在美國緬因州，人們習慣于把家中用不著的囤貨置于路邊，立上塊“免費拿取”的小牌子。且不說在這些二手貨中常常能淘到好東西，光“免費”二字就很是抓人眼球，令人心頭癢癢。為此，我時不時扛一些不一定有用的東西回家。孩子問：“我們已經有了，為什么還要？”我不假思索地回答：“因為這是免費的??！”

By Robert Klose

丁玎 選 安妮 注

As I drive the byways of Maine, especially during these long, lovely summer months, I cannot help but notice the various castings-off that people place curbside, all appended with one seemingly irresistible word—FREE!

In this state noted for its ethic of sufficiency, it is a singular joy to get rid of stuff that one no longer needs. But it is also fascinating to observe the jetsam of other households. Here is a short list of what I have seen by the side of the road on a representative weekend:

Computer desk

Computer (with accompanying sign: IT WORKS!)

Perfectly good wheel and tire

Bicycle

Kitchen cupboards

Snowboard (with bindings)

Washing machine

Skylight

Guitar

So why do many people throw away serviceable, and often valuable, things? I mean, why don’t they just try to sell them? I think the answer is also tied in with the Maine ethic of keeping it simple: It’s easier to give something away than to go through the trouble of advertising and then fielding phone calls, followed by the inevitable dickering. But I also think there is the subtle joy of seeing an item retrieved by someone we presume can use it.

What strikes me is the speed with which discarded goods are scooped up. It is as if there exists a nomadic army dedicated to acquiring the reject of others, ready to swoop in on a moment’s notice.

Case in point: For years I had a chunk of rusted, twisted steel sitting next to my garage. I finally overcame my ennui about the thing and hauled it curbside. No sooner had I turned my back than a pickup appeared. The driver hopped out and, in a tone of disbelief suggesting I had discarded the Hope Diamond, asked, “You getting rid of this?” When I nodded, he hoisted it, yelled a brisk “Thanks!” over his shoulder, and roared off.

Maine, then, is truly the land of the free. That one word is the catalyst for enthusiastic community assistance in one’s housecleaning.

A couple of years back, in a fever of industry, I was able to empty my garage of a door, two bald tires, a torn tarp, a roll of chicken wire, a rake with a broken handle, a lobster crate, and half a sack of concrete. I placed them by the street, and the gleaners began to swarm.

One woman (who took the concrete) even glanced at my garage and asked, “Got anything else in there?”

These freedom fighters actually comprise a number of subcultures. There are the rovers I’ve spoken about, who pick things up on the fly. Then there are the dumpster divers who cruise the trash bins outside the dormitories at the nearby University of Maine at semester’s end. (One of our neighbors is a member of this tribe: She has presented my son with a working electric scooter, a pair of like-new Nike sneakers, and a set of fine drafting tools.) The third group is represented by the dump prospectors—those who scour the town dump for overlooked gems, some of which are difficult to overlook, such as the sailboat (with trailer!) someone had unloaded there.

My guilty little secret is that I sometimes stop for a share of the largess. There really isn’t anything I need, but that word “free” speaks to some deep impulse to acquire, and to compete, lest someone else beat me to the punch. In this manner I once muscled a picnic table into my truck.

When I arrived home, my son remarked, “But we already have a picnic table. Why did you get another one?”

My answer was immediate: “Because it was free!”

As I write this, I am glancing out the window at a Windsor chair my neighbor has put out. The sign says FREE, but the chair is missing one leg.

Hmm... I could either repair it or use the chair for firewood. Which shall it be? Too late! While I dither over a course of action, an old-timer has pulled up. The chair is his, and I feel a tiny sting of loss.

Vocabulary

1. byway: 旁道，偏僻小路；Maine: 緬因州，美國東北角的一個州；casting-off: 被丟棄的東西；curbside: 靠近路緣的人行道部分，路邊；append: 附加，增補；irresistible: 無法抗拒的，非常誘人的。

2. be noted for: 因……著名；ethic: 準則，觀念；sufficiency: 充足，足夠；singular: 突出的，異常的。

3. jetsam: 投棄貨物。

4. representative: 典型的，具有代表性的。

5. accompanying: 附帶的。

6. cupboard: 櫥柜。

7. snowboard: 滑雪板；binding: （滑雪板上的）滑雪鞋固定裝置。

8. skylight: （屋頂的）天窗。

9. 我想，這也與緬因州人一切從簡的習慣相關：賣東西得先打個廣告，然后處理來電，最后不可避免地還得跟人討價還價，與這些麻煩事相比，贈予更為簡單和單純一些。field: 處理，應付（問題、電話等）；inevitable: 必然發生的，不可避免的；dicker: 討價還價。

10. subtle: 微妙的，細微的；retrieve: 取回，收回；presume: 假定，認為。

11. discarded: 被丟掉的，被棄置的；scoop up: 把……搶購一空。

12. 仿佛有一支游牧軍專門收取別人扔掉的東西，隨時準備好撲向路邊舊貨。nomadic: 游牧的，流動的；be dedicated to: 投身于，致力于；reject: 被棄者；swoop: 突然撲向，突然襲擊。

13. a chunk of: 一大塊；rusted: 生銹的；twisted: 歪斜的，扭曲的。

14. ennui: 倦怠，厭倦；haul: 拖，拉。

15. pickup: 小卡車。

16. hop out: 跳出；the Hope Diamond: “希望之星”藍鉆石，世界著名珍寶。

17. hoist: 抬起，扛起；yell: 叫喊；brisk: 輕快的，活潑的；roar: （車輛）轟鳴著疾駛。

18. catalyst: 催化劑，促進因素。

19. fever: 一時的狂熱，亢奮；industry: 勤奮，勤勞；bald tire: 光面輪胎，花紋已磨光的輪胎；tarp: 防水布，油布；chicken wire: 鐵絲網；rake: （長柄的）耙子；lobster: 龍蝦；crate: 貨箱；sack: 麻袋；concrete: 混凝土，水泥。

20. gleaner: 零散物搜集者；swarm: 云集，擠滿。

21. comprise: 包括，由……構成；subculture: 亞文化群體。

22. rover: 流浪者，游蕩者；on the fly: 在行駛過程中。

23. dumpster diver: 垃圾掏客；cruise: 開車緩慢巡行，兜風。

24. tribe: （興趣相同的）一批人；electric scooter: 電動滑板車；sneaker: 膠底運動鞋；drafting: 制圖，繪圖。

25. dump prospector: 垃圾勘探者；scour: 四處搜索，細查；gem: 寶石，珍寶，此處指被一些人認為是垃圾，卻被另一些人視為珍寶的東西；sailboat: 帆船；trailer: 拖車，此處指在陸地上用來拉運帆船的拖車；unload: 卸下（貨物），此處指“丟棄”。

26. largess: 贈送之物，賞賜。

27. impulse: 沖動；lest: 唯恐，生怕；beat sb. to the punch: 先發制人，搶先做某事（得到某物）。

28. muscle: 使勁搬動。

29. Windsor chair: 溫莎椅，18世紀流行于英美的一種細骨靠椅。

30. dither: 猶豫不決；old-timer: 老人，上了年紀的人；pull up: 停車。

31. sting: 刺痛，不快。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：丹妮）