佚名/Anonymous
I stretched my legs under the living-room desk,picked up a letter and cut it open.It came from Martels Department Store.I was shocked when I saw the amount we owed them:175 dollars!It was a mistake,of course.Janet and I had not spent that kind of money,certainly not with the way we had been counting every penny and saving for the first payment on the house we planned to buy.I looked at the amount again.Of course,they had meant 17 dollars 50 cents.They had added an extra zero,and misplaced the decimal point.I rubbed my hand across my face.The shock was gone.I looked up across the living room into the bedroom beyond.I saw Janet curled up under the covers reading a magazine.I often looked at her lying that way,as I sat working late at night.To me it represented every thing.Janet was my wife,my partner.We had great plans ahead.
“Janet,”I called to her,“I think that Martel’s made a mistake.They sent us a bill for 175 dollars.I’m sure it should be 17 dollars 50 cents.Will you call about it tomorrow,so I can send the cheque?”Janet did not answer.“Janet,”I called again,“did you hear?I said Martels made a mistake.”She lowered the magazine slowly,lying it across her chest.I could tell she was trying to be calm.“I did not want you to see that,”she said slowly.“I thought I had hidden it from the other letters.”
I flushed when I realized that Janet had spent the money.She had not even asked me about it!I went from the living room to sit on the edge of the bed,watching her closely.We might as well get it all out in the open,I felt.“Do you mean,”I began,“that you spent 175 dollars without discussing it with me?And why not?”Janet tried to smile.“I am working,too.Im going to pay for it.”
“Thats what I want to know,Janet.Pay for what?I haven’t seen anything new around here.”Janet lowered her eyes.“I-I don’t want to tell you,Barney.It’s-just something I wanted to buy.”I kept looking at her.It was hard to believe what I had heard.Janet had spent the money,admitted it,and now didn’t even want to tell me what it was for.I just could not understand that at all.There was no money in the checking account to pay this bill.It would have to be taken from our savings account.That meant another month’s delay in buying the house.It was not fair.It violated our plans and agreement,and worst of all,I would never be able to trust her again.Why had she done this to me?I was becoming angrier,and I decided I was going to get to the bottoms of it all.“Look,Janet,”I said sharply.“Lets not play games.I want to know what that bill is for?I have a right to know.”Janet touched my arm.“Don’t be angry with me,Barney?You’ve been working much too hard these last few months.Youre so jumpy and nervous.”She was trying to escape from the situation and I knew it.That made me angrier.I pulled away roughly,displeased.“Look,”I repeated,“I asked you a question.Do you refuse to give me an answer?”Janet looked up at me,puzzled,as if she was struggling with a problem.When she finally answered,I did not like what she said.“Youll just have to accept the matter as it is,”she said quickly.“Just because I married you does not mean I have no right to a few private affairs.Yes,I refuse to answer.”With that,she looked me in the eyes again.That turned the devil loose in my brain.I stood up and started to walk back and forth,unable to control my boiling anger.All at once,I stopped dead still.I knew everything.She did not have to tell me.She had bought a damned mink fur scarf.Her friend Carol had just gotten one a month before,and I had seen that look in Janets eyes,that look of green-eye envy.Just like a woman!What to put on her back came first.
“You little cheat!”I said,looking down,the words coming slow and burning.“I know what you bought,a home really doesn’t mean anything to you.All you want is a pile of fancy clothes!I thought you were the kind of wife I wanted,but you had me fooled.You’re like a lot of others,a loose spender,thats what you are.A spend thrift.”Janets eyes narrowed to slits and her face showed horror and amazement,and I enjoyed seeing it.It was exactly what I wanted,to see her suffer a little,too.She got out of bed and stood before me.“Is that what you think of me?”Her own anger sent mine up higher.“Youre damned right,it is!”I exploded.“I just wish I had known in time.”Now her anger was as hot as mine.We stood on equal ground.
“You poor fool!”she said.“You don’t even know what you’re talking about.You don’t even know what marriage is.You’ll find out.You have a nice long time to find out,alone.I’m going to take a cab to mother’s,and dont trouble calling me.I never want to see you again.”I knew the situation was really serious now,but I had no thought of giving in.Let her go.Shell soon realize I was right and come crawling back.
The next morning at the office,I kept to myself,burying myself in work.No one seemed to notice my quiet manner.When I returned from lunch,I found Bill beside my desk,showing a new set of golf clubs to the other fellows.“Best buy in town!”he said proudly.He turned to me with a smile.“Say,Barney,you used to play,didnt you?”I forced a smile and said“Sure did,”That gave me an idea,to start playing again.If I bought some golf clubs,that would even things up with Janet.That afternoon,I bought the clubs I wanted and started to swing them on the floor.One ball,I hit harder that I meant to,and the ball rolled across the living room,through the bedroom and into Janets half-opened closet.
The closet was a big one,and dark.A lot of Janet’s things were still hanging there.I got down on my knees and felt around in a dark corner way at the back.My hands rubbed against a heavy box.I lifted the top of the box and looked inside,I was not prepared for what I saw.It was the best-looking set of golf clubs I had ever seen,better than the ones I had chosen.There was also a golf bag,a dozen balls and a pair of golf shoes.The box was marked.It came from Martel’s Department Store.It was then that I remembered our wedding anniversary would be Tuesday.All this for me.There was nothing for Janet.Janet,with her love for surprises and her unselfish love for me.How crazy I had been!Janet was right.I was a poor,stupid fool!There was only one thing to do now,I thought.Go crawling and begging for her to return.And I was man enough to do it.And tomorrow Id do something else.I would hide a mink scarf in my closet.
我坐在客廳的書桌旁，伸展著雙腿，忽然看到一封信，便拾起來打開看。信是馬特爾商場寄來的帳單，看到賬款金額時，我大吃一驚：175美元！這一定弄錯了，我和珍妮特從不這樣大手大腳地花錢，更何況，我們計劃買房子，正一分一厘地籌集第一筆房款。我又看了一下金額，應該是17美元50美分，他們多加了一個零，又把小數點打錯了位置。我用手幹搓了一下臉，鎮定下來。我抬起頭，從客廳向那邊的臥室望去，看見珍妮特正蜷在被子裏看雜誌。每次，我工作到深夜時，經常見她這樣躺著。對我來說，這就是一切。珍妮特是我的妻子，我的伴侶，我們有一個宏偉的未來規劃。
“珍妮特，”我對她喊道，“我想，一定是馬特爾百貨商場弄錯了，他們寄給我們一張175美元的賬單，一定是17美元50美分。明天，你能給他們打個電話嗎？這樣我好寄支票過去。”珍妮特沒有回答。“珍妮特，”我又叫道，“你聽見了嗎？我說馬特爾商場搞錯了。”她慢慢放下雜誌，把它抱在胸前，我感覺她在強裝鎮定。“我不想讓你看見這張賬單，”她慢慢說道，“我以為我把它從那些信裏抽出來，藏好了。”
當我意識到，是珍妮特花了這筆錢時，我氣得滿臉通紅。她甚至沒問過我！我走進臥室，坐在床邊，緊緊盯著她。我想，我們開門見山好了。“你是說，你沒和我商量就花了175美元？為什麽？”珍妮特勉強笑道，“我也在工作，我準備自己來付。”
“這正是我想知道的，珍妮特，你買了些什麽？我沒見家裏添置什麽新東西。”珍妮特垂下眼簾，“我——我不想跟你說，巴尼。那是——隻是我想買點東西。”我一直盯著她，簡直不敢相信自己的耳朵，珍妮特承認她花了錢，而且竟不想告訴我是為了什麽。我全然無法理解，要知道，支票付款賬戶上已經沒有錢了，要支付這張賬單，就必須從儲蓄賬戶取錢，那就是說，買房子的事又要耽擱一個月。這不公平，我們的計劃和協議全被破壞了，更糟的是，我不能再相信她了。為什麽她要這樣對我？我的火氣越來越大，決定問個究竟，“聽著，珍妮特，”我尖刻地說道，“別再繞彎子了，我想知道你買了什麽？我有權知道。”珍妮特撫摩著我的手臂，“別生我氣，巴尼，這幾個月來，你工作太辛苦，你太緊張，太焦躁了。”我很清楚，她想轉移話題，這讓我更生氣。我很惱火，粗暴地推開她，又問道，“聽著，我再問一遍，你果真不想回答嗎？”珍妮特抬起頭，一臉疑惑地看著我，好像麵對一個十分棘手的問題。她終於回答了，但答案卻令我極不滿意，“你隻能接受這個事實，”她很快說道，“我嫁給你並不意味著我毫無隱私權。是的，我不想回答。”說著，她又直視著我，這無異於火上加油，我無法抑製胸中升騰的怒火，於是站了起來，在房間裏踱來踱去。突然，我死死地站定，什麽都明白了，不用說，她一定是買了那該死的貂皮圍巾了。上個月，她朋友卡羅爾買了一條，我看見珍妮特當時的眼神，眼饞得要命。女人就是這樣！什麽都沒有穿著打扮重要！
“你這個小騙子！”我低頭看著她，一字一頓地厲聲說道，“我知道你買了什麽，家對於你來說根本不重要，你隻想要一堆漂亮的衣服！我以為你是我想要的妻子，但你騙了我，你跟其他女人一樣，揮霍無度，你就是這樣，一個揮金如土的人。”珍妮特的眼睛眯成了兩條縫，臉上全是驚駭和詫異的表情，看到她也痛苦，我更得意了，這正是我想看到的。她下了床，站在我麵前，“你就這樣認為的？”她的怒氣進一步激怒了我，“對，你就是這樣！”我咆哮道，“我早就該看出來。”現在她跟我一樣怒不可遏，我們怒目相對。
“你這個可憐的傻瓜！”她說，“你甚至不知道自己在說什麽，更不懂什麽是婚姻。你會明白的，自己好好想想吧，你有的是時間，我現在就坐車去我媽家，別打電話來煩我，我再也不想見到你。”我知道事態嚴重了，但絲毫不想讓步，想走就走，她很快會意識到自己錯了，會一路爬回來的。
第二天上午，我在辦公室埋頭工作，好像沒人注意到我的沉默。午餐後，我回到辦公室，發現坐在桌邊的比爾正在向同事展示一套新的高爾夫球杆。“我買的是全城最好的！”他驕傲地說道，轉過頭來，笑著對我說：“嘿，巴尼，你以前也打高爾夫的，對吧？”我強裝笑臉，說道，“是啊，”突然，我冒出了再次打高爾夫球的想法，如果我買一套高爾夫球杆，就可以和珍妮特扯平了。那天下午，我就去買了回來，在地板上試著揮舞了一下，我打得太用力，有一個球滾過客廳和臥室，鑽進珍妮特半開著的壁櫥裏。
壁櫥很大，裏麵很黑，掛著很多珍妮特的東西。我跪下去，四處摸索後麵黑暗的角落，突然，我的手碰到了一個很重的盒子，便打開盒蓋往裏看。毫無思想準備的我立刻就驚呆了，這是我見過的最漂亮的高爾夫球杆，比我自己買的還要好。盒子裏還有一個高爾夫球袋、一打球和一雙球鞋。盒子上有個標簽，是馬特爾百貨商場。這時，我才想起我們的結婚紀念日就在星期二，這些都是給我的，而她自己什麽都沒有，珍妮特，她喜歡給我驚喜，無私地愛我！我真傻！珍妮特是對的，我是個可憐的傻瓜！我想，現在隻能做一件事了，一路爬過去求她回來。我是個男人，完全能做到。而且，明天還有件事情要做——藏一條貂皮圍巾在我的壁櫥裏。
詞匯筆記
rub[r?b]v.擦；搓；揉
Go and rub your hands dry.
去把你的雙手擦幹。
violate[vai?leit]v.違背；違反
The country violates the international agreements.
那個國家違背了國際協議。
roughly[r?fl?]adv.粗略地；大體上；大致上
He roughly examined the old records.
他粗略地檢查了一下舊記錄。
crawl[kr?:l]v.爬；爬行；徐緩而行
We learn to crawl before we learn to walk.
我們學會走路之前先要學會爬。
小試身手
什麽都沒有穿著打扮重要。
這時我才想起我們的結婚紀念日就在星期二。
短語家族
I saw Janet curled up under the covers reading a magazine.
curl up：（使）卷；彎曲
Janet looked at me,puzzled,as if she was struggling with a problem.
struggle with：在內心與（自己、自己的良心等）進行鬥爭