文字难度：★★★
I couldn’t believe what I had just heard! Hands 1)cupped around his mouth so his words wouldn’t travel to the ears of eavesdroppers, and 2)flipping his head from shoulder to shoulder to ensure no one would be privy to his 3)divulgence, David repeated his whispered announcement: “I have $500 saved.”
刚听到的话让我难以置信！大卫窝起手掌护着嘴巴，以防话传到偷听者的耳里，他还扭头左右瞧，确保他讲秘密时没人在偷听。这时他再一次低声告诉我：“我存了500美元。”
This wouldn’t be such a shock if it weren’t for the fact that David is a 4)mentally challenged adult. Where on earth did he get that kind of money? He pulled me aside and answered my unspoken question, so excited that his words tumbled 5)pell-mell off his lips, faster and faster until I could barely keep up with his stream of consciousness. Eventually I got the gist of his monologue.
如果大卫不是个智障青年，听到这秘密我是不会那么吃惊的。他究竟是怎样获得那笔钱的？他把我拉到一边，回答了我没问出口的问题。他兴奋得有点语无伦次，越说越快，我几乎跟不上他的思路。他的独白，我最终还是大致听出了个所以然。
When he was a little boy he had made weekly trips with his mother to a local department store. He was 6)mesmerized by the window displays and eagerly stood with his nose pressed against the glass until his breath clouded his view. Then came the display which would change his and many other lives 30 years later. It was a 7)Victor Five Victrola, the kind that needed to be wound by hand before placing the needle on the record, the machine which 8)bore the symbol of a black and white dog, ear 9)cocked to its side. Not missing a beat, he 10)expounded on a history lesson about 11)Columbia Records and their music machines, information 12)gleaned from his trips to the library. There was nothing he didn’t know about that golden age of music.
他还小的时候，每周都会和妈妈去一趟当地的百货商店。他总是着迷于橱窗里展示的东西，站在那儿眼巴巴地看着，鼻子贴着橱窗玻璃，直到呼出的气雾挡住了自己的视线。后来，橱窗里展示的一件东西改变了他以及很多人在三十年后的生活轨迹。那是一台型号为胜利五号的维克多牌留声机，一种需要手摇机器再把唱针放到唱片上的留声机，上面还有只黑白狗标志，那狗竖着耳朵，脸朝着留声机一端的喇叭。他细述着哥伦比亚唱片公司和他们那些音乐播放器材的历史，巨细无遗，全是泡图书馆收集回来的信息。音乐史上的那段黄金岁月，他无所不知。
His mother died, and he eventually was able to live independently, supervised by an agency. It was through the agency that he obtained work, cleaning toilets of public facilities five nights a week. Every week he 13)squirreled away his paycheck, never forgetting the Victrola. He was on a mission to find and buy a 14)phonograph like the one he had once admired through plate glass.
后来他母亲去世了，他在一家机构的照看下终于过起独立的生活。他通过那家机构找到了工作，一周五个晚上打扫公共厕所。他把每周的薪水存起来，从没忘记过维克多牌手摇留声机。他在履行一个使命，他要寻找自己曾经透过厚厚的橱窗欣赏到的那种留声机，他要买下这样一台留声机。
Visibly exhausted from revealing his secret, David paused long enough to pull out a 15)tattered 16)Polaroid photo from his back pocket. He lovingly waved it in front of my eyes and proclaimed, “There it is! Victor Five!” He had found the object of his desire exhibited at a museum and had been faithfully visiting it every chance he could get. The colored piece of paper was a constant reminder of his goal.
显然，大卫向我说秘密时费了不少劲，他停了好一会儿才从后袋里掏出一张破旧的宝丽来照片。他在我眼前深情地挥舞着照片，大喊：“就是这种！胜利五号！”之前，他发现自己的心头好陈列在一家博物馆里，于是一有机会就去看，诚心得很。那张宝丽来彩照一直提醒着他自己的目标。
I 17)tucked away his confession into the back of my mind, only to dust it off when I wandered into one of my favorite antique shops a few months later. In the back of the shop, tacked in the corner of a bulletin board over the owner’s desk, was a Polaroid picture just like the one David had shown me. I hastily inquired as to why it was there and unknowingly opened the door to a personal witnessing of the triumph of the human spirit.
他坦言的秘密我很快就抛诸脑后，几个月后，我走进自己最喜欢的一家古董店，才又想起这事。店内深处，店家桌子上方的告示板一角钉着一张宝丽来照片，和大卫给我看过的那张一模一样。我迫不及待地问店家，照片为什么会在那儿，于是无意之间打开了一扇门，看到了人原来真的可以凭意志攻克难题。
David had gone to every antique shop in the city and had left a picture of his beloved Victrola with each of the shopkeepers. If any one of them was to come across a Victor Five he wanted to buy it. Rain or shine, the owner at Century Antiques counted on David to stop at his 18)Waterbury store at least twice a month to check on the success of his quest. He hadn’t put any effort into looking because he honestly didn’t think David had the money for such an expensive piece. After all, David was, well, not “like us.” Didn’t he know that it was next to impossible to find that particular antique? But, being a kindhearted soul, the dealer had 19)taken a liking to David and posted his Polaroid.
大卫走遍了市里的每家古董店，分别给每个店家留下了一张他心爱的维克多牌留声机的照片，说谁要是收购到一台胜利五号，他就会来买。位于沃特伯里的世纪古董店，那里的老板清楚，大卫每个月不论晴雨至少去两次，为的是看自己是否梦想成真。那个店家并没作任何努力去寻找那种留声机，因为他觉得，老实说，大卫不可能有钱买这么贵的玩意儿。毕竟，大卫，嗯，不“像我们”。大卫难道不知道要找这么个独特的古董简直就是大海捞针吗？不过，店家是个善良的人，他挺喜欢大卫的，所以也遂他愿，把那张宝丽来照片贴了出来。
I commanded him to take the mission seriously. If David was short of the required amount for the purchase, I knew it wouldn’t be impossible to find enough people to 20)chip in to make up the difference. There was a core group of people in our church who were fond of him and would dig into their pockets to help him reach his goal.
我严辞请求店家认真对待这个任务。如果大卫没足够的钱，我知道一定可以找够人凑齐钱帮忙的。我们教堂里就有一群核心人物很喜欢他，他们一定愿意掏钱包帮他实现目标。
It took some time, but the antique shop came through with 21)flying colors. For months, the owner’s son, Chip, had made phone call after phone call in the tri-state area and eventually 22)struck it rich. A Victor Five had been found! He personally drove to the source, brought the machine back to his shop, and called me with the news. “I can’t believe it. It’s a miracle that I found one in such beautiful shape, or that I found one at all!” The cost to David? Not a 23)nickel more than what it had cost the dealer.
虽然花了好些时间，但那家古董店还是成功找到了那种留声机。几个月来，老板的儿子，切普，不断在三州交界地拨打电话询问，终于幸运地找到了一台胜利五号！他亲自开车到那个地方，把机器带回他店里，并打电话告诉我这个消息。“我简直不能相信。我找到了一台保存如此完好的留声机，或者说，能找到一台那种留声机，简直是个奇迹！”
The profit for the dealer? The pure joy of seeing David when he 24)flung open the door to the shop, stopping speechless in front of the phonograph, clapping his hands together in prayer, and looking up to heaven and saying, “Thank you, thank you for my Victor Five.”
大卫为此的花费？没比店家多花五分镍币。店家的利润呢？收获了纯粹的快乐——只见大卫夺门而入，在那台留声机前停下，说不出话，只是拍着手祈祷，向天说道：“谢谢，谢谢你给了我一台胜利五号。”
So, if you drive down the street past David’s apartment, you will most probably hear music.
David will be playing his Victrola, and the world will be a little nicer.
于是，当你开车在街上驶过大卫家，你很可能会听见乐声飘扬。大卫会开着他那台维克多牌留声机，世界也会变得更美好一些。
