評論
打印
Button, Button
按鈕，按鈕
Richard Matheson
理查德·麥特森
The package was lying by the front door—a cube-shaped carton sealed with tape. Norma picked it up, unlocked the door, and went into the apartment. It was just getting dark.
包裹就放在前門旁邊——一個用膠帶封好的方形包裝箱。諾瑪把它撿起來，打開門鎖，走進屋子。天色漸漸暗了下來。
After she put the lamb chops in the broiler, she sat down to open the package.
把羊排放入烤箱后，諾瑪坐下來打開盒子。
Inside the carton was a push-button unit fastened to a small wooden box. A glass dome covered the button. Norma tried to lift it off, but it was locked in place. She turned the unit over and saw a piece of paper taped to the bottom of the box: "Mr. Steward will call on you at 8:00 p.m."
包裝箱里裝著一個固定在小木盒上的按鈕裝置。按鈕上罩著一層圓玻璃。諾瑪想把玻璃蓋子打開，但它被牢牢地鎖住了。她把裝置翻了過來，看見粘在盒底的一張小紙條：“斯圖沃德先生將在今晚8點登門拜訪。”
Norma put the button unit on the couch, and went back into the kitchen to make the salad.
諾瑪把按鈕裝置放在沙發上，然后回到廚房去做沙拉。
The doorbell rang at eight o'clock. "I'll get it," Norma called from the kitchen. Arthur was in the living room, reading.
晚上8點，門鈴準時響了。“我去開門，”諾瑪在廚房喊道。阿瑟此時正在起居室里看書。
A small man. He removed his hat as Norma opened the door.
進來的是一個矮個子男人。當諾瑪打開門時他摘下了帽子。
"Mrs. Lewis?" he inquired politely.
“請問您是劉易斯太太嗎？”他禮貌地詢問道。
"Yes?"
“你是……？”
"I'm Mr. Steward."
“我是斯圖沃德先生。”
"Oh, yes." Norma repressed a smile. She was sure now that it was a sales pitch.
“哦，想起來了。”諾瑪忍住沒有笑。她現在確定此人是在玩花招推銷什么東西。
"May I come in?" asked Mr. Steward.
“我可以進來嗎？”斯圖沃德先生問道。
"I'm rather busy," Norma said. "I'll get your whatchamacallit, though." She started to turn.
“我現在很忙，”諾瑪說，“我馬上去把那不知是什么玩意兒的東西給你拿來。”她轉身要走。
"Don't you want to know what it is?"
“您難道不想知道那是什么嗎？”
Norma turned back. "No, I don't think so."
諾瑪轉過身來：“不，我不想知道。”
