悠悠留聲機情結

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard! Hands 1)cupped around his mouth so his words wouldn’t travel to the ears of eavesdroppers， and 2)flipping his head from shoulder to shoulder to ensure no one would be privy to his 3)divulgence， David repeated his whispered announcement: “I have $500 saved.”

This wouldn’t be such a shock if it weren’t for the fact that David is a 4)mentally challenged adult. Where on earth did he get that kind of money? He pulled me aside and answered my unspoken question， so excited that his words tumbled 5)pell-mell off his lips， faster and faster until I could barely keep up with his stream of consciousness. Eventually I got the gist of his monologue.

When he was a little boy he had made weekly trips with his mother to a local department store. He was 6)mesmerized by the window displays and eagerly stood with his nose pressed against the glass until his breath clouded his view. Then came the display which would change his and many other lives 30 years later. It was a 7)Victor Five Victrola， the kind that needed to be wound by hand before placing the needle on the record， the machine which 8)bore the symbol of a black and white dog， ear 9)cocked to its side. Not missing a beat， he 10)expounded on a history lesson about 11)Columbia Records and their music machines， information 12)gleaned from his trips to the library. There was nothing he didn’t know about that golden age of music.

His mother died， and he eventually was able to live independently， supervised by an agency. It was through the agency that he obtained work， cleaning toilets of public facilities five nights a week. Every week he 13)squirreled away his paycheck， never forgetting the Victrola. He was on a mission to find and buy a 14)phonograph like the one he had once admired through plate glass.

Visibly exhausted from revealing his secret， David paused long enough to pull out a 15)tattered 16)Polaroid photo from his back pocket. He lovingly waved it in front of my eyes and proclaimed， “There it is! Victor Five!” He had found the object of his desire exhibited at a museum and had been faithfully visiting it every chance he could get. The colored piece of paper was a constant reminder of his goal.

I 17)tucked away his confession into the back of my mind， only to dust it off when I wandered into one of my favorite antique shops a few months later. In the back of the shop， tacked in the corner of a bulletin board over the owner’s desk， was a Polaroid picture just like the one David had shown me. I hastily inquired as to why it was there and unknowingly opened the door to a personal witnessing of the triumph of the human spirit.

David had gone to every antique shop in the city and had left a picture of his beloved Victrola with each of the shopkeepers. If any one of them was to come across a Victor Five he wanted to buy it. Rain or shine， the owner at Century Antiques counted on David to stop at his 18)Waterbury store at least twice a month to check on the success of his quest. He hadn’t put any effort into looking because he honestly didn’t think David had the money for such an expensive piece. After all， David was， well， not “like us.” Didn’t he know that it was next to impossible to find that particular antique? But， being a kindhearted soul， the dealer had 19)taken a liking to David and posted his Polaroid.

I commanded him to take the mission seriously. If David was short of the required amount for the purchase， I knew it wouldn’t be

impossible to find enough people to 20)chip in to make up the difference. There was a core group of people in our church who were fond of him and would dig into their pockets to help him reach his goal.

It took some time， but the antique shop came through with 21)flying colors. For months， the owner’s son， Chip， had made phone call after phone call in the tri-state area and eventually 22)struck it rich. A Victor Five had been found! He personally drove to the source， brought the machine back to his shop， and called me with the news. “I can’t believe it. It’s a miracle that I found one in such beautiful shape， or that I found one at all!” The cost to David? Not a 23)nickel more than what it had cost the dealer.

The profit for the dealer? The pure joy of seeing David when he 24)flung open the door to the shop， stopping speechless in front of the phonograph， clapping his hands together in prayer， and looking up to heaven and saying， “Thank you， thank you for my Victor Five.”

So， if you drive down the street past David’s apartment， you will most probably hear music.

David will be playing his Victrola， and the world will be a little nicer.

剛聽到的話讓我難以置信！大衛窩起手掌護著嘴巴，以防話傳到偷聽者的耳里，他還扭頭左右瞧，確保他講秘密時沒人在偷聽。這時他再一次低聲告訴我：“我存了500美元。”

如果大衛不是個智障青年，聽到這秘密我是不會那么吃驚的。他究竟是怎樣獲得那筆錢的？他把我拉到一邊，回答了我沒問出口的問題。他興奮得有點語無倫次，越說越快，我幾乎跟不上他的思路。他的獨白，我最終還是大致聽出了個所以然。

他還小的時候，每周都會和媽媽去一趟當地的百貨商店。他總是著迷于櫥窗里展示的東西，站在那兒眼巴巴地看著，鼻子貼著櫥窗玻璃，直到呼出的氣霧擋住了自己的視線。后來，櫥窗里展示的一件東西改變了他以及很多人在三十年后的生活軌跡。那是一臺型號為勝利五號的維克多牌留聲機，一種需要手搖機器再把唱針放到唱片上的留聲機，上面還有只黑白狗標志，那狗豎著耳朵，臉朝著留聲機一端的喇叭。他細述著哥倫比亞唱片公司和他們那些音樂播放器材的歷史，巨細無遺，全是泡圖書館收集回來的信息。音樂史上的那段黃金歲月，他無所不知。

后來他母親去世了，他在一家機構的照看下終于過起獨立的生活。他通過那家機構找到了工作，一周五個晚上打掃公共廁所。他把每周的薪水存起來，從沒忘記過維克多牌手搖留聲機。他在履行一個使命，他要尋找自己曾經透過厚厚的櫥窗欣賞到的那種留聲機，他要買下這樣一臺留聲機。……