The Earl of Tennessee

Earl lives next door in Edna`s basement,behind the flower boxes Edna paints green each year,behind the dusty geraniums.We used to sit on the flower boxes until the day Tito saw a cockroach¹ with a spot of green paint on its head.Now we sit on the steps that swing around the basement apatrment where Earl lives.

Earl works nights.His blinds are always closed during the day. Sometimes he comes out and tells us to keep quiet.The little wooden door that has wedged shut the dark for so long opens with a sigh and lets out a breath of mold and dampness,like books that have been left out in the rain.This is the only time we see Earl except for when he comes and goes to work. He has weo little black dogs that go everywhere with him. They don`t walk like ordinary dogs,but leap and somersault like an apostrophe and comma.

田纳西州的伯爵

埃尔住在隔壁埃德娜家的地下室里，在埃德娜每年都要漆成绿色的花箱后面，在那些灰蒙蒙的天竺葵后面。我们以前常坐在花箱上，直到有一天，提陀看到一只脑袋上有一点绿漆的蟑螂。现在我们坐在拐向埃尔住的地下室的楼梯步上。

埃尔上夜班。他的百叶窗在白天总是合上的。有时他会出来叫我们保持安静。已经开裂的小木门把黑暗关在里面那么久，现在它打开了，呀的一声叹息，吐出一口潮湿的霉气，就像放在外面淋过雨的书，这是惟一一次我们不是在他回来和去上班的时候看到他。他有两条与他形影不离的小黑犬。它们不是像平常的狗那么走路，而是一蹦一跳，翻着筋斗前进，像一个撇号和一个逗号。