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The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street --- Rod Serling

It is Maple Street, a quiet, tree-lined, residential street in a typical American town. The houses have front porches where people sit and talk to each other across their lawns. STEVE BRAND polishes his car parked in front of his house. His neighbor, DON MARTIN, leans against the fender, watching him. A Good Humor man rides a bicycle and is just stopping to sell some ice cream to a couple of kids. Two women gossip on the front lawn. Another man waters his lawn.

At this moment one of the boys, TOMMY, looks up and listens to the sound of a tremendous roar from overhead. A flash of light plays on his face, then moves down the street past lawns and porches and rooftops, and then disappears. STEVE BRAND, the man who has been polishing his car, stands there speechless, staring upwards. He looks at DON MARTIN, his neighbor from across the street.

Steve: What was that? A meteor?
Don: That's what it looked like. I didn't hear any crash, though, did you?
Steve: Nope, I didn't hear anything except a roar.
Mrs. Brand (from her porch): Steve? What was that?
Steve: Guess it was a meteor, honey. Came awful close, didn't it?
Mrs. Brand: Much too close!

(People stand on their porches, watching and talking in low tones. We see a MAN screwing in a light bulb on a front porch, then getting down off the stool to turn on the switch and finding that nothing happens. A MAN working on an electric power mower plugs in the plug. He turns on the switch, on and off, but nothing happens.

Through the window of a front porch a WOMAN is seen dialing her phone.)
Woman: Operator, operator, something's wrong with the phone, operator!
(MRS. BRAND comes out on the porch.)

Mrs. Brand (calling): Steve, the power's off. I had the soup on the stove, and the stove just stopped working.
Woman: Same thing over here. I can't get anybody on the phone, either. The phone seems to be dead.
First Voice: Electricity's off.
Second Voice: Phone won't work.
Third Voice: Can't get a thing on the radio.
Fourth Voice: My power mower won't move, won't work at all.
(PETE VAN HORN, a tall, thin man, is seen standing in front of his house.)
Van Horn: I'11 cut through the back yard . . . see if the power' s still on on Cherry Street. I'll be right back!
Steve: Doesn't make sense. Why should the power and the phone line go off all of a sudden?
Don: Maybe it's an electrical storm or something.

Charlie: That doesn't seem likely. Sky's just as blue as anything. Not a cloud. No lightning. No thunder. No nothing. How could it be a storm?
Woman: I can't get a thing on the radio. Not even the portable.
Charlie: Well, why don't you go downtown and check with the police, though they'll probably think we're crazy or something. A little power failure and right away we get all excited.
Steve: It isn't just the power failure, Charlie. If it was, we'd still be able to get a broadcast on the portable.
(There's a murmur of reaction to this. STEVE walks over to his car.)
Steve: I'll run downtown. We'll get this all straightened out. (STEVE gets into his car, turns the key. The engine is dead. He then gets out of the car.)
Steve: I don't understand it. It was working fine before—
Don: Out of gas?
Steve (shakes his head): I just had it filled up.
Woman: What does it mean?

Charlie: It's just as if. . . as if everything had stopped. ( Then he turns toward STEVE.) We'd better walk downtown.
Steve: OK, Charlie. ( He turns to look back at the car.) It couldn't be the meteor. A meteor couldn't do this.
(He and CHARLIE exchange a look. Then they start to walk away from the group. TOMMY, a serious-faced young boy tries to stop them.)
Tommy: Mr. Brand...you'd better not!
Steve: Why not?
Tommy: They don't want you to.
(STEVE and CHARLIE exchange a grin. STEVE looks back toward the boy.)
Steve: Who doesn't want us to?
Tommy (jerks his head in the general direction of the distant horizon): Them!
Steve: Them?
Charlie: Who are them?

Tommy (very intently): Whoever was in that thing that came by overhead. I don't think they want us to leave here.
(STEVE walks over to the boy. He kneels down in front of him. He forces his voice to remain gentle. He reaches out and holds the boy.)
Steve: What do you mean? What are you talking about?
Tommy: They don't want us to leave. That's why they shut everything off.
Steve: What makes you say that? Whatever gave you that idea?
Woman (from the crowd): Now isn't that the craziest thing you ever heard?
Tommy (persistently): It's always that way, in every story I ever read about a ship landing from outer space.
Woman (to the boy's mother, SALLY,): From outer space yet! Sally, you'd better get that boy of yours up to bed. He's been reading too many comic books or seeing too many movies or something!

Sally: Tommy, come over here and stop that kind of talk.
Steve: Go ahead, Tommy. We 'll be right back. And you 'll see. That wasn't any ship or anything like it. That was just a... a meteor or something. (He turns to the group, now trying to sound optimistic although he obviously doesn't feel that way himself.) Meteors can do some crazy things. Like sun spots.
Don: Sure. They raise Cain with radio reception all over the world. And this thing, being so close-why, there's no telling the sort of stuff it can do. (He wets his lips, smiles nervously.) Go ahead, Charlie. You and Steve go into town and see if that isn't what's causing it all.
(STEVE and CHARLIE again continue to walk away down the sidewalk. The people watch silently. TOMMY stares at them, biting his lips and finally calling out again.)
Tommy: Mr. Brand!

(The two men stop again.)
Tommy: Mr. Brand. . .please don't leave here.
(STEVE and CHARLIE stop once again and turn toward the boy. There's a murmur in the crowd, a murmur of irritation and concern.)
Tommy: You might not even be able to get to town. It was that way in the story. Nobody could leave, except—
Steve: Except who?
Tommy: Except the people they'd sent down ahead of them. They looked just like humans. And it wasn't until the ship landed that—(The boy suddenly stops again, conscious of his parents staring at him and of the sudden quietness of the crowd.)
Sally: Tommy, please, son, don't talk that way—
Man: The kid shouldn't talk that way... and we shouldn't stand here listening to him. Why, this is the craziest thing I ever heard of.
(STEVE walks toward the boy.)

Steve: Go ahead, Tommy. What about the people that they sent out ahead?
Tommy: That was the way they prepared things for the landing. They sent people who looked just like humans... but they weren't.
(There's laughter at this, but it's a laughter that comes from a desperate attempt to lighten the atmosphere.)
Charlie (rubs his jaw nervously): I wonder if Cherry Street's got the same deal we got. (He looks past the houses.) Where is Pete Van Horn, anyway? Didn't he get back yet?
(Suddenly there's the sound of a car's engine starting to turn over. LES GOODMAN is at the wheel of his car.)
Sally: Can you get it started, Les?
(GOODMAN gets out of the car, shaking his head.)
Goodman: No.

(As he walks toward the group, he stops suddenly. Behind him, the car engine starts up all by itself. GOODMAN whirls around and stares at it. His eyes go wide, and he runs over to his car. The people stare toward the car.)
Man: He got the car started somehow. He got his car started!
Woman: How come his car just started like that?
Sally: All by itself. He wasn't anywhere near it. It started all by itself.
(DON approaches the group: He stops a few feet away to look toward GOODMAN's car and then back toward the group.)
Don: And he never did come out to look at that thing that flew overhead. He wasn't even interested. (He turns to the faces in the group.) Why? Why didn't he come out with the rest of us to look?
Charlie: He was always an oddball. Him and his whole family.
Don: What do you say we ask him?

(The group suddenly starts toward the house.)
Steve: Wait a minute... wait a minute! Let's not be a mob!
(The people seem to pause for a moment. Then, much more quietly and slowly, they start to walk across the street. GOODMAN stands there alone, facing the people.)
Goodman: I just don't understand it. I tried to start it, and it wouldn't start. You saw me. (And now, just as suddenly as the engine started, it stops. There's a frightened murmuring of the people.)
Don: Maybe you can tell us. Nothing's working on this street. Nothing. No lights, no power, no radio. Nothing except one car—yours!
(The people pick this up, and their murmuring becomes a loud chant filling the air with demands for action.)
Goodman: Wait a minute now. You keep your distance—all of you. So I've got a car that starts by itself—well, that's weird—I admit it. But does that make me a criminal or something? I don't know why the car works—it just does!
(This stops the crowd, and GOODMAN, still backing away, goes up the steps and then stops to face the mob.)

Goodman: What's it all about, Steve?
Steve (quietly): Seems that the general impression holds that maybe the people in one family aren't what we think they are. Monsters from outer space or something. Different from us. You know anybody that might fit that description around here on Maple Street?
Goodman: What is this, a practical joke or something?
(Suddenly the engine of the car starts all by itself again, runs for a moment, and stops. The people once again react.)
Goodman: Now that's supposed to make me a criminal, huh? The car engine goes on and off? (He looks around at the faces of the people.) I just don't understand it... any more than any of you do! (He wets his lips, looking from face to face.) Look, you all know me. We've lived here five years. Right in this house. We're no different from any of you!

Woman: Well, if that's the case, Les Goodman, explain why—(She stops suddenly.)
Goodman (softly): Explain what?
Steve: (cutting in): Look, let's forget this—
Charlie: Go ahead; let her talk. What about it? Explain what?
Woman (a little reluctantly): Well... sometimes I go to bed late at night. A couple of times... I'd come out here on the porch and I'd see Mr. Goodman here standing out in front of his house... looking up at the sky. (She looks around at the circle of faces.) That's right, looking up at the sky as if... as if he were waiting for something.
Goodman: She's crazy. Look, I can explain that. Please... I can really explain that. She's making it up anyway.
(He takes a step toward the crowd, and they back away. He walks down the steps after them, and they continue to back away. He's suddenly and completely left alone. He looks like a man caught in the middle of a menacing circle.)

参考译文
怪物降临枫树街

枫树街在一个典型的美国城镇上，是个安静的住宅街道，街道的两旁都是树木。这里的房屋都有前沿，人们坐在上面，隔着草坪同对对面的邻居聊天。史蒂夫.布兰德在房前擦车，邻居顿.马丁倚着挡泥板注视着他。Good Humor冰淇淋公司的销售员骑着自行车，在一群孩子面前停下叫卖。两个妇女在前草坪上说闲话，另一个男人在浇草坪。

这时，一个叫汤米的男孩仰起头，听到头顶传来的轰隆隆的吼叫。一道光闪过他的脸，然后扫过街道、草坪、门廊和屋顶，消失了。正在擦车的史蒂夫.布兰德张口结舌地站在那里，目不转睛地瞪着往上看。他看到邻居顿.马丁从街对面过来。

史蒂夫：怎么回事？流星吗？
顿：看起来是像流星。但没听到坠落声，你听到了吗？
史蒂夫：没有，我只听到一阵吼叫。
布兰德夫人（从门廊里叫道）：史蒂夫？怎么回事？
史蒂夫：亲爱的，我想是流星。距离我们很近，不是吗？
布兰德夫人：太近了！

（人们站在门廊上，四周张望着，小声地说话。一个男人在前门廊上旋转一个灯泡，然后从凳子上下来，打开电闸，结果发现电灯没亮；另一个男人在摆弄一个电动割草机的插座，打开电闸，开了又关，割草机还是没动静；透过前门廊的窗子可以看到一个妇女在拨电话。）

妇女：接线员，接线员，电话出什么故障了？接线员！
（布兰德夫人从门廊往外看。）

布兰德（叫道）：史蒂夫，断电了。炉子上煮的有汤，但是炉子刚才熄火了。
妇女：这儿也一样，我的电话也是谁也打不通，电话好像死了。
第一个声音：断电了！
第二个声音：电话线断了！
第三个声音：收音机没信号！
第四个声音：我的电动割草机没动静，一点都开不动！
（皮特.范.合恩是个高高瘦弱的男人，他正站在家门口。）
范.合恩：我想抄近路过后院，看看樱桃街有没有电，我马上就回来！
史蒂夫：没用。为什么电和电话线会突然断掉呢？
顿：可能是场雷电风暴什么的。

夏利：看来不像，天空这么蓝。没有乌云，没有闪电，没有雷声，什么都没有，怎么可能是暴风雨呢？
妇女：我的收音机里没有信号，甚至便携式机子里也没有信号。
夏利：为什么不去市区，问问警察怎么回事，虽然他们可能会认为我们疯了怎么的。或许是电力上的小故障，我们很快就兴奋起来了。
史蒂夫：不仅仅是个电力故障，夏利。如果是，我们是可以在便携式机子上收听广播的。

（听到这里，史蒂夫咕哝地自语，走到自己的汽车前。）

史蒂夫：我要去市区，马上就澄清所有的问题。（史蒂夫跳进汽车，旋转钥匙。但是，引擎熄了，他只得出来。）
史蒂夫：不明白，之前还好好的。
顿：没气了吗？
史蒂夫（摇摇头）：我刚刚充满的。
妇女：那是怎么回事？

夏利：好像...好像一切都停止了。（他走向史蒂夫。）我们最好走到市区。
史蒂夫：好的，夏利。（他转回头来看了看汽车。）应该不是流星，流星不会是这个样子。
（他和夏利相互看了对方一眼，开始离开人群。）汤米，这个一脸严肃的年轻男孩想阻拦他们。
汤米：布兰德先生...你最好不要去！
史蒂夫：为什么？
汤米：他们不想让你去。
（史蒂夫和夏利相互向对方笑了一下，史蒂夫回过头来看着男孩。）
史蒂夫：谁不想让我们去？
汤米（扬起头向远远的地平线方向看着）：他们！
史蒂夫：他们？
夏利：他们是谁？

汤米（非常认真地）：刚才在我们头顶过去的任何东西。我想他们不想让我们离开这里。
（史蒂夫走向男孩，在他面前蹲下，他强迫自己低声说话，伸出手抓住男孩。）
史蒂夫：你这是什么意思？你在说什么？
汤米：他们不想让我们离开，这就是为什么他们把一切都切断了。
史蒂夫：谁让你这么说的？你怎么会知道这些呢？
汤米（坚持地）：通常就是这样的，我读的故事里总有来自太空的飞船。
妇女（走向男孩的母亲萨莉）：来自太空！萨莉，你最好把儿子拖到床上去，他看了太多的漫画或是电影什么的！

萨莉：汤米，过来！别胡说了！
史蒂夫：过来，汤米。我们很快就回来，你会看到，根本没有飞船什么的。那只是...流星之类的东西。（他走向人群，试图表现出乐观的样子，尽管显然心里不是这么想的。）流星会引起疯狂的事情，比如太阳黑子。
顿：当然。会引起全世界的收音机信号混乱。这次离得这么近，为什么...不要讨论这种可能会发生的事情了。（他润湿了嘴唇，紧张地笑着。）去吧，夏利。你和史蒂夫去

城里，看看是不是流星引起的。
（史蒂夫和夏利再次走下人行道，人们默默地看着。汤米瞪大眼睛看着他们，咬紧嘴唇，最后又大叫起来。）
汤米：布兰德先生！

（两人再次停下。）
汤米：布兰德先生...请不要离开。
（史蒂夫和夏利再次停下，转过头来看着男孩。人群里有人在嘟哝着说话，带着愤怒和担心。）
汤米：你甚至不能到城里去，故事里都是这样的，没有人可以离开，除了...
史蒂夫：除了谁？
汤米：除了他们下来之前放下的那些人。他们看起来像人，而事实上不是，直到飞船着陆...（男孩突然住口，意识到父母在瞪着他，人群里突然陷入沉默。）
萨莉：汤米，请...我的儿子，不要这么说...
男人：这个孩子不应该这么说...我们也不该站在这里听他说。为什么？这是我听到的最疯狂的事了！
（史蒂夫走向男孩。）

史蒂夫：过来，汤米。他们先派出的那些人是怎么回事？
汤米：这是他们准备着陆的办法，他们派出看起来像人的东西...而事实上不是。
（人群里发出一阵大笑，但是这好像是在拼命地活跃此刻的气氛。）
夏利（紧张地擦着下巴）：我想知道樱桃街是不是和我们现在一样糟糕。（他向房子后面看去。）皮特.范.合恩在哪儿？他还没有回来吗？
（突然发出汽车引擎翻转的声音。勒思.古德曼出现在自己汽车的车轮旁。）
萨莉：能发动吗，勒思？
古德曼：不能。

（他走向人群，并突然停住。他的身后，汽车引擎自己开动起来。古德曼转来转去，盯着它看。眼睛瞪得大大的，他跑向自己的汽车。人们也瞪大眼睛，朝汽车看过去。）
男人：不管怎样他把汽车发动起来了，他的汽车开动了！
妇女：他的汽车怎么能这么开动呢？
萨莉：是引擎自己发动的，他根本不在汽车旁边，是汽车自己开动的！
（顿走向人群，在几步远时停了下来，看看古德曼的汽车，又回头看看人群。）
顿：刚才那个东西飞过头顶时，他根本没有出来看。他甚至不感兴趣。（他转过脸来看着人群。）为什么？为什么他不出来，而我们其他人都出来看？
夏利：他总是很古怪，他和全家人都这样。
顿：你说我们该怎么问他？

（人群开始向古德曼的房子走去。）
史蒂夫：等下...等下！不要做暴民！
（人们似乎停了一下，然后更安静、缓慢地穿过街道。古德曼孤单地站在那里，看着人们。）
古德曼：我不明白，我想发动它，但是不行。你们看到的。（这时，就像突然发动的那样，引擎突然停下来。人群中发出惊恐的咕哝声。）
顿：或许你可以告诉我们，这条街上什么事都没有，什么都没有，没灯、没电、没信号，什么都没有--除了你的汽车可以发动！
（人们听了这句话，恢复起精神来，咕哝声变成大叫声，充斥在空气中，并试图诉诸于行动。）
古德曼：等下。离远点--所有人！我的汽车自己发动了--很怪异--我承认这一点。但是这意味着我犯了罪或做什么了吗？我不知道汽车为什么会动--但确实发动了！
（人群停了下来，古德曼继续往后退，他走上台阶，然后停下来面对这群乌合之众。）

古德曼：这就是全部情况，史蒂夫？
史蒂夫（静静地）：大家的总印象似乎是，这里有一家人并不像通常人们想象的那样，而是太空的怪物什么的，和我们大家不同。你知道在枫树街上哪个人符合这种描述吗？
古德曼：这是什么？恶作剧还是什么？
（突然，引擎再一次自己动起来，转了一会儿，又停了。人们再一次跃跃欲动。）
古德曼：现在看来，我应该就是罪犯，对吗？汽车引擎开了又停了？（他环顾四周，看着人们的脸。）我不比你们中的哪个知道得多！（他润湿了嘴唇，一个脸一个脸地看着。）听着，你们都知道我的，我在这里住五年了。就在这个房子里，我们和你们哪个没什么不同！

妇女：如果是这样，勒思.古德曼，你解释下为什么...（她突然停下。）
古德曼（轻声地）：解释什么？
史蒂夫（打断道）：看，让我们忘了这件事吧...
夏利：继续，让她说，什么事？解释什么？
妇女（有点儿不情愿地）：嗯...有时我晚上睡觉较晚。有几次...我从门廊出来，看到古德曼先生站在房前...看着天空。（她扫视了下周围的脸。）对，看着天空，好像...好像在等着什么。
古德曼：她疯了，听着，我可以解释这个。请...我可以解释这件事的。总之她是瞎编的。
（他向人群走了一步，他们逐渐后退，他追着他们，走下台阶，他们继续往后退。突然，他完全地孤独起来。看起来像置身于一个险恶的怪圈里。）

词汇释义

1.tree-lined adj. 每边都有树的

例句：
a long tree-lined street
长长的林荫道

2.fender n. 挡泥板,护舷的垫子等

例句：
The fender of a motor vehicle.
汽车的挡泥板

3.atmosphere n. 大气,气氛

例句:
There is an atmosphere of peace and calm in the country, quite different from the atmosphere of a big city.
在乡间有一种和平宁静的气氛，和大城市的气氛截然不同。

4.comic n. 连环图画,杂耍滑稽演员

例句：
Children like to read comics.
孩子们喜欢看连环漫画。

5.intently adv. 一心一意地,心无旁物地,专心地

例句：
I sat there listening intently.
我坐在那儿专心地听着。

6.jerk v. 痉挛,急拉,急推,急动

例句：
The bus jerked to a stop.
公共汽车猛然刹车停住了。

7.menace v. 威吓,胁迫

例句：
Our country is menaced by war.
我们的国家受到战争威胁。

8.overhead adv. 在头顶上,在空中,在高处

例句：
An aeroplane droned overhead.
一架飞机在头上嗡嗡飞过。

9.weird adj. 怪异的

例句：
I found some of her poems a bit weird.
我觉得她的诗有点怪。

10.whirl n. 回旋,旋转,急走

例句：
The wind whirled the dead leaves about.
风吹得枯叶在四处回旋。

短语解释

1.lean against vt. 靠在

例句：
I think I will fall, thus I lean against on the desk in order to hold up oneself.
我以为我要摔倒了，因而我靠在书桌上以稳住自己。

2.cut through v.抄近路走过, 刺穿

例句：
Cut through this park. It will save time.
穿过这个公园，会节约时间。

3.make sense v.有意义

例句：
His argument does not make sense.
他的争论没有意义。

4.all of a sudden 突然

例句：
He burst into laughter all of a sudden.
他突然大笑起来。

5.as ... as anything adj. 无比地(非常)

例句：
Tom is as cunning as anything.
汤姆狡猾得不得了。

6.straighten out v.改正, 清理, 澄清

例句：
You should straighten out your confused thinking.
你应该澄清你的混乱思想。

7.a couple of 两个, 几个

例句:
I saw a couple of men get out.
我看见有几个人出去了。