18 Whenever she looked at Joy this way，she could not help but feel that itwould have been better if the child had not taken the Ph。D。It had certainly not brought her out any and now that she had it，there was no more excuse for her to go to school again。Mrs。Hopewell thought it was nice for girls to go to school to have a good time but Joy had“gone through”。Anyhow，she would not have been strong enough to go again。The doctors had told Mrs。Hopewell that with the best of care，Joy might see forty-five。
She had a weak heart。Joy had made it plain that if it had not been for this condition，she would be far from these red hills and good country people。She would be in a university lecturing to people who knew what she was talking about。And Mrs。Hopewell could very well picture herthere，looking like a scarecrow and lecturing to more of the same。Here she went about all day in a six-year-old skirt and a yellow sweat shirt with a faded cowboy on a horse embossed on it。She thought this was funnyMrs。Hopewell thought it was idiotic and showed simply that she was still a child。She was brilliantbut she didn’t have a grain of sense。It seemed to Mrs。Hopewell that every year she grew less like other people and more like herself—bloated，rude，and squint-eyed。And she said such strange things！Toher own mother she had said—without warning，without excuse，standing up in the middle of a meal with her face purple and her mouth half full—“Woman！Do you ever look inside？Do you ever look inside and see what you are not？God！”she had cried sinking down againand staring at her plate，“Malebranche was right：weare not our own light。Weare not our own light！”Mrs。Hopewell had no idea to this day what brought that on。She had only made the remark，hoping Joy would take it in，that a smile never hurt anyone。
stump：vi。以僵硬而沉重的步伐行走
kimono：n。一種寬鬆的晨衣
keep sb。up：使某人振作起來
any in any degree，any作副詞單獨使用，主要見於美語及方言中。
plain：adj。清楚的，明白的
like a scarecrow：衣衫襤褸，像個稻草人
emboss：vt。使凸起
bloated：adj。發脹的
squint-eyed：adj。眯著眼看的
Malebranche：馬勒布郎士（Nicolas Malebranche，1638-1715），法國哲學家。
We are not our own light：我們沒有自知之明。light這裏作“啟示”解。19The girl had taken the Ph。D。in philosophy and this left Mrs。Hopewell at acomplete loss。You could say，“My daughter is a nurse，”or“My daughter is aschool teacher，”or even，“My daughter is a chemical engineer。”You could not say，“My daughter is a philosopher。”That was something that had ended with the Greeks and Romans。All day Joy sat on her neck in a deep chair，reading。Sometimes she went for walks but she didn’t like dogs or cats or birds or flowers or nature or nice young men。She looked at nice young men as if she could smell their stupidity。
20 One day Mrs。Hopewell had picked up one of the books the girl had just put down and opening it at random，she read，“Science，on the other hand，has to assert its soberness and seriousness afresh and declare that it is concerned solely with what-is。Nothing—how can it be for science anything but a horror and aphantasm？If science is right，then one thing stands firm：science wishes to know nothing of nothing。Such is after all the strictly scientific approach to Nothing。We know it by wishing to know nothing of Nothing。”These words had been underlined with a blue pencil and they worked on Mrs。Hopewell like some evil incantation in gibberish。She shut the book quickly and went out of the room as if she were having a chill。
評注：第20段中，喬伊所讀的書中對“科學”的解釋是一種虛無主義思想。虛無主義是懷疑論的一種極端形式，否認一切存在。奧康納在這裏暗示的是赫爾格的問題並不是出在她的外表上，而是她的信仰係統。
21 This morning when the girl came in，Mrs。Freeman was on Carramae。“She thrown up four times after supper，”she said，“and was up twict in the night after three o’clock。Yesterday she didn’t do nothing but ramble inthe bureau drawer。All she did。Stand up there and see what she could run up on。”
22 “She’s got to eat，”Mrs。Hopewell muttered，sipping her coffee，whileshe watched Joy’s back at the stove。She was wondering what the child had said tothe Bible salesman。She could not imagine what kind of a conversation she couldpossibly have had with him。
23 He was a tall gaunt hatless youth who had called yesterdayto sell them a Bible。He had appeared at the door，carrying a large black suitcase that weightedhim so heavily on one side that he had to brace himself againstthe door facing。He seemed on the point of collapse but he said in a cheerful voice，“Good morning，Mrs。Cedars！”and set the suitcase down on the mat。He was not a bad-looking young man though he had on a bright blue suit and yellow socks that were notpulled up far enough。He had prominent face bones and astreak of sticky-looking brown hair falling across his forehead。
phantasm：n。空想，幻影，幻象
incantation：n。咒語，魔法
gibberish：n。亂語
throw up：嘔吐
twict：twice
ramble：vi。亂翻
gaunt：adj。消瘦的
brace：vt。支持
collapse：n。倒塌，崩潰，病倒
prominent：adj。突出的
a streak of：少許，些微24“I’m Mrs。Hopewell，”she said。
25 “Oh！”he said，pretending to look puzzled but with his eyes sparkling，“I saw it said‘The Cedars’on the mailbox so I thought you was Mrs。Cedars！”and he burst out in a pleasant laugh。He picked up the satchel and under cover of a pant，he fell forward into her hall。It was rather as if thesuitcase had moved first，jerking him after it。“Mrs。Hopewell！”he said and grabbed her hand。“I hope you are well！”and he laughed again and then all at once his face sobered completely。He paused and gave her a straight earnest look and said，“lady，I’ve come to speak of serious things。”
26 “Well，come in，”she muttered，none too pleased because her dinner wasalmost ready。He came into the parlor and sat down on the edge of a straight chairand put the suitcase between his feet and glanced around the room as if he weresizing her up by it。Her silver gleamed on the two sideboardsshe decided he had never been in a room as elegant as this。
27 “Mrs。Hopewell，”he began，using her name in a way that sounded almostintimate，“I know you believe in Chrustian service。”
satchel：n。皮包，小帆布包
pant：n。喘氣
jerk：vi。猛地一拉
none too：不很，不太
parlor：n。客廳
size sb。/sth。up：品評
gleam：vi。發微光
sideboard：n。餐具櫥
intimate：adj。親密的
Chrustian service：應是
Christian service28“Well，yes，”she murmured。