用英语的71天，还是那只报时的布谷鸟

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Beyond the Door（Part 5）门后的“布谷鸟”

ByPhilip K. Dick

Larry pushed the front door open，grunting咕哝着说.He set his briefcase down andtook off his hat. Then he saw Bob for the first time.

Larry推开门，发着牢骚。他把公文包放下来，摘下帽子。然后他第一次看到了Bob。

"Chambers. I'll be damned（v.使……失败；ad.该死）." His eyes narrowed."What are you doing here?" He came into the dining-room. Doris drewher robe（长袍，睡袍） about her helplessly, backingaway.

"I—" Bob began."That is, we—" He broke off打断（谈话）, glancing at Doris. Suddenly theclock began to whirr（呼呼的飞/转；呼的一声）. The cuckoo came rushing out, bursting into sound. Larry movedtoward him.

"Shut that din（嘈杂声） off," he said. He raisedhis fist toward the clock. The cuckoo snapped into silence and retreated（后退，撤退）. The door closed. "That'sbetter." Larry studied Doris and Bob, standing mutely together.

“Chambers.我真倒霉。”眼睛眯起来问道“你们在这干什么”他来到卧室。Doris拉着她的睡袍，无助的回过头来。‘我” Bob回应道“额……我们”他说不下去了，盯着Doris。突然，布谷鸟钟开始忽的飞出来报时。布谷鸟冲出来叫起来。Larry走向布谷鸟。“关掉那个该死的噪音，”他说着，挥起拳头向时钟砸去。布谷鸟一下子静音了，然后退了回去，时钟的门也关上了。“这样好多了。”Larry打量着D&B，所有人都陷入沉默。

"I came over to look at theclock," Bob said. "Doris told me that it's a rare antique andthat—"

“我来看这个钟”Bob说：“Doris告诉我这个钟非常罕有，它……”

"Nuts（<俚>发疯的，傻的）. I bought it myself." Larry walked up to him. "Getout of here." He turned to Doris. "You too. And take that damn clockwith you."

“蠢货。这是我买的”Larry向Bob走过去“离开这儿。”他又转向Doris“还有你。把这个该死的钟也带走。”

Hepaused, rubbing his chin（摸着他的下巴）. "No. Leave the clock here.It's mine; I bought it and paid for it."

他停顿一会儿，摸着他的下巴继续说。“不，把钟留下来。它是我的；我买回来的，我花的钱。”

In the weeks that followed afterDoris left, Larry and the cuckoo clock got along even worse than before. Forone thing, the cuckoo stayed inside most of the time, sometimes even at twelveo'clock when he should have been busiest. And if he did come out at all heusually spoke only once or twice, never the correct number of times. And therewas a sullen（不高兴的）, uncooperative note in hisvoice, a jarring（vi.发出刺耳的声音） sound that made Larry uneasy and a little angry.

Doris离开的几周里，Larry和报时钟相处的越来越不好。首先，布谷鸟大部分时间都待在钟里，有时候甚至12点，布谷鸟应该最忙的时候他也不出来。即使布谷鸟出来了，他也是通常只叫一两声，从来没有准确报时。而且，布谷鸟报时的声音里有一种不高兴、不情愿的语气，是一种让Larry听起来不舒服，有点儿生气的刺耳的声音。

But he kept the clock wound,because the house was very still and quiet and it got on his nerves（get on one’snerves 使人心烦，使人不安） not to hear someone running around, talking and droppingthings. And even the whirring of a clock sounded good to him.

但是他还是给报时钟上弦，因为这间房子太安静了，听不到有人（应该是他前妻Doris吧）在房子里跑来跑去、说话、丢东西的声音，让他感到很不安。所以这个时钟突然的报个时，对他来说听起来不错。

Buthe didn't like the cuckoo at all. And sometimes he spoke to him.

尽管他根本不喜欢布谷鸟，但是有时候他还要跟他说说话。

木风叁碎碎念（用英语的71天）：

By Philip K. Dick是一位知名科幻小说家，这篇文章是他一个短篇的节选，原文整个故事讲述了Larry（男主角）给妻子（Doris）买了一个有问题的布谷鸟报时钟（a cuckoo clock），而因为这个报时钟引发了一系列的麻烦和妻子的抱怨，故事已经升级到小三出现了。用布谷鸟与男主人的相处，侧面描写内心，表达故事主线，很有意思的短篇。