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1、【国外英文文学】All Day WednesdayErnie turned the dial on his television. The station he had selectedbrightened and the face of the set turned from dark to blue. Erniesipped his can of beer. He was alone in the room, and it was night.The picture steadied and Jory looked out of the set at him. Jorysface was
2、tired. He looked bad.Hello, Ernie, Jory said.Ernie turned the dial to the next station.Hello, Ernie, the face of Jory said.At the next spot on the dial: Hello, Ernie. The next: Hello,Ernie.There were five stations that Ernies set was able to receive. Whenthe fifth station said Hello, Ernie, and Jory
3、s tired face lookedout at him, Ernie shrugged, took another sip from his can of beer andsat down to watch the set.That happened Wednesday night. Wednesday morning began like this:Ernie woke feeling bored. It seemed he was always bored these days. Anempty can of beer and a crumpled pack of cigarettes
4、 rested on top ofthe dead television. All he did nights was watch TV.Ernie sighed and thanked God that today was Wednesday. Tonight, whenhe came home from work, he would be over the hump . only two daysleft and then the week end. Ernie didnt know for sure what he would_do_ on his week end-go bowling
5、, maybe-but whatever he did it wassure to be better than staying home every night.Oh, he supposed he _could_ go out, just once in a while, during thework week. Some of the guys at the plant did. But then, the guys thatdid go out week nights werent as sharp at their jobs as Ernie was.Sometimes they s
6、howed up late and pulled other stuff like that. Youcouldnt do things like that too often, Ernie thought virtuously. Notif it was a good job, a job that you wanted to keep. You had to besharp.Ernie smiled. _He_ was sharp. A growing feeling of virtue began toreplace his boredom.Ernie glanced at his wa
7、tch and went sprawling out of his bed. He waslate. He didnt even have time for breakfast.His last thought, as he slammed out of his apartment, was an angryregret that he had not had time to pack a lunch. He would have to eatin the plant cafeteria again. Cafeteria lunches cost money. Moneyconcerned E
8、rnie. It always did. But right now he was going to needmoney for the week end; payday was another week away. * * * * *Ernie punched in twelve minutes late.His foreman was waiting beside the time clock. He was a big man, andwhat was left of his red hair matched in color the skin of his neck.And the c
9、olor of his face, when he grew angry.His name was Rogers. He smiled now as Ernie nervously pushed his timecard into the clock. His voice was warm and jovial as he spoke.Well . _good morning_, Mr. Stump. And did we have a nice, late,cozy little sleep-in this morning?Ernie smiled uncertainly. Im sorry
10、, Rogers. I know Im late, but thetime just sort of got away from me-Rogers laughed lightly. Think nothing _of_ it, Mr. Stump. Thesethings happen, after all.Uh, yeah. Well, like I said, Im sorry and-Rogers went on, unheeding. Of course, complications can develop whenyour number three wrist-pin man de
11、cides that he just isnt feelingsharp this morning and he needs a little extra sleep to put him right.If youre the foreman for Sub-Assembly Line 3-A, for example, Mr.Stump, one wonders if the rush order that must be filled by thismorning is going to be finished any time before next Christmas. Onewond
12、ers where the wrist-pin man is, Mr. Stump. Does he intend to comein at all, or will he just snooze his little head off all day? Onewonders what to say to the plant manager, Mr. Stump. How do you tellhim that twenty men are standing idle on Sub-Assembly Line 3-Abecause, through a laughable oversight,
13、 there is no one to put in awrist-pin? How do you explain it so he will _understand_, Mr. Stump?Rogers stopped and caught his breath. His face began growing red. Hesaid slowly, You _dont_, Mr. Stump. You dont explain it so he willunderstand. I just tried!Ernie swallowed. Hurriedly, he said, Look Im
14、sorry. Ill get rightin there-Rogers smiled. That would be nice, Mr. Stump. I imagine there arequite a few Sub-Assembly 3-As stacked up in there by now. You justtrot in there and get them cleaned up.Ernie nodded doubtfully. You aint mad?Rogers smile grew broader. Mad, Mr. Stump? Why, being chewed out
15、 bythe manager is a trifle. Its something a foreman must expect. Ithappens to some of them every day-for a while. And when it does, itdoesnt matter because in just a little while they are no longerforemen. Sometimes, they arent even workmen, any more. And then theyhave nothing at all to worry about,
16、 so dont let it concern you, Mr.Stump. Do you take the streetcar to work?Huh? Uh, yeah, I do.I thought so. Rogers nodded his head benignly. Well, just as asuggestion, the next time you see youre going to be late it might bebetter if you saved your car-fare and used it to buy a newspaper.Ernie smiled
17、 uncertainly. O.K. Uh, why?Because, Rogers said slowly, no longer smiling, the next time youleave me in a crack like that, youre going to be reading the HelpWanted section! _Now get in there and get to work!_Ernie did.He worked the rest of the morning in a sullen mood. For one thing,with the extra t
18、ime that Rogers had taken up, Sub-Assembly Line 3-Awas a mess. Incomplete sub-assemblies were stacked on the floor allaround Ernies spot on the line. He would have to pin them and slipthem into the production line as best he could.Next to him on the line, Broncewicz said: Ernie, well never get thisj
19、ob out. Where were you?And Ernie told him about the beef with Rogers. He worked as he talked,but the more he talked the angrier he got. Rogers had been unfair. Heasked Broncewicz, How can anybody do a good job with that guy all thetime riding em?Broncewicz nodded. You should take it to the union.Ern
20、ie snorted. Thats a hot one. Rogers used to be our shop steward.Yeah, I forgot. Broncewicz scratched at a hairy ear. Anyway, youshould tell him off.Yeah, I should tell. Ernie laid aside a wrench to phrase exactlywhat he wished to say to Rogers, and the next sub-assembly slippedpast. Both he and Bron
21、cewicz grabbed it hastily.Unfortunately, Rogers happened to be watching. He walked over.Broncewicz became intently interested in his work. Ernie sighedresignedly.Rogers seemed surprisingly resigned, himself. All he said was, Ithought you got enough sleep this morning, Stump. Wake up, get on thestick
22、. He walked off.Broncewicz raised his head. Hey, I thought you were going to tellhim?Aw, shut up.Ernie did not like his foreman, but neither did he like the prospectof losing his job. He couldnt afford to be out of work.The noon whistle blew as he was finishing the last of the extraassemblies. Ernie
23、 tossed his tools down and left the line. * * * * *The sight of the food in the cafeteria reminded him all over againthat he was spending too much money. His stomach had felt queasy. Itnow turned sour. Without looking at them, Ernie selected a plate offrankfurters and spaghetti, picked up a carton o
24、f milk for the sake ofhis stomach, and sat down at the nearest table.Jory sat down beside him. Joes waving at you, he said, nodding atthe cashier at the end of the counter. You forgot to pay.What? Ernie stomped over to the counter, threw down the money andreturned to his seat. To Jory he said: I fee
25、l bad today.Uh-huh, Jory said disinterestedly. He turned a page of the book hehad propped next to his plate.Dont be a wise guy, Ernie grunted. He turned his attention to hisplate. Several mouthfuls of spaghetti convinced him that he was hungryafter all. He swallowed and opened his carton of milk. He
26、 looked up atthe book Jory was holding. Jory was a funny guy, always reading.Whats the book today? he asked.Jory held the cover so he could see the title. Celines Journey tothe End of Night. Its French.Ernies interest quickened. French, huh? Has it got any good stuff init? You know, like Miller has?
27、 He laughed.No.Well, whats it about?About a guy who thinks he might commit suicide.Oh. Ernie thought about it for a minute. Is that _all_ its about?Just some guy wonderin if he should bump himself off?Yes. Jory turned a page.Oh. Ernie thought about it again. And he made a whole _book_ out ofit? Just
28、 that . no sex or nothing?No. No sex or nothing.Ernie laughed. Well, it sounds pretty stale to me.Jory sighed and gave up reading. He put the book down. No, it isntstale. The book does depress me, though. He pushed it to one side.His eyes traveled around the cafeteria; he thought for a moment thensa
29、id: Do you ever get the feeling, Ernie, that your life has gottenstuck? That you are just going round and round, caught in one singlegroove-that you just repeat the same scene, day after day?Ernie shook his head. Nah. I never feel like that.I do. I get to feeling it bad, sometimes. Why do you suppos
30、e that is,Ernie?IllustrationErnie considered the question for a moment. Well, he said helpfully,it might mean youre cracking up.Jory laughed. Thanks. But when I need an analyst Ill go out and hireone. No, I think I feel that way because life has somehow become a lotmore futile than it need be.Ernie
31、shrugged and let it go. He wiped the last trace of spaghettisauce from his plate. Jory got funny moods-probably because he readso much, Ernie suspected-but he was a good man. All the guys in theplant figured Jory for a regular guy. He liked to read some prettyfunny books, but so what? It was his eye
32、sight, wasnt it?Ernie remembered something else. Hey, he said to Jory as he lit acigarette, Harrigan over in the tool room told me that you writestories. That right?Yeah. But I dont have as much time for it as I once did.You ought to stay home nights like I do. Then youd have time. Erniepaused and a
33、dded piously, It makes you sharper on the job, too.Jory started to laugh but caught it in time. He worked on the linenext to Ernie, and had witnessed the foul-up this morning. He said,What do you do until bedtime? Watch TV?Every night. Boxing is good on Fridays. Monday night aint so hot.Wednesday, t
34、onight, will be good. Lots of Westerns.You ought to try it. Come to think of it you look sort of tired. Youshouldnt go out drinking week nights.Jory shrugged. Maybe I will try it. What are your favorite programs?Ernie told him.Say, Ernie asked, do you make any money writing stories?Once in awhile. I
35、f I sell the story Im working on now, I think Illlay off for a couple of months and get a cabin down in Mexico. Thefishing will be good at Vera Cruz- He stopped and frowned. No. Iguess I wont. I cant.Why cant you?Something I forgot. Never mind.No, Ernie persisted, you were saying-Forget it.Oh, I get
36、 it. Youre afraid to lay off because they might not hireyou back?Nuts. Theres always some place that is hiring. Youd be surprised atsome of the jobs Ive had, Ernie. He grinned. As far as that goes, Imight get laid off here before I want to go.What makes you say that?Look around you. How many men are
37、 working today? * * * * *Now that his attention was called to it, Ernie glanced around thecafeteria. Normally, it was packed during the lunch hour. Today, itwas less than three-quarters full.So? Some of the guys are out sick, thats all.There wont be much work this afternoon. We got most of it out th
38、ismorning.Its some new bug. Like that flu thing last winter. But Erniesvoice, as he said it, was defensive. In Ernies book, a layoff was abad thing.Inside, Ernies mind began to calculate the possibilities. It was athing Ernies mind always did when it was confronted with theunexpected. His mind didnt
39、 like to work, but Ernie liked theunforeseen even less.It was unlikely that the entire plant would be shut down. In that casewhat supervisors would want him to stay on? He ran through the list ofhis superiors and immediately came to Rogers.Ernie winced. After this morning, Rogers would post him for
40、the layofffor sure. He could take it to the union, but-Ernie stopped and lookedsuspiciously at Jory.Did Jory know about the beef he had this morning with Rogers? Come tothink of it, Ernie didnt _know_ there was going to be a layoff. WasJory just needling him?He looked around the cafeteria again. The
41、 tables on the edges of thefloor were deserted and empty. To Ernies eyes it suddenly looked asif the men who were eating had purposely gathered so they could beclose together. They sat with their backs hunched, turned on the emptyspaces behind them.Even the noise, compared to the usual din of the ca
42、feteria, seemed tobe different. It echoed and fell flat. Ernie didnt like it. He feltfunny. The overly familiar cafeteria had suddenly become strange.A feeling began to grow in him that, somehow, the cafeteria was wrong.It . looks funny, he said.Jory became alert. What looks funny?I dont know . the
43、room.Whats wrong with the room? Jory bent over. His eyes were intent,but his voice stayed low. He spoke with great care.I . dont know. It looks funny. Empty. Older. No, wait- And thefeeling was gone. Ernie shook his head. It was the old, crowded andnot too clean cafeteria, again.He turned to Jory. W
44、ell, they better not! I was out of work sixmonths on the last layoff. He paused and marshaled a last, tellingargument: I cant afford it!Jory laughed. Take it easy. I said there _might_ be one. Lots ofthings might happen. Hell, the world itself might come to an end.Ernie said grumpily, I dont like mi
45、ghts. Why cant they leave aman alone and let him do his work? Why do they gotta-Jory stood up and grinned. Come on, Ernie. What do you need moneyfor? I mean, other than to keep up the payments on your TV?Ernie rose. Dont be such a guy, he grumbled. We better get back.If I come in late from lunch, Iv
46、e had it.It was a quarter of a mile across the plant yard to where they worked.They walked in silence for the first few yards. Ernie thought his ownthoughts and listened to the sound of their feet on the gravel.Presently, Jory said, Ernie, you watch the fights. Do you rememberback when they had the Rico-Marsetti bout?Ernie still felt irritable. Hell, yes