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It was a Sunday evening, bright and summery. He was doing his homework and his mother was sitting on the carpet in one of her periodic fits of tidying out the drawers of the mahogany sideboard. The boy heard the bottom stair creak under Aunt Mary's light footstep. She knocked and put her head round the door and said that she was walking to Devotions. She was dressed in her good coat and hat and was just easing her fingers into her second glove. The boy saw her stop and pat her hair into place before the mirror in the hallway. Devotions could take anything from twenty minutes to three quarters of an hour, depending on who was saying it.
那是一个周日的晚上，有种夏天特有的明亮。他在做功课，他的妈妈正坐在地毯上，进行着红木餐具柜抽屉的定期清洁工作。男孩听到楼梯最下面一阶传来嘎吱声，那是玛丽叔祖母特有的轻微脚步声。她敲了一下门，把头探进来，说她要走着去祈祷。她穿着一件质地很好的外套，戴着帽子，正在慢慢带上她的第二只手套。男孩看见她停了下来，在走廊的镜子前轻轻拍了拍整理自己的头发。祈祷会持续20分钟到45分钟，这要取决于讲话人。
The boy left his homework and went upstairs and into his aunt's sitting room. He stood in front of the bureau wondering, then he reached for the keys. He tried several before he got the right one. The desk flap screeched as he pulled it down. He pretended to look at the postcards again. Then he put them away and reached for the bundle of letters. The elastic band was thick and old, brittle almost and when he took it off its track remained on the wad of letters. He carefully opened one and took out the letter and unfolded it.
男孩放下了功课，走上楼去，进入了叔祖母的客厅。他站在书桌前琢磨着，然后找到了钥匙。他试了好几把后才找到那把正确的钥匙。他拉开书桌挡板时，发出了刺耳的声音。他假装再看一次那些明信片然后他把它们放在一边，拿起了那捆信件。橡皮筋很粗而且很旧，快断了。当他取下橡皮筋时，那捆信上还留着它的痕迹。他小心翼翼地打开一个信封，取出信，然后展开了信纸。
