When I was quite young, my family had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished oak case fastened to the wall on the lower stair landing. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I even remembered the number - 105. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked into it. Once she lifted me up to speak to my father, who was away on business. Magic! Then I discovered that somewhere inside that wonderful device lived an amazing person - her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing that she did not know. My mother could ask her for anybody's number and when our clock ran down, Information Please immediately supplied the correct time.

My first personal experience with this genie-in-the-receiver came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the toolbench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there didn't seem to be of much use crying because there was no one home to offer sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver and held it to my ear. "Information Please," I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two, and a small clear voice spoke into my ear. "Information." "I hurt my fingerrr-" I wailed into the phone. The tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. "Isn't your mother home?" came the question. "Nobody's at home but me," I blubbered. "Are you bleeding?". "No", I replied. "I hit it with the hammer and it hurts". "Can you open your icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a little piece of ice and hold it on your finger. That will stop the hurt. Be careful when you use the ice pick," she admonished. "And don't cry. You'll be alright".

After that, I called Information Please for everything. I asked for help with my Geography and she told me where Philadelphia was, and the Orinco--the romantic river I was going to explore when I grew up. She helped me with my Arithmetic, and she told me that a pet chipmunk--I had caught him in the park just that day before--would eat fruits and nuts. And there was the time that Petey, our pet canary, died. I called Information Please and told her the sad story. She listened, then said the usual things grown-up say to soothe a child. But I was unconsoled. Why was it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to whole families, only to end as a heap of feathers feet up, on the bottom of a cage? She must have sensed my deep concern, for she quietly said, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow, I felt better.

Another day I was at the telephone. "Information," said the now familiar voice. "How do you spell fix?". F-I-X." At that instant my sister, who took unholy joy in scaring me, jumped off the stairs at me with a banshee shriek-"Yaaaaaaaaaa!" I fell off the stool, pulling the receiver out of the box by its roots. We were both terrified--Information Please was no longer there, and I was not at all sure that I hadn't hurt her when I pulled the receiver out. Minutes later, there was a man on the porch. "I'm a telephone repairman. I was working down the street and the operator said there might be some trouble at this number." He reached for the receiver in my hand. "What happened?" I told him. "Well, we can fix that in a minute or two." He opened the telephone box exposing a maze of wires and coils, and fiddled for a while with the end of the receiver cord, tightened things with a small screwdriver. He jiggled the hook up and down a few times, then spoke into the phone. "Hi, this is Pete. Everything's under control at 105. The kid's sister scared him and he pulled the cord out of the box." He hung up, smiled, gave me a pat on the head and walked out the door.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Then, when I was nine years old, we moved across he country to Boston-and I missed my mentor acutely. Information Please belonged in that old wooden box back at home, and I somehow never thought if trying the tall, skinny new phone that sat on the small table in the hall. Yet, as I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversation never really left me; often in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had when I know that I could call Information Please and get the right answer. I appreciated now how very patient, understanding and kind she was to have wasted her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way back to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about half an hour between plan connections, and I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister who lived there now, happily mellowed by marriage and motherhood. Then, really without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information Please." Miraculously, I heard again the small, clear voice that I know so well:"Information." I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, "Could you tell me, please, how to spell the word 'fix'?" There was a long pause. Then came the softly spoken answer. "I guess," said Information Please, "that your finger must have healed by now." I laughed. "So it's really still you. I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during all that time...." "I wonder," she replied, "if you know how much you meant to me? I never had any children, and I used to look forward to your calls. Silly, wasn't it?" It didn't seem silly, but I didn't say so. Instead I told her how often I had thought of her over the years, and I asked if I could call her again when I come back to visit my sister when the semester was over. "Please do. Just ask for Sally." "Goodbye Sally." It sounded strange for Information Please to have a name. "If I run into any chipmunks, I'll tell them to eat fruits and nuts." "Do that," she said. "And I expect one of these days you'll be off for the Orinoco. Well, good-bye."

Just three months later, I was back again at the Seattle airport. A different voice answered, "Information," and I asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" "Yes," I said. "An old friend." "Then I'm sorry to have to tell you. Sally had only been working part-time in the last few years because she was ill. She died five weeks ago." But before I could hung up, she said, "Wait a minute. Did you say your name was Villard?" "Yes." "Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down." "What was it?" I asked, almost knowing in advance what it would be. "Here it is, I'll read it-'Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean'"

I thanked her and hung up. I did know what Sally meant.

Краткий перевод (не мой):

Я был совсем маленьким когда у нас в доме появился телефон- один из первых телефонов в нашем городе. Помните такие большие громоздкие ящики-аппараты?
Я был еще слишком мал ростом чтобы дотянуться до блестящей трубки, висевшей на стене, и всегда зачарованно смотрел как мои родители разговаривали по телефону.
Позже я догадалася, что внутри этой удивительной трубки сидит человечек, которого зовут: Оператор, Будьте Добры. И не было на свете такой вещи, которой бы человечек не знал.
Оператор, Будьте Добры знал все- от телефонных номеров соседей до расписания поездов.
Мой первый опыт общения с этим джином в бутылке произошел когда я был один дома и ударил палец молотком. Плакать не имело смысла, потому что дома никого не было, чтобы меня пожалеть. Но боль была сильной. И тогда я приставил стул к телефонной трубке, висящей стене.
-Оператор, Будьте Добры.
-Слушаю.
-Знаете, я ударил палец... молотком.....
И тогда я заплакал, потому что у меня появился слушатель.
-Мама дома? -спросила Оператор, Будьте Добры.
-Нет никого, - пробормотал я.
-Кровь идет?- спросил голос.
-Нет, просто болит очень.
-Есть лед в доме?
-Да.
-Сможешь открыть ящик со льдом?
-Да.
-Приложи кусочек льда к пальцу, -посоветовал голос.

После этого случая я звонил Оператору, Будьте Добры по любому случаю.Я просил помочь сделать уроки и узнавал у нее чем кормить хомячка.

Однажды, наша канарейка умерла. Я сразу позвонил Оператору, Будьте Добры и сообщил ей эту печальную новость. Она пыталась успокоить меня,но я был неутешен и спросил:
- Почему так должно быть, что красивая птичка, которая приносила столько радости нашей семье своим пением- должна была умереть и превратиться в маленький комок, покрытый перьями, лежащий на дне клетки?
-Пол, -сказала она тихо, - Всегда помни: есть другие миры где можно петь.
И я как то сразу успокоился.
На следующий день я позвонил как ни в чем не бывало и спросил как пишется слово "fix".

Когда мне исполнилось девять, мы переехали в другой город. Я скучал по Оператору, Будьте Добры и часто вспоминал о ней, но этот голос принадлежал старому громоздкому телефонному аппарату в моем прежнем доме и никак не ассоциировался с новеньким блестящим телефоном на столике в холле.
Подростком, я тоже не забывал о ней: память о защищенности, которую давали мне эти диалоги, помогали в моменты недоумения и растерянности.
Но только став взрослым, я смог оценить сколько терпения и такта она проявляла, беседуя с малышом.

Через несколько лет после окончания колледжа, я был проездом в своем родном городе. У меня было всего пол-часа до пересадки на самолет.
Не думая, я подошел к телефону-автомату и набрал номер:
Удивительно, ее голос, такой знакомый, ответил. И тогда я спросил:
-Не подскажете ли как пишется слово "fix"?
Сначала - длинная пауза. Затем последовал ответ, спокойный и мягкий, как всегда:
- Думаю, что твой палец уже зажил к этому времени.
Я засмеялся:
- О, это действительно вы! Интересно, догадывались ли вы как много значили для меня наши разговоры!
-А мне интересно,- она сказала,- знал ли ты как много твои звонки значили для меня. У меня никогда не было детей и твои звонки были для меня такой радостью.
И тогда я рассказал ей как часто вспоминал о ней все эти годы и спросил можно ли нам будет повидаться, когда я приеду в город опять.
-Конечно, -ответила она,- Просто позвони и позови Салли.

Через три месяца я опять был проездом в этом городе.
Мне ответил другой, незнакомый голос:
-Оператор.
Я попросил позвать Салли.
-Вы ее друг? -спросил голос.
-Да, очень старый друг, - ответил я.
-Мне очень жаль, но Салли умерла несколько недель назад.

Прежде чем я успел повесить трубку, она сказала:
-Подождите минутку. Вас зовут Пол?
-Да
-Если так, то Салли оставила записку для вас, на тот случай если вы позвоните... Разрешите мне прочитать ее вам? Так... в записке сказано:
" Напомни ему, что есть другие миры, в которых можно петь. Он поймет."
Я поблагодарил ее и повесил трубку...