第24章 牙疼姨媽 Aunty Toothache(第3/22 頁)

ival (or pensate for) the force of a simple toothache.

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這個故事是從哪裡來的呢？你想知道嗎？

where did we get this story? would you like to know?

我們是從扔廢紙的籃子裡得到的。

we got it from the basket that the wastepaper is thrown into.

許多好的、珍貴的書被帶到熟食店和雜貨店，不是為了被閱讀，而是被用作澱粉、咖啡、豆子、鹹鯡魚、黃油和乳酪的包裝紙。用過的書寫紙也被發現很合適。

many a good and rare book has been taken to the delicatessen store and the grocer’s, not to be read, but to be used as wrapping paper for starch and coffee, beans, for salted herring, butter, and cheese. Used writing paper has also been found suitable.

人們常常把不該扔的東西扔進廢紙簍。

Frequently one throws into the wastepaper basket what ought not to go there.

我認識一個雜貨店夥計，他是熟食店老闆的兒子。

I know a grocer’s assistant, the son of a delicatessen store owner.

他從在地下室服務一路晉升到在店面服務；他是一個博覽群書的人，他的閱讀材料包括用於包裝的紙上的印刷文字和手寫內容。

he has worked his way up from serving in the cellar to serving in the front shop; he is a well-read person, his reading consisting of the printed and written matter to be found on the paper used for wrapping.

他有一個有趣的收藏，包括從忙碌而心不在焉的官員的廢紙簍裡找到的幾份重要官方檔案，一些從一個女性朋友寫給另一個女性朋友的機密信件 —— 不能再傳播、不能被任何人提及的醜聞報告。

he has an interesting collection, consisting of several important official documents from the wastepaper baskets of busy and absent-minded officials, a few confidential letters from one lady friend to another - reports of scandal which were not to go further, not to be mentioned by a soul.

他是我們文學的一個活生生的搶救機構，他的收藏涵蓋