評論
打印
"Mrs. Lewis?"
“是劉易斯太太嗎？”
"Yes?"
“是我，什么事？”
"This is the Lenox Hill Hospital."
“這里是倫諾克斯·希爾醫院。”
She felt unreal as the voice informed her of the subway accident—the shoving crowd, Arthur pushed from the platform in front of the train. As she hung up, she remembered Arthur's life-insurance policy for $25,000 with double indemnity for—
當電話那頭的聲音通知她地鐵事故時，她不相信那是真的——阿瑟被擁擠的人群從站臺擠到了地鐵列車前軋死了。就在她掛電話時，她想起了阿瑟的25000美元的人身保險單，如遇……可拿到雙倍賠償金。
"No!" She struggled to her feet and walked into the kitchen numbly.
“不！”她掙扎著站起來，木然地走進廚房。
Something cold pressed at her skull as she removed the button unit from the wastebasket. There were no nails or screws visible. She couldn't see how it was put together.
當她從廢紙簍里撿回那個按鈕裝置時，她感覺某種冰冷的東西正擠壓著她的頭顱。那裝置上看不到釘子或螺絲，她不明白這個東西是怎么裝配起來的。
Abruptly, she began to smash it on the sink edge, pounding it harder and harder, until the wood split. She pulled the sides apart, cutting her fingers without noticing. There were no transistors in the box, no wires or tubes.
突然，她開始使勁將盒子向洗碗槽邊砸去，力氣越來越大，直到盒子破裂。她把盒子掰開，手指劃破了也不知道。木盒里沒有晶體管，沒有電線，也沒有真空管。
The box was empty.
盒子是空的。
She whirled with a gasp as the telephone rang. Stumbling into the living room, she picked up the receiver.
電話鈴響了，她喘息著轉過身去，跌跌撞撞地走到起居室，拿起了話筒。
"Mrs. Lewis?" Mr. Steward asked.
“劉易斯夫人嗎？”斯圖沃德先生問。
It wasn't her voice shrieking so; it couldn't be. "You said I wouldn't know the one that died!"
如此尖的叫聲真不像是她的聲音，也不可能是她的聲音：“你說過死的人會是我不認識的人！”
"My dear lady," Mr. Steward said. "Do you really think you knew your husband?"
“親愛的夫人，”斯圖沃德先生說，“您真以為您認識自己的丈夫嗎？”
