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house. This was an old villa backed by tall trees. In the shadows of a side alley a young man with a mackintosh over his white pyjamas was wringing his hands. The street lights were going out in alternate order, the odd numbers first. Along the pavement in front of the villa her obese husband, in a rumpled black suit and tartan booties with clasps, was walking a striped cat on an overlong leash. She made for the front door.

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這是一幢古老的鄉間別墅，背后有茂密的參天大樹。在一條僻靜小巷的陰暗處，一位內穿白色睡衣、外披雨衣的年輕小伙子在不停地絞扭自己的雙手。路燈交替著熄滅，奇數的在先。她肥胖的丈夫身穿一件皺巴巴的黑色西服，腳蹬一雙帶鞋襻的格子呢軟鞋，牽著一根加長的皮帶，沿著別墅前的便道在遛一只條紋貓。她朝前門走去。