《飘》精读 38章 6

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There were qualities of loyalty and tirelessness and love in them that no strain could break, no money could buy.

黑人身上有忠诚、耐劳和仁爱的品德，这些是任何严峻的情势也无法使之破裂，金钱也无法买到的。

She thought of the faithful few who remained at Tara in the face of the Yankee invasion when they could have fled or joined the troops for lives of leisure. But they had stayed.

她想起面对北方佬入侵时仍然留在塔拉的那几个忠心耿耿的黑人。他们可以逃走，或者参加军队去过闲荡的生活，可是他们却留下来了。

She thought of Dilcey toiling in the cotton fields beside her, of Pork risking his life in neighboring hen houses that the family might eat, of Mammy coming to Atlanta with her to keep her from doing wrong.

她想起迪尔茜怎样在棉花地里挨着她干苦活，想起波克怎样冒着生命危险去邻居鸡窝里偷鸡给全家吃，想起嬷嬷怎样陪伴她到亚特兰大来，不让她做错事。

She thought of the servants of her neighbors who had stood loyally beside their white owners,

她还想起一些邻居家的仆人，他们怎样保护那些男人到前线去了的女主人，

protecting their mistresses while the men were at the front, refugeeing with them through the terrors of the war, nursing the wounded, burying the dead, comforting the bereaved, working, begging, stealing to keep food on the tables.

bereaved,:失去亲人的

怎样护送她们逃过战争的恐怖，怎样看护受伤的人，掩埋死者，安慰生者，干活，行乞，偷窃，为了让餐桌上有吃的便什么都干。

And even now, with the Freed-men’s Bureau promising all manner of wonders, they still stuck with their white folks and worked much harder than they ever worked in slave times.

而且即使现在，“自由人局”向他们许了各种各样惊人的诺言，可他们还是牢牢跟着他们的白人主子，而且比过去当奴隶时干得更加辛苦。

But the Yankees didn’t under-stand these things and would never understand them.

但是，所有这些事情北方佬都不理解，而且永远也不会理解。

“Yet they set you free,” she said aloud.

“不过，是他们解放了你们呢。”思嘉大声对彼得说。

“No, Ma’m! they din’t set me free. Ah wouldn’t let such trash set me free,” said Peter indig-nantly.

“不，小姐！他们没有解放俺。俺也不要让这帮废物来解放，”彼得生气地说。

“Ah still belongs to Miss Pitty and when Ah dies she would lay me in the Hamilton burying ground where Ah belongs. …

“我还是属于皮蒂小姐。要是俺死了，她也得把俺埋在汉密尔顿家的坟地里，因为俺是属于这里的呀……

May Miss would be in a state when Ah tells her about how you let dem Yankee women insult me.”

俺要是告诉皮蒂小姐，你怎样让北方佬女人侮辱了我，她准会非常生气的。”

“I did no such thing!” cried Scarlett, startled.

“我可没有干这种事呀！”思嘉吃惊地喊道。

“You did so, Miss Scarlett,”said Peter, pushing out his lip even farther.

“你就是干了嘛，思嘉小姐，”彼得说着，嘴唇皮往外伸得更长了，

“the pint is, neither you nor me had no bissiness being with Yankees, so they could insult me.

“重要的是你和俺都没有理由去跟北方佬打交道，让他们可以侮辱俺。

If you hadn’t talked with them, they wouldn’t had no chance to treat me like a mule or a Affikun.

要是你不跟她们说话，她们就不会有机会把俺比做骡子或非洲人了。

And you din’t take up for me, either.”

而且，你也没替俺责备她们呀。”

“I did, too!”said Scarlett, stung by the criticism. “Didn’t I tell them you were one of the family?”

“我还是责备她们了呀！”思嘉说，显然被这种批评刺痛了。“我不是告诉她们你是我们家自己人吗？”

“that aren’t takind up. that’s jest a fact,” said Peter.

“这不算责备，只是事实罢了，”彼得说，

“Miss Scarlett, you aren’t got no bissiness having no truck with Yankees.

“思嘉小姐，你没有理由跟这些北方佬去打交道。

And no other ladies doing ‘lit. You wouldn’t catch Miss Pitty wiping her lil shoes on such trash.

没有哪家的小姐像你这样。你决不会看见皮蒂小姐理睬那帮废物的。

And she aren’t goingto like it when she hear wbout what they said about me.”

要是她听见她们说俺的那番话，她准会不高兴的。”

Peter’s criticism hurt worse than anything Frank or Aunt Pitty or the neighbors had said and it so annoyed her

彼得的批评，比起弗兰克和皮蒂姑妈或者邻居们的话来，更使她觉得伤心。

she longed to shake the old darky until his toothless gums clapped together.

她感到那样恼火，恨不得使劲摇晃这个老黑奴，直到他那两片没牙的牙床碰得嘎嘎响为止。

What Peter said was true but she hated to hear it from a negro and a family negro, too.

彼得说的倒全是真话，不过她深恨这些话出自一个黑人而且是自家黑奴之口。

Not to stand high in the opinion of one’s servants was as humiliating a thing as could happen to a Southerner.

在自家仆人心目中都得不到尊敬，这对于一个南方人来说简直是最丢脸的事。

“A old pet!” Peter grumbled. “Ah spects Miss Pitty aren’t going to want me to drive you round no more after that. No, Ma’m!”

“一个老宝贝呢！”彼得嘟囔着说，“我想皮蒂小姐听了这种话决不会再让俺给你赶车了。肯定不会，小姐！”

“Aunt Pitty will want you to drive me as usual,” she said sternly, “so let’s hear no more about it.”

“皮蒂姑妈还会让你照样给我赶车的，”她厉声说，“所以，咱们别再提这事了。”

“Ah’ll get a mizry in my back,”warned Peter darkly. “My back hutting me so bad this minute Ah can’t sceercely set up. My Miss aren’t going to want me to do no driving when Ah got a mizry.

“俺想俺的背快出毛病了，”彼得阴郁地警告说，“俺的背现在就痛得要命，几乎直不起来了。只要俺的背一痛，小姐就不会让俺再赶车了……

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… Miss Scarlett, it aren’t going to do you no good to stand high with the Yankees and the white trash, if your own folks don’t prove of you.”

思嘉小姐，要是咱自家人都不赞成你的做法，就算那些北方佬和白人渣滓都捧你，那对你也不会有什么好处呢。”

That was as accurate a summing up of the situation as could be made and Scarlett relapsed into infuriated silence.

relapsed:退回原状

这句话对于思嘉当前的处境可真是概括得好极了，致使她陷入一种无比愤怒的沉默中。

Yes, the conquerors did approve of her and her family and her neighbors did not.

是的，征服者们确实都对她表示赞许，但她的家人和邻居却不那样。

She knew all the things the town was saying about her.

她知道全城的人都在纷纷议论她。

And now even Peter disapproved of her to the point of not caring to be seen in public with her. That was the last straw.

她知道全城的人都在纷纷议论她。而现在连彼得也对她那样反感，甚至不愿跟她一起出现在大庭广众之中了。这真是一个致命的打击啊。

Heretofore she had been careless of public opinion, careless and a little contemptuous.

在这之前，她对人家的议论是根本不在乎的，不但不在乎，而且有点瞧不起。

But Peter’s words caused fierce resentment to burn in her breast, drove her to a defensive position,

但彼得的话在她心中点起了愤恨的怒火，迫使她采取守势，

made her suddenly dislike her neighbors as much as she disliked the Yankees.

使她突然对邻居如同对北方佬一样厌恶起来。

“Why should they care what I do?” she thought.

“他们管我干什么呢？”她想道，

“They must think I enjoy asso-ciating with Yankees and working like a field hand.

“他们准以为我喜欢跟北方佬交往，喜欢像干农活的黑奴一样卖苦力吧。

They’re just making a hard job harder for me.

他们这样做，只不过给我难上加难罢了。

But I don’t care what they think. I won’t let myself care. I can’t aff-ord to care now. But some day–some day”

但是，任凭他们怎样想，我不管它，我才不让自己去管呢。而且目前我也管不起。不过有一天——有一天——”

Oh some day! When there was security in her world again, then she would sit back and fold her hands and be a great lady as Ellen had been.

啊，总会有一天的！等到她的生活又有了保障的那一天，她便可以交抱着两臂舒坦地休息，成为跟母亲爱伦那样的贵妇人了。

She would be helpless and shel-tered, as a lady should be, and then everyone would approve of her.

她会像贵妇人那样娇弱，躲在家里，那样一来，人人都会夸奖她了。

Oh, how grand she would be when she had money again!

啊，如果她又有了钱，她会变得多么了不起啊！

Then she could permit herself to be kind and gentle, as Ellen had been, and thoughtful of other people and of the proprieties, too.

到那个时候，她会让自己变得像爱伦那样和蔼可亲，处处为别人着想，处处都注意礼仪了。

She would not be driven by fears, day and night, and life would be a placid, unhurried affair.

她不会再从早到晚地担惊受怕，因为生活会变得平静而悠闲呢。

She would have time to play with her children and listen to their lessons.

她将有时间跟她的孩子们一起玩耍，听他们念课文。

There would be long warm afternoons when ladies would call and, amid the rustlings of taffeta petticoats and the rhythmic harsh cracklings of palmetto fans, she would serve tea and delicious sandwiches and cakes and leisurely gossip the hours away.

遇到冗长而暖和的下午，那些上等女人会来拜访她，在一片塔夫绸裙的窸窣声和棕榈扇刺耳而有节奏的噼啪声中，她会叫仆人给她们送上茶水和可口的三明治，以及蛋糕，等等，同她们悠闲地聊天，消磨时光。

And she would be so kind to those who were suffering misfortune, take baskets to the poor and soup and jelly to the sick and “air”those less fortunate in her fine carriage.

对于那些遭遇不幸的人，她会十分和蔼地对待他们，给穷人送去一篮篮的食物，给病人送去羹汤和果冻，同时在漂亮的马车里向那些不如她得意的人“装腔作势”一番。

She would be a lady in the true Southern manner, as her mother had been.

她会像她母亲过去那样成为一个真正南方式的上等女人。

And then, everyone would love her as they had loved Ellen and they would say how unselfish she was and call her“Lady Boun tiful.”

到那时候，大家都会像爱爱伦那样爱她，会赞扬她多么无私，会称她为“慷慨的夫人”。

Her pleasure in these thoughts of the future was un-dimmed by any realization that she had no real desire to be unselfish or chari-table or kind.

她对未来的种种想法感到很有乐趣，这一点，尽管她心里明白自己并没有真正想要变得慷慨无私或和蔼可亲，但总也是不会有什么问题的。

All she wanted was the reputation for possessing these qualities.

她所希图的只是具有这些品德的好名声。

But the meshes of her brain were too wide, too coarse, to filter such small differences.

meshes:网状物;网状织物;陷阱;圈套;困境;

不过她那副脑筋动得太粗了，根本辨不出这类细微的差别来。

It was enough that some day, when she had money, everyone would approve of her.

只要有那么一天，她有了钱，人人都赞许她，就足够了。

Some day! But not now. Not now, in spite of what anyone might say of her. Now, there was no time to be a great lady.

有一天！但不是现在。现在不行，不管人家怎么说她。现在还不是成为一个伟大女性的时候。

Peter was as good as his word.

彼得的话果然说对了。

Aunt Pitty did get into a state, and Peter’s misery developed over-night to such proportions that he never drove the buggy again.

proportions:比例;

皮蒂姑妈真的激动起来，彼得的背也一夜之间痛到确实无法再赶车了。

Thereafter Scarlett drove alone and the calluses which had begun to leave her palms came back again.

从此思嘉只好自己一个人赶车，她手心上的茧子又重新磨起来了。