阅读Cathedral中文翻译
Cathedral 文章分析 阅读
《大教堂》是他最著名的短篇之一。
主人公的妻子多年来与一位盲人朋友保持联系。
一次，盲人朋友终于要来拜访这对夫妇，妻子兴致勃勃，主人公却非但不激动，反而竭力克制自己毫无理由的敌意和鄙夷。
和其他一些故事一样，主人公对生活这种无所谓和厌弃相混合的态度，始终是个没有提示的谜题。
除了从卡佛自己的生活经历入手，恐怕很难找到别的解释。
《大教堂》结尾，主人公在闭着眼睛和盲人一起画画的过程中，绷紧的神经终于放松下来。
不是四两拨千斤，而是花大量篇幅在天平一端放了过多郁闷之后，在另一端放一茶匙淡淡的欢欣意思意思。
然而，这便是雷蒙德·卡佛。
Cathedral Summary"Cathedral" opens with the narrator telling the reader in a conversat ional tone that a blind friend of his wife's is coming to visit th em. The narrator is clearly unhappy about the upcoming visit. He the n flashes back to the story of how his wife met the blind man whe n she worked for him as a reader. At the time, she was engaged to marry an officer in the Air Force. When she tells the blind man goodbye, he asks if he can touch her face. The touch of his finger s on her face is a pivotal moment in her life, something the narra tor does not understand.Although his wife has maintained contact with the blind man for ten years, this will be the first time she has seen him since her ma rriage, subsequent divorce, and remarriage. Robert, the blind man, has just lost his wife and will be traveling to Connecticut to visit with her family. Along the way he will spend the night at the home of the narrator and his wife. His wife tells the narrator that Ro bert and his wife, Beulah, were inseparable.ThemesAlienation and LonelinessLike the characters in many of Carver's works, the main characters e xperience, or have experienced, alienation and loneliness. The narrator is unhappy in his work, jealous of his wife, and unconnected to o ther human beings. In addition to not being connected to others hims elf, he seems to resent his wife's connections to other people as w ell. When he speaks of the impending visit by the blind man he sta tes, ''I wasn' t enthusiastic about his visit ... A blind man in m y house was not something I looked forward to.’’Further, once Rob ert arrives...The narrator is not an articulate man; consequently, the narration is filled with gaps that the reader must fill inCathedral”Plot SummaryThe story’s narrator informs the readers that a friend of his wife ’s, a man who happens to be blind, is on his way to visit. The narrator is not enthusiastic about the visit because blind people make the narrator uncomfortable, mainly because the narrator has no real experience with the blind. In addition to his uneasiness with the blind, the narrator is uncomfortable with his wife’s relationship wit h the blind man. The wife and Robert, the blind man, have maintaine d a close relationship via tape recordings mailed back and forth, an d the narrator finds this unsettling. Despite the narrator’s feelings about the visit, Robert shows up, and the three of them dine toge ther, and Robert and the narrator get to know each otherCharactersRobert: Robert, the blind man, is a long-time friend of the narrator ’s wife. Robert has maintained a close relationship with the narrato r’s wife since she worked for him years ago. Since then, they have stayed in touch. Robert works hard to get to know that narrator, too, while he is visiting them, pushing the narrator to talk and in teract with him, bringing the narrator out of his shell of closed-of f ignorance.The narrator’s wife also seems to have some internal struggle, mainl y due to what is divulged about her past. She was married before a nd suffered from loneliness. She has attempted suicide in the past, and now she is in a difficult marriage once again. Surely, had the story been told from her perspective, the depths of her internal s truggle would be brought further to lightAt the end of “Cathedral,”the narrator has a life-changing moment, or an epiphany, while trying to tell Robert what a cathedral looks like. The narrator, when first trying to explain what the cathedral looks like, struggles for the words. However, upon Robert’s encoura gement, loosens up, and draws the cathedral with Robert, guiding his hand with a pencil onto paper.This is a close personal connection and intimate moment of communicat ion for the narrator, and it impacts him greatly. The narrator is a ble to connect with Robert, and this is the moment where the narrat or can put aside his insecurities and actually interact with someone else. It changes the narrator; he says, “It was like nothing else in my life up to now”(Carver 108).Throughout Cathedral, the boundaries the narrator has placed on his i nteraction and communication with others are eroded by Robert’s patie nt persistence in getting to know him. As a result, the narrator co nfronts his own insecurities and misconceptions, not just about Robert and the blind, but also about his own ability to interact with ot hers.。
Cathedral中文翻译
读卡佛的《大教堂》的感想(2010-05-21 11:12:05)转载▼分类：文学评论标签：瞎子大教堂叙述视角诗性卡佛西雅图文化卡佛的大教堂要表达什么，可能不同的读者有不同的切入角度，获得的阅读感受差别也是非常大的。
在我看来，卡佛的大教堂是表达一种孤独的感受，这种孤独在《大教堂》里，犹如一道牢不可破的铁栅栏，把日常生活中的每一个普通人分割开来。
我想卡佛在写“大教堂”的时候，分明听到时间犹如一道静谧无声的河流，不停的冲刷着隔绝着每个人的铁栅栏时的沙沙声，他看到生命在时间的河流中消逝、沉沦，但始终走不出围困他们的孤独的铁栅栏。
“大教堂”中有三个主要人物，小说叙述者“我”、瞎子罗伯特、以及叙述者“我”的妻子，当然还有其他人物，“我”的妻子的前夫，瞎子罗伯特的已病逝的妻子比尤拉。
后面两个人物只是附带的，但也是必不可少的。
问题是卡佛要写出这三个人的孤独感，以及把每个人的孤独感形象化为可以感受的具体艺术形象时，他是如何在这三个人物身上用力的，就成为这篇小说能否成功的关键。
一般来讲，短篇小说或者是对一个生活横断面的截取，或者是对中心人物某个性格层面的展示，或者讲述一个妙趣恒生的故事，再或者就是对某个寓言的阐释。
短篇小说必然是在环境、人物、故事、主题方面突出其中的某一个，因为短篇受篇幅的限制，不可能均衡用力，在这几个方面面面具到。
但是在我们读大教堂的时候，发现起码在人物形象或者人物内心及性格的刻画上，小说中的三个人物都很突出，如果我们用孤独来概括三个主要人物的状况时，我们会发现三个人的孤独是各不一样的，而且正是这不一样的孤独，使三个人物发生了他们自己都无法明了和无法控制的关联与交错。
换句话说，孤独是他们的共性，但是孤独在每个人身长造成的差异形成了这篇小说的叙述逻辑和情节发展的动力。
那么我们要探讨的问题就是，卡佛是如何在一个短篇中同时完成三个人物性格或人物生存处境的艺术塑造，而且这么三个人物又如何形成了这个短篇的有机整体性？小说首先是以“我”的口吻，介绍了“我”的妻子以前的境况，这一段可以看作是整个小说的引言，把主要人物以及他们之间的关系给我们介绍清楚，但是在概略式的引言中，通过叙述者“我”的眼光，把“我”的妻子的形象给我们揭示出来了。
高考英语3500单词第十讲(单词速记和拓展)
高考英语3500词第十讲1.cathedral n. 大教堂（天主教）【单词Cathedral常常被翻译为“大教堂”，很容易让人误解为“规模较大的教堂”。
实际上，Cathedral的准确含义是“主教座堂”，是指在主教制的基督教会中，设有主教座位的教堂。
主教座堂是教区主教的正式驻地，因而被视为教区的中心，其建筑大多比堂区的教堂更加宏美壮观。
该单词源自希腊语kathedra（座位），经拉丁语进入英语后写作cathedra，最初专指主教的“宝座”。
由于主教的“宝座”通常设在教区中最主要的教堂里，于是这种教堂就被人们叫作cathedral。
】2.catholic adj. 天主教的【基督教大分裂后，以罗马为中心的西部教会自称为“罗马公教会”(The RomanCatholic Church )，其中的catholic是“普遍的，一般的”的意思，表示他们才是惟一真正的普世教会。
罗马公教会于16世纪传入中国后，因其信徒将所崇奉的神称为"天主"，因而在中国被称为天主教。
catholic：['kæθlɪk] adj.普遍的，天主教的n.天主教，天主教徒catholicism： [kə'θɔlisizəm] n.天主教，天主教义catholicon： [kə'θɒlɪkən] n.灵丹妙药，万灵药】3.cattle n. 牛（总称）, 家畜【英语单词cattle来自拉丁语capitale（资金、财产），而capitale是形容词capitalis（主要的、头的）的名词形式。
英语单词capital与此同源，既含有“首要的”的意思，也含有“资金”的意思。
拉丁语capitale进入法语后，拼写变成了catel；进入英语后，拼写变成了cattle。
它的本意是动产，由于中世纪时农民最重要的动产就是牲畜，特别是牛，所以该词的词义逐渐缩小至“牲畜”，后来又缩小至“牛”。
cattle：['kt()l] n.牛，家畜，牲畜capital：['kpitl] adj.首都的，重要的，大写的n.首都，省会，资金，大写字母】4.cause n. 原因, 起因v. 促使, 引起, 使发生【来自拉丁词causa,原因，词源同because.】5.caution n. 小心, 谨慎, 警告【词根词缀：caut小心 + -ion名词后缀】6.cautious adj. 谨慎的, 小心的【词根词缀：caut小心 + -i- + -ous形容词后缀】precaution n. &v. 预防，警惕【词根词缀：pre-先 + caut小心 + -ion名词后缀】7.cave n. 洞, 穴; 地窖【元辅e结尾，字母组合ave读/eɪ/如：--ave/eɪv/cave n.山洞shave v. 剃；刮brave adj.勇敢的save v. 拯救】8.CD=compact disk 激光唱盘compact v. 使简洁；使紧密结合n. 合同，契约adj. 紧凑的，紧密的【词根词缀：com-共同 + pact扎紧】disk n. 磁盘，磁碟片9.ceiling n. 天花板, 顶棚【ceil v. 安装天花板】10.celebrate v. 庆祝【英语单词celebrate来自拉丁语celebrare，字面意思是“大量人频繁做的”，来自celeber（频繁的，人口众多的）。
研究生英语课后翻译答案第2单元翻译答案
5. What’s more, caring for my mom made me realize how consummately she had cared for all of us. I’ll never forget when I went to see her in the intensive-care unit, just a few hours after her surgery. She was strung out with a myriad of plastic tubes protruding from her arms, nose, and mouth. “Liz, make sure you eat something,” she said in a strained, raspy voice.
4. Our baby sister, who’d been looking after Mom since Dad’s death, was gripped by fear as the familiar sights and smells were eerily reminiscent of his final days. After consulting with doctors, we learned that stomach surgery was Mom’s only option. We took the first opening.
6. I’ve forgotten what kind of stitching is in my veil. But when I remove it from my face, I’ll be staring at the two people I love beyond all reason: my soon-to-be husband and the woman who showed me What’s really important.
2021年《高级英语》课文逐句翻译(9)
2021年《高级英语》课文逐句翻译（9）Lesson Nine The Trouble with Television 电视的弊端The Trouble with Television要摆脱电视的影响是困难的。
It is difficult to escape the influence of television.假如统计的平均数字适用于你的话，那么你到20岁的时候就至少看过2万个小时的电视了，从那以后每生活10年就会增加1万小时。
If you fit the statistical averages，by the age of 20 you will have been exposed to at least 20，000 hours of television. You can add 10，000 hours for each decade you have lived after the age of 20.笔起看电视，美国人只有在工作和睡眠上花时间更多。
The only things Americans do more than watch television are work and sleep.稍微计算一下，使用这些时间的一部分能够做些什么。
Calculate for a moment what could be done with even a part of those hours.听说一个大学生仅用5000小时就可以获得学士学位。
Five thousand hours，I am told，are what a typical college undergraduate spends working on a bachelor’s degree.在1万个小时内你能学成一个天文学家或工程师，流利掌握几门外语。
In 10，000 hours you could have learned enough to become an astronomer or engineer. You could have learned several languages fluently.如果你感兴趣的话，你可能读希腊原文的荷马史诗或俄文版的陀思妥耶夫斯基的作品；如果对此不感兴趣，那你可以徒步周游世界，撰写一本游记。
新视野大学英语第三版读写教程第四册课后翻译
新视野大学英语第三版读写教程第四册课后翻译XXX是古希腊的哲学家和科学家。
他的作品涵盖了许多学科，包括物理学、生物学、动物学、逻辑学、伦理学、诗歌、戏剧、音乐、语言学、政治和政府，构成了第一个综合的西方哲学体系。
他是第一个将人类的知识领域划分为不同学科的人，如数学、生物学和伦理学。
他相信人所有的观念和所有的知识在根本上都是基于感知能力。
他对自然科学的看法构成了他许多作品的基础，并且几乎对他所处时期的每一个人类知识领域都作出了贡献。
二、汉译英XXX是古希腊的哲学家和科学家。
他的作品涵盖了许多学科，包括物理学、生物学、动物学、逻辑学、伦理学、诗歌、戏剧、音乐、语言学、政治和政府，构成了第一个综合的西方哲学体系。
他是第一个将人类的知识领域划分为不同学科的人，如数学、生物学和伦理学。
他相信人所有的观念和所有的知识在根本上都是基于感知能力。
他对自然科学的看法构成了他许多作品的基础，并且几乎对他所处时期的每一个人类知识领域都作出了贡献。
The Doctrine of the Mean is the core of Confucianism。
When Confucius referred to "the mean," he did not mean "compromise," but rather a method of "n" and "appropriateness" XXX idea as a way of understanding and handling things。
butalso incorporating it into one's daily r through n and exercise。
making it a virtue。
The Doctrine of the Mean is not only the coreof Confucianism。
How_Should_One_Read_a_Book_英文翻译
How Should One Read a Book？It is simple enough to say that since books have classes fiction, biography, poetry——we should separate them and take from each what it is right that each should give us. Yet few people ask from books what books can give us. Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds. asking of fiction that it shall be true, of poetry that it shall be false, of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that it shall enforce our own prejudices. If we could banish all such preconceptions when we read, that would be an admirable beginning. Do not dictate to your author; try to become him. Be his fellow ——worker and accomplice. If you hang back, and reserve and criticize at first, you are preventing yourself from getting the fullest possible value from what you read. But if you open your mind as widely as possible, the signs and hints of almost imperceptible fineness, from the twist and turn of the first sentences, will bring you into the presence of a human being unlike any other. Steep yourself in this, acquaint yourself with this, and soon you will find that your author is giving you, or attempting to give you, something far more definite. The thirty-two chapters of a novel ——if we consider how to read a novel first——are an attempt to make something as formed and controlled as a building: but words are more impalpable than bricks; reading is a longer and more complicated process than seeing. Perhaps the quickest way to understand the elements of what a novelist is doing is not to read, but to write; to make your own experiment with the dangers and difficulties of words. Recall, then, some event that has left a distinct impression on you ——how at the corner of the street, perhaps, you passed two people talking. A tree shook; an electric light danced; the tone of the talk was comic, but also tragic; a whole vision; an entire conception seemed contained in that movement.But when you attempt to reconstruct it in words, you will find that it breaks into a thousand conflicting impressions. Some must be subdued; others emphasized; in the process you will lose, probably, all grasp upon the emotion itself. Then turn from your blurred and littered pages to the opening pages of some great novelists ——Defoe, Jane Austen, or Hardy. Now you will be better able to appreciate their mastery. It is not merely that we are in the presence of a different person ——Defoe, Jane Austen, or Thomas Hardy ——but that we are living in a different world. Here, in Robinson Crusoe, we are trudging a plain high road; one thing happens after another; the fact and the order of the fact is enough. But if the open air and adventure mean everything to Defoe they mean nothing to Jane Austen. Hers is the drawing-room, and people talking and by the many mirrors of their talk revealing their characters. And if, when we have accustomed ourselves to the drawing-room and its reflections, we turn to Hardy, we are once more spun around. The moors are around us and the stars are above our head. The other side of the mind is now exposed ——the dark side that comes uppermost in solitude, not the light side that shows in company. Our relations are not towards people, but towards Nature and destiny. Yet different as these worlds are, each is consistent with itself. The maker of each is careful to observe the laws of his own perspective, and however great a strain they may put upon us they will never confuse us, as lesser writers so frequently do, by introducing two different kinds of reality into the same book. Thus to go from one great novelist to another is to be wrenched and uprooted; to be thrown this way and then that.To read a novel is a difficult and complex art. You must be capable not only of great fitness of perception, but of great boldness of imagination if you are going to make use of all that the novelist —— the great artist—— gives you.“We have only to compare”——with those words the cat is out of the bag, and the true complexity of reading is admitted. The first process, to receive impressions with the utmost understanding, is only half the process of reading; it must be completed, if we are to get the whole pleasure from a book, by another. We must pass judgment upon these multitudinous impressions; we must make of these fleeting shapes one that is hard and lasting. But not directly. Wait for the dust of reading to settle; for the conflict and the questioning to die down; walk, talk, pull the dead petals from a rose, or fall asleep. Then suddenly without our willing it, for it is thus that Nature undertakes these transitions, the book will return, but differently. It will float to the top of the mind as a whole. And the book as a whole is different from the book received currently in separate phrases. Details now fit themselves into their places. We see the shape from start to finish; it is a barn, a pigsty, or a cathedral. Now then we can compare book with book as we compare building with building. But this act of comparison means that our attitude has changed; we are no longer the friends of the writer, but his judges; and just as we cannot be too sympathetic as friends, so as judges we cannot be too severe. Are they not criminals, books that have wasted our time and sympathy; are they not the most insidious enemies of society, corrupters, defilers, the writers of false books, faked books, books that fill the air with decay and disease? Let us then be severe in our judgments; let us compare each book with the greatest of its kind.If this is so, if to read a book as it should be read calls for the rarest qualities of imagination, insight, and judgment, you may perhaps, conclude that literature is a very complex art and that it is unlikely that we shall be able, even after a lifetime of reading, to make any valuable contribution to its criticism. We must remain readers; we shall not put on the further glory that belongs to those rare beings who are also critics. But still we have our responsibilities as readers and even our importance. The standards we raise and the judgments we pass steal into the air and become part of the atmosphere which writers breathe as they work. An influence is created which tells upon them even if it never finds its way into print. And that influence, if it were well instructed, vigorous and individual and sincere, might be of great value now when criticism is necessarily in abeyance; when books pass in review like the procession of animals in a shooting gallery, and the critic has only one second in which to load and aim and shoot and may well be pardoned if he mistakes rabbits for tigers, eagles for bar-door fowls, or misses altogether and wastes his shot upon some peaceful sow grazing in a further field. If behind the erratic gunfire of the press the author felt that that there was another kind of criticism, the opinion of people reading for the love of reading, slowly and unprofessionally, and judging with great sympathy and yet with great severity, might this not improve the quality of his work? And if by our means books were to become stronger, richer, and more varied, that would be an end worth reaching.毋庸讳言，书籍有类别之分，比如小说，传记，诗歌等。
高级英语unit8词汇,翻译,课后习题
Unit 8 An Interactive Lifecathedral ( n.) :any large，imposing church主教座堂，主教大堂；大教堂peak ( n.) :the highest or utmost point of anything；height；maximum最高点，顶点；最高值lucid (adj.) :clear to the mind；readily understood易懂的；明白的ulterior (adj.) :beyond what is exprssed，implied，or evident；undisclosed隐蔽的；秘而不宣的prosecution ( n.) :act of prosecuting彻底进行；执行；实行infuse ( v．) :．put(quality，idea，etc．)into，as if by pouring；instill；impart逐渐灌输(思想品德等)；把…传授给protestant (adj.) :of any of the Christian churches as a result of the Reformation新教(徒)的；基督教(徒)的obsess (v．) :haunt or trouble in mind，esp. to an abnormal degree；preoccupy deeply 使分心；使心神困扰(尤指精神反常，着迷)subdue ( v．) :bring into subjection；conquer；vanquish使屈服，征服asceticism ( n.) :the practice or way of life of an ascetic苦行(主义)；禁欲(主义) succinct ( adj.) :clearly and briefly stated；terse简明的；简短的stultify (v．) :make seem foolish，stupid，inconsistent，etc．；make absurd or ridiculous 使显得愚蠢(可笑)devoid (adj.) :completely not having；empty or destitute完全没有的；无(或缺乏的) premium ( n.) :a reward or prize，esp. one offered free or at a special。
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大教堂雷蒙德·卡佛著潘国庆译这个瞎子是我太太的一位老朋友，他正在路上，要到我家来做客。
他的老婆已经去世，他是去康涅狄格州看望他亡妻的亲戚；从那儿给我太太挂了个电话，预先约定，他准备乘五个小时的火车来这儿，我太太到车站去接他。
十年前的一个夏天，在西雅图，我的太太曾在他那里工作过，后来他们就一直没有见过面。
可是她和瞎子始终保持联系。
他们灌录了录音带，经常通信。
他这次来访，我并不欢迎。
我跟他素不相识，又是个瞎子，使我心烦。
对于瞎子的概念，我是从电影上看来的。
电影里，瞎子走路总是慢条斯理，并且从来不笑。
有时，他们还要由一条狗领着走路。
所以我从来不指望有什么瞎子上我家来。
那年夏天，我妻子在西雅图，急于找个工作做。
当时，她身无分文。
夏天过后准备和她结婚的那个男人还在军官训练学校读书，而且他也没有钱。
不过，她很爱那个家伙，他也爱她，如此等等。
有一天，她在报上读到一则广告：招聘助手——给盲人读书，还有电话号码。
她打通了电话，到瞎子家里去，当场就说定了。
她跟这个瞎子工作了整整一个夏天。
她给他念些材料，诸如案例研究、报道等等，还帮他整理在县里社会服务部的那个小办公室。
从此，那个瞎子就和我太太成了好朋友。
我怎么知道这些事情的呢？那是她自己告诉我的，而且她还告诉我一些其他的事。
她在他的办公室工作的最后一天，瞎子问她，他是否可以摸摸她的脸蛋。
她表示同意。
他用手指把她面孔、鼻子——甚至头颅——到处摸遍了。
这件事，她是永远忘不了的。
她甚至想写一首诗来描绘这件事。
她一直想做诗的。
每年，她总得写一二首诗，那总是发生了什么真正重大的事情。
我们第一次一起出去时，她就把她那首诗给我看了。
在诗里，她回忆他的手指抚摸她脸上的方式。
在诗里，她还谈到她自己的感觉，当瞎子摸她鼻子和嘴唇时，她脑海掠过什么念头。
我记得，当时我觉得这首诗并不怎么样。
我当然没有对她说。
也许是我对诗歌一窍不通。
老实说，有时候我想随意找点东西读读，也不会想到这首诗的。
话得说回来，那第一个和她相爱的男人——未来的军官——却是她从小的恋人。
所以，没事。
那年夏末，她让瞎子摸了她的脸蛋之后，就与他告别，还是去嫁给她从小的……当时，他已经是个正式军官了。
她从西雅图搬走了。
不过她和那个瞎子仍然保持联系。
他们之间的第一次通话大约在一年之后。
有一天晚上，她从亚拉巴马州的一个空军基地里打电话给他。
她想跟他谈谈，这样他们就谈开了。
他叫她寄盘录音带给他，谈谈她近来的生活。
她照做了。
她把录音带寄过去。
在录音带上，她告诉瞎子她和丈夫在军营里的生活情况。
她告诉瞎子说，她爱她的丈夫，但她不喜欢他们住的地方，更不喜欢他干的军事工业那一类工作。
她告诉瞎子，她已经写完了一首诗，把他也写了进去。
她还告诉他，她正在写一首诗，谈谈当一个空军军官妻子是什么味道。
这首诗没有写完，她还在写。
瞎子录了一盘磁带，寄给了她。
她又录了一盘磁带。
这样寄来寄去，还几年没有间断过。
我妻子的那个军官丈夫驻扎的基地常常转移，她也接连从美国穆边空军基地、麦圭尔基地、麦康内尔基地，最后从萨克门托附近的特拉维斯基地寄了磁带给他。
在特拉维斯，有一天晚上，她突然感到孤寂，觉得她在这种到处流转的生活中和她的亲密的人们隔绝了。
她觉得她再也不能这样生活下去了。
她走进房间，吞吃了药箱里所有的药片和胶丸，又喝了一瓶杜松子酒把药灌下去，然后，她走进了热气腾腾的浴室，昏厥了过去。
但她没有死，只是得了一场重病，上吐下泻。
她的军官——何必提他的名字呢？他是她童年时的恋人，还要说什么呢？——从外面回家来，发现她病倒在那儿，就叫了一辆救护车。
她又马上把这些情况录在一盘磁带上，寄给了瞎子。
好几年来，她把大大小小的事情都录在磁带上，一刻不停地给他寄去。
此外，她每年还写一首诗。
我想这是她主要的消遣。
在一盘磁带里，她对瞎子说，她决定跟她的军官分居一段时间。
而在另一盘磁带里，她又告诉他她离婚了。
于是我和她开始一同出去，当然她也告诉了她的瞎子。
她有什么事都对瞎子说，至少在我看来是这样的。
有一次她问我，我是否愿意听听刚从瞎子那儿寄来的磁带。
这是一年以前的事啦。
她说，磁带上有我。
于是，我说，好吧，我倒要听一听。
我取来了酒，我们俩坐在起居间准备听了。
她把磁带放进录音机，调了调几个开关，然后她按了一下启动键。
磁带吱吱地响，有个人扯着大嗓门开始讲话。
她减低音量。
他无关紧要地扯了几分钟，我就听到在这个陌生人——素不相识的瞎子——嘴里提到我的名字。
接着，我听到这句话：“从你讲的有关他的全部情况来看，我只能说——”这时，好像有人敲门，就把我们听的打断了。
我们再也没有回头来再听这磁带。
不过，那无所谓。
反正想听的，我都听见了。
现在，这个瞎子要到我的家里来过夜。
“我也许可以带他去玩玩保龄球。
”我对我的太太说。
她正站在滴水板前切土豆片。
听到我的话，就放下小刀，转过身来。
“你要是爱我，”她说，“你可以替我招待他；要是你不爱我的话，那就算了。
你要是有朋友，不管什么朋友，只要来我家，我都会让他们过得舒舒服服的。
”说完后，她用餐巾擦了擦手。
“我可没有瞎子朋友。
”我说。
“你是什么朋友都没有的，”她说，“没有什么可说的，而且，”她接着说，“天晓得，他的妻子刚死呢！难道你连这个都不懂得吗？他刚丧妻！”我没有理她。
她又讲了一些瞎子老婆的情况。
她的名字叫比尤拉。
比尤拉！这是一个黑女人的名字呀！“他的老婆是个黑人吗？”我问道。
“你疯啦！”我的太太说道，“你到底是说气话还是怎么着？”她捡起一块土豆。
我看见她把这块土豆使劲地扔到地板上，滚到炉子下面去了。
“您怎么啦？”她说，“喝醉了吗？”“我不过问问。
”我说。
这时，我的太太把许多内情详详细细地告诉我。
我实在不感兴趣。
我喝一口酒，坐在厨房里的桌子旁，听着她说，慢慢地把她说的零零碎碎的情况串在一起了。
比尤拉是在我太太离开瞎子那个夏天去跟他工作的。
很快比尤拉和瞎子就在教堂里结了婚。
这场婚礼规模很小——本来谁回去参加这种婚礼呢？——只有他们两个，外加牧师和牧师太太。
不过这到底还是名副其实的教堂婚礼啊！瞎子说，这是比尤拉的主意。
可是，就在那时候，比尤拉肯定已经长了乳腺癌了。
他们就这样难舍难分——用我太太的话，难舍难分——生活了八年后，比尤拉的健康开始迅速恶化。
她是在西雅图一家医院里去世的。
去世时，瞎子坐在她的病床边，紧紧地握住她的手。
他们俩结了婚，生活在一起，工作在一起（当然有性生活），最后他还得给她埋葬送终。
他干了这些事，可那倒霉的女人长得什么样子，他却始终没有看见。
这是叫我怎么也不懂的。
听完我太太的话，我为瞎子隐约地感到有点难过。
我募地想到那个女人的生活多么可怜，很觉得遗憾。
想想看，一个女人从来不知道她自己在爱人的眼睛里是什么样，那是什么滋味！一个女人竟这样一天一天地生活下来，而从来没有听到她心爱的人儿说几句最最起码的赞美的话儿。
一个女人，她的丈夫永远不能看到她的脸上表情——悲惨还是欢快。
有的人爱好打扮，有的人喜欢保持天然本色——这对他又有什么两样呢？他的老婆要打扮的话，也尽可以在眼睛周围涂上黛色，在鼻子外面镶上别针，穿上黄色的运动裤和紫色的鞋子，不管穿什么都行。
然后，悄无声息地离开人世，让瞎子抓住她的手，瞎眼里流下了热泪——这是我现在的想象——在她临死前最后一闪念大概是：他连她的模样如何都不知道，而她就这样匆匆地进入坟墓。
她给罗伯特留下了一笔小数目的保险金和半块墨西哥二十比索的硬币。
另外半块她带进棺材里去了。
真惨哪。
瞎子来访的那天，我的太太到火车站去接他。
我没事可做，只好坐在那儿干等，心里直犯嘀咕。
我喝着酒，看着电视。
这时，我听见汽车开进车道。
我手里拿着酒杯，从沙发上站起来，走到窗前，向外观看。
我瞧见我的太太满面笑容，把汽车停下。
我看见她从车里出来，关上车门，脸上还挂者一丝微笑，真叫人奇怪！她绕到车子另一边，瞎子正在从这边门里走出来。
瞧这个瞎子的模样，——还有满脸的络腮胡子！这是瞎子的脸上的胡子！我说，真够呛。
瞎子把手伸进后车座，拉出了一只手提箱。
我的太太挽起他的胳膊，关上车门。
她一路上说着话，领着瞎子走过车道，踏上台阶，走进门廊。
我关掉电视机，喝完酒，涮了涮玻璃杯，擦干手，然后走去开门。
我的太太说：“我介绍你见见罗伯特，罗伯特这是我的丈夫。
他的事情，我都跟你谈过。
”她笑容满面，扯着瞎子的大衣袖口。
瞎子放下手提箱，伸手过来。
我握住他的手。
他紧紧地握住我的手，一会儿，就放开了。
“我觉得你的面好熟，我们好像以前见过。
”他大声地说道。
“我也觉得这样。
”我说。
我不知道另外该说些什么。
我接着说：“欢迎你来。
我常听见我的太太提起你。
”接着，我们三个人一起从廊门里走进了起居间。
我的太太挽者他的胳膊，领着路，嘴里唠叨着：“向左边走，罗伯特。
对啦！当心，那儿有一把椅子。
到了。
你就坐在这儿。
这是沙发，两个星期前买的。
”我开始谈了一些那只旧沙发的事。
我十分喜欢那只旧沙发，不过没有说出口来。
接着我随便谈了一点其他的事，谈了乘火车沿哈德逊河观看风景的经验。
你到纽约去的时候，就应该坐在火车的右边：从纽约回来的时候，就要坐在左侧。
“你旅途愉快吗？”我说，“顺便问一下，你在车上坐哪一边的？”“哪一边！问得真傻，”我的太太说，“坐在哪一边又有什么关系呢？”她追问道。
“我不过问问吧。
”我回答说。
“我坐在右边，”瞎子说，“我差不多有四十年没乘火车了，我还是个小孩的时候，坐过一次火车。
跟着大人坐的。
那是很久以前的事，我快要忘记我当时激动的心情了。
现在我这把胡子已经留了一个冬天，”他说，“是人家对我说的。
亲爱的，我看上去很神气吗？”他问我的太太。
“神气的很，罗伯特，”她回答道，“罗伯特，”她接着说，“罗伯特，见到你太高兴了。
”最后，我的太太把眼光从瞎子身上转过来，看着我，我有一种感觉，她不喜欢看见我这个样子。
我只好耸耸肩膀。
我从未碰到过也不认识瞎眼的人。
这个瞎子将近五十岁，长得很粗壮结实，秃顶，弯着肩膀，好像压着沉重的东西。
他穿着棕色的运动裤，棕色的鞋子和浅棕色的衬衫，还戴着一条领带，外面穿了一件运动员的外套，蛮好看的。
他满脸胡子，但他没有手杖，也没戴墨镜。
以前，我总以为墨镜是瞎子必戴的东西。
说真的，我倒希望他戴一副。
乍看起来，他的眼睛跟常人也没有什么两样。
不过，你要是仔细瞧瞧，准能瞧出一些毛病来。
首先的一点是眼膜里眼白太多，两个瞳仁似乎不由自主地在转着，他自己也控制不了，看了真吓人。
我定睛望着瞎子，看见他的左眼的瞳仁似乎转向鼻梁，而他右眼的瞳仁却似乎尽力地保持不动。
可是尽力也没有用，他那眼睛总是不由自主地在转动着。
我说：“让我给你弄点酒来喝喝。
你喜欢喝什么？我们什么酒都有一些。
喝酒可是一种很好的消遣。
”“老弟，我是个苏格兰人。
”他说得极快，而且嗓门很大。
“没错，”我说，“老弟！你是苏格兰人，我早就知道了。
”他用手指摸了一下放在沙发旁边的那只手提箱。
他的手在探测我们的态度，这一点我倒不怪他。