《飘》精读 33章 3

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“Oh dear, yes! There’s plenty of law practice. Practically everybody is suing everybody else these days.

啊，亲爱的，不是这样！律师的事还多着呢。这些日子，实际上每个人都在控告别人。

With everything burned down and boundary lines wiped out, no one knows just where their land begins or ends.

由于什么都烧光了，界线也消失了，谁也说不清自己的地界在哪里。

But you can’t get any pay for suing because nobody has any money. So Hugh sticks to his peddling….

不过你要打官司也打不起，因为大家都没有钱了。因此休只好一心一意卖自己的柴火……

Oh, I almost forgot! Did I write you? Fanny Elsing is getting married tomorrow night and, of course, you must attend.

啊，我差点忘了！我写信告诉你了吗？范妮·埃尔辛明天晚上要结婚了。当然，你应当参加婚礼。

Mrs. Elsing will be only too pleased to have you when she knows you’re in town.

埃尔辛太太只要知道你到了城里，一定很欢迎你去。

I do hope you have some other frock besides that one.

我真希望你除了这身穿着还另外有件衣服。

Not that it isn’t a very sweet frock, darling, but–well, it does look a bit worn.

并不是说这一件不好看，亲爱的，可是——嗯，它显得有点旧了。

Oh, you have a pretty frock? I’m so glad because it’s going to be the first real wedding we’ve had in Atlanta since before the town fell.

啊，你有件漂亮的长袍？我真高兴，这将是亚特兰大沦陷以来头一次举行的真正的婚礼呢。

Cake and wine and dancing afterward, though I don’t know how the Elsings can afford it, they are so poor.”

婚礼上将有蛋糕，有酒，然后是跳舞会，尽管我不明白埃尔辛家怎么花得起，因为他们本来是够穷的。”

“Who is Fanny marrying? I thought after Dallas McLure was killed at Gettysburg–”

“范妮嫁给谁呀？我想达拉斯·麦克卢尔在葛底斯堡牺牲之后——”

“Darling, you mustn’t criticize Fanny. Everybody isn’t as loyal to the dead as you are to poor Charlie.“

乖乖，你可不能批评范妮。不是每个人都像你对查尔斯那样忠于死者呀。

Let me see. What is his name? I can never remember names–Tom somebody.

让我想想，他叫什么名字来着？我总是记不住名字——也许叫汤姆什么的。

I knew his mother well, we went to LaGrange Female Institute together.

我同他母亲很熟，曾经一起上过拉格兰奇女子学院。

She was a Tomlinson from LaGrange and her mother was–let me see.

她姓托姆林森，是拉格兰奇人，而她母亲是——让我想想……

… Perkins? Parkins? Parkinson!

姓珀金斯，珀金斯？珀金森！

That’s it. From Sparta. A very good family but just the same–well, I know I shouldn’t say it but I don’t see how Fanny can bring herself to marry him!”

对了。斯巴达人。门第很好，可还是一样——嗯，我知道本来不该说的，可不明白范妮怎么会让自己去嫁给他的！”

“Does he drink or”

“他喝酒？还是——”

“Dear, no! His character is perfect but, you see, he was wounded low down, by a bursting shell and it did something to his legs–

不，亲爱的。他的品性完美无缺，不过你瞧，他下身受了伤，被一颗开花弹打的，打坏了两腿——

makes them–makes them, well, I hate to use the word but it makes him spraddle.

spraddle:叉开腿站立;跨姿;跨越;两腿叉开;

把它们——把它们，唉，我很讨厌用那个字眼，总之是使他只能叉开两腿走路了。

It gives him a very vulgar appearance when he walks–well, it doesn’t look very pretty. I don’t see why she’s marrying him.”

这叫他行走起来非常难看——嗯，可真不体面呢。我不明白她为什么要嫁给他。”

“Girls have to marry someone.”

“姑娘们总得嫁人嘛！”

“Indeed, they do not,” said Pitty, ruffling. “I never had to.”

“说真的，这倒不一定，”皮蒂皱皱眉头，表示异议，“我就从没想过。”

“Now, darling, I didn’t mean you! Everybody knows how popular you were and still are!

“你看，亲爱的，我不是说你呀！谁都知道你多么惹人爱慕，而且至今还是这样。

Why, old Judge Carlton used to throw sheep’s eyes at you till I–”

要不，老法官卡尔顿还常常向你飞媚眼呢，以致我——”

“Oh, Scarlett, hush! That old fool!”giggled Pitty, good humor restored.

“唔，思嘉，别说了！那个老傻瓜！”皮蒂咯咯地笑着，情绪又好起来，

“But, after all, Fanny was so popular she could have made a better match and I don’t believe she loves this Tom what’s-his-name.

“不过，无论怎么说，范妮是那样讨人喜欢，她本该嫁一个更好的人，而且我就不信她真的爱上这个汤姆什么的。

I don’t believe she’s ever gotten over Dallas McLure getting killed, but she’s not like you, darling.

我不信她对于达拉斯·麦克卢尔的牺牲会不再伤心了。不过她跟你不一样，亲爱的。

You’ve remained so faithful to dear Charlie, though you could have married dozens of times.

你对心爱的查理至今忠贞不渝，即使你想再嫁，可能嫁过多次了。

Melly and I have often said how loyal you were to his memory when everyone else said you were just a heartless coquette.”

coquette:卖弄风情的女人;

媚兰和我时常谈起你为查理守节多么坚贞，虽然别人在背地里议论你，说你简直是个没心肝的风流女子。”

Scarlett passed over this tactless confidence and skillfully led Pitty from one friend to another but all the while she was in a fever of impatience to bring the conversation around to Rhett.

tactless:得罪人的;不圆通的;没策略的

confidence:信心;信任，信赖;信任;自信心;

思嘉对于这种不高明的表白漠然置之，只一心要诱导皮蒂从一个朋友谈到另一个朋友，而且始终迫不及待地将谈话绕到瑞德身上。

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It would never do for her to ask outright about him, so soon after arriving.

她是决不会直截了当问起他的，何况自己刚到这里。

It might start the old lady’s mind to working on channels better left untouched.

而且那样做可能引起老太太去琢磨一些最好不去触动的想法。

There would be time enough for Pitty’s suspicions to be aroused if Rhett refused to marry her.

要是瑞德拒绝娶她，不愁没有机会惹起皮蒂对她的猜疑呢！

Aunt Pitty prattled on happily, pleased as a child at having an audience.

皮蒂姑妈很高兴喋喋不休地说下去，就像一个孩子好不容易获得了自己的听众似的。

Things in Atlanta were in a dreadful pass, she said, due to the vile doings of the Republicans.

她说在亚特兰大，由于共和党人做了许多缺德事，现今的局面是可怕的。

“There was no end to their goings on and the worst thing was the way they were putting ideas in the poor darkies’ heads.

而且这一趋势没有尽头，其中最糟糕的是他们向穷黑人头脑里灌输思想的那种方式。

My dear, they want to let the darkies vote! Did you ever hear of anything more silly?

“亲爱的，他们要让黑人投票选举呢！你说世界上还有比这更荒谬的事吗？

Though–I don’t know–now that I think about it, Uncle Peter has much more sense than any Republican I ever saw and much better manners but,

尽管——我不明白——反正我这样想，彼得大叔比我见到的哪个共和党人都更加清醒，也更有礼貌，

of course, Uncle Peter is far too well bred to want to vote.

不过，当然喽，像彼得大叔这样有教养的人是决不想参加选举的

But the very notion has upset the darkies till they’re right addled.

可是，光这种想法本身就把黑人搞得简直昏昏沉沉了。

And some of them are so insolent.

何况他们中间有些人是那么粗野无礼。

Your life isn’t safe on the streets after dark and even in the broad daylight they push ladies off the sidewalks into the mud.

天黑以后你在大街上走路是有生命危险的，甚至大白天他们也会把姑娘们推搡到路边的泥泞里去。

And if any gentleman dares to protest, they arrest him and—My dear, did I tell you that Captain Butler was in jail?”

而且，如果有位绅士胆敢表示抗议，他们就逮捕他，以致——亲爱的，我告诉过你没有？巴特勒船长已经进监狱了。”

“Rhett Butler?” Even with this startling news, Scarlett was grateful that Aunt Pitty had saved her the necessity of bringing his name into the conversation herself.

“瑞德·巴特勒？” 即使是这么个消息，思嘉也要感激不尽，因为皮蒂使她无需亲自提到巴特勒的名字就谈起他来了。

“Yes, indeed!” Excitement colored Pitty’s cheeks pink and she sat upright.

“是的，千真万确！”皮蒂已激动得两颊发红，腰也挺得笔直了。

“He’s in jail this very minute for killing a negro and they may hang him! Imagine Captain Butler hanging!”

“他就是因为杀了一个黑人立即被抓起来的。说不定要判处绞刑呢！想想吧，巴特勒船长判处绞刑！”

For a moment, the breath went out of Scarlett’s lungs in a sickening gasp and she could only stare at the fat old lady who was so obviously pleased at the effect of her statement.

思嘉顿时像个泄了气的皮球，喘不过气来了，只是呆呆地望着这位胖老太太，老太太却因自己讲的事产生了效果而洋洋得意。

They haven’t proved it yet but somebody killed this darky who had insulted a white woman.

“他们还没有找到充分的证据，不过的确有人杀了这个侮辱白人妇女的黑鬼。

And the Yankees are very upset because so many uppity darkies have been killed recently.

北方佬感到十分恼火，因为最近有那么多气势汹汹的黑人被杀了。

They can’t prove it on Captain Butler but they want to make an example of someone, so Dr. Meade says.

他们在巴特勒船长身上找不到证据，可是正如米德大夫说的，他们总得搞出一个样板。

The doctor says that if they do hang him it will be the first good honest job the Yankees ever did,

大夫认为如果他们真把他绞死，也是北方佬干的第一桩大好事，

but then, I don’t know.…

不过那样一来，我就不明白……

And to think that Captain Butler was here just a week ago and brought me the loveliest quail you ever saw for a present

想想看，巴特勒船长上星期还到过这里，给我带来了一只怪可爱的鹌鹑当礼物呢。

and he was asking about you and saying he feared he had offended you during the siege and you would never forgive him.”

他还问起你，说他担心围城时期得罪过你，你大概永远也不会原谅他的。”

“How long will he be in jail?

“他得在监狱里待多久？”

“Nobody knows. Perhaps till they hang him, but maybe they won’t be able to prove the killing on him, after all.

“谁知道呢。也许一直要关到执行绞刑那天吧。不过，也可能他们最终落实不了他的杀人罪。

However, it doesn’t seem to bother the Yankees whether folks are guilty or not, so long as they can hang somebody. They are so upset”

当然喽，对于北方佬来说，只要能抓住一个人判绞刑就行了，至于究竟谁有罪没罪，那是用不着操心的。他们恼火极了。”

Pitty dropped her voice mysteriously–“about the Ku Klux Klan.Do you have the Klan down in the County?

皮蒂神秘地压低声音——“至于那个三K党，在你们乡下也有三K党吗？

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My dear, I’m sure you must and Ashley just doesn’t tell you girls anything about it

亲爱的，我相信一定有的，只不过艾希礼不会把这种事告诉你们姑娘家罢了。

Klansmen aren’t supposed to tell.

三K党人是不让谈这个的。

They ride around at night dressed up like ghosts and call on Carpetbaggers who steal money and negroes who are uppity.

他们在晚上装扮得像魔鬼似的，骑着马四处转悠，寻找偷钱的提包党人和盛气凌人的黑鬼。

Sometimes they just scare them and warn them to leave Atlanta, but when they don’t behave they whip them and,”

有时他们只吓唬吓唬他们，警告他们快离开亚特兰大，可是如果他们不规矩就动手用鞭子抽，并且，”

Pitty whispered,“sometimes they kill them and leave them where they’ll be easily found with the Ku Klux card on them. …

皮蒂悄悄地说，“有时把他们杀掉，扔到很容易发现的地方，上面还放着三K党的名片呢……

And the Yankees are very angry about it and want to make an example of someone…

所以北方佬非常气恼，想来个杀一儆百……

But Hugh Elsing told me he didn’t think they’d hang Captain Butler

不过休·埃尔辛告诉我，他认为他们不至于绞死巴特勒船长，

because the Yankees think he does know where the money is and just won’t tell.

因为北方佬觉得他知道那笔钱的下落，只是不说罢了。

They are trying to make him tell.”

他们正在想办法让他说出来。”

“The money?”

“那笔钱？”

“Didn’t you know? Didn’t I write you? My dear, you have been buried at Tara, haven’t you?

“你还不知道呀？我不是写信告诉你了吗？亲爱的，你是给埋在塔拉了，不是吗？

The town simply buzzed when Captain Butler came back here with a fine horse and carriage and his pockets full of money,

巴特勒船长回来时城里简直都轰动了，他驾着漂亮的马车，口袋里装满了钞票，

when all the rest of us didn’t know where our next meal was coming from.

可我们大家正愁着下顿饭没米下锅呢！

It simply made everybody furious that an old speculator who always said nasty things about the Confederacy should have so much money when we were all so poor.

这真叫每个人都气炸了，一个惯常说联盟政府脏话的老投机商竟有这么多的钱，而我们大家却穷得要命。

Everybody was bursting to know how he managed to save his money but no one had the courage to ask him- except me

每个人都急于要知道他是怎样积攒起钱来的，可是谁也没勇气去问他——就我敢问，

and he just laughed and said: ‘In no honest way, you may be sure.’

但他只笑着说：‘不是老老实实挣的，你放心好了。’

You know how hard it is to get anything sensible out of him.”

你看要从他嘴里掏点正经的东西多不容易呀！”

“But of course, he made his money out of the blockade”

“不过，当然了，他的钱是跑封锁线捞到的——”

“Of course, he did, honey, some of it. But that’s not a drop in the bucket to what that man has really got.

“当然，是这样，宝贝，有一部分是的。不过，跟他实实在在拥有的那笔钱比起来，这只是缸里的一滴水。

Everybody, including the Yankees, believes he’s got millions of dollars in gold belonging to the Confederate government hid out somewhere.”

每个人，包括北方佬在内，都相信他得到了属于联盟政府所有的成百万的金元，藏在某个地方。”

“Millions–in gold?”

“成百万的——金元？”

“Well, honey, where did all our Confederate gold go to?

嗯，宝贝，你说我们联盟政府的黄金都到哪里去了呢？

Somebody got it and Captain Butler must be one of the somebodies.

到了某些人的手里，而巴特勒就是这某些人中的一个。

The Yankees thought President Davis had it when he left Richmond but when they captured the poor man he had hardly a cent.

北方佬以为是戴维斯总统离开里士满时携带着这批金元，但等到他们逮捕这个穷老头子时，才发现他原来身无分文。

There just wasn’t any money in the treasury when the war was over and everybody thinks some of the blockade runners got it and are keeping quiet about it.”

战争结束时国库是没有钱的，所以大家认为是有些跑封锁线的商人拿到了这笔钱，他们现在闭口不谈了。”

“Millions–in gold! But how–”

“成百万的——金元？可怎么——”

“Didn’t Captain Butler take thousands of bales of cotton to England and Nassau to sell for the Confederate government?”asked Pitty triumphantly.

“巴特勒船长不是给联盟政府运过好几千包棉花到英国和纳索去卖了吗？”皮蒂得意地问，

“Not only his own cotton but government cotton too? And you know what cotton brought in England during the war!

“不只是他自己的棉花，还有政府的棉花呢！而且你知道，战时把棉花运进英国是怎么回事。

Any price you wanted to ask!

你要价多少就是多少呀！

He was a free agent acting for the government and he was supposed to sell the cotton and buy guns with the money and run the guns in for us.

他是一个替政府办事的自由经纪人，为的是卖出棉花，然后用这笔钱给我们买进军火。

Well, when the blockade got too tight, he couldn’t bring in the guns

好，当封锁线愈来愈紧缩时，他就没法把军火运进来了。

and he couldn’t have spent one one-hundredth of the cotton money on them anyway, so there were simply millions of dollars in English banks put there by Captain Butler and other blockaders, waiting till the blockade loosened.

这时他当然不可能将全部棉花用于军火，于是便有了成百万的钱由巴特勒和其他跑封锁线的商人存在英国银行里，等候放松封锁时再使用。

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And you can’t tell me they banked that money in the name of the Confederacy.

而且你很难说他们存钱时是用的联盟政府的名义。

They put it in their own names and it’s still there. … Everybody has been talking about it ever since the surrender and criticizing the blockaders severely,

severely:严重地;严厉地;严格地;苛刻地;

他们把钱存在自己名下，而且至今还在那里呢……从宣布投降以来，谁都在谈论和狠狠批评那帮跑封锁线的家伙，

and when the Yankees arrested Captain Butler for killing this darky they must have heard the rumor, because they’ve been at him to tell them where the money is.

而北方佬以杀害黑人的罪名逮捕巴特勒船长时，一定已经听到这种传闻，因为他们已经在迫使他将钱的下落告诉他们了。

You see, all of our Confederate funds belong to the Yankees now-at least, the Yankees think so.

你看，我们联盟政府的全部资金现在都归北方佬所有了——至少北方佬是这样想的。

But Captain Butler says he doesn’t know anything. …

可是巴特勒船长声称他什么也不知道……

Dr. Meade says they ought to hang him anyhow, only hanging is too good for a thief and a profiteer–

米德大夫说他们还是应当把他绞死，只不过绞刑太便宜这个窃贼和投机商了——

Dear, you look so oddly! Do you feel faint? Have I upset you talking like this?

亲爱的，你怎么了，怎么这副样子！你有点头晕？我谈这些叫你厌烦了吗？

I knew he was once a beau of yours but I thought you’d fallen out long ago.

我知道他曾经是你的一位求爱者，可是我以为你早已把他撇到一边了呢。

Personally, I never approved of him, for he’s such a scamp—”

就人品而论，我从没喜欢过他，这么个无赖汉——”