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Even at 4 o'clock in the morning, on a deserted block in Chelsea, what our neighbor saw did not seem unusual. He had the New York reaction of the 1980's, and assumed she was just another one of the city's huge corps of the deranged, the homeless, the addicted, the drunk. He didn't even consider going downstairs to help her; after all, how many dozens didn't he help just that day? To do so would have taken hours and dollars that cannot be spared, so my neighbor did what any of us would have done. He went back to sleep.

I cannot say I blame him. I was sitting in my living room while the murder took place right in front of my windows. In my sleeplessness, I was drinking hot milk and flipping through a travel magazine, steadfastly ignoring the weird murmurings of the girl outside. In fact, I didn't even think of getting up to see what might be wrong. Years of living in New York City had trained me: The distress you hear is nothing serious. It's only a drunk or a bum.

A few hours later, when the detectives questioned me, I was ashamed to admit what I had heard. Perhaps it wasn't her, but it probably was. If only I hadn't been so smug, if only I'd gone to the window, perhaps I could have done something. The doctor next door says no one could have saved her, but I tell myself I could have held her, or reassured her, or even tried to get a description of the assailant. At least she wouldn't have died so pitifully, ignored by her neighbors because they thought she was a drunk, when in fact, she was looking for help.

That this should be a normal reaction says something about our life here. What begins as compassion, when you first arrive, gets ground to dust by the daily barrage of people dressed in garbage bags, passed out in doorways, making loud, plaintive pitches on the subway or displaying their mutilated limbs in an attempt to get some change. The sheer numbers of these people exhaust the soul. To live here at all, you have to be callous.

The morning after the murder, I washed away the victim's bloodstains that covered the sidewalk; as I did, a stream of people in business clothes walked by, neatly picking their way past the stains, papers and briefcases tucked under their arms. No one seemed to notice or care what I was doing. No one asked what had happened. They averted their eye—avoiding the pain—keeping their mind on more important things. That someone died here was just another incident to file away, another fact of this strange place.

参考译文

甚至在凌晨四点，在这个荒芜的切尔西街区，我邻居看到的景象并非不寻常。他同20世纪80年代纽约人的反应一样，认为她只是大批疯狂的人中的一个、或是又一个无家可归的人，一个瘾君子、醉酒者。他甚至没有考虑下楼去帮她，毕竟，那天还有无数人等着帮助的人，而他并未提供帮助。这么做将会花费自己难以匀出的几个小时、几美元，所以，我的邻居像我们每个人那样，回去睡觉了。

我不能责备他。凶杀事件在我的窗前发生时，我正坐在起居室里。失眠的我正在喝热牛奶、翻着一本旅行杂志，从头到尾都忽视了外面女孩奇怪的声音。事实上，我甚至没有想到站起来看看是怎么回事。在纽约居住多年的经历训练了我，你所听到的根本没什么大不了的，那只是个醉汉或游民。

几小时后，侦查人员审问我，我羞愧地承认了自己所听到的声音。或许那不是她的声音，但是也或许是。要是我不这么自鸣得意，要是我走到床边，或许我能做些什么。隔壁的医生说没有人可以帮助她，但是我告诉自己，我本可以帮她，或是确保她的安全，甚至或者是记下攻击者的样子。至少她不会这么可怜地死去，她的邻居们把她忽略了，因为他们以为她是一个醉汉，而事实上，她是在寻求帮助。

这应该是我们生活中常有的反应，起初会出于同情，就对弱者提供帮助，后来发展成每天被这些人拦着路，他们是穿着垃圾袋的人、门口晕倒的人、在地铁上大声哀求的人、或是展示毁伤的肢体的人，试图得到一些施舍。这么多的这类人已经消磨了我们的心灵，你必须变得无情。

谋杀案发生后的第二天早上，我正把受害者流在人行道上的血污洗去，这时候，穿着正装的人川流不息地经过，他们臂弯里夹着报纸和手提包，小心地避开路上的血污。似乎没人留意到或关心我在做什么。没人问是怎么回事，人们把视线移开--避开这一痛苦--把心思集中于其他更重要的事情上。死者只是另一件要归档的事故，只是这个陌生的地方的另一件事。

词汇释义

1.deranged adj. 疯狂的

例句：
The poor woman's mind has been deranged for many years.
那个可怜的妇人精神错乱已经好多年了。

2.flip vt. 掷, 弹, 轻击

例句：
I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.
我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。

3.steadfastly adv.踏实地, 不变地

例句：
Our society is free, fair and stable; and we steadfastly uphold the rule of law.
我们的社会自由、廉洁、安定、坚守法治；

4.bum n. 游荡者,懒鬼,闹饮,屁股

例句：
John lost his job and went on the bum.
约翰失去工作过着流浪生活。

5.assailant n. 攻击者

例句：
She was unable to get to grips with her assailant.
她无力与袭击她的人扭打.

6.plaintive adj.哀怨的, 忧郁的

例句：
Her voice was a little plaintive.
她的声音有点儿伤感。

7.callous adj. 麻木的,无情的,坚硬的

例句：
A callous indifference to the suffering of others.
对他人之痛苦漠不关心的铁石心肠的人。

难句讲解

1.In my sleeplessness, I was drinking hot milk and flipping through a travel magazine, steadfastly ignoring the weird murmurings of the girl outside.

【参考译文】失眠的我正在喝热牛奶、翻着一本旅行杂志，从头到尾都忽视了外面女孩奇怪的声音。

【结构解析】“In my sleeplessness”和“steadfastly ignoring...”均做状语，表示主语动作发生时的伴随状态。

2.The doctor next door says no one could have saved her, but I tell myself I could have held her, or reassured her, or even tried to get a description of the assailant.

【参考译文】隔壁的医生说没有人可以帮助她，但是我告诉自己，我本可以帮她，或是确保她的安全，甚至或者是记下攻击者的样子。

【结构解析】"could have done..."表示“本可以做...”。