Introduction：Sam is a teenager who works in A&P，a chain supermarket。One day，three girls in nothing but bathing suits walked in。The setting of the story is a small town。It is not common for people to walk into a shop in bathing suits。
1.In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits。I’m in the third check-out slot，with my back to the door，so I don’t see them until they’re over by the bread。The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece。She was a chunky kid，with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it，where the sunnever seems to hit，at the top of the backs of her legs。I stood there with my hand on a box ofHiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not。I ringit up again andthe customer starts giving me hell。She’s one of these cash-register-watchers，a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbonesand no eyebrows，and I know it made her day to trip me up。She’d been watching cash registers forty years and probably never seen a mistake before。
评注：小说从山姆的视角进行叙述，为了符合他不谙世事的青少年身份，作者故意使用了口语化的词汇和不规则的语法。这样的处理既切合人物的身份和教育水平，从另一侧面又体现出青少年的叛逆和对成人世界规则的藐视。例如第一句话使用了倒装的语序，与正常的three girls walk in 相比，倒装且语法不规则的语序符合山姆的身份。同时，从另一方面讲，倒装语序更贴近山姆的观察视角。将three girls移到句末，更能体现出三个女孩从无到有出现在山姆视线里的过程。1-5段作者通过山姆的视角对三位少女进行了详细地描写，和小镇上的其他人产生鲜明的对比。
plaid：n。格子花纹
chunky：adj。结实的
tan：n。被太阳晒得棕褐色肤色
crescent：n。新月形
ring……up：把钱计入现金收纳机
give somebody hell：（非正式）狠狠地责骂某人
rouge：n。胭脂，腮红
cheekbone：n。颧骨
trip somebody up：让某人犯错，找某人的碴
2.By the time I got her feathers smoothed and her goodies into a bag—shegives me a little snort in passing，if she’d been born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem—by the time I get her on herway the girlshad circled around the bread and were coming back，without a pushcart，back my way along the counters，in the aisle between the check-outs and the special bins。They didn’t even have shoes on。There was this chunky one，withthe two-piece—it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly wasstill pretty pale so I guessed she just got it（the suit）—there was this one，with one of those chubby berry-faces，the lips all bunched together under her nose，this one，and a tallone，with black hair that hadn’t quite frizzed right，and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes，and a chin that was too long—you know，the kind of girl other girls think is very“striking”and“attractive”but never quite makes it，as they very well know，which is why they like her so much—and then the third one，that wasn’t quite so tall。She was the queen。She kind of led them，the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round。She didn’t look around，not this queen，she just walked straight onslowly，on these long white prima donna legs。
She came down a little hard on herheels，as if she didn’t walk in her bare feet that much，putting down her heelsand then letting the weight move along to her toes as if she was testing the floor with every step，putting a little deliberate extra action into it。You neverknow for sure how girls’minds work（do you really think it’s a mind in thereor just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar？）but you got theidea she had talked the other two into coming in here with her，and now she was showing them how to do it，walk slow and hold yourself straight。
get her feathers smoothed：英文里有一个习惯说法叫ruffle one’s feather，意思是惹恼某人，这里get one’s feather smoothed意思就是把某人哄好
goody：n。（非正式）好吃的东西
snort：n。哼声
Salem：萨勒姆是马萨诸塞州的一个小村庄，深受清教影响。1692年村庄里一群年轻女孩有怪异举动，村民由此认为她们是被巫术控制，随即开展大规模的所谓“驱巫”行动。多名无辜妇女被指认为女巫，从而被残忍的烧死。这就是著名的“萨勒姆驱巫案”。文中山姆因为中年妇女对他发难不满，故而在心中咒骂她是萨勒姆的女巫。
seam：n。缝
chubby：adj。圆圆胖胖的
bunch：v。使打褶
frizz：v。使头发卷曲
prima donna：歌剧团的首席女歌手
buzz：n。嗡嗡声
3.She had on a kind of dirty-pink—beige maybe，I don’t know—bathing suit with a little nubble all over it and，what got me，the straps were down。Theywere off her shoulders looped loose around the cool tops of herarms，and I guess as a result the suit had slipped a little on her，so all around the top of the cloth there was this shining rim。If it hadn’t been there you wouldn’t have known there could have been anything whiter than those shoulders。With the straps pushed off，there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her，this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light。I mean，it was more than pretty。
4.She had sort of oaky hair that the sun and salt had bleached，done up in abun that was unravelling，and a kind of prim face。Walking into the A&P withyour straps down，I suppose it’s the only kind of face you can have。She held her head so high her neck，coming up out of those white shoulders，looked kind ofstretched，but I didn’t mind。The longer her neck was，the more of her there was。
5.She must have felt in the corner of her eye me and over my shoulder Stokesie in the second slot watching，but she didn’t tip。Not this queen。She kept hereyes moving across the racks，and stopped，and turned so slow itmade my stomachrub the inside of my apron，and buzzed to the other two，who kind of huddled against her for relief，and they all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food，breakfast，cereal，macaroni，rice，raisins，seasonings，spreads，spaghetti，softdrinks，rackers，and，cookies aisle。From the third slot I look straight up thisaisle to the meat counter，and I watched them all the way。The fat one with the tan sort of fumbled with the cookies，but on second thought she put the packages back。The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle—the girls were walking against theusual traffic（not that we have one-way signs or anything）—were pretty hilarious。You could see them，when Queenie’s white shoulders dawned on them，kind ofjerk，or hop，or hiccup，but their eyes snappedback to their own baskets and on they pushed。I bet you could set off dynamite in an A&P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists and muttering“Let me see，there was a third thing，began with A，asparagus，no，ah，yes，applesauce！”or whatever it is they do mutter。Butthere was no doubt，this jiggledthem。A few house-slaves in pin curlers even looked around after pushing their carts past to make sure what they had seen was correct。
评注：6-10段中，从山姆的叙述中可以了解到，这是一个相对封闭保守的小镇，因此也为几个身着泳装的少女在超市出现可能引起的震动埋下伏笔。
beige：n。米色
nubble：n。结头
strap：n。肩带
loop：v。环住，套住
dented：adj。有凹陷的，凹凸不平的
tilt：v。倾斜，翘起
oaky：n。橡木色
bleach：v。漂白
do up：系上
bun：n。发髻
unravel：v。解开，敞开
prim：adj。一本正经的，拘谨的
tip：v。倾斜
rack：n。架子
huddle：v。挤成一团
cereal：n。谷类早餐
macaroni：n。通心面
raisin：n。葡萄干
seasoning：n。调味品
spread：n。涂面包的软质食物，如巧克力酱等
spaghetti：n。细意大利面
racker：n。饼干
fumble：v。笨手笨脚的摸
on second thought：认真思考，仔细考虑
hilarious：adj。非常可笑的，有趣的
jerk：n。猛地一动
hiccup：n。打嗝
by and large：大体上
oatmeal：n。燕麦片
mutter：v。咕哝
asparagus：n。芦笋
applesauce：n。苹果酱
jiggle：v。使……急速来回摆动
pin curler：卷发针
6.You know，it’s one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach，where what with the glare nobody can look at each other much anyway，and another thing in the cool of the A&P，under the fluorescent lights，against all those stacked packages，with her feet paddling along naked over ourcheckerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor。
7.“Oh Daddy，”Stokesie said beside me。“I feel so faint。”
8.“Darling，”I said。“Hold me tight。”Stokesie’s married，with two babies chalked up on his fuselage already，but as far as I can tell that’s the only difference。He’s twenty-two，and I was nineteen this April。
9.“Is it done？”he asks，the responsible married man finding his voice。I forgot to say he thinks he’s going to be manager some sunny day，maybe in 1990 when it’s called the Great Alexandrov and Petrooshki Tea Company or something。
10.What he meant was，our town is five miles from a beach，with a big summer colony out on the point，but we’re right in the middle of town，and the women generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they get out of the car into the street。And anyway these are usually women with six children and varicoseveins mapping their legs and nobody，including them，could care less。As I say，we’re right in the middle of town，and if you stand at our front doors you can see two banks and the Congregational Church and the newspaper store and three real-estate offices and about twenty-seven old free-loaders tearing up Central Street because the sewer broke again。It’s not as if we’re on the Cape we’re north of Boston and there’s people in this town haven’t seen the ocean for twenty years。
what with：多用于口语，用来列举因为某事或某种感受引起的原因
glare：n。刺眼的强光
fluorescent：adj。荧光的
paddle：v。淌水
checkerboard：n。棋盘图案
chalk up：记下（做过的事，账目）
fuselage：n。飞机机身
varicose vein：静脉曲张
Congregational：adj。基督教公理会的
free-loader：n。杂役
sewer：n。下水道
11.The girls had reached the meat counter and were asking McMahon something。He pointed，they pointed，and they shuffled out of sight behind a pyramid of Diet Delight peaches。All that was left for us to see was old McMahon patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints。Poor kids，Ibegan to feel sorry for them，they couldn’t help it。
12.Now here comes the sad part of the story，at least my family says it’s sadbut I don’t think it’s sad myself。The store’s pretty empty，it being Thursday afternoon，so there was nothing much to do except lean on the register and wait for the girls to show up again。The whole store was like a pinball machine and Ididn’t know which tunnel they’d come out of。After a while they come around outof the far aisle，around the light bulbs，records at discount of the Caribbean Six or Tony Martin Sings or some such gunk you wonder they waste the wax on，sixpacks of candy bars，and plastic toys done up in cellophane that fall apart when a kid looks at them anyway。Around they come，Queenie still leading the way，and holding a little gray jar in her hand。Slots Three through Seven are unmannedand I could see her wondering between Stokes and me，but Stokesie with his usual luck draws an old party in baggy gray pants who stumbles up with four giant cans of pineapple juice（what do these bums do with all that pineapple juice？I’veoften asked myself）so the girls come to me。Queenie puts down the jar and I take it into my fingers icy cold。Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks inPure Sour Cream：49￠。Now her hands are empty，not a ring or a bracelet，bare as God made them，and I wonder where the money’s coming from。Still with that prim look she lifts a folded dollar bill out of the hollow at the center of her nubbled pink top。The jar went heavy in my hand。Really，I thought that was so cute。
13.Then everybody’s luck begins to run out。Lengel comes in from haggling with a truck full of cabbages on the lot and is about to scuttle into that door marked MANAGER behind which he hides all day when the girls touch his eye。Lengel’spretty dreary，teaches Sunday school and the rest，but he doesn’t miss that much。He comes over and says，“Girls，this isn’t the beach。”
14.Queenie blushes，though maybe it’s just a brush of sunburn I was noticingfor the first time，now that she was so close。“My mother asked me to pick up ajar of herring snacks。”Her voice kind of startled me，the way voices do when you see the people first，coming out so flat and dumb yet kind of tony，too，the way it ticked over“pick up”and“snacks。”All of a sudden I slid right downher voice into her living room。Her father and the other men were standing around inice-cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring s nacks on toothpicks off a big plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them。When my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it’s a real racy affair Schlitz in tall glasses with“They’ll Do It Every Time”cartoons stencilled on。
shuffle：v。拖着脚走
size up：打量
pinball：n。弹子球
gunk：n。污秽的黏糊糊的东西
fall apart：崩溃，瓦解
baggy：adj。很多口袋的
pineapple：n。凤梨
bum：n。（非正式）流浪汉
herring：n。鲱鱼
haggle：v。讨价还价
scuttle：v。小步疾走
Sunday school：一般为教会所办，免费教授基本的语法拼写知识和宗教故事等。这里指出经理在周日学校教课，也就暗示他是一个严格遵守教义的人。
sandal：n。凉鞋
toothpick：n。牙签
olive：n。橄榄
sprig：n。嫩枝
mint：n。薄荷
lemonade：n。柠檬汽水
racy：adj。有趣的，生动的
stencil：v。用模板制作
15.“That’s all right，”Lengel said。“But this isn’t the beach。”His repeatingthis struck me as funny，as if it had just occurred to him，andhe had been thinking all these years the A&P was a great big dune and he was the head lifeguard。He didn’t like my smiling—as I say he doesn’t miss much—but heconcentrates on giving the girls that sad Sunday-school-superintendent stare。
16.Queenie’s blush is no sunburn now，and the plump one in plaid，that I liked better from the back—a really sweet can—pipes up，“We weren’t doingany shopping。We just came in for the one thing。”
17.“That makes no difference，”Lengel tells her，and I could see from the way his eyes went that he hadn’t noticed she was wearing a two-piece before。“We want you decently dressed when you come in here。”
18.“We are decent，”Queenie says suddenly，her lower lip pushing，getting sore now that she remembers her place，a place from which the crowd that runs the A&P must look pretty crummy。Fancy Herring Snacks flashed in her very blue eyes。
19.“Girls，I don’t want to argue with you。After this come in here with yourshoulders covered。It’s our policy。”He turns his back。That’s policy for you。Policy is what the kingpins want。What the others want is juvenile delinquency。
occur to：想法突然浮现
dune：n。沙丘
superintendent：n。主管，负责人
sore：adj。本意为酸痛，在美国口语中用来指恼火的，气愤的
crummy：adj。劣质的，糟糕的
kingpin：n。重要人物
juvenile delinquency：青少年犯罪
20.All this while，the customers had been showing up with their carts but，you know，sheep，seeing a scene，they had all bunched up on Stokesie，who shook open a paper bag as gently as peeling a peach，not wanting to missa word。I couldfeel in the silence everybody getting nervous，most of all Lengel，who asks me，“Sammy，have you rung up this purchase？”
评注：13-20段详细地描写了女孩们和经理的冲突，故事也发展到了高潮。女孩和经理分别代表了不同的力量，而山姆则用自己的价值评判做出了选择。他们的冲突具有一定的象征意义。
21.I thought and said“No”but it wasn’t about that I was thinking。I go through the punches，4，9，GROC，TOT—it’s more complicated than you think，andafter you do it often enough，it begins to make a little song，that you hear wordsto，in my case“Hello（bing）there，you（gung）hap-py pee-pul（splat）”thesplat being the drawer flying out。I uncrease the bill，tenderly as you may imagine，it just having come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had everknown were there，and pass a half and a penny into her narrow pink palm，and nestle the herrings in a bag and twist its neck and hand it over，all the time thinking。
22.The girls，and who’d blame them，are in a hurry to get out，so I say“I quit”to Lengel quick enough for them to hear，hoping they’ll stop and watch me，their unsuspected hero。They keep right on going，into the electric eye the doorflies open and they flicker across the lot to their car，Queenie and Plaid and Big Tall Goony-Goony（not that as raw material she was so bad），leaving me withLengel and a kink in his eyebrow。
23.“Did you say something，Sammy？”
24.“I said I quit。”
25.“I thought you did。”
26.“You didn’t have to embarrass them。”
bunch up：聚成一团
peel：v。削皮
uncrease：v。抚平皱褶
vanilla：n。香草
palm：n。手掌
nestle：v。（使）舒适地安顿下来。这个动词和前面的uncrease tenderly等等，表现出山姆的动作中含有一丝柔情，一丝不舍。而所用的vanilla scoop等说法也表明了山姆作为青少年的肉体冲动。
flicker：v。闪现
kink：n。扭结27“It was they who were embarrassing us。”
28.Lengel sighs and begins to look very patient and old and gray。He’s been afriend of my parents for years。“Sammy，you don’t want to do this to your Momand Dad。”he tells me。It’s true，I don’t。But it seems to me that once you begina gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it。I fold the apron，“Sammy”stitched in red on the pocket，and put it on the counter，and drop the bow tie on topof it。The bow tie is theirs，if you’ve ever wondered。“You’ll feel this forthe rest of your life，”Lengel says，and I know that’s true，too，but rememberinghow he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside Ipunch the No Sale tab and the machine whirs“pee-pul”and the drawer splats out。One advantageto this scene taking place in summer，I can follow this up with a clean exit，there’s no fumbling around getting your coat and galoshes，I justsaunter into theelectric eye in my white shirt that my mother ironed the night before，and the door heaves itself open，and outside the sunshine is skating around on the asphalt。
评注：这一段含有一点讽刺的意味，山姆满心幻想自己的举动能获得女孩们的赞赏，兴冲冲地赶出门去，结果女孩们已经无处可循，他看见的只是一个已婚妇女和孩子厉声争吵，理想和现实之间的落差给了山姆一种“顿悟”（epiphany）的感觉，他突然明白，将来的生活会很艰难。
29.I look around for my girls，but they’re gone，of course。There wasn’t anybody but some young married screaming with her children about some candy they didn’t get by the door of a powder-blue Falcon station wagon。Looking back in thebig windows，over the bags of peat moss and aluminum lawn furniture stacked on the pavement，I could see Lengel in my place in the slot，checking the sheep through。His face was dark gray and his back stiff，as if he’d just had an injectionof iron，and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter。
stitch：v。绣
scrunchy：adj。发出咯吱声
galoshes：n。胶鞋
saunter：v。从容的漫步
asphalt：n。沥青
peat：n。泥炭
moss：n。苔藓
aluminum：n。铝
评注：本文大量使用青少年常用的口语，时态上现在时和过去时交替使用，现在时能突出冲突的紧迫感，过去时则生动地展现了山姆的内心世界。同时，本篇小说还有一个鲜明的特点，就是“神话原型”（mythic archetype）的使用。A&P不仅仅指商场名，同时也指代神话人物，A指代Aphrodite，P指代特洛伊王子Paris。整个故事情节则平行于希腊神话中天后Hera、智慧女神Athena、美神Aphrodite，因为金苹果起纷争，邀请特洛伊王子Paris作评判的故事。
Comprehension Exercises：
1.In the 10th paragraph，the author mentioned that the store is in the centerof the town。What implication does such a statement carry？
2.What kind of force does the manager represent？
3.Viewing from an archetypal perspective，what do the manager，Sam and Queenie represent respectively？
约翰·厄普代克（1932—2009）美国著名作家及评论家。他是一个高产的作家，尤其因为“兔子四部曲”（Rabbit，Run Rabbit Redux Rabbit is Rich Rabbit at Rest）而闻名于世。他的小说主要关注的是美国中产阶级的生活，常以美国新英格兰地区的小镇为背景。他笔法细腻，观察入微，见解独特，曾被评论界认为是诺贝尔文学奖有力的竞争者之一。