11 “The radio。A man said something while the music was still going on—something dirty。”
12 “It’s probably a play。”
13 “I don’t think it is a play，”Irene said。
14 They left the table and took their coffee into the living room。Irene asked Jim to try another station。He turned the knob。“Have you seen my garters？”A man asked。“Button me up，”a woman said。“Have you seen my garters？”The man said again。“Just button me up and I’ll find your garters，”the woman said。Jim shifted to another station。“I wish you wouldn’t leave apple cores in the ashtrays，”a man said。“I hate the smell。”
pretense：n。假裝
sociability：n。好交際
deposit：n。沉積物，灰塵
prelude：n。前奏
abruptly：adv。突然地，不經意地
obscene：adj。下流的
slam：v。砰地關門
melancholy：adj。憂鬱的
garter：n。吊襪帶
button up：扣上……的扣子
ashtray：n。煙灰缸15“This is strange，”Jim said。
16 “Isn’t it？”Irene said。
17 Jim turned the knob again。“On the coast of Coromandel where the earlypumpkins blow，”a woman with a pronounced English accent said，“in the middle of the woods lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò。Two old chairs，and half a candle，one old jug without a handle。”
18 “My God！”Irene cried。“That’s the Sweeneys’nurse。”
19 “‘These were all his worldly goods，’”the British voice continued。
20 “Turn that thing off，”Irene said。“Maybe they can hear us。”Jim switched the radio off。“That was Miss Armstrong，the Sweeneys’nurse，”Irene said。“She must be reading to the little girl。They live in 17-B。I’ve talkedwith Miss Armstrong in the Park。I know her voice very well。We must be getting other people’s apartments。”
21 “That’s impossible，”Jim said。
22 “Well，that was the Sweeneys’nurse，”Irene said hotly。“I know her voice。I know it very well。I’m wondering if they can hear us。”
23 Jim turned the switch。First from a distance and then nearer，nearer，as if borne on the wind，came the pure accents of the Sweeneys’nurse again：“‘Lady Jingly！Lady Jingly！’”she said，“‘sitting where the pumpkins blow，will you come and be my wife？said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò。’”
24 Jim went over to the radio and said“Hello”loudly into the speaker。
25 “‘I am tired of living singly，’”the nurse went on，“‘on this coast so wild and singly，I’m a-weary of my lifeif you’ll come and be my wife，quite serene would be my life。’”
26 “I guess she can’t hear us，”Irene said。“Try something else。”
27 Jim turned to another station，and the living room was filled with the uproar of a cocktail party that had overshot itsmark。Someone was playing the piano and singing the“Whiffenpoof Song”，and the voices that surrounded the piano were vehement and happy。“Eat some more sandwiches，”a woman shrieked。There were screams of laughter and a dish of some sort crashed to the floor。
28 “Those must be the Fullers，in 11-E，”Irene said。“I knew they were giving a party this afternoon。I saw her in the liquor store。Isn’t this too divine？Try something else。See if you can get those people in 18-C。”
29 The Westcotts overheard that evening a monologue on salmon fishing in Canada，a bridge game，running comments on home movies of what had apparently been afortnight Sea Island，and a bitter family quarrel about an overdraft at the bank。They turned off their radio at midnight and went to bed，weak with laughter。Sometime in the night，their son began to call for a glass of water and Irene got one and took it to his room。It was very early。All the lights in the neighborhood were extinguished，and from the boy’s window she couldsee the empty street。She went into the living room and tried the radio。There was some faintcoughing，a moan，and then a man spoke。“Are you all right，darling？”he asked。“Yes，”a woman said wearily。“Yes，I’m all right，I guess，”and then she added with great feeling，“But，you know，Charlie，I don’t feel like myselfany more。Sometimes there are about fifteen or twenty minutes in the week whenI feel like myself。I don’t like to go to another doctor，because the doctor’s bills are so awful already，but I just don’t feel like myself，Charlie。I just never feel like myself。”They were not young，Irene thought。She guessed from the timbre of their voices that they were middle-aged。The restrained melancholy of the dialogue and the draft from the bedroom window made her shiver，andshe went back to bed。
pumpkin：n。南瓜
pronounced：adj。明顯的，明確的
uproar：n。喧囂，吵鬧
overshoot its mark：超過規定的厚度、高度、距離等
shriek：v。尖叫
divine：adj。好極了的
overhear：v。無意中聽到
salmon：n。三文魚
bridge：n。橋牌
fortnight：n。兩星期
overdraft：n。透支額
extinguish：v。熄滅
timbre：n。音色30The following morning，Irene cooked breakfast for the family—the maid didn’t come up from her room in the basement until ten—braided her daughter’shair，and waited at the door until her children and her husband had been carriedaway in the elevator。Then she went into the living room and tried the radio。“I don’t want to go to school，”a child screamed。“I hate school。I won’t go to school。I hate school。”“You will go to school，”an enraged woman said。“We paid eight hundred dollars to get you into that school and you’ll go ifit kills you。”The next number on the dial produced the worn record of the“Missouri Waltz”。Irene shifted the control and invaded the privacy of several breakfast tables。She overheard demonstrations of indigestion，carnal love，abysmal vanity，faith，and despair。Irene’s life was nearly as simple and sheltered as it appeared to be，and the forthright and sometimes brutal language that came from the loudspeaker that morning astonished and troubled her。She continued to listen until her maid came in。Then she turned off the radio quickly，since this insight，she realized，was a furtive one。
31 Irene had a luncheon date with a friend that day，and she left her apartment a little after twelve。There were a number of women in the elevator when it stopped at her floor。She stared at their handsome and impassive faces，their furs，and the cloth flowers in their hats。Which one of them had been at Sea Island？She wondered。Which one had overdrawn her bank account？The elevator stopped at the tenth floor and a woman with a pair of Skye terriers joined them。Her hairwas rigged high on her head and she wore a mink cape。She was humming the“Missouri Waltz”。
braid：v。把頭發編成辮子
enraged：adj。憤怒的
indigestion：n。消化不良
carnal：adj。肉體的，肉欲的
abysmal：adj。極壞的，糟透的
vanity：n。虛榮
insight：n。洞察力，眼光
furtive：adj。偷偷摸摸的，鬼鬼祟祟的
impassive：adj。神情麻木的，木然的
terrier：n。一種原用於狩獵的小型獵犬
rig：v。（通常用於被動態）裝配，配備
cape：n。鬥篷，披肩
hum：v。哼32Irene had two Martinis at lunch，and she looked searchingly at her friend and wondered what her secrets were。They had intended to go shopping after lunch，but Irene excused herself and went home。She told the maid that she was not tobe disturbedthen she went into the living room，closed the doors，and switched on the radio。She heard，in the course of the afternoon，the halting conversation of a woman entertaining her aunt，the hysterical conclusionof a luncheon party，and hostess briefing her maid about some cocktail guests。“Don’t give the best Scotch to anyone who hasn’t white hair，”the hostess said。“See if you can get rid of the liver paste before you pass those hot things，and could youlend me five dollars？I want to tip the elevator man。”
33 As the afternoon waned，the conversations increased in intensity。Fromwhere Irene sat，she could see the open sky above the East River。There were hundreds of clouds in the sky，as though the south wind had broken the winter into pieces and were blowing it north，and on her radio she could hear the arrival of cocktail guests and the return of children and businessmen from their schools and offices。“I found a good-sized diamond on the bathroom floor this morning，”a woman said。“It must have fallen out of the bracelet Mrs。Dunston was wearing last night。”“We’ll sell it，”a man said。“Take it down to the jeweler on Madison Avenue and sell it。Mrs。Dunston won’t know the difference，and we could use a couple of hundred bucks。”“‘Oranges and lemons，say the bells of St。Clement’s，’”the Sweeneys’nurse sang。“‘Halfpence and farthings，say the bells of St。Martin’s。When will you pay me，say the bells at old Bailey。’”“It’s not a hat，”a woman cried，and at her back roared a cocktail party。“It’s not a hat，it’s a love affair。That’s what Walter Florell said。He said it’s not a hat，it’s a love affair，”and then，in a lower voice，the same woman added，“talk to somebody，for Christ’s sake，honey，talk to somebody。If she catches you standing here not talking to anybody，she’ll take us off her invitation list，and I love these parties。”
in the course of：在……過程中
halting：adj。斷斷續續的
hysterical：adj。歇斯底裏的
brief：v。為……提供信息
Scotch：n。蘇格蘭威士忌
liver：n。肝
paste：n。醬，liver paste 指豬肝醬
wane：v。減弱，變小
bracelet：n。手鐲
buck：n。（俚語）元
catch：v。撞見，當場發現
34 The Wescotts were going out for dinner that night，and when Jim came home，Irene was dressing。She seemed sad and vague，and he brought her a drink。Theywere dining with their friends in the neighborhood，and they walked to where they were going。The sky was broad and filled with light。It was of those splendid spring evenings that excite memory and desire，and the air that touched their hands and faces felt very soft。A Salvation Army band was on the corner playing“Jesus Is Sweeter”。Irene drew her husband’s arm and held him there for a minute，to hear the music。“They are really such nice people，aren’t they？”she said。“They have such nice faces。Actually，they are so much nicer than a lot ofthe people we know。”She took a bill from her purse and walked over and dropped it into the tambourine。There was in her face，when she returned to her husband，a look of radiant melancholy that he was not familiar with。And her conductat the dinner party that night seemed strange to him，too。She interrupted her hostess rudely and stared at the people across the table from her with an intensity for which she would have punished her children。