評論
打印
Norma closed her eyes. Fifty thousand dollars, she thought. In the morning, as she left the apartment, Norma saw the card halves on the table. Impulsively, she dropped them into her purse.
諾瑪閉上眼睛。5萬美金呢，她想著。第二天早上，她離開家時，看到了桌上被撕成兩半的名片，她沖動地把碎片裝進了包里。
After lunch, she took them out and taped the edges together. "Why am I doing this?" she thought.
午飯后，她把撕碎的名片拿出來，粘了起來。“我為什么要這樣做呢？”她想著。
Just before five, she dialed the number.
快到5點鐘時，她撥通了名片上的電話號碼。
"Good afternoon," said Mr. Steward's voice.
“下午好，”斯圖沃德先生的聲音響起。
Norma cleared her throat. "This is Mrs. Lewis," she said.
諾瑪清了清喉嚨，“我是劉易斯太太，”她說。
"Yes, Mrs. Lewis," Mr. Steward sounded pleased.
“啊，劉易斯太太，”斯圖沃德先生聽上去很高興的樣子。
"I'm curious."
“我很好奇。”
"That's natural," Mr. Steward said.
“那很自然，”斯圖沃德先生說。
"Not that I believe a word of what you told us."
“并不是我相信你告訴我們的那些話。”
"Oh, it's quite authentic," Mr. Steward answered.
“哦，我說的可都是實話，”斯圖沃德先生回答道。
"Well, whatever—" Norma swallowed. "When you said someone in the world would die, what do you mean?"
“嗯，不管是什么——”諾瑪咽了一下口水，“你說世界上有一個人會死去，是什么意思？”
"Exactly that," he answered. "It could be anyone. All we guarantee is that you don't know them. And, of course, that you wouldn't have to watch them die."
“確實有一個人會死去，”他回答道，“死的可能是任何一個人，我們所能保證的只是您并不認識他們。當然，您也不必看著他們死去。”
"For $50,000." Norma said.
“就為這5萬美金的報酬？”諾瑪說。
"That's correct."
“是的。”
She made a scoffing sound. "That's crazy."
她冷笑了一聲：“這太瘋狂了。”
"Nonetheless, that is the proposition," Mr. Steward said. "Would you like me to return the button unit?"
“不過這只是一個提議，”斯圖沃德先生說，“您想要我把那個按鈕裝置送回去嗎？”
Norma stiffened. "Certainly not." She hung up angrily.
諾瑪愣了一下。“當然不，”她生氣地掛斷電話。
