37 Then closes.
“你好。”
“不，多谢了。我这就要出门。”
波特点点头。
“那我过会儿来，可以吗？”他问。
“不用了，”那妇人回答道。
她关上了门。
波特眼里没有流露丝毫神情。
他转向下一个人家。
门开了。
随即又关上。

38 He doesn't get a chance to speak. Porter's expression never changes. He stops at every home in his territory. People might not buy now. Next time. Maybe. No doesn't mean never. Some of his best customers are people who repeatedly turned him down before buying.
他连开口说话的机会都没有。波特的表情从不改变。他敲开自己推销区内的每一个家门。人们现在可能不买什么。也许下一次会买。现在不买不等于永远不买。他的一些老客户都是那些多次把他拒之门外而后来才买的人。

39 He makes his way down the street.

40 "I don't want to try it."

41 "Maybe next time."

42 "I'm sorry. I'm on the phone right now."

43 "No."
他沿着街道往前走。
“我不想试用这个产品。”
“也许下次试一试。”
“对不起。我在打电话。”
“不要。”

44 Ninety minutes later, Porter still has not made a sale. But there is always another home.

45 He walks on.

46 He knocks on a door. A woman appears from the backyard where she's gardening. She often buys, but not today, she says, as she walks away.

47 "Are you sure?" Porter asks.

48 She pauses.

49 "Well..."
90分钟之后，波特仍没能卖出一件物品。不过，下面有的是人家。
他继续向前走。
他敲响一扇门。一位正在拾掇花园的妇女从后院走了出来。她常常买他的东西，不过今天不买，她说着走开了。
“你真的不买什么？”波特问。
她迟疑了一下。
“那么……”

50 That's all Porter needs. He walks as fast as he can, tailing her as she heads to the backyard. He sets his briefcase down and opens it. He puts on his glasses, removes his brochures and begins his sales talk, showing the woman pictures and describing each product.
波特要的就是这一迟疑。他尽可能快步上前，跟着她朝后院走去。他放下公文包，打了开来。他戴上眼镜，拿出产品介绍小册子，开始推销，给那位妇人看图片，详细介绍每一个产品。

51 Spices?

52 "No."

53 Jams?

54 "No. Maybe nothing today, Bill."

55 Porter's hearing is the one perfect thing his body does. Except when he gets a live one. Then the word "no" does not register.
调料？
“不要。”
果酱？
“不要。恐怕今天不要什么，比尔。”
波特的听觉是他身上惟一没有一点毛病的功能。只有当他察觉对方有可能买他东西的时候才会发生例外。这个时候，他是听不见“不”字的。

56 Pepper?

57 "No."

58 Laundry soap?

59 "Hmm."

60 Porter stops. He smells blood. He quickly remembers her last order.

61 "Say, aren't you about out of soap? That's what you bought last time. You ought to be out right about now."

62 "You're right, Bill. I'll take one."
胡椒粉？
“不要。”
洗衣皂？
“嗯。”
波特停了下来。他嗅到了猎物。他很快记起了她上次的订单。
“对了，你肥皂差不多用完了吧？你上次买的就是这个。现在该差不多用完了。”
“没错，比尔。我买一块。”