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It did not take long for the whole village to assemble at Abu Raja's dikkan. Some of the rich villagers walked right into the store and stood at the elbows of the two important-looking men from the telephone company, who proceeded with utmost gravity, like priests at Communion, to wire up the telephone. The poorer villagers stood outside and listened carefully to the details relayed to them by the not-so-poor people who stood in the doorway and could see inside.
一会儿工夫全村的人都聚在了阿布·拉贾的小店前。小店里，从电话公司来的两个人看上去像是很有身份的人，他们像圣餐仪式上的牧师一样，在极其严肃地接通电话，一些富有的村民径直走到店里，站在这两人旁边观看。穷村民们站在店外边，用心听着不太穷的那些人传出来的细节，这些村民站在过道里，能看到店内的情况。
"The bald man is cutting the blue wire," someone said.
“那个秃顶的人正在割蓝色电线。”有人说。
"He is sticking the wire into the hole in the bottom of the black box," someone else added.
“他正在把线插到黑色盒子底部的孔里。”又有人补充着。
"The telephone man with the mustache is connecting two pieces of wire. Now he is twisting the ends together," a third voice chimed in.
“留着胡子的装电话的人正在连接两根线。现在他把两根线头扭在一起。”又有一个人插话道。
Because I was small, I wriggled my way through the dense forest of legs to get a firsthand look at the action. Breathless, I watched as the men in blue put together a black machine that supposedly would make it possible to talk with uncles, aunts, and cousins who lived more than two days' ride away.
因为那时我还很小，所以为了亲眼看清整个过程，我穿过大人们密密麻麻的大腿，目睹了整个安装过程。我屏住呼吸，看着那两个穿蓝色衣服的人把一个黑色机器装配好，有了这个东西,我们大概就能和叔叔、舅舅、姑妈、姨妈和表兄妹讲话了，他们住在骑牲口都要超过两天才能到达的地方。
It was shortly after sunset when the man with the mustache announced that the telephone was ready to use. He explained that all Abu Raja had to do was lift the receiver, turn the crank on the black box a few times, and wait for an operator to take his call. Abu Raja grabbed the receiver and turned the crank forcefully. Within moments, he was talking with his brother in Beirut. He didn't even have to raise his voice or shout to be heard.
太阳刚下山，留胡子的那人就宣布，电话已经安装完毕。他解释说，阿布·拉贾要做的只是拿起那个话筒，转动几圈黑盒子上面的摇柄，就可以等候话务员接通电话了。阿布·拉贾拿起话筒，用力地转动摇柄。一会儿工夫，他就和在贝鲁特的兄弟聊了起来。他甚至都不需要提高声音或大喊对方就能听得见。
