29 “I know，”he said and paused，looking very wise with his head cocked on one side，“that you’re a good woman。Friends have told me。”
30 Mrs。Hopewell never liked to be taken for a fool。“What are you selling？”she asked。
31 “Bibles，”the young man said and his eye raced around the room before he added，“I see you have no family Bible in your parlor，I see that is the one lack you got！”
32 Mrs。Hopewell could not say，“My daughter is an atheist and won’t let me keep the Bible in the parlor。”She said，stiffening slightly，“I keep my Bibleby my bedside。”This was not the truth。It was in the attic somewhere。
33 “Lady，”he said，“the word of God ought to be in the parlor。”
34 “Well，I think that’s a matter of taste，”she began，“I think……”
35 “Lady，”he said，“for a Chrustian，the word of God ought to be in every room in the house besides in his heart。I know you’re a Chrustian because I cansee it in every line of your face。”
36 She stood up and said，“Well，young man，I don’t want to buy a Bible and I smell my dinner burning。”
37 He didn’t get up。He began to twist his hands and lookingdown at them，hesaid softly，“Well lady，I’ll tell you the truth—not many people want to buy one nowadays and besides，I know I’m real simple。I don’t know how to say athing but to say it。I’m just a country boy。”He glanced up into her unfriendly face。“People like you don’t like to fool with country people like me！”
38 “Why！”she cried，“good country people are the salt of the earth！Besides，we all have different ways of doing，it takes all kinds to make the world go’round。That’s life！”
39 “You said a mouthful，”he said。
40 “Why，I think there aren’t enough good country people in the world！”she said，stirred。“I think that’s what’s wrong with it！”
41 His face had brightened。“I didn’t intraduce myself，”he said。“I’mManley Pointer from out in the country around Willohobie，not even from a place，just from near a place。”
atheist：n。無神論者
stiffen：v。使僵硬
attic：n。頂樓，屋頂室
twist：vt。擰，搓
the salt of the earth：人類中最優秀者。語出《聖經馬太福音》第五章第13節。
You said a mouthful：你說得很對。美俚語。
stir：v。使激動
intraduce：應是introduce42“You wait a minute，”she said。“I have to see about my dinner。”She went out to the kitchen and found Joy standing near the door where she had been listening。
43 “Get rid of the salt of the earth，”she said，“and let’s eat。”
44 Mrs。Hopewell gave her a pained look and turned the heat down under the vegetables。“I can’t be rude to anybody，”she murmured and went back into the parlor。
45 He had opened the suitcase and was sitting with a Bible on each knee。
46 “You might as well put those up，”she told him。“I don’t want one。”
47 “I appreciate your honesty，”he said。“You don’t see any more real honest people unless you go way out in the country。”
48 “I know，”she said，“real genuine folks！”Through the crack in the door she heard a groan。
49 “I guess a lot of boys come telling you they’re working their way throughcollege，”he said，“but I’m not going to tell you that。Somehow，”he said，“I don’t want to go to college。I want to devote my life to Chrustian service。See，”he said，lowering his voice，“I got this heart condition。I may not live long。When you know it’s something wrong with you and you may not live long，well then，lady……”He paused，with his mouth open，and stared at her。
50 He and Joy had the same condition！She knew that her eyes were filling withtears but she collected herself quickly and murmured，“Won’t you stay for dinner？We’d love to have you！”and was sorry the instant she heard herself say it。
51 “Yes mam，”he said in an abashed voice。“I would sher love to do that！”
52 Joy had given him one look on being introduced to him and then throughout the meal had not glanced at him again。He had addressed several remarks to her，which she had pretended not to hear。Mrs。Hopewell could not understand deliberate rudeness，although she lived with it，and she felt shehad always to overflow with hospitality to make up for Joy’s lack of courtesy。She urged him to talk about himself and he did。He said he was the seventh child of twelve and that hisfather had been crushed under a tree when he himself was eight years old。He hadbeen crushed very badly，in fact，almost cut in two and was practically not recognizable。His mother had got along the best she could by hard working and she had always seen that her children went to Sunday School and that they read the Bible every evening。He was now nineteen years old and he had been selling Bibles for four months。In that time he had sold seventy-seven Bibles and had the promise of two more sales。He wanted to become a missionary because he thought that was the way you could do most for people。“He who losest his life shall find it，”he said simply and he was so sincere，so genuine and earnest that Mrs。Hopewell would not for the world have smiled。He prevented his peas from sliding onto the table by blocking them with a piece of bread which he later cleaned his plate with。She could see Joy observing sidewise how he handled his knife and fork and she saw too that every few minutes，the boy would dart a keenappraising glance at the girl as if he were trying to attract her attention。
genuine：adj。真的，真正的
crack：n。縫隙
groan：n。歎息
they’re working their way through college：他們自己掙錢念大學。work one’s way through（college，school，the university，etc。）自己掙錢讀書。
abashed：adj。不好意思的
deliberate：adj。故意的
live with：容忍，忍受
hospitality：n。好客，殷勤
make up for：彌補
courtesy：n。禮貌，謙恭
Sunday School：主日學校，星期天給孩子們上聖經課的學校
missionary：n。傳教士
sidewise：adv。斜著
dart：v。投擲
appraise：v。審查53After dinner Joy cleared the dishes off the table and disappeared and Mrs。Hopewell was left to talk with him。He told her again about his childhood and his father’s accident and about various things that had happened to him。Every five minutes or so she would stifle a yawn。He satfor two hours until finally shetold him she must go because she had an appointment in town。He packed his Bibles and thanked her and prepared to leave，but in the doorway he stopped and wrung her hand and said that not on any of his trips had he met a lady as nice as her and he asked if he could come again。She had said she would always be happy tosee him。
54 Joy had been standing in the road，apparently looking at something in the distance，when he came down the steps toward her，bent to the side with his heavyvalise。He stopped where she was standing and confronted her directly。Mrs。Hopewell could not hear what he said but she trembled to think what Joy would say to him。She could see that after a minute Joy said something and that then the boy began to speak again，making an excited gesture with his free hand。After a minute Joy said something else at which the boy began to speak once more。Then to her amazement，Mrs。Hopewell saw the two of them walk off together，toward the gate。Joy had walked all the way to the gate with him and Mrs。Hopewell could notimagine what they had said to each other，and she had not yet dared to ask。
55 Mrs。Freeman was insisting upon her attention。She had moved from the refrigerator to the heater so that Mrs。Hopewell had to turn and face her in order toseem to be listening。“Glynese gone out with Harvey Hill again last night，”she said。“She had this sty。”
56 “Hill，”Mrs。Hopewell said absently，“is that the one who works in the garage？”
57 “Nome，he’s the one that goes to chiropractor school，”Mrs。Freeman said。“She had this sty。Been had it two days。So she says when he brought her in the other night he says，‘Lemme get rid of that sty for you，’and she says，‘How？’and he says，‘You just lay yourself down acrost the seat of that car and I’ll show you。’So she done it and he popped her neck。Kept on a-popping it several times until she made him quit。This morning，”Mrs。Freeman said，“she ain’t got no sty。She ain’t got no traces of a sty。”
58 “I never heard of that before，”Mrs。Hopewell said。
59 “He ast her to marry him before the Ordinary，”Mrs。Freeman went on，“and she told him she wasn’t going to be married in no office。”
60 “Well，Glynese is a fine girl，”Mrs。Hopewell said。“Glynese and Carramae are both fine girls。”
61 “Carramae said when her and Lyman was married Lyman said it sure felt sacred to him。She said he said he wouldn’t take five hundred dollars for being married by a preacher。”
62 “How much would he take？”the girl asked from the stove。
63 “He said he wouldn’t take five hundred dollars，”Mrs。Freeman repeated。
64 “Well we all have work to do，”Mrs。Hopewell said。
65 “Lyman said it just felt more sacred to him，”Mrs。Freeman said。“Thedoctor wants Carramae to eat prunes。Says instead of medicine。Says them cramps iscoming from pressure。You know where I think it is？”
評注：由牧師來主持婚禮是基督教的傳統。上文中弗裏曼太太說女兒堅持由牧師主持婚禮是為了表明自己的女兒很“虔誠”，霍普維爾太太也在旁邊附和著說她們是“好女孩”。奧康納在小說中始終強調人的“外表”和“內心”的不一致性。
stifle：vt。阻止
yawn：n。哈欠
wring one’s hand：緊握某人的手
valise：n。小提箱
sty：n。麥粒腫，亦稱眼腺炎
chiropractor：n。按摩師
Been had it two days：得麥粒腫已經兩天了
Ordinary：美國某州設的地方司法官，隻在自己的辦公室給人主持結婚儀式，而不在大庭廣眾麵前。故下文弗裏曼太太說女兒不願在官府結婚。
sacred：adj。神聖的
prune：n。幹梅子
cramp：n。抽筋，痙攣66“She’ll be better in a few weeks，”Mrs。Hopewell said。
67 “In the tube，”Mrs。Freeman said。“Else she wouldn’t be as sick as she is。”
68 Hulga had cracked her two eggs into a saucer and was bringing them to the table along with a cup of coffee that she had filled too full。She sat down carefully and began to eat，meaning to keep Mrs。Freeman there by questions if for any reason she showed an inclination to leave。She could perceive her mother’s eye on her。The first round-about question would be about the Bible salesman and she did not wish to bring it on。“How did he pop her neck？”she asked。
69 Mrs。Freeman went into a description of how he had popped her neck。She said he owned a’55 Mercury but that Glynese said she would rather marry a man with only a’36 Plymouth who would be married by a preacher。The girl asked what if he had a’32 Plymouth and Mrs。Freeman said what Glynese had said was a’36 Plymouth。
評注：Mercury和Plymouth都是車的名字。在第69段中，從作者諷刺性的幽默中可以看出Mrs。Freeman內心對物質的重視勝過信仰，與前文的“虔誠”形成對比（contrast）。
70 Mrs。Hopewell said there were not many girls with Glynese’s common sense。She said what she admired in those girls was their common sense。She said that reminded her that they had had a nice visitor yesterday，a young man selling Bibles。“Lord，”she said，“he bored me to death but he was so sincere and genuineI couldn’t be rude to him。He was just good country people，you know，”she said，“—just the salt of the earth。”
71 “I seen him walk up，”Mrs。Freeman said，“and then later—I seen him walk off，”and Hulga could feel the slight shift in her voice，the slight insinuation，that he had not walked off alone，had he？Her face remained expressionless but the color rose into her neck and she seemed to swallow it down with the next spoonful of egg。Mrs。Freeman was looking at her as if they had a secret together。