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作者史华兹，为美国犹太裔诗人、小说家，曾任《宗派评论》（Partisan Review）副编辑。这篇小说原来是在《宗派评论》上发表的。该刊搜集历年所发表的短篇小说佳作十余篇，出版选集一本，书名《新体小说选》（Stories in the Modern Manner）。此处所录即从该书中摘出。史氏第一部小说、诗歌集即名In Dreams Begin Responsibilities（1938）。
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I think it is the year 1909. I feel as if I were in a motion picture theatre, the long arm of light crossing the darkness and spinning, my eyes fixed on the screen. This is a silent picture, in which the actors are dressed in ridiculously old-fashioned clothes, and one flash succeeds another with sudden jumps. The actors too seem to jump about and walk too fast. The shots themselves are full of dots and rays, as if it were raining when the picture was photographed. The light is bad.
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● 责任于梦想中开始，整个故事亦是“南柯一梦”。
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● 小说中的主人公自称似乎置身于1909年，又像是在看电影。long arm of light：放映机射至银幕上的一道白光。spinning：旋转。fixed是过去分词：眼睛全神贯注地看着银幕。
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● silent picture：无声电影。ridiculously：可笑地。one flash succeeds another：银幕上的光线，一闪一闪的很不稳定；一亮之后，突然一跳，接着又是一亮。
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● jump about：东跳西跳，旧时电影的摄制和放映技术均恶劣，演员的一举一动似乎都在跳跃。
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● shots：一幕一幕的镜头。dots：斑点。rays：光线；大约指乱七八糟的光线。
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It is Sunday afternoon, June 12, 1909, and my father is walking down the quiet streets of Brooklyn on his way to visit my mother. His clothes are newly pressed and his tie is too tight in his high collar. He jingles the coins in his pockets, thinking of the witty things he will say. He walks from street to street of trees, lawns and houses, once in a while coming to an avenue on which a streetcar skates and gnaws, slowly progressing. It is obviously Sunday, for everyone is wearing Sunday clothes, and the streetcar’s noises emphasize the quiet of the holiday.
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● 银幕上的人物出现了，第一个人是他的父亲。
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● Brooklyn：纽约市之一区，在Long Island上。
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● pressed：压平，烫平。tight：紧。collar：领子。
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● jingles：玩弄而使叮当发响。witty things：俏皮话；父亲去看母亲，路上先准备好一套巧妙的言语。
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● once in a while=occasionally：偶尔。avenue：大马路，通衢大道。本来是在小街上走，有时也会碰上一条大马路。streetcar：电车。skates：滑冰（电车在铁轨上像是滑冰似的滑着过去的）。gnaws：用劲地慢慢地咬（电车有时候走得不很滑溜，像是在咬什么东西）。skates和gnaws两字用以叙述电车的运动，恐怕是作者创用，并非现成字眼。
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● 那时纽约遵奉安息日的制度似尚未废弛，星期日店铺大多关门，街上静悄悄的，电车的闹声，似乎只是强调了周围的静寂。
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My father has chosen to take this long walk because he likes to walk and think. He thinks about himself in the future. He thinks of my mother, of how nice it will be to introduce her to his family. But he is not yet sure that he wants to marry her, and once in a while he becomes panicky about the bond already established. He reassures himself by thinking of the big men he admires who are married: William Randolph Hearst, and William Howard Taft, who has just become President of the United States.
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● panicky：大恐慌。the bond already established：两人间已经建立好的关系。那时其人的父亲还在追求期间,他想不想同他的女朋友结婚呢？他自己也不大清楚。可是偶尔想起他们俩已经相爱得难舍难分了（bond：束缚），其势非结婚不可，不由得慌张起来。
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● 可是再一想他所崇拜的大人物中也有两个结过婚的（报业大王Hearst和Taft总统）。这样一想，胆子也就壮了一点。
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My father arrives at my mother’s house. He has come too early and so is suddenly embarrassed. My aunt, my mother’s sister, answers the loud bell with her napkin in her hand, for the family is still at dinner. As my father enters, my grandfather rises from the table and shakes hands with him. My mother has run upstairs to tidy herself. My grandmother asks my father if he has had dinner, and tells him that Rose will be downstairs soon. My grandfather opens the conversation by remarking on the mild June weather. My father sits uncomfortably near the table, holding his hat in his hand. My grandmother tells my aunt to take my father’s hat. My uncle, twelve years old, runs into the house, his hair tousled. He shouts a greeting to my father, who has often given him a nickel, and then runs upstairs.
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● embarrassed：窘迫。answers the bell：听见铃响，出去开门。napkin：餐巾。女方家里还在进午餐，小姐的妹妹匆匆忙忙提了餐巾出来开门。情郎到得太早了，突然觉得很窘。
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● grandfather=father of one’s father or mother，此处乃外祖父。
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● tidy herself：打扮。注意此句时态用的是现在完成式has run：小姐一听见门外的人声，就躲到楼上去化妆了，故此人进屋时，小姐已经在楼上了。
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● Rose：小姐的名字。
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● mild June weather：六月天气正是不冷不热，外祖父无话可说，乃从天气讲起。
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● holding his hat in his hand：怪不舒服的靠着餐桌旁坐下，帽子还捧在手里，亏得外祖母会体贴，叫姨母把帽子拿走（给挂好）。
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● tousled：头发蓬松。十二岁的顽童舅舅从外面闯进来，大声地叫应了一声，奔上楼去了。nickel：五分镍币；这位小舅舅常常“受贿”的。
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