Paula Fox的小说，在2004年4月期的Harper's Magazine上。Paula Fox今年已经 81岁了。 这篇小说，就像它的题目“The Broad Estates of Death”，表现了一片衰老、垂死的气氛。Harry和他的妻子 Amelie去乡下看他老病将死的父亲。Harry已经23年没有见到他的父亲了。 父亲Ben见到Harry时，是这样的景象。 "Well ... it's been a long time," he said in a thin, grainy voice. Harry held out a hand, which the old man touched with his fingers. "I see your hair's thinning," Ben Tilson said. He looked at Amelia then. "I lost mine young too. Seems to run in the family." 他的父亲给他讲起Thyra阿姨的事情。Thyra遇上了麻烦，她不停地借钱。她要钱 干什么呢？她去买了一只无毛的墨西哥狗。也许女人到了一定的年纪，就变怪了。 这是他父亲的解释。 Harry不在的时候，Harry的父亲给Amelie讲起Harry小时候的事情。"When he was little, he had fat little legs, short like this--". 他们一起去拜访一些老朋 友。Harry的父亲介绍Amelie: "Amelie, my daughter-in-law," 他的声音宏亮。 一个朋友对Amelie说起：“My children are all grown up and they've moved away. I don't know why I bother with that cat. It spends its nights getting into fights and coming home limping with its ear unstitched. I suppose you got to have something around that's alive and don't fight with you." Harry的父亲讲起朋友们的事情。他们的故事都灾祸连连：长期的干旱，灾难性 的风暴，勉强的收成。父亲说：“他们都挺过来了，他们笑到了最后。” No one has the last laugh, Amelie thought. Paula Fox写过不少儿童读物，她最近出版了回忆录，“Borrowed Finery”，记 叙她生命里动荡不安的前20年。