A shoebox-sized package is propped against the front door at an angle. Our front door has a tiny slot to shove mail through, but anything thicker than a bar of soap gets left outside. A hurried scribble on the wrapping addresses the package to Clay Jensen, so I pick it up and head inside.
一个鞋盒大小盼包裹斜靠在前门上。我家前门上有个塞邮件的小槽，但任何超过肥皂厚度的东西就只能放在外面了。封包上潦草地写着收件人柯磊·简森，于是我捡起包裹进屋。
Who would send me a shoebox full of audiotapes? No one listens to tapes anymore. Do I even have a way to play them?
谁会给我寄一大盒录音磁带？现在都没人再听磁带了。我有什么办法放这些磁带呢？
I take the package into the kitchen and set it on the counter. I slide open the junk drawer and pull out a pair of scissors. Then I run a scissor blade around the package and lift off its top. Inside the shoebox is a rolled-up tube of bubble-wrap. I unroll that and discover seven loose audiotapes.
我拿着包裹进厨房，把包裹放在台柜上。我打开杂物抽屉，取出剪刀，用剪刀刃在包裹上划了一圈，取下盒盖。鞋盒里面是一卷泡泡纸。我打开泡泡纸，看到7盒没有捆扎的录音磁带。
The garage! The stereo on the workbench. My dad bought it at a yard sale for almost nothing. It's old, so he doesn't care if it gets coated with sawdust or splattered with paint. And best of all, it plays tapes.
对了车库！工作台上的那台立体声音响。我爸在一次庭院旧货甩卖时没花几个钱买的。已经很旧了，所以他也不在乎上面有没有积满木屑或溅上油漆。最重要的是，它能放磁带。
Each tape has a dark blue number painted in the upper right-hand corner, possibly with nail polish. Each side has its own number. One and two on the first tape, three and four on the next, five and six, and so on. The last tape has a thirteen on one side, but nothing on the back.
每盒磁带的右上方都有个深蓝色的数字，可能是用指甲油写的。每一面都有数字。第一盒是1和2，第二盒3和4，还有5、6……，依次类推。最后一盒一面写着13，反面没数字。
I drag a stool in front of the workbench, drop my backpack to the floor, then sit down. I press Eject on the player. A plastic door eases open and I slide in the first tape.
我拖了个小凳子在工作台前，把双肩包放在地板上，坐了下来。我按了播放机的弹出键。塑料小窗慢慢打开，我把第一盒磁带放了进去。