Introduction：The Wescotts are a common couple of average income and aspiration。They differ from their social peers only in their preference for serious music。After the battered radio finally broke down，they bought a new one，which entails a series of surrealistic incidents。
1 Jim and Irene Wescott were the kind of people who seem to strike that satisfactory average of income，endeavor and respectability that is reached by the statistical reports in college alumni bulletins。They were the parents of two young children，they had been married nine years，they lived on the twelfth floor ofan apartment house near Sutton Place，they went to the theater on an average of10.3 times a year，and they hoped someday to live in Westchester。Irene Wescott was pleasant，rather plain girl with soft brown hair，and a wide，fine forehead upon which nothing at all had been written，and in the cold weather she wore acoat of fitch skins dyed to resemble mink。You could not say that Jim Wescott looked younger than he was，but you could at least say of him that he seemed to feel younger。He wore his graying hair cut very short，he dressed in the kind ofclothes his class had worn at Andover，and his manner was earnest，vehement，and intentionally naive。The Westcotts differed from their friends，their classmates，and their neighbors，only in an interest they shared in serious music。They went to a great many concerts—although they seldom mentioned this to anyone—and they spent a good deal of time listening to music on the radio。
評注：作者在介紹維斯科特一家的情況時所采用的語氣宛如收音機裏的新聞播報，充滿了數據，沒有感情，不動聲色。它為全篇定下了基調，也能說明維斯科特一家情況的普遍性。
2 Their radio was an old instrument，sensitive，unpredictable，and beyond repair。Neither of them understood the mechanics of radio—or when the instrumentfaltered，Jim would strike the side of the cabinet with his hand。This sometimes helped。One Sunday afternoon，in the middle of a Schubert quartet，the music faded away altogether。Jim struck the cabinet repeatedly，but there was no responsethe Schubert was lost to them forever。He promised to buy Irene a new radio，and on Monday when he came home from work he told her that he had got one。He refused to describe it，and said it would be a surprise for her when it came。
評注：第3～5段描寫了艾琳和吉姆剛看到新收音機時的反應。注意作者描寫新收音機時使用的一係列詞，結合下文，有助於理解艾琳對新收音機態度的轉變。
strike：v。達到，處於
endeavor：n。努力，奮鬥，事業
respectability：n。可敬，得體
statistical：adj。統計的
fine forehead upon which nothing at all had been written：光滑的額頭，還沒有皺紋
fitch：n。雞鼬鼠皮
dye：v。染色
mink：n。貂皮
vehement：adj。激情澎湃的
unpredictable：adj。不可預測的
falter：v。變弱，衰弱
quartet：n。四重奏
the Schubert was lost to them forever：舒伯特的四重奏一去不複返了3The radio was delivered at the kitchen door the following afternoon，and with the assistance of her maid and the handyman Irene uncrated it and brought it into the living room。She was struck at once with the physical ugliness of the large gumwood cabinet。Irene was proud of her living room，she had chosen its furnishings and colors as carefully as she chose her clothes，and now it seemed to her that her new radio stood among her intimate possessions like an aggressiveintruder。She was confounded by the number of dials and switches on the instrument panel，and she studied them thoroughly before she put the plug into a wall socket and turned the radio on。The dials flooded with a malevolent green light，and in the distance she heard the music of a piano quintet。The quintet was inthe distance for only an instantit bore down upon her with a speed greater than light and filled the apartment with the noise of music amplified so mightily that it knocked a china ornament from a table to the floor。Sherushed to the instrument and reduced the volume。The violent forces that were snared in the ugly gumwood cabinet made her uneasy。Her children came home from school then，and she took them to the Park。It was not until later in the afternoon that she was able to return to the radio。
4 The maid had given the children their suppers and was supervisingtheir baths when Irene turned on the radio，reduced the volume，and sat down to listen toa Mozart quintet that she knew and enjoyed。The music came through clearly。The new instrument had a much purer tone，she thought，than the old one。She decided that tone was most important and that she could conceal the cabinet behind the sofa。But as soon as she had made her peace with the radio，the interference began。A crackling sound like the noise of a burning powder fuse began to accompany the singing of the strings。Beyond the music，there was a rustling that reminded Irene unpleasantly of the sea，and as the quintet progressed，these noises were joined by the many others。She tried all the dials and switches but nothing dimmed the interference，and she sat down，disappointed and bewildered，andtried to trace the flight of the melody。The elevator shaft in her building ran beside the living-room wall，and it was the noise of the elevator that gave her a clue to the character of the static。The rattling of the elevator cables and the opening and closing of the elevator doors were reproduced in her loudspeaker，and，realizing that the radio was sensitive to electrical currents of all sorts，she began to discern through the Mozart the ringing of telephone bells，thedialing of phones，and the lamentation of a vacuum cleaner。
By listening more carefully，she was able to distinguish doorbells，elevator bells，electric razors，and Waring mixers，whose sounds had been picked up from the apartments that surrounded hers and transmitted through her loudspeaker。The powerful and ugly instrument，with its mistaken sensibility to discord，was more than she could hope to master，so she turned the thing off and went into the nursery to see her children。
handyman：n。勤雜工
uncrate：v。打開箱子
strike：v。吃驚
gumwood：n。膠木
confound：v。使困惑，使驚訝
malevolent：adj。有惡意的
bear down：逼近，衝來
amplify：v。擴大，放大
ornament：n。裝飾品
snare：v。（用陷阱等）捕捉，誘捕
quintet：n。五重奏
make one’s peace with：
與……和解
crackle：v。發出劈啪聲
fuse：n。保險絲
rustle：v。沙沙作響
bewildered：adj。迷惑不解的
shaft：n。電梯井
static：n。靜電
rattle：v。格格作響
discern：v。分辨
lamentation：n。慨歎
vacuum cleaner：真空吸塵器
discord：n。不協調，不和諧5When Jim Wescott came home that night，he went to the radio confidently andworked the controls。He had the same sort of experience Irene had had。A man was speaking on the station Jim had chosen，and his voice swung instantly from the distance into a force so powerful that it shook the apartment。Jim turned the volume control and reduced the voice。Then，a minute or two later，the interference began。The ringing of telephones and doorbells set in，joined by the rasp of the elevator doors and the whir of cooking appliances。The character of the noise had changed since Irene had tried the radio earlierthe last of the electric razors was being unplugged，the vacuum cleaners had all been returned to their closets，and the static reflected that change in pace that overtakes the city after the sun goes down。He fiddled with the knobs but couldn’t get rid of the noises，so he turned the radio off and told Irene that in the morning he’d call the people who had sold it to him and give them hell。
6 The following afternoon，when Irene returned to the apartment from a luncheon date，the maid told her that a man had come and fixed the radio。Irene went into the living room before she took off her hat or her furs and tried the instrument。From the loudspeaker came a recording of the“Missouri Waltz”。It reminded her of the thin，scratchy music from an old-fashioned phonograph that shesometimes head across the lake where she spent her summers。She waited until the waltz had finished，expecting an explanation of the recording，but there was none。The music was followed by silence，and then the plaintive and scratchy record was repeated。She turned the dial and got a satisfactory burst of Caucasianmusic—thump of bare feet in the dust and the rattle of coin jewelry—but in the background she could hear the ringing of bells and a confusion of voices。Her children came home from school then，and she turned off the radio and went tothe nursery。
rasp：n。刺耳的聲音
whir：n。呼呼作響
overtake：v。降臨，侵襲
fiddle with：擺弄，玩弄
give somebody hell：對某人大發雷霆
luncheon：n。午餐，午宴
scratchy：adj。發沙沙聲的
phonograph：n。留聲機
plaintive：adj。淒厲的
thump：n。重擊聲
rattle：n。格格聲，嘎嘎聲7When Jim came home that night，he was tired，and he took a bath and changedhis clothes。Then he joined Irene in the living room。He had just turned on the radio when the maid announced dinner，so he left it on，and Irene went to thetable。
評注：第8段描寫了他們第一次從收音機裏聽見別人的生活時的情景。廣播裏傳來的各種爭吵是對結尾的預示。
8 Jim was too tired to make even pretense of sociability，and therewas nothing about the dinner to hold Irene’s interest，so her attention wandered from the food to the deposits of silver polish on the candlesticks and from there to the music in the other room。She listened for a few minutes to a Chopin prelude and then was surprised to hear a man’s voice break in。“For Christ’s sake，Kathy，”he said，“do you always have to play the piano when I get home？”The music stopped abruptly。“It’s the only chance I have，”the woman said。“I’m at the office all day。”“So am I，”the man said。He added something obscene about an upright piano，and slammed a door。The passionate and melancholy music began again。
9 “Did you hear that？”Irene asked。
10 “What？”Jim was eating his dessert。