What the Neighbors Know

时间：2014-06-23 08:12:35

（单词翻译:单击）

What the Neighbors Know
Melanie McCabe
 
 
What the neighbors know is so small it might fit in my mailbox. 
 I wish they would put it there, unfolded, explicit1（明确的）, so I could be 
 certain of what they think they saw, the shaky black-and-white 
 reel they have colorized, the beginnings and middles cobbled（铺鹅卵石） 
 to find their way to the end. 
 
No one will sign his name. Each separate letter will be cut 
 from newspapers, magazines, to keep the scales of knowing 
 unbalanced: We have a piece of your life that we plan to torture 
 into something we recognize. We want more pieces. But 
 even then, we won't give you this one back. 
 
I once had all of their names but didn't keep them. Did they 
 keep mine? If we passed each other in some far-off town, 
 I wouldn't know them, though I have lived beside them 
 for nearly thirty years. Anonymity2 is a chosen loneliness, 
 but a secret in a cul-de-sac has a fleeting3 life. 
 
Their eyes on my comings and goings, my middling tragedy, 
 are a kind of extortion（勒索，敲诈）, even if they never open their mouths. 
 If I do not give them reasons, they will think I had none. 
 If enough people paint me a heart of pitch, a rudderless（无指导者的） 
 integrity, how could all of them be wrong? 
 
Whatever the neighbors know, it is not enough, but the rest 
 of the story is not mine to tell. See me, then, half in shadow. Or 
 turn me, if you must, toward4 your lurid5 light. I will grow older, 
 quieter, until no one believes the tale you pin on me. I will wear 
 sensible shoes. I will outfox you by being too dull to be bad.

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1 explicit IhFzc     
adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的
参考例句：
  • She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
  • He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。
2 anonymity IMbyq     
n.the condition of being anonymous
参考例句：
  • Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
  • Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。
3 fleeting k7zyS     
adj.短暂的，飞逝的
参考例句：
  • The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
  • Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。
4 toward on6we     
prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝
参考例句：
  • Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
  • Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。
5 lurid 9Atxh     
adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的
参考例句：
  • The paper gave all the lurid details of the murder.这份报纸对这起凶杀案耸人听闻的细节描写得淋漓尽致。
  • The lurid sunset puts a red light on their faces.血红一般的夕阳映红了他们的脸。

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