TextASayYesTheyweredoingthedishes,hiswifewashingwhilehedried.Unlikemostmenheknew,hereallypitched（用力扔;投;拋;搭帳篷；瀝青漆黑；）inonthehousework.Afewmonthsearlierhe'doverheardafriendofhiswife'scongratulatingheronhavingsuchaconsideratehusband.他們在洗盤子，妻子，他擦干。與他認(rèn)識的大多數(shù)男人不同，他確實主動到幫助做家務(wù)。幾個月前他無意聽到他妻子的一個朋友祝賀她有這樣一個體貼的丈夫。Theytalkedaboutdifferentthingsandsomehowgotontothesubjectofwhetherwhitepeopleshouldmarryblackpeople.Hesaidthatallthingsconsidered,hethoughtitwasabadidea.他們閑聊著不同的事情，不知不覺就談到了白人是否應(yīng)該和黑人結(jié)婚這一話題。他說綜合各方面考慮，這不是一一個好主意?！癢hy"sheasked.“為什么”她問。Sometimeshiswifegotthislookwhereshepinche（擰;捏;掐;捏?。﹉erbrows（［bra］額頭;山脊;坡頂）togetherandbitherlowerlip.Whenhesawherlikethisheknewheshouldkeephismouthshut,butheneveritmadehimtalkmore.Shehadthatlooknow.有時他妻子會做出這樣的表情;緊鎖雙眉，咬住下唇。當(dāng)他看到妻子這種表情的時候，他知道他應(yīng)該閉嘴了，但他從來都做不到;相反他說地更多了,現(xiàn)在她就是那種表情?！癢hy"sheaskedagain,andstoodtherewithherhandinsideabow（［bol］）,justholdingitabovethewater.她站在那兒，一只手拿著碗，還沒放進水里，又問道:“為什么“Listen,"hesaid,“Iwenttoschoolwithblacks,andI'veworkedwithblacksandwe'vealwaysgottenalongjustfine.Idon'tneedyoucomingalongnowandimplyingthatI'maracist.”“聽著，”他說，“我和黑人一起上學(xué)，-起工作，我們一直都相處得很好，我不需要你現(xiàn)在出來暗示我是個種族主義者。”“Ididn'timplyanything,"shesaid,“Ijustdon'tseewhat'swrongwithawhitepersonmarryingablackperson,that'sall."我沒有暗示什么。”她說，“我只是不理解白人和黑人結(jié)婚有什么不對，僅此而已?！癟heydon'tcomefromthesameculture.Why,theyevenhavetheirownlanguage.That'sokaywithme.Ilikehearingthemtalk.”“他們文化不同，甚至語言也不同。但這對我來說無所謂，我喜歡聽他們說話。”“Butyouwouldn'tliketomarryablackperson,isthatit"sheasked.“但是你不愿意娶一個黑人，對嗎”她問“Butthat'sdifferent.Apersonfromtheircultureandapersonofourculturecouldneverreallyknoweachother."“但結(jié)婚就不同了，有著黑人文化背景的人和有我們文化背景的人是永遠不可能真正了解對方的。”“Likeyouknowme"hiswifeasked.““就像你了解我那樣，對嗎”妻子問?！癥es.LikeIknowyou.”“是的，就像我了解你一樣?！薄癇utiftheyloveeachother,"shesaid.“但是如果他們彼此相愛呢”她說。Ohboy,hethought.Hesaid,“Don'ttakemywordforit.Lookatthestatistics（[sttstks]）.Mostofthosemarriagesbreakup."哦，天哪，他想。他說，“你可以不相信我的話?？纯磾?shù)據(jù)吧，那樣的婚姻大多數(shù)都不能長久。”“Statistics."Shewaspiling（[pal]堆放;摞起;疊放;）dishesonthedraining（[dren]排空;（使）流光;放干;）boardataterrificrate.Manyofthemwerestillgreas（多油的;油污的;沾油脂的;.“Allright,"shesaid,"whataboutforeigners（[frnr]）Isupposeyouthinkthesamethingabouttwoforeignersgettingmarried."“數(shù)據(jù)。”她以極快的速度將盤子摴在滴水板上，許多盤子上還有游漬?！昂冒伞保f，“如果是外國人呢我猜你對于兩個來自不同國家的人結(jié)婚也有相同的看法吧?！薄癥es,”hesaid,“asamatteroffactIdo.Howcanyouunderstandsomeonewhocomesfromacompletelydifferentbackground"“你猜對了?！彼f，“我就是這么看的。你怎么能理解一一個來自和你背景完全不同的人呢”“Different,"saidhiswife.“Notthesame,likeus.”“不同?！彼拮诱f，“不一樣，不像我們這樣“Yes,different,"hesnappe（厲聲說;怒氣沖沖地說;不耐煩地說）,主語補足語angrywithherforresorting（求助，訴諸;常去;采取某手段或方法）tothistrickof同位語repeatinghiswordssothattheysoundedhypocritica（[hpkrtkl快]虛偽的;偽善的）.“Thesearedirty,"hesaid,andthrewallthesilverwarebackintothesink.是的，不同，”他厲聲說。她采用這樣的方式重復(fù)他說的話，顯得他非常虛偽，他對此感到非常生氣。“這些還沒洗干凈，”他說著，把所有的銀制餐具都扔回水池里。Shestareddownatit,herlipspressedtighttogether,thenplunged（猛的一下放）herhandsunderthesurface.“Oh!"shecried,andjumpedback.Shetookherrighthandbythewristandhelditup.Herthumbwasbleeding.她盯著水槽，雙唇緊閉，然后把雙手猛地伸進水里，“啊!”她尖叫起來，向后跳了一下。她抓住右手腕并把它舉了起來，大拇指在流血。“Don'tmove,"hesaid.“Stayrightthere."Heranupstairstothebathroomandrummaged（翻尋;亂翻;搜尋）inthemedicinechestforalcohol,cotton,andaBand-Aid.Whenhecamebackdownshewasleaningagainsttherefrigeratorwithhereyesclosed,stillholdingherhand.Hetookherhandanddabbed（輕觸，輕拍，輕拭）atherthumbwiththecotton.Thebleedinghadstopped.Hesqueezedittoseehowdeepthewound雙pun關(guān)was.“別動，”他說，“就呆在那兒。”他跑到浴室，在藥柜箱里翻找酒精，藥棉和邦迪牌創(chuàng)可貼。他從樓上下來的時候，她正閉眼倚在冰箱上，仍然舉著那只受傷的右手。他拿過她的手，用藥棉輕輕蘸了蘸大拇指受傷的地方。已經(jīng)不在流血了。他擠了擠傷口，看看傷有多深?！癐t'sshallow,"hesaid.“Tomorrowyouwon'tevenknowit'sthere."Hehopedthatsheappreciatedhowquicklyhehadcometoheraid.He'dactedoutofconcernforher,hethoughtthatitwouldbeanicegestureonherpartnottostartupthatconversationagain,ashewastiredof厭倦it.“不深，”他說，“明天就長好了，”他希望她會感激他這么迅速地來幫忙。他這么做是處于對她的關(guān)心，他想對于她來說這是個很好的暗示，讓她別再繼續(xù)剛才的話題，因為他不想再說什么了。"I'llfinishuphere,"hesaid.“Yougoandrelax."“我來洗碗，”他說，“你去休息吧!”"That'sokay,"shesaid.“I'lldry."“不礙事?！彼f，“我來擦吧。Hebegantowashthesilverwareagain.他開始重洗這些餐具?！癝o,"shesaid,“youwouldn'thavemarriedmeifI'dbeenblack."“所以，”她說，“如果我是黑人，你就不會娶我了。”"ForChrist'ssake,Ann!"“看在基督的面子上，別再說了，安!”“Well,that'swhatyousaid,didn'tyou"“你剛才就是這樣說的，對吧”“No,Ididnot.Thewholequestionisridiculous.Ifyouhadbeenblackweprobablywouldn'tevenhavemet.TheonlyblackgirlIeverknewwasmypartnerinthedebatingclub."“不，我沒說。這個問題太可笑了，如果你是黑人，我們幾乎不可能相遇。我真正了解的黑人女孩只有一個，她是我在辯論俱樂部中的搭檔。”“Butifwehadmet,andI'dbeenblack””但假如我是黑人，我們又相遇了呢”“Thenyouprobablywouldhavebeengoingoutwithablackguy."Hepickeduptherinsin(沖洗，洗涮;)nozzl([nazl)andspraye([spre])thesilverware.“那你很可能會跟一個黑人小伙子談戀愛?！彼闷饑婎^沖洗餐具。"Let'ssayIamblackandunattached單身，”shesaid,“andwemeetandfallinlove."“假如說我是黑人，沒有結(jié)婚，”她說，“我們相遇并且相愛了?！盚eglancedoverather.Shewaswatchinghimandhereyeswerebright."Look,"hesaid,takingareasonabletone,“thisisstupid.Ifyouwereblackyouwouldn'tbeyou."Ashesaidthisherealizeditwasabsolutelytrue.Therewasnopossiblewayofarguingwiththefactthatshewouldnotbeherselfifshewereblack.他看了一眼妻子，她正看著他，雙眼亮晶晶的?！澳憧?，”他以一種立志的語調(diào)說，“這很愚蠢，如果你是黑人，你就不是你了，這是一個事實，事實勝于雄辯。“Iknow,"shesaid,“butlet'sjustsay."“我知道，”她說，“但是我們只是假設(shè)?！盚etookadeepbreath.Hehadwontheargumentbuthestillfeltcornered.逼入陷阱“Saywhat"heasked.他深深地吸了一口氣。他已經(jīng)爭贏了，但還覺得不舒服?！凹僭O(shè)什么”他問道。“ThatI'mblack,butstillme,andwefallinlove.Willyoumarryme"“假設(shè)我是黑人，但仍然是我，而且我們相愛了。你會娶我嗎”Hethoughtaboutit.他想了想。“Well"shesaid.Hereyeswereevenbrighter.“Willyoumarryme"“說呀”她說，她的眼睛更亮了。“你會娶我嗎”“I'mthinking,"hesaid.“我正想著呢?！彼f。“Youwon't,Icantell."“我能看出你不會的。"Let'snotmovetoofastonthis,"hesaid.“Therearelotsofthingstoconsider.Wedon'twanttodosomethingwewouldregretfortherestofourlives."“不要這么快下結(jié)論?！彼f，“許多事情都需要考慮。誰也不想做會讓自己抱憾終生的事?！薄癗omoreconsidering.Yesorno"“別再考慮了，會還是不會”“Sinceyouputitthatway-”你要這么說的...“Yesorno.”“會還是不會”“Jesus,Ann.Allright,No."“天哪，安，好吧，不會。Shesaid,“Thankyou，”andwalkedfromthekitchenintothelivingroom.Amomentlaterheheardherturningthepagesofamagazine.Heknewthatshewastooangrytobeactuallyreadingit,butshedidn'tsnapthroughthepagesthewayhewouldhavedone.Sheturnedthemslowly,asifshewerestudyingeveryword.Shewasdemonstrating（［demnstret］證明;證實;論證;說）herindifferencetohim,andithadtheeffectheknewshewantedittohave.Ithurthim.她說，“謝謝你!”說完，離開廚房進了客廳。過了一會兒，他聽見了她翻在雜志的聲音。他知道她太生氣了，根本讀不進雜志，但她不像他生氣時那樣把雜志翻得嘩嘩響。她慢慢地翻動書頁，好像在研讀里面的每一一個字。她在對他表示冷漠。Hehadnochoicebuttodemonstratehisindifferencetoher.Quietly,thoroughly（徹底地）,hewashedtherestofthedishes.Thenhedriedthemandputthemaway.Hewipedthecountersandthestove.他靜靜地，徹底地洗完了剩下的盤子，然后把它們擦干，放好。他還擦了擦臺面和灶臺。Whilehewasatit,hedecided,hemightaswellmopthefloor.Whenhewasdonethekitchenlookednew,thewayitlookedwhentheywerefirstshownthehouse.擦洗的時候，他決定把地也拖一拖。所有活都干完了，廚房里煥然一新，看起來和當(dāng)初他們來看房子時一樣。Hepickedupthegarbagepai（peil）andwentoutside.Thenightwasclearandhecouldseeafewstarstothewest,wherethelightsofthetowndidn'tblur（［blr］變得模糊不清;（使）視線模糊;）themout.OnElCaminothetrafficwassteadyandlight,peacefulasariver.Hefeltashamedthathehadlethiswifegethimintoafight.lnanotherthirtyyearsorsotheywouldbothbedead.WhatwouldallthatstuffmatterthenHethoughtoftheyearstheyhadspenttogether,andhowclosetheywere,andhowwelltheykneweachother,andhisthroattightenedsothathecouldhardlybreathe.他拿起垃圾桶走了出去。夜空清朗，他可以看到西邊有幾顆星星，城市的燈火并沒有掩蓋他們的光芒。在厄卡米諾大街上，車輛不多，寧靜得像條河。.他覺得很羞愧，他居然和妻子吵了一架。再過30年，他們可能都不在人世了。那這些問題還有什么重要的呢他想起了他們共同走過的日子，想起了那時的他們是多么親密，多么了解對方啊!想到這兒，他感到喉嚨發(fā)緊，幾乎不能呼吸了。Thehousewasdarkwhenhecamebackinside.Shewasinthebathroom.Hestoodoutsidethedoorandcalledhername.“Ann,I'mreallysorry,"hesaid.“I'llmakeituptoyou.Ipromise."當(dāng)他回來時，家里一片漆黑。妻子在浴室里。他站在門口，叫了她的名字?！鞍?，真對不起?！彼f，“我會補償你的，我保證?！薄癏ow"shesaid.“怎么補償”她說。Heknewthathehadtocomeupwiththerightanswer.Heleanedagainstthedoor.“I'llmarryyou,"hewhispered.他知道他得給出正確的答案。他倚