行為，舉止
thud：n。重物撞擊時發出的低沉的聲音
indecent：adj。不體麵的
hideous：adj。極難看的，極醜的
horrid：adj。令人不愉快的
whore：n。妓女
tuberculosis：n。肺結核41“Well why do you have to listen？”Jim asked again。“Why do you have to listen to this stuff if it makes you miserable？”
42 “Oh，don’t，don’t，don’t，”she cried。“Life is too terrible，too sordid and awful。But we’ve never been like that，have we，darling？Have we？I mean，we’ve always been good and decent and loving to one another，haven’t we？And we have two children，two beautiful children。Our lives aren’t sordid，are they，darling？Are they？”She flung her arms around his neck and drew his face down to hers。“We’re happy，aren’t we，darling？We are happy，aren’t we？”
43 “Of course we’re happy，”he said tiredly。He began to surrender his resentment。“Of course we are happy。I’ll have that dammed radio fixed or takenaway tomorrow。”He stroked her soft hair。“My poor girl，”he said。
44 “You love me，don’t you？”she asked。“And we’re not hypercritical or worried about money or dishonesty，are we？”
評注：收音機修好之後，所有的超現實事件都不再發生，艾琳本該能回到最初的平靜生活。然而生活中的醜惡已經遮蓋不住。就像亞當和夏娃吃了禁果，天真已經丟失，黃金時代不再，艾琳想再次聽見純真的童話，已是枉然。
45 A man came in the morning and fixed the radio。Irene turned it on cautiously and was happy to hear a California-wine commercial and a recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony，including Schiller’s“Ode to Joy”。She kept the radio on all day and nothing untoward came toward the speaker。
46 A Spanish suite was being played when Jim came home。“Is everything all right？”he asked。His face was pale，she thought。They had some cocktails and went to dinner to the“Anvil Chorus”from Il Trovatore。This was followed by Debussy’s“La Mer”。
47 “I paid the bill for the radio today，”Jim said。“It cost four hundred dollars。I hope you’ll get some enjoyment out of it。”
48 “Oh，I’m sure I will，”Irene said。
49 “Four hundred dollars is a good deal more than I can afford，”he wenton。“I wanted to get something that you’d enjoy。It’s the last extravagance we’ll indulge in this year。I see that you haven’t paid your clothing bills yet。I saw them on your dressing table。”He looked directly at her。“Why did you tell me you paid them？Why did you lie to me？”
50 “I just didn’t want you to worry，Jim，”she said。She drank some water。“I’ll be able to pay my bills out of this months allowance。There were the slipcovers last month，and that party。”
51 “You’ve got to learn to handle the money I give you a little more intelligently，Irene，”he said。“You’ve got to understand that we don’t have as much money this year as we had last。I had a very sobering talk with Mitchell today。No one is buying anything。We’re spending all of our time promoting new issues，and you know how long that takes。I’m mot getting any younger you know。I’m thirty-seven。My hair will be gray next year。I haven’t done as well as I hoped to do。And I don’t suppose things will get any better。”
sordid：adj。肮髒的，齷齪的
surrender：v。放棄，投降
resentment：n。厭惡
hypercritical：adj。吹毛求疵的
extravagance：n。奢侈
indulge：v。沉溺於，沉湎
slipcover：n。家具套
sobering：adj。使覺得嚴肅的52“Yes dear，”she said。
53 “We’ve got to start cutting down，”Jim said。“We’vegot to think of thechildren。To be perfectly frank with you，I worry about money a great deal。I’m not at all sure of the future。No one is。If anything should happen to me，there’s the insurance，but that won’t go very far today。I’ve worked awfully hard to give you and the children a comfortable life，”he said bitterly。“I don’t like to see all my energies，all my youth，wasted in fur coast and radios and slipcovers and—”
54 “Please Jim，”she said。“Please。They’ll hear us。”
55 “Who’ll hear us？Emma can’t hear us。”
56 “The Radio。”
57 “Oh，I’m sick！”He shouted。“I’m sick to death of your apprehensiveness。The radio can’t hear us。Nobody can hear us。And what if they can hear us？Who cares？”
評注：艾琳在小說中一直以一個天真的、不了解世事醜惡的形象出現，然而吉姆的話卻意外地揭示出艾琳自身以及她的生活和收音機裏聽到的沒有本質區別。她並非冰清玉潔道德高尚的聖女，而是一個也有缺點和罪惡的普通人，隻是她剛剛認識到這一點而已。
58 Irene got up from the table and went into the living room。Jim went to thedoor and shouted from there。“Why are you so Christly all of a sudden？What’sturned you overnight into a convent girl？You stole your mother’s jewelry before they probated her will。You never gave your sister a cent of that money that was intended for her—not even when she needed it。You made Grace Howland’s life miserable，and where was all your all your piety and your virtue when you wentto that abortionist？I’ll never forget how cool you were。You packed your bag and went off to have that child murdered as if you were going to Nassau。If you’d had any reasons，if you had any good reasons—”
評注：童話世界已經失落，他們的生活再也無法回到無憂無慮的狀態。她聽不見保姆給孩子念童話的溫暖，卻無法視而不見生活中的黑暗。
59 Irene stood for a minute before the hideous cabinet，disgraced and sickened，but she held her hand on the switch before she extinguished the music and the voices，hoping the instrument might speak to her kindly，that she might hear the Sweeney’s nurse。Jim continued to shout at her from the door。The voice on the radio was suave and noncommittal。“An early-morning railroad disaster in Tokyo，”the loudspeaker said，“killed twenty-nine people。A fire in a Catholic hospital near Buffalo for the care of blind children was extinguished early this morning by nuns。The temperature is forty-seven。The humidity is eighty-nine。”
評注：契弗在短篇小說上取得了很大的成就，他的作品關注的並不是社會全景。他將目光集中在美國中產階級日常而瑣碎的生活中，比如本篇作品的場景幾乎全部局限在維斯科特一家的居室裏。隨著收音機不斷地揭示出表麵光鮮的中產階級家庭內的痼疾，局限的空間讓矛盾越發地一觸即發。他的筆法接近現實主義，但是不同於傳統的歐·亨利式的意外結局，契弗的短篇小說一般沒有戲劇化的結局。本篇小說描寫了一樁現實生活中不太可能發生的事件，但其描寫的內容和意義都是現實的。收音機的意向也有一定的象征意義。它就像潘多拉的魔盒，當艾琳因為好奇心打開它的時候，她了解了她從來不了解的事情，也因此失去了天真，失去了平靜。
cut down：減少，縮減
apprehensiveness：n。焦慮
convent：n。女修道院
probate：v。驗證遺囑的合法性
piety：n。虔誠
virtue：n。美德
abortionist：n。非法為人墮胎者
suave：adj。溫文爾雅的
noncommittal：adj。不表明意見的
nun：n。尼姑，修女
humidity：n。濕度
Comprehension Exercises
1 。What does the new radio represent？
2 。When describing the new radio，a series of words connected with hostility had been used。What’s the purpose of such an arrangement？
3 。What’s the significance of the quotation of Shakespeare in 35th paragraph？
約翰·契弗（1912—1982）：美國二十世紀知名的小說家，曾在《紐約客》等雜誌上發表作品。他最主要的成就是在短篇小說上。他的關注點一般是美國中產階級的瑣碎生活。但是他不拘泥於生活的表麵，而是深入地挖掘家庭內部的鮮為人知的矛盾和痼疾，有很深的社會意義。本篇小說寫作的時間離現在雖然已經過去很久，但仍舊不失其深意，在偷拍不但猖獗而且明目張膽、無所顧忌的今天，重讀契弗的小說，仍有現實意義。