I had to grow up and learn to listen for the unspoken as well as the spoken—and to know a truth， I also had to recognize a lie.
Listening
E.Welty
In that vanishedvanish vi.消失， 突然不见， ［数］成为零 time in smalltown Jackson， most of the ladies I was familiar with， the mothers of my friends in the neighborhood， were busiest when they were sociable.
In the afternoons there was regular visiting up and down the little grid of residential streets.
我还必须成长，这样才能学会听懂说出的话，而且能听出弦外之音——并且为了认识真实，我还得学会分清谎言。
倾听
E.威尔第
在那消逝的以往岁月里，我所熟知的杰克逊小镇的太太夫人们，也就是我左邻右舍小朋友的妈妈们，大都在醉心社交时最为忙碌。
每天的下午，在住宅区街道的走廊里，访客们便人来人往。
Everybody had calling cards， even certain children； and newborn babies themselves were properly announced by sending out their tiny engraved engrave v.雕刻， (线条， 文字， 图案)于一硬面上， 深印于(心上)， 使铭记， 铭刻 calling cards attached with a pink or blue bow to those of their parents. Graduation presents to highschool pupils were often “card cases”.
On the hall table in every house the first thing you saw was silver tray tray n.盘， 碟， 盘子 waiting to receive more calling cards on top of the stack stack n.堆， 一堆， 堆栈 already piled up like jackstraws jackstraw n.稻草人 ； they were never thrown away.
My mother let none of this idling， as she saw it， pertain to her， she went her own way with or without her calling cards， and though she was fond of her friends and they were fond of her， she had little time for small talk.
人人都有自己的名片，甚至一些小孩子也有。新生儿雕版印制成的小名片用粉红或蓝色的蝴蝶结与父母的名片系在一起送往各家各户，郑重宣告他们的降生。而送给高中学生的毕业礼物则常常是名片盒。
在任何一家门厅里的桌台上，你首先看到的是许多名片散乱地堆在了一只银盘上，如同稻草人一样恭候着更多名片的到来。来访者的名片从来不会被丢弃。
我母亲认为这些就是虚度光阴，她从不让自己与这些事产生关系。她总是我行我素，不管什么名片不名片，虽然她喜欢她的朋友，朋友们也喜欢她，但她没有时间去扯家长里短。
At first， I hadnt known what Id missed.When we at length bought our first automobile， one of our neighbors was often invited to go with us on the family Sunday afternoon ride. In Jackson it was counted an affront affront n.公开侮辱， 轻蔑 to the neighbors to start out for anywhere with an empty seat in the car. My mother sat in the back with her friend， and Im told that as a small child I would ask to sit in the middle， and say as we started off， “Now talk.”
There was dialogue throughout the ladys accounts to my mother. “I said”… “He said”… “And Im told she very plainly said”… “It was midnight before they finally heard， and what do you think it was.”
What I loved about her stories was that everything happened in scenes. I might not catch on to what the root of the trouble was in all that happened， but my ear told me it was dramatic dramatic adj.戏剧性的， 生动的 . Often she said，“The crisis had come！”
开始我不知道自己有多大损失。等我们终于买到了第一辆汽车，每逢周日的下午我们就常邀请一位邻居乘车一起去兜风。在杰克逊小镇，如果开车出门而车上还有空座位的话，就会被认为是对邻居的轻侮。我母亲和她的朋友都坐在后座上。人们告诉我，小时候的我常常要求坐在她们的中间，等车一发动，就说“现在开始聊吧”。
那位女士向我妈讲的故事里充满了对话。“我说……”“他说……”“我听见她直截了当地讲……”“直到大半夜他们才听到消息，你猜是怎么回事？”
我喜欢她讲的故事，因为情景栩栩如生。我也许搞不清那些麻烦事的来龙去脉，不过我听出故事很具有戏剧性。她常说：“这下子到了紧急关头！”
This same lady was one of Mothers callers on the telephone who always talked a long time. I knew who it was when my mother would only reply， now and then， “Well， I declare，” or “You dont say so，” or “Surely not.” Shed be standing at the wall telephone， listening against her will， and Id sit on the stairs close by her.
Our telephone had a little bar set into the handle which had to be pressed and held down to keep the connection open， and when her friend had said goodbye， my mother needed me to prize her fingers loose from the little bar； her grip had become paralyzed paralyze vt.使瘫痪， 使麻痹 . “What did she say？” I asked.
“She wasnt saying a thing in this world，” sighed sigh vi.叹息， 叹气 my mother. “She was just ready to talk， thats all.”
这位太太也是喜欢给妈妈打长电话的女士之一。如果我妈妈打电话时不时地只说“是的”“是嘛”或“当然不啦”等等，我肯定知道来电话的是谁。她站在壁装电话机前，很不情愿地应付着，而我就坐在她眼前的楼梯上。
我家的电话手柄上有一个按键，通话时必须按着才能保持畅通。等妈妈的朋友道了再见，她的手已经麻木，需我帮忙把指头从按键上搬开。“她说什么了？”我问。
“她什么也没有说，”妈妈叹息道，“她只是想说话，仅此罢了。”
My mother was right. Years later， beginning with my story Why I live at the P.O.， I wrote reasonably reasonably adv.适度地， 相当地 often in the form of a monologue monologue n.独白， 独角戏 that takes possession of the speaker. How much more gets told besides.
This lady told everything in her sweet， marveling marvel v.大为惊异， 觉得惊奇 voice， and meant every word of it kindly. She enjoyed my company perhaps even more than my mothers. She invited me to catch her doodlebugs doodlebug n.［昆］狮蚁， 超小型赛车 ； under the trees in her backyard were dozens of their holes.
When you stuck a broom broom n.扫帚， ［植］金雀花 straw down one and called， “Doodlebug， doodlebug， your house is on fire and all your children are burning up，” she believed this is why the doodlebug came running out of the hole. This was why I loved to call up her doodlebugs instead of ours.
我母亲说得很正确。多年以后，我以小说《我为何在邮局过活》为起点，在写作中常采用一种独白形式，即说话人情不自禁地说个没完。而这独白的方式包含着多少言外之意！
这位太太用她那甜美、惊叹的声音侃侃而谈，而且真心实意，句句当真。说不准她喜欢我在场陪伴胜过喜欢我的妈妈。她请我去捕捉蚁蛉的幼虫，她家后院的树下有许多的虫穴。