2.Say Yes(1271)

Ninth grade rewrite

Say Yes

【1】Tobias and his wife were doing the dishes together. Tobias was drying the plates and cups while his wife washed them. Unlike many men, Tobias was very helpful with household chores. A few months ago, he had overheard a friend of his wife complimenting her on having such a thoughtful husband.

【2】They talked about various topics, and somehow the conversation turned to whether white people should marry black people. Tobias expressed his opinion that, considering everything, he believed it was not a good idea.

【3】"Why do you think so?" his wife asked. Sometimes, when she had a certain look on her face, with her eyebrows pinched together and her lower lip bitten, he knew he should keep quiet. But he never did. In fact, it made him talk more. She had that look now.

【4】"Why?" she asked again, holding a bowl in her hand above the water.

"Listen," he said, "I went to school with black people, and I've worked with them, and we've always gotten along well. I don't need you to imply that I'm a racist."

"I didn't imply anything," she said. "I just don't see what's wrong with a white person marrying a black person."

"But you wouldn't want to marry a black person, would you?" he asked.

"That's different. People from different cultures can't really understand each other."

"Like you understand me?" his wife asked.

"Yes, like I understand you."

"But if they love each other," she said.

【5】Oh boy, he thought. He said, "Don't just take my word for it. Look at the statistics. Most of those marriages end in divorce."

"Statistics," she said, placing dishes on the drying rack quickly. Many of them were still greasy.

"All right," she said, "what about foreigners? I suppose you think the same about two foreigners getting married."

"Yes," he said, "as a matter of fact, I do. How can you understand someone who comes from a completely different background?"

"Different," his wife repeated. "Not the same as us."

"Yes, different," he snapped, annoyed that she was repeating his words to make them sound wrong. "These are dirty," he said, throwing all the silverware back into the sink.

【6】She looked down at it, her lips pressed together, then put her hands back into the water. "Oh!" she cried, and jumped back. She held her right hand, which was bleeding.

【7】"Don't move," he said. "Stay there." He ran upstairs to get alcohol, cotton, and a Band-Aid. When he came back, she was leaning against the refrigerator with her eyes closed, still holding her hand. He took her hand and dabbed at her thumb with the cotton. The bleeding had stopped. He squeezed it to see how deep the wound was.

【8】"It's shallow," he said. "By tomorrow, you won't even notice it." He hoped she appreciated how quickly he had come to her aid. He thought it would be nice if she didn't start that conversation again, as he was tired of it.

【9】"I'll finish up here," he said. "You go and relax."

"That's okay," she said. "I'll dry."

He started washing the silverware again.

"So," she said, "you wouldn't have married me if I were black."

"For heaven's sake, Ann!"

"Well, that's what you said, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't. The whole idea is ridiculous. If you had been black, we probably wouldn't have even met. The only black girl I knew was my partner in the debate club."

"But if we had met, and I was black?"

【10】"Then you would probably have been dating a black guy." He picked up the rinsing nozzle and sprayed the silverware.

"Let's say I am black and single," she said, "and we meet and fall in love."

He glanced at her. She was watching him, and her eyes were bright. "Look," he said, trying to sound reasonable, "this is silly. If you were black, you wouldn't be you."

【11】As he said this, he realized it was true. There was no way to argue that she would be the same person if she were black.

"I know," she said, "but let's just say."

He took a deep breath. He had won the argument, but he still felt trapped. "Say what?"

"That I'm black, but still me, and we fall in love. Would you marry me?"

He thought about it.

"Well?" she said. Her eyes were even brighter. "Would you marry me?"

"I'm thinking," he said.

"You won't, I can tell."

"Let's not rush into this," he said. "There are many things to consider. We don't want to do something we might regret for the rest of our lives."

"No more considering. Yes or no?"

"Since you put it that way," he said, "yes or no."

"Jesus, Ann. All right, no."

【12】She said, "Thank you," and walked from the kitchen into the living room. A moment later, he heard her turning the pages of a magazine. He knew she wasn't really reading it, but she wasn't flipping through the pages angrily like he would have. She turned them slowly, as if she were reading every word. She was showing her indifference to him, and it had the effect she wanted. It hurt him.

【13】He had no choice but to show his indifference to her. He washed the rest of the dishes quietly and thoroughly. Then he dried them and put them away. He wiped the counters and the stove. While he was at it, he decided to mop the floor. When he was done, the kitchen looked as good as new, just like when they first moved in.

【14】He took out the garbage and went outside. The night was clear, and he could see a few stars to the west, where the town lights didn't block them out. On El Camino, the traffic was steady and calm, like a peaceful river. He felt ashamed for letting his wife get him into an argument. In thirty years or so, they would both be gone. What would all this matter then? He thought about the years they had spent together, how close they were, and how well they knew each other, and his throat tightened so much he could hardly breathe.

【15】The house was dark when he came back inside. She was in the bathroom. He stood outside the door and called her name. "Ann, I'm really sorry," he said. "I'll make it up to you. I promise."

"How?" she asked.

He knew he had to come up with the right answer. He leaned against the door. "I'll marry you," he whispered.

"We'll see," she said. "Go to bed. I'll be out in a minute."

He undressed and got into bed. Finally, he heard the bathroom door open and close.

"Turn off the light," she said from the hallway.

"What?" he said.

【16】"Turn off the light." He reached over and turned off the bedside lamp. The room went dark. "All right," he said. He lay there, but nothing happened. "All right," he said again. Then he heard a movement across the room. He sat up, but he couldn't see anything. The room was silent. His heart pounded as it had on their first night together, the way it still did when he woke at a noise in the darkness and waited to hear it again—the sound of someone moving through the house, a stranger.

九年级改写

说,是的

【1】托拜厄斯和他的妻子在一起洗碗。托拜厄斯正在烘干盘子和杯子，而他的妻子则在清洗它们。与许多男人不同，托拜厄斯在家务上非常乐于助人。几个月前，他无意中听到妻子的一个朋友称赞她有一个如此体贴的丈夫。

【2】他们谈论了各种各样的话题，不知怎么地，话题转向了白人是否应该和黑人结婚。托比亚斯表达了他的观点，考虑到一切，他认为这不是一个好主意。

【3】“你为什么这么想?”他的妻子问。有时候，当她脸上有一种特别的表情，眉毛缩在一起，下唇咬着的时候，他知道他应该保持沉默。但他从来没有这样做过。事实上，这让他说得更多了。她现在有了那种表情。

【4】“为什么?”她又问了一遍，手里拿着一只碗，露出水面。

“听着，”他说，“我和黑人一起上学，也和他们一起工作，我们一直相处得很好。我不需要你暗示我是种族主义者。”

“我没有任何暗示，”她说。“我就是看不出一个白人和一个黑人结婚有什么错。”

“但你不会想和一个黑人结婚，是吗?”他问。

“那是不同的。来自不同文化背景的人无法真正理解彼此。”

“好像你理解我似的?”他的妻子问道。

“是的，就像我理解你一样。”

“但如果他们彼此相爱，”她说。

【5】天哪，他想。他说:“不要只相信我的话。看看统计数据。这些婚姻大多以离婚告终。”

“统计数据，”她一边说，一边迅速把盘子放到晾干架上。其中许多还很油腻。

“好吧，”她说，“那外国人呢?我想你对两个外国人结婚也有同样的看法。”

“是的，”他说，“事实上，我知道。你怎么能理解一个来自完全不同背景的人呢?”

“不一样，”他的妻子重复道。“和我们不一样。”

“是的，不一样。”他厉声说，因为她在重复他的话，使他的话听起来是错的，他很恼火。“这些是脏的，”他说，把所有的银器扔回水槽。

【6】她低头看着它，双唇合在一起，然后把手放回水里。“噢!”她叫了一声，跳了回去。她握着流血的右手。

【7】“别动，”他说。“在那里。”他跑上楼去拿酒精、棉花和创可贴。当他回来的时候，她正倚在冰箱上，闭着眼睛，仍然握着她的手。他拉着她的手，用棉花轻轻擦了擦她的拇指。血止住了。他捏了一下，看看伤口有多深。

【8】“它很浅，”他说。“到明天，你甚至都不会注意到它。”他希望她能感激他这么快就来帮助她。他觉得她最好不要再提起这个话题，因为他已经厌倦了。

【9】他说:“我要把这里做完。”“你去放松一下吧。”

“没关系，”她说。“我来擦干。”

他又开始洗银器。

“那么，”她说，“如果我是黑人，你就不会娶我了。”

“看在上帝的份上，安!”

“嗯，这就是你说的，不是吗?”

“不，我没有。整个想法都很荒谬。如果你是黑人，我们可能根本不会认识。我认识的唯一一个黑人女孩是我在辩论俱乐部的搭档。”

“但如果我们相遇，而我是黑人呢?”

【10】“那你可能是在和一个黑人约会。”他拿起冲洗嘴，向银器喷水。

“假设我是单身黑人，”她说，“我们相遇并坠入爱河。”

他瞥了她一眼。她看着他，眼睛里闪着光。“听着，”他说，努力让自己听起来合情合理，“这太愚蠢了。如果你是黑人，你就不是你了。”

【11】当他说这话时，他意识到那是真的。如果她是黑人，就没有理由说她是同一个人。

“我知道，”她说，“但这么说吧。”

他深吸了一口气。他赢得了这场争论，但他仍然感到被困住了。“你说什么?”

“我是黑人，但我还是我，我们相爱了。你愿意嫁给我吗?”

他想了想。

“怎么样?”她说。她的眼睛更亮了。“你愿意嫁给我吗?”

“我在想，”他说。

“你不会的，我敢说。”

“我们不要急于求成，”他说。“有很多事情需要考虑。我们不想做一些可能会让我们后悔一辈子的事情。”

“不用再考虑了。是还是不是?”

“既然你这么说了，”他说，“是或不是。”

“耶稣,安。好吧，不。”

【12】她说了声“谢谢”，然后从厨房走进客厅。过了一会儿，他听到她在翻动一本杂志。他知道她并没有真的在看，但她并没有像他那样生气地翻动书页。她慢慢地翻着，好像在逐字逐句地读。她在对他表现出冷漠，而这也达到了她想要的效果。这伤害了他。

【13】他别无选择，只能对她表示冷漠。他轻轻地、彻底地洗完了剩下的盘子。然后他把它们擦干，收起来。他擦了擦柜台和炉子。他一边干一边决定拖地。当他完成后，厨房看起来像新的一样，就像他们刚搬进来的时候一样。

【14】他把垃圾倒出去了。夜色清朗，他可以看到西边有几颗星星，镇上的灯光没有挡住它们。在埃尔卡米诺，交通平稳而平静，就像一条平静的河流。他为让妻子把他卷入一场争论而感到羞愧。再过三十年左右，他们就都走了。那么这一切又有什么关系呢?他回想起他们在一起度过的岁月，他们是多么亲密，彼此是多么熟悉，他的喉咙紧绷得几乎无法呼吸。

【15】当他回到屋里时，屋里已经黑了。她在浴室里。他站在门外喊她的名字。“安，我真的很抱歉，”他说。“我会补偿你的。我保证。”

“怎么做?”她问。

他知道他必须想出正确的答案。他靠在门上。“我要嫁给你，”他低声说。

“等着瞧吧，”她说。“去睡觉吧。我马上就出来。”

他脱下衣服，上了床。最后，他听到浴室的门开了又关。

“把灯关掉，”她在走廊里说。

“什么?”他说。

【16】“关灯。”他伸手关掉了床头的灯。房间里一片漆黑。“好吧，”他说。他躺在那里，但什么也没发生。“好吧，”他又说。然后他听到房间那边有动静。他坐了起来，但什么也看不见。房间里一片寂静。他的心怦怦直跳，就像他们在一起的第一个晚上一样，现在他在黑暗中被一个声音惊醒，等着再听到这个声音，有人在房子里走动的声音，一个陌生人。