Chapter 29

       Babette and I moved down the wide aisle¹, each with a gleaming cart. We passed a family shopping in sign language.

　　I kept seeing colored lights.

　　"How do you feel?" she said.

　　"I'm fine. I feel good. How are you?""Why don't you have a checkup? Wouldn't you feel better if you found out nothing was there?""I've had two checkups. Nothing is there.""What did Dr. Chakravarty say?""What could he say?""He speaks English beautifully. I love to hear him speak.""Not as much as he loves to speak.""What do you mean he loves to speak? Do you mean he takes every possible opportunity to speak? He's a doctor. Hehas to speak. In a very real sense you are paying him to speak. Do you mean he flaunts² his beautiful English? He rubsyour face in it?""We need some Class Plus.""Don't leave me alone," she said.

　　"I'm just going to aisle five.""I don't want to be alone, Jack³. I believe you know that.""We're going to come through this thing all right," I said. "Maybe stronger than ever. We're determined⁴ to be well.

　　Babette is not a neurotic⁵ person. She is strong, healthy, outgoing, affirmative. She says yes to things. This is the pointof Babette."We stayed together in the aisles⁶ and at the checkout⁷. Babette bought three tabloids⁸ for her next session with Old ManTreadwell. We read them together as we waited on line. Then we went together to the car, loaded the merchandise,sat very close to each other as I drove home.

　　"Except for my eyes," I said.

　　"What do you mean?""Chakravarty thinks I ought to see an eye man.""Is it the colored spots again?""Yes.""Stop wearing those dark glasses.""I can't teach Hitler without them.""Why not?""I need them, that's all.""They're stupid, they're useless.""I've built a career," I said. "I may not understand all the elements involved but this is all the more reason not totamper."The déjà vu crisis centers closed down. The hotline was quietly discontinued. People seemed on the verge⁹ offorgetting. I could hardly blame them even if I felt abandoned to a certain extent, left holding the bag.

　　I went faithfully to German lessons. I began to work with my teacher on things I might say in welcoming delegates tothe Hitler conference, still a number of weeks off. The windows were totally blocked by furniture and debris¹⁰.

　　Howard Dunlop sat in the middle of the room, his oval face floating in sixty watts¹¹ of dusty light. I began to suspect Iwas the only person he ever talked to. I also began to suspect he needed me more than I needed him. A disconcertingand terrible thought.

　　There was a German-language book on a ruined table near the door. The title was lettered in black in a thick heavyominous typeface: Das Aegyptische Todtenbuch.

　　"What's that?" I said.

　　"The Egyptian Book of the Dead," he whispered. "A best-seller in Germany."Every so often, when Denise wasn't home, I wandered into her room. I picked up things, put them down, lookedbehind a curtain, glanced into an open drawer, stuck my foot under the bed and felt around. Absentminded browsing¹².

　　Babette listened to talk radio.

　　I started throwing things away. Things in the top and bottom of my closet, things in boxes in the basement and attic¹³.

　　I threw away correspondence, old paperbacks¹⁴, magazines I'd been saving to read, pencils that needed sharpening. Ithrew away tennis shoes, sweat socks, gloves with ragged¹⁵ fingers, old belts and neckties. I came upon stacks ofstudent reports, broken rods for the seats of director's chairs. I threw these away. I threw away every aerosol¹⁶ can thatdidn't have a top.

　　The gas meter made a particular noise.

　　That night on TV I saw newsfilm of policemen carrying a body bag out of someone's backyard in Bakersville. Thereporter said two bodies had been found, more were believed buried in the same yard. Perhaps many more. Perhapstwenty bodies, thirty bodies— no one knew for sure. He swept an arm across the area. It was a big backyard.

　　The reporter was a middle-aged¹⁷ man who spoke¹⁸ clearly and strongly and yet with some degree of intimacy,conveying a sense of frequent contact with his audience, of shared interests and mutual¹⁹ trust. Digging wouldcontinue through the night, he said, and the station would cut back to the scene as soon as developments warranted.

　　He made it sound like a lover's promise.

　　Three nights later I wandered into Heinrich's room, where the TV set was temporarily located. He sat on the floor ina hooded²⁰ sweatshirt, watching live coverage²¹ of the same scene. The backyard was floodlit, men with picks andshovels worked amid mounds²² of dirt. In the foreground stood the reporter, bareheaded, in a sheepskin coat, in a lightsnow, giving an update. The police said they had solid information, the diggers were methodical and skilled, thework had been going on for over seventy-two hours. But no more bodies had been found.

　　The sense of failed expectations was total. A sadness and emptiness hung over the scene. A dejection, a sorry gloom.

　　We felt it ourselves, my son and I, quietly watching. It was in the room, seeping²³ into the air from pulsing streams ofelectrons. The reporter seemed at first merely apologetic. But as he continued to discuss the absense of mass graves,he grew increasingly forlorn, gesturing at the diggers, shaking his head, almost ready to plead with us for sympathyand understanding. I tried not to feel disappointed.

1 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

2 flaunts   

v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的第三人称单数 )；有什么能耐就施展出来

参考例句：

• He flaunts his queer style as a savage might flaunt a top-hat retrieved from somebody's dustbin. 他对自己那种怪异的文体加以夸耀这恰似一个野人从别人的垃圾箱里捡出一顶礼帽时那种洋洋得意的样子。 来自辞典例句
• He is a drug addict who flaunts his addiction and refuses to get treatment. 他嗜药，并以此为荣甚至拒绝治疗。 来自电影对白

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 neurotic   

adj.神经病的，神经过敏的；n.神经过敏者，神经病患者

参考例句：

• Nothing is more distracting than a neurotic boss. 没有什么比神经过敏的老板更恼人的了。
• There are also unpleasant brain effects such as anxiety and neurotic behaviour.也会对大脑产生不良影响，如焦虑和神经质的行为。

6 aisles   

n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊

参考例句：

• Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期，原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
• They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下来。

7 checkout   

n.（超市等）收银台，付款处

参考例句：

• Could you pay at the checkout.你能在结帐处付款吗。
• A man was wheeling his shopping trolley to the checkout.一个男人正推着购物车向付款台走去。

8 tabloids   

n.小报，通俗小报（版面通常比大报小一半，文章短，图片多，经常报道名人佚事）( tabloid的名词复数 )；药片

参考例句：

• The story was on the front pages of all the tabloids. 所有小报都在头版报道了这件事。
• The story made the front page in all the tabloids. 这件事成了所有小报的头版新闻。

9 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

10 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

11 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

12 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

14 paperbacks   

n.平装本，平装书( paperback的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This shop only sells paperbacks. 这家书店只出售平装本的书。 来自辞典例句
• Other paperbacks were selling for ten or 15 cents each. 其它的平装书每本才卖十或十五美分。 来自互联网

15 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

16 aerosol   

n.悬浮尘粒，气溶胶，烟雾剂，喷雾器

参考例句：

• They sprayed aerosol insect repellent into the faces of police.他们将喷雾驱虫剂喷在了警察的脸上。
• Aerosol particles affect visibility,climate,and our health and quality of life.气溶胶对大气能见度、气候变化以及人类健康等有重要影响。

17 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

18 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

19 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

20 hooded   

adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的

参考例句：

• A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
• Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句

21 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

22 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

23 seeping   

v.（液体）渗( seep的现在分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water had been slowly seeping away from the pond. 池塘里的水一直在慢慢渗漏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chueh-hui could feel the cold seeping into his bones. 觉慧开始觉得寒气透过衣服浸到身上来了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）