Going home! Going home! They could talk of nothing else, neither battles nor wounds, nor imprisonment nor the future. Later, they would refight battles and tell children and grandchildren of pranks and forays and charges, of hunger, forced marches and wounds, but not now. Some of them lacked an arm or a leg or an eye, many had scars which would ache in rainy weather if they lived for seventy years but these seemed small matters now. Later it would be different.
Old and young, talkative and taciturn, rich planter and sallow Cracker, they all had two things in common, lice and dysentery. The Confederate soldier was so accustomed to his verminous state he did not give it a thought and scratched unconcernedly even in the presence of ladies. As for dysentery—the “bloody flux” as the ladies delicately called it—it seemed to have spared no one from private to general. Four years of half-starvation, four years of rations which were coarse or green or half-putrefied, had done its work with them, and every soldier who stopped at Tara was either just recovering or was actively suffering from it.回家去啊!回家去啊!他们别的什么也不谈,不谈打仗也不谈受伤,不谈坐牢也不谈今后。往后,他们可能还要打仗,要把他们曾经怎样搞恶作剧,怎样抢东西怎样冲锋和饿肚子,怎样连夜行军和受伤住院等等,通通告诉自己的儿子和孙子可是现在不谈这些。他们有的缺胳膊短腿,有的瞎了一只眼,但更多的人带着枪伤,如果他们活到七十岁,这些枪伤,是每到阴雨天就要痛的,不过现在还不要紧。至于以后,那就是另一回事了。
年老和年轻的,健谈的和沉默的,富农和森林地带憔悴的穷白人,他们都有两种共同的东西,既虱子和痢疾。联盟军士兵对于受虱子折磨的尴尬局面已习惯了,他们已经毫不介意,甚至在妇女面前也泰然自若地搔起来痒来,至于痢疾--妇女们巧妙地称之为"血污"--那仿佛对谁也不饶过,从小兵到将军一视同仁。为时四年的半饥半饱状态,四年粗糙的、半生不熟和腐烂发酸的配给食品,对这些人起到了应有的作用,以致每个在亚特兰大停留的士兵要么刚在逐渐康复,要么还病得厉害。One and all, Mammy dosed them, never waiting to ask foolish questions about the state of their organs and, one and all, they drank her doses meekly and with wry faces, remembering, perhaps, other stern black faces in far-off places and other inexorable black hands holding medicine spoons.
In the matter of “comp’ny” Mammy was equally adamant. No lice-ridden soldier should come into Tara. She marched them behind a clump of thick bushes, relieved them of their uniforms, gave them a basin of water and strong lye soap to wash with and provided them with quilts and blankets to cover their nakedness, while she boiled their clothing in her huge wash pot. It was useless for the girls to argue hotly that such conduct humiliated the soldiers. Mammy replied that the girls would be a sight more humiliated if they found lice upon themselves.嬷嬷给他们所有的人,吃这个药方,也不问他们的肠胃情况究竟怎样;所有的人都乖乖地皱着眉头吃她给的这种黑汤,也许还记得在很远的地方曾经也有这样严厉的黑女人用无情的手喂他们吃过药呢。
嬷嬷在住宿方面的态度也一样坚决。凡是身上有虱子的士兵都不许进入塔拉农常她把他们赶到后面丛密的灌木林里。给他们一盆和一块含强碱的肥皂,叫他们脱下军服,好好洗浴一番,还准备了被褥和床单让他们把赤裸的身子暂时覆盖住,这时她用一口大锅把他们的衣服煮起来,直到虱子彻底消灭为止。姑娘们热烈争论,说这样做使士兵们太丢脸了,嬷嬷说,要是将来姑娘们发现自己也有虱子,不是更丢脸吗?Of each soldier, they asked eagerly of Ashley. Suellen, bridling, always asked news of Mr. Kennedy. But none of the soldiers had ever heard of them nor were they inclined to talk about the missing. It was enough that they themselves were alive, and they did not care to think of the thousands in unmarked graves who would never come home.
她们急切地向每个士兵打听艾希礼的消息。苏伦也克制着经常探询肯尼迪先生的情况。可是这些士兵谁也没听说过他们,同时也不想谈失踪的事。只要他们自己还活着就够了,谁还高兴去管成千上万没有标明姓氏的坟。
Then at the thought of Ashley barefooted, Scarlett could have cried. Let other soldiers limp by in rags with their feet tied up in sacks and strips of carpet, but not Ashley. He should come home on a prancing horse, dressed in fine clothes and shining boots, a plume in his hat. It was the final degradation for her to think of Ashley reduced to the state of these other soldiers.
One afternoon in June when everyone at Tara was assembled on the back porch eagerly watching Pork cut the first half-ripe watermelon of the season, they heard hooves on the gravel of the front drive. Prissy started languidly toward the front door, while those left behind argued hotly as to whether they should hide the melon or keep it for supper, should the caller at the door prove to be a soldier.想到艾希礼在光脚走路,于是思嘉也快哭了。让别的士兵穿着破衣烂衫,用麻布袋和破毡条裹着脚,一瘸一拐去走路吧,但艾希礼可不行:他应当骑一匹风驰电掣般的快马,穿着整洁的戎装,登着雪亮的靴子,帽子上插着羽毛,威风凛凛地赶回家来。要是设想艾希礼也已经沦落到像这些士兵一样的境遇,那是她把自己大大地贬低了。
六月间的一个下午,所有塔拉农场的人都聚在后面走廊上,急切地看着波克将头一个半熟的西瓜打开,这时忽然他们听见屋前车道上马蹄踏着碎石的声音,百里茜没精打采地动身朝前门走去,其余的人留在后面热烈争论,如果门外的来客又是一个士兵的话,究竟要不要把西瓜藏起来,或者留到晚餐时再吃。“Don’t be a goose, girls! There’s not enough for us as it is and if there are two or three famished soldiers out there, none of us will even get a taste,” said Scarlett.
While Pork stood with the little melon clutched to him, uncertain as to the final decision, they heard Prissy cry out.“Gawdlmighty! Miss Scarlett! Miss Melly! Come quick!”
“Who is it?” cried Scarlett, leaping up from the steps and racing through the hall with Melly at her shoulder and the others streaming after her.“姑娘们!别傻了,实际上还不够我们自己吃呢,要是外面还有两三个饿急了的士兵,我们大家连尝一口的希望也没有了,"思嘉说。
波克紧抱着那小西瓜站在那里,不知究竟怎么办好,这时恰巧听见百里茜在大声喊叫。“思嘉小姐!媚兰小姐!快出来呀!我的上帝!"
“那是谁呢?"思嘉惊叫道,一面从台阶上跳起来奔过堂直往外跑,媚兰紧跟着她,别的人也随即一哄而出。“It’s Uncle Peter! Miss Pittypat’s Uncle Peter!”
They all ran out to the front porch and saw the tall grizzled old despot of Aunt Pitty’s house climbing down from a rat-tailed nag on which a section of quilting had been strapped. On his wide black face, accustomed dignity strove with delight at seeing old friends, with the result that his brow was furrowed in a frown but his mouth was hanging open like a happy toothless old hound’s.Everyone ran down the steps to greet him, black and white shaking his hand and asking questions, but Melly’s voice rose above them all.
“Auntie isn’t sick, is she?”“是彼得大叔呢!皮蒂帕特小姐家的彼得大叔!"
他们一起向前面走廊上奔去,看见皮蒂姑妈家那那个头发花白的高个子老暴君,正在从一匹尾巴细长的老马背上爬下来,老马背上还捆着一块皮褥当马鞍呢。他那张宽宽的黑脸上,即有习惯的庄严也有看见老朋友的欢乐,两相争斗,结果就使得他额头皱成了几道深沟,而他的嘴却像没牙的老猎狗似的咧开了。人人都跑下台阶欢迎他,不管黑人白人都争着跟他握手,提出问题,但是媚兰的声音比谁都响。
“姑妈没生病吧,是吗?”“Why, Uncle Peter! What on earth—”
“Y’all nee’n try ter ‘scuse you’seffs. Ain’ Miss Pitty writ you an’ writ you ter come home? Ain’ Ah seed her write an’ seed her a-cryin’ w’en y’all writ her back dat you got too much ter do on disyere ole farm ter come home?”“怎么,彼得大叔!究竟是什么--"
“你们都休想为你们自己辩护。皮蒂小姐不是给你们写过信,叫你们回去吗?俺不是看见她边写边哭,可你们总是回信说这个老种植园事情太忙,回不去吗?"“Huccome you leave Miss Pitty by herseff lak dis w’en she so scary lak? You know well’s Ah do Miss Pitty ain’ never live by herseff an’ she been shakin’ in her lil shoes ever since she come back frum Macom. She say fer me ter tell y’all plain as Ah knows how dat she jes’ kain unnerstan’ y’all desertin’ her in her hour of need.”
“Now, hesh!” said Mammy tartly, for it sat ill upon her to hear Tara referred to as an “ole farm.” Trust an ignorant city-bred darky not to know the difference between a farm and a plantation. “Ain’ us got no hours of need? Ain’ us needin’ Miss Scarlett an’ Miss Melly right hyah an’ needin’ dem bad? Huccome Miss Pitty doan ast her brudder fer ‘sistance, does she need any?”“你们怎能把皮蒂小姐一个人丢开不管,让她担惊受怕呢?你们和俺一样很清楚,她从没一个人生活过,从梅肯回来后就一直挪着两只小脚走来走去。她叫俺来老实告诉你们,她真不明白你们怎么在她最困难的时候把她给抛弃了。"
“好,别说了!"嬷嬷尖刻地说,在旁边听人家把塔拉叫做"老种植园",她便再也按捺不住了。毫无疑问的,一个生长在城里的黑人弄不清农场和种植园的区别。"难道俺没有困难的时候了?俺这里就不需要思嘉小姐和媚兰小姐而且需要得厉害?皮蒂小姐要是真的需要,怎么没去请求她哥哥帮助呢?”“Us ain’ had nuthin’ ter do wid Mist’ Henry fer y’ars, an’ us is too ole ter start now.” He turned back to the girls, who were trying to suppress their smiles. “You young Misses ought ter tek shame, leavin’ po’ Miss Pitty lone, wid half her frens daid an’ de other half in Macom, an’ ‘Lanta full of Yankee sojers an’ trashy free issue niggers.”
The two girls had borne the castigation with straight faces as long as they could, but the thought of Aunt Pitty sending Peter to scold them and bring them back bodily to Atlanta was too much for their control. They burst into laughter and hung on each other’s shoulders for support. Naturally, Pork and Dilcey and Mammy gave vent to loud guffaws at hearing the detractor of their beloved Tara set at naught. Suellen and Carreen giggled and even Gerald’s face wore a vague smile. Everyone laughed except Peter, who shifted from one large splayed foot to the other in mounting indignation.“我们已经多年不跟享利先生打交道了,何况我们现在已老得走不动了。"他回过头来看着几位姑娘。她们正强忍着笑呢。"你们年轻小姐们应当感到羞耻,把可怜的皮蒂小姐单独丢在那里。她的朋友半数都死了,另一半住在梅肯,加上亚特兰大到处都是北方佬大兵和新放出来的下流黑人。"
两位姑娘硬着头皮尽量忍受着彼得大叔的谴责,可是一想到皮蒂姑妈会打发彼得来责备她们,并要把她们带回亚特兰大去,便觉得有点太过份,实在克制不住了。她们不由得前俯后仰地大笑起来,彼此靠着肩膀才没有倒下去。自然,波克、迪尔茜和嬷嬷听见这位对她们亲爱的塔拉妄加诽谤的人受到了藐视,也乐得大声哄笑了一阵。苏伦和卡琳也格格地笑着,连杰拉尔德的脸上也露笑容了。人人都在笑,只有彼得除外,他感到万分难堪,两只笨大的八字脚交替挪动着,不知怎样摆好。“Too ole! Me too ole? No, Ma’m! Ah kin perteck Miss Pitty lak Ah allus done. Ain’ Ah perteck her down ter Macom when us refugeed? Ain’ Ah perteck her w’en de Yankees come ter Macom an’ she so sceered she faintin’ all de time? An’ ain’ Ah ‘quire disyere nag ter bring her back ter ‘Lanta an’ perteck her an’ her pa’s silver all de way?” Peter drew himself to his full height as he vindicated himself. “Ah ain’ talkin’ about perteckin’. Ah’s talkin’ ‘bout how it look.”
“How who look?”“老了!我老了?不,太太!我还能跟往常一样保护皮蒂小姐呢。我逃难时不是一路护送她到梅肯了吗?北方佬打到梅肯时,她吓得整天晕过去,不是我保护着她吗?不是我弄到了这匹老马把她带回亚特兰大,并且一路保护着她和她爸的银器吗?"彼得挺着身子站得笔直,理直气壮地为自己辩护,"我不要谈什么保护。我谈的是态度如何。"
“谁的态度呢?”At this, Scarlett and Melly whooped louder and sank down to the steps. Finally Melly wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.
“Poor Uncle Peter! I’m sorry I laughed. Really and truly. There! Do forgive me. Miss Scarlett and I just can’t come home now. Maybe I’ll come in September after the cotton is picked. Did Auntie send you all the way down here just to bring us back on that bag of bones?”思嘉和媚兰听到这里,笑得更响了,由于支持不住,便一起坐到了台阶上。最后媚兰才把欢乐的眼泪拭掉,开口说话。
“我对不起笑了你了,可怜的彼得大叔啊!千真万确的。你看!请饶恕我吧。思嘉小姐和我目前还回不去。也许九月间收过棉花以后我能走成。姑妈打发你一路跑来,难道就是要让这把瘦骨把我们带回去呀?"“Miss Melly, Ah is gittin’ ole, Ah spec’, ‘cause Ah clean fergit fer de moment whut she sent me fer, an’ it’s important too. Ah got a letter fer you. Miss Pitty wouldn’ trust de mails or nobody but me ter bring it an’—”
“A letter? For me? Who from?”Well’m, it’s—Miss Pitty, she says ter me, “You, Peter, you brek it gen’ly ter Miss Melly,’ an’ Ah say—”
Melly rose from the steps, her hand at her heart.“我说过我已经老了,媚兰小姐,我一时间干脆忘了她打发我干什么来了,可那是很重要的呢。我给你带了封信来。皮蒂小姐不信任邮局或任何别的人,专门叫我来送,而且--"
"一封信?给我?谁的?"“唔,那是--皮蒂小姐,她对我说,'彼得,你,轻轻地告诉媚兰小姐,'我说--"
媚兰一只手放在胸口从台阶上站起身来。“No’m! No’m!” cried Peter, his voice rising to a shrill bawl, as he fumbled in the breast pocket of his ragged coat. “He’s live! Disyere a letter frum him. He comin’ home. He— Gawdlmighty! Ketch her, Mammy! Lemme—”
“Doan you tech her, you ole fool!” thundered Mammy, struggling to keep Melanie’s sagging body from falling to the ground. “You pious black ape! Brek it gen’ly! You, Poke, tek her feet. Miss Carreen, steady her haid. Lessus lay her on de sofa in de parlor.”There was a tumult of sound as everyone but Scarlett swarmed about the fainting Melanie, everyone crying out in alarm, scurrying into the house for water and pillows, and in a moment Scarlett and Uncle Peter were left standing alone on the walk. She stood rooted, unable to move from the position to which she had leaped when she heard his words, staring at the old man who stood feebly waving a letter. His old black face was as pitiful as a child’s under its mother’s disapproval, his dignity collapsed.
For a moment she could not speak or move, and though her mind shouted: “He isn’t dead! He’s coming home!” the knowledge brought neither joy nor excitement, only a stunned immobility. Uncle Peter’s voice came as from a far distance, plaintive, placating.“没有,太太!没有,太太!"彼得叫嚷着,他的声音提高到了嘶喊的地步,一面在破上衣胸前的口袋里摸索。"这就是他寄来的信。他活着呢,他快要回来了。他--我的上帝!搀住她,嬷嬷!让我--”
“你这老笨蛋!不许你碰她!"嬷嬷怒气冲冲地吼着,一面挣扎着扶住媚兰瘫软的身子不让她倒下。"你这个假正经的黑猴子!还说轻轻地告诉她呢!你抱住她的脚,波克。卡琳,托住她的头。咱们把她抬到客厅里的沙发上去。"除思嘉以外,所有的人都围着晕倒的媚兰手忙脚乱,七嘴八舌地大声嚷嚷,有的跑去打水,有的跑去拿枕头,一时间思嘉和彼得大叔两人给留在人行道上没人管了。思嘉站在原来的地方,像生了根似的,她是听到彼得谈起艾希礼时一下跳过来的,可现在也给吓得不能动弹了。只瞪大眼睛望着彼得手里那封颤动的信发呆。彼得像个受了母亲责骂的孩子似的,那张又老又黑的面孔显得十分可怜。他那庄严的神气已经彻底垮了。
她一时说不出话来,也挪不动脚,尽管思嘉在心里喊叫:“他没有死!他快回来了!”这消息给她带来的既不是喜悦也不是激动,而是一种目蹬口呆的麻木状态。彼得大叔这时说话了,他的声音犹如自一个遥远的地方起来,既带有哀愁又给人以安慰。Scarlett snatched the letter from his hand. It was addressed to Melly in Miss Pitty’s writing but that did not make her hesitate a moment. She ripped it open and Miss Pitty’s enclosed note fell to the ground. Within the envelope there was a piece of folded paper, grimy from the dirty pocket in which it had been carried, creased and ragged about the edges. It bore the inscription in Ashley’s hand: “Mrs. George Ashley Wilkes, Care Miss Sarah Jane Hamilton, Atlanta, or Twelve Oaks, Jonesboro, Ga.”
With fingers that shook, she opened it and read:“Beloved, I am coming home to you—”
Tears began to stream down her face so that she could not read and her heart swelled up until she felt she could not bear the joy of it. Clutching the letter to her, she raced up the porch steps and down the hall, past the parlor where an the inhabitants of Tara were getting in one another’s way as they worked over the unconscious Melanie, and into Ellen’s office. She shut the door and locked it and flung herself down on the sagging old sofa crying, laughing, kissing the letter.思嘉从他手里把信抢过来,信封上写的收信人是媚兰,是皮蒂小姐的手笔,不过对此她毫不犹疑,便把它拆开了,里面一个由皮蒂小姐封入了字条随即掉落在地上。信封里装着一张折叠的信笺,因为被带信人揣在肮脏的口袋里弄得灰糊糊的而且有点破了。艾希礼开头是这样写的:“佐治亚亚特兰大萨拉.简.汉密尔顿小姐转,或琼斯博罗'十二橡树'村,乔治.艾希礼.威尔克斯太太收。"
她颤抖地手把信笺打开,默默地读道:“亲爱的,我就要回到你身边来了--"
眼泪开始潸然下流,她没法再读下去。她只觉得心在发胀,顿时高兴得无法克制自己了。于是她抓住那封信贴在胸口,迅速跳上台阶,跑进穿堂,经过那间闹哄哄的客厅,径直来到爱伦的办事房。此时塔拉农场所有的人都还拥挤在客厅里为打救不省人事的媚兰忙碌着呢。可思嘉不管这些。她把门关好,锁上,猛地倒在那张下塌的旧沙发里,哭着,笑着,吻着那封信。Common sense told them that unless Ashley developed wings, it would be weeks or even months before he could travel from Illinois to Georgia, but hearts nevertheless beat wildly whenever a soldier turned into the avenue at Tara. Each bearded scarecrow might be Ashley. And if it were not Ashley, perhaps the soldier would have news of him or a letter from Aunt Pitty about him. Black and white, they rushed to the front porch every time they heard footsteps. The sight of a uniform was enough to bring everyone flying from the woodpile, the pasture and the cotton patch. For a month after the letter came, work was almost at a standstill. No one wanted to be out of the house when he arrived. Scarlett least of all. And she could not insist on the others attending to their duties when she so neglected hers.
But when the weeks crawled by and Ashley did not come or any news of him, Tara settled back into its old routine. Longing hearts could only stand so much of longing. An uneasy fear crept into Scarlett’s mind that something had happened to him along the way. Rock Island was so far away and he might have been weak or sick when released from prison. And he had no money and was tramping through a country where Confederates were hated. If only she knew where he was, she would send money to him, send every penny she had and let the family go hungry, so he could come home swiftly on the train.人们凭常识也知道,除非艾希礼长了翅膀,否则他要从伊利诺斯回到佐治亚就得走好几个星期,甚至几个月,不过大家还是天天盼望,只要军人在塔拉的林荫道上出现,心就禁不住急跳起来。仿佛每一个破衣衫的人都可能是艾希礼,即使不是艾希礼,那个士兵也许知道一点艾希礼的消息,或者带来了皮蒂姑妈写的一封有关他的信。不分黑人白人,每一次听到脚步声他们就向前面走廊上奔去。只要看到一个穿军服的人影,每个在柴堆旁、在牧场上和在棉花地里劳动的人,就有理由飞跑过去了。收到那封信以后的一个月里,农田里的活儿已几乎陷于停顿状态。因为谁都不愿意当艾希礼到家时自己不在屋里。思嘉是最不愿意碰上这种情况的人,既然自己如此不安心工作。她也就没法坚持要别人认真劳动了。
但是一个一个星期过去,艾希礼还是没有回来,也没有什么消息,于是塔拉农场又恢复了原先的秩序。渴望的心情也只能到这种地步。不过思嘉心里产生了一种恐惧感,那就是担心艾希礼在路上出了什么事。罗克艾兰离这里那么远,可能他获释出狱时身体就十分虚弱或者有病呢。而且他身边无钱,所走过的区域又都是憎恨联盟军的地方。要是她知道他如今在哪里,她倒愿意寄钱给他,把她手头所有的钱都寄去,哪怕让全家的人都饿肚子也罢,只要他能够坐火车赶回来就行了。In the first rush of joy when her eyes met those words, they had meant only that Ashley was coming home to her. Now, in the light of cooler reason, it was Melanie to whom he was returning, Melanie who went about the house these days singing with joy. Occasionally, Scarlett wondered bitterly why Melanie could not have died in childbirth in Atlanta. That would have made things perfect. Then she could have married Ashley after a decent interval and made little Beau a good stepmother too. When such thoughts came she did not pray hastily to God, telling Him she did not mean it. God did not frighten her any more.
Soldiers came singly and in pairs and dozens and they were always hungry. Scarlett thought despairingly that a plague of locusts would be more welcome. She cursed again the old custom of hospitality which had flowered in the era of plenty, the custom which would not permit any traveler, great or humble, to go on his journey without a night’s lodging, food for himself and his horse and the utmost courtesy the house could give. She knew that era had passed forever, but the rest of the household did not, nor did the soldiers, and each soldier was welcomed as if he were a long-awaited guest.在她刚看到这句话便引起第一阵喜悦中,它好像只意味着他就要回到她身边来了。可现在比较理智而冷静地想起来,才发现他原来是要回到媚兰身边来呢。媚兰最近总是在屋子里到处走动,高兴地唱个不停。有时思嘉恨恨地想起,为什么媚兰在亚特兰大生孩子时竟没有死呀?要是死了,事情就全然不同了!那样她就可以在一个适当的时期以后嫁给艾希礼,将小博也作为一个很好的前娘儿子抚养起来。每当想到这些,她也并不急于向上帝祈祷,告诉他她不是这个意思,她对上帝已不再害怕了。
士兵还陆陆续续地来,有时一个两个,有时十几二十个,一般都饿肚子。思嘉绝望地觉得这比经受一次蝗灾还要可怕。这时她又诅咒起那种好客的习惯来。那是富裕时代盛行起来的,它规定对任何一个旅客,不分贵贱都得留下住一晚,以尽可能体面的方式连人带马好好地款待一番。她知道那个时代已经永远过去了,可是家里其余的人却不这样想,那些士兵也不这样想,所以每个士兵照样受欢迎,仿佛是盼望已久的客人似的。“You’ll have to stop it, Melanie,” she scolded. “You’re half sick yourself and if you don’t eat more, you’ll be sick in bed and we’ll have to nurse you. Let these men go hungry. They can stand it. They’ve stood it for four years and it won’t hurt them to stand it a little while longer.”
Melanie turned to her and on her face was the first expression of naked emotion Scarlett had ever seen in those serene eyes.“媚兰,你不能再这样了,"思嘉责骂她。"你自己还有病在身,如果不多吃一点,你就会躺倒了,那时我们还得服侍你,让这些人挨饿去吧。他们经受得起,他们已经熬了四年,再多熬一会也无妨的。"
媚兰回头看着她,脸上流露出她头一次从这双宁静的眼睛里看到的公然表示激动的神情。“My Ashley.”
“Beloved, I am coming home to you.”Scarlett turned away, wordless. After that, Melanie noticed there was more food on the table when guests were present, even though Scarlett might grudge them every mouthful.
When the soldiers were too ill to go on, and there were many such, Scarlett put them to bed with none too good grace. Each sick man meant another mouth to feed. Someone had to nurse him and that meant one less worker at the business of fence building, hoeing, weeding and plowing. One boy, on whose face a blond fuzz had just begun to sprout, was dumped on the front porch by a mounted soldier bound for Fayetteville. He had found him unconscious by the roadside and had brought him, across his saddle, to Tara, the nearest house. The girls thought he must be one of the little cadets who had been called out of military school when Sherman approached Milledgeville but they never knew, for he died without regaining consciousness and a search of his pockets yielded no information.“我的艾希礼。"
“亲爱的,我就要回到你身边来了。"思嘉一声不响地走开了。媚兰注意到从那以后家里有客人时餐桌上的食品丰富了些。即使思嘉每吃一口都要抱怨。
有时那些士兵病得走不动了,而且这是常有的事,思嘉便让他们躺在床上,但不怎么照顾。因为每留下一个病人就是添一张要你给饭吃的嘴。还得有人去护理他,这就意味着少一个劳动力来打篱笆、锄地、拔草和犁田。有个脸上刚刚开始长出浅色茸毛的小伙子,被一个到费耶特维尔去的骑兵卸在前面走廊上,骑兵发现他昏迷不醒,躺在大路边,便把他横塔在马鞍上带到最近的一户人家塔拉农常姑娘们认为他肯定是谢尔曼逼近米列奇维尔时从军事学校征调出来的一个学生。可是结果谁也没弄清楚,因为他没有恢复知觉便死了,而且从他的口袋里也找不出什么线索来。Will Benteen was another soldier, like the nameless boy, who arrived unconscious across the saddle of a comrade. Will was acutely ill with pneumonia and when the girls put him to bed, they feared he would soon join the boy in the burying ground.
He had the sallow malarial face of the south Georgia Cracker, pale pinkish hair and washed-out blue eyes which even in delirium were patient and mild. One of his legs was gone at the knee and to the stump was fitted a roughly whittled wooden peg. He was obviously a Cracker, just as the boy they had buried so short a while ago was obviously a planter’s son. Just how the girls knew this they could not say. Certainly Will was no dirtier, no more hairy, no more lice infested than many fine gentlemen who came to Tara. Certainly the language he used in his delirium was no less grammatical than that of the Tarleton twins. But they knew instinctively, as they knew thoroughbred horses from scrubs, that he was not of their class. But this knowledge did not keep them from laboring to save him.还有一个士兵叫威尔.本廷,也像那个无名无姓的小伙子,是在昏迷中由一个同伙放在马鞍上带来的。威尔得了肺炎,病情严重,姑娘们把他抬到床上时,担心他很快就会进墓地跟那个小伙子作伴。
他有一张南佐治亚山地穷白人痢疾患者的蜡黄脸,淡红色的头发,一双没精打彩的蓝眼睛,即使在昏迷中也显得坚忍而温和。他有一条腿被平膝截掉了,马马虎虎地装上了一段木头。他显然是个山地穷白人,就像她们刚埋葬的那个小伙子显然是个农场主的儿子一样。至于为什么姑娘们会知道这个,那就很难说了。可以肯定的是威尔跟许多到塔拉来的上等人比较起来,他决不比他们更脏,或者身上有更多的毛和虱子。可以肯定的是,他在胡言乱语时用的语言决不比塔尔顿家那对孪生兄弟的语言更蹩脚。不过她们也很清楚,就像她们分得出纯种马和劣等马一样,他决不是她们这个阶级的人。然而,这并不妨碍她们尽力挽救他。“A man ought to have some folks,” she said. “And he sounds like he didn’t have a soul in the world.”
For all his lankiness he was tough, and good nursing pulled him through. The day came when his pale blue eyes, perfectly cognizant of his surroundings, fell upon Carreen sitting beside him, telling her rosary beads, the morning sun shining through her fair hair.“Then you warn’t a dream, after all,” he said, in his flat toneless voice. “I hope I ain’t troubled you too much, Ma’m.”
His convalescence was a long one and he lay quietly looking out of the window at the magnolias and causing very little trouble to anyone. Carreen liked him because of his placid and unembarrassed silences. She would sit beside him through the long hot afternoons, fanning him and saying nothing.“一个男人总该是有亲人的嘛,"她说。"可他让你感觉到好像他在这世界上什么人也没有了。"
别看他那么瘦,他还真有股韧劲呢,经过细心护理,他居然活过来了。终于有一天,他那双浅蓝色眼睛已能认出周围的人来,看得见卡琳坐在他身旁捻着念珠祈祷,早晨的阳光照着她的金黄头发。“那么我到底不是在做梦了,"他用平淡而单调的声音说。“但愿我自己没有给你带过多的麻烦才好,女士。"
他康复得很慢,长久静静地躺在那里望着窗外的木兰树,也很少打扰别人。卡琳喜欢他那种平静而自在的默默无言的神态。她愿意整个炎热的下午都守在他身边,一声不响地给他打扇子。She said as much to Will Benteen one afternoon when he was able to sit up in a chair and was startled when he said in his flat voice: “Let her be, Miss Scarlett. It comforts her.”
“Comforts her?”有二天下午,威尔.本廷能够在椅子里坐坐时,思嘉对他谈起了这件事。令人惊讶的是他居然平淡地说;"思嘉小姐,由她去吧。这使她觉得心里舒服呢。”
“心里舒服?"“Who is ‘him’?”
His faded blue eyes looked at her from under sandy lashes without surprise. Nothing seemed to surprise or excite him. Perhaps he had seen too much of the unexpected ever to be startled again. That Scarlett did not know what was in her sister’s heart did not seem odd to him. He took it as naturally as he did the fact that Carreen had found comfort in talking to him, a stranger.“Her beau, that boy Brent something-or-other who was killed at Gettysburg.”
“Her beau?” said Scarlett shortly. “Her beau, nothing! He and his brother were my beaux.”“'他'是谁?"
从那浅褐的睫毛下他那双淡蓝色的眼睛平静地看着她。好像他对什么事情都不惊讶或兴奋似的。也许他见过的意外之事太多,再也不会大惊小怪了。对于思嘉不了解她妹妹的心事,他也不认为有什么不寻常的地方。他认为它看作很自然的事,正像他觉得卡琳很乐意跟他这个陌生的人说话是很自然的。“那个名叫布伦特什么的人,她的情人,在葛底斯堡牺牲的那个小伙子。”
“她的情人?"思嘉简单地重复。"废话!她的情人,他和他哥哥都是我的情人呢。”“Well, fiddle-dee-dee!” said Scarlett, a very small dart of jealousy entering her.
She looked curiously at this lanky man with his bony stooped shoulders, his pinkish hair and calm unwavering eyes. So he knew things about her own family which she had not troubled to discover. So that was why Carreen mooned about, praying all the time. Well, she’d get over it. Lots of girls got over dead sweethearts, yes, dead husbands, too. She’d certainly gotten over Charles. And she knew one girl in Atlanta who had been widowed three times by the war and was still able to take notice of men. She said as much to Will but he shook his head.“哼,胡说八道!"思嘉说,隐隐约约感到有根妒忌的小刺扎进她的心里。
她满怀好奇地瞧着这个消瘦的青年人,他那皮包骨的肩膀耷拉着,头发淡红,眼神平静而坚定。看来他已经了解她家里边她自己也懒得去发现的情况了。看来这就是卡琳整天痴痴地发呆和默默祈祷的原因。然而,这很快就会过去了。许多女孩子对自己情人乃至丈夫的伤悼到时候都过去了。当然她自己早已把查尔斯忘却了。她还认识一个亚特兰大的姑娘,她在战时接连死过三个丈夫,可到现在仍然不放弃对男人的注意呢。威尔听她讲了这些,直摇头。Will was pleasant to talk to because he had so little to say and yet was so understanding a listener. She told him about her problems of weeding and hoeing and planting, of fattening the hogs and breeding the cow, and he gave good advice for he had owned a small farm in south Georgia and two negroes. He knew his slaves were free now and the farm gone to weeds and seedling pines. His sister, his only relative, had moved to Texas with her husband years ago and he was alone in the world. Yet, none of these things seemed to bother him any more than the leg he had left in Virginia.
Yes, Will was a comfort to Scarlett after hard days when the negroes muttered and Suellen nagged and cried and Gerald asked too frequently where Ellen was. She could tell Will anything. She even told him of killing the Yankee and glowed with pride when he commented briefly: “Good work!”威尔很欢喜人家跟他谈话,因为他自己没有多少话好说。但却是一个很会理解别人的听话者。思嘉对他谈起许多问题,诸如除草、锄地和播种,以及怎样养猪喂牛,等等,他也对此提出自己的意见,因为以前他在南佐治亚经营过一个小小的农场,而且拥有两个黑人。他知道现在他的奴隶已经解放,农场也已杂草丛生,甚至长出小松树来了。他的唯一的亲属姐姐多年前便跟着丈夫搬到了得克萨斯,因此他成了孤单一人。不过所有这些,跟他在弗吉尼亚失掉的那条腿相比,都不是使他感到伤心的事了。
思嘉最近过的是一段这样困难的日子,整天听着几个黑人嘟嘟囔囔,看着苏伦时骂时哭,杰拉尔德又没完没了地问爱伦在哪里,这时在身边有了威尔,便感到十分宽慰了。她可以将一切都告诉他。她甚至对他说了自己杀死那个北方佬的事,而当他二话不说只称赞她"干得漂亮"时,更是眉飞色舞。When he was able to totter about the house, he turned his hands to weaving baskets of split oak and mending the furniture ruined by the Yankees. He was clever at whittling and Wade was constantly by his side, for he whittled out toys for him, the only toys the little boy had. With Will in the house, everyone felt safe in leaving Wade and the two babies while they went about their tasks, for he could care for them as deftly as Mammy and only Melly surpassed him at soothing the screaming black and white babies.
“You’ve been mighty good to me, Miss Scarlett,” he said, “and me a stranger and nothin’ to you all. I’ve caused you a heap of trouble and worry and if it’s all the same to you, I’m goin’ to stay here and help you all with the work till I’ve paid you back some for your trouble. I can’t ever pay it all, ‘cause there ain’t no payment a man can give for his life.”待到他能够在屋里到处走动了,他便着手编制橡树皮篮子,修补被北方佬损坏的家具。他手很巧,会用刀子削刻东西,给韦德做了这孩子仅有的几个玩具。因此韦德整天在他身边。屋子里有了他,人人都觉得安全了,出去工作时便常常把韦德和两个婴儿留在他那里,他能像嬷嬷那样熟练地照看他们,只有媚兰才比他更会哄那两个爱哭爱闹娃娃。
“思嘉小姐,你们待我真好,"他说,"何况我只是个跟你们毫无关系过路人,我给你们带来许多麻烦和苦恼,因此只要对你们没有更多妨碍,我想留在这里帮助你们做点事情,直到我得以稍稍报答你们的恩情为止。我永远不可能全部报答。对于救命之恩是谁也偿还不了的。”It was September and time to pick the cotton. Will Benteen sat on the front steps at Scarlett’s feet in the pleasant sunshine of the. early autumn afternoon and his flat voice went on and on languidly about the exorbitant costs of ginning the cotton at the new gin near Fayetteville. However, he had learned that day in Fayetteville that he could cut this expense a fourth by lending the horse and wagon for two weeks to the gin owner. He had delayed closing the bargain until he discussed it with Scarlett.
九月,摘棉花的时候到了。在初秋午后的愉快阳光下,威尔.本廷坐在前面台阶上思嘉的脚边,用平淡而孱弱的声音不断地谈起轧棉花的事,说费耶特维尔附近那家新的轧棉厂收费太高了。不过那天他在费耶特维尔听说,如果他把马和车子借给厂主使用两个星期,收费就可以减少四分之一。他还没有答应这笔交易,想跟思嘉商量后再说。
So Will remained at Tara, for what reason she did not know and she found his businesslike man-to-man attitude with her both pleasant and helpful. He was gravely deferential to the vague Gerald but it was to Scarlett that he turned as the real head of the house.
She gave her approval to the plan of hiring out the horse even though it meant the family would be without any means of transportation temporarily. Suellen would be especially grieved at this. Her greatest joy lay in going to Jonesboro or Fayetteville with Will when he drove over on business. Adorned in the assembled best of the family, she called on old friends, heard all the gossip of the County and felt herself again Miss O’Hara of Tara. Suellen never missed the opportunity to leave the plantation and give herself airs among people who did not know she weeded the garden and made beds.威尔仍留在塔拉,她也不明白是什么原故,只是发现他对她采取的那种讲求实际的坦率既令人高兴也很有好处。他对迷迷糊糊的杰拉尔德非常恭顺,事实上不过他是把思嘉看作这一家的主人,凡事都听她的吩咐。
她赞成他的主意,把马租出去,尽管这样一来,全家就暂时没有交通工具使用了。苏伦尤其埋怨这一点。她的最大喜悦是威尔赶车出门办事时跟他一起到琼斯博罗和费耶特约尔去玩。她仿佛是全家最受宠爱的一个人,喜欢拜访老朋友,听县里人所有的传闻,并且觉得自己又是以前塔拉的奥哈拉小姐了。苏伦从不放过离开农场到邻居们中去炫耀自己的机会,因为人们还不知道她近来常在家里拔草起床呢。Melanie joined them on the veranda, the baby in her arms, and spreading an old blanket on the floor, set little Beau down to crawl. Since Ashley’s letter Melanie had divided her time between glowing, singing happiness and anxious longing. But happy or depressed, she was too thin, too white. She did her share of the work uncomplainingly but she was always ailing. Old Dr. Fontaine diagnosed her trouble as female complaint and concurred with Dr. Meade in saying she should never have had Beau. And he said frankly that another baby would kill her.
“When I was over to Fayetteville today,” said Will, “I found somethin’ right cute that I thought would interest you ladies and I brought it home.” He fumbled in his back pants pocket and brought out the wallet of calico, stiffened with bark, which Carreen had made him. From it, he drew a Confederate bill.媚兰怀中抱着婴儿,跟大家一起坐在前廊上,后来又在地板上铺了条旧毯子,让小博在上面爬。媚兰自从读了艾希礼的信以后,每天不是兴高烈地唱歌 就是急不可等地盼望。但是无论高兴也好不安也好,她显得更加苍白而消瘦了。她毫无怨言地做着自己份内的工作,可是常常生玻老方丹大夫诊断她有妇女病,并且提出了与米德大夫相一致的看法,说她根本不该生小博。他还坦率地指出,她如果再生孩子就活不成了。
“今天我在费耶特维尔拾到一样可爱的小东西,"威尔说,"我想你们女士们会高兴看的,便把它带回来了。"他从后面裤袋里摸出那个卡琳给他做的印花布小包,里面衬着树皮,倒也很挺;接着又从小包里掏出一张联盟政府的钞票来。“ ‘Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay,’ ” said Melanie with a sad smile. “Don’t do that, Scarlett. Keep it for Wade. He’ll be proud of it some day.”
“Well, I don’t know nothin’ about imperious Caesar,” said Will, patiently, “but what I’ve got is in line with what you’ve just said about Wade, Miss Melly. It’s a poem, pasted on the back of this bill. I know Miss Scarlett ain’t much on poems but I thought this might interest her.”“'不可一世的凯撒大帝,也人亡物故,变成了泥土'呢,"媚兰面带苦笑说。"思嘉,别那样吧,把票子留给韦德。有一天他会引为骄傲的。"
“唔,对专横的凯撒大帝我一无所知,"威尔容忍地说,"不过媚兰小姐,我所理解的和你刚才所说关于韦德的话是一致的。贴在这张钞票背面的是一首诗。我知道思嘉小姐对于诗没有多大兴趣,不过我想这一首可能会使她喜欢。"“The name is ‘Lines on the Back of a Confederate Note,’ ” he said.
“Representing nothing on God’s earth nowAnd naught in the waters below it—
As the pledge of nation that’s passed away“题目是《写在一张联盟钞票上》,"他说。
现在在这人世间已毫无用处,在最困难的时期更是等于零-—
它作为一个灭亡了的国家的证物,Show it to those who will lend an ear
To the tale this trifle will tellOf Liberty, born of patriots’ dream,
Of a storm-cradled nation that fell.”出示给那些人,他们还愿意倾听.
这玩意儿所说的那些的故事爱国志士曾经梦想的自由
关于一个在风暴中诞生但后来毁灭了的自由国家。“Oh, Melly, don’t be sentimental! Paper is paper and we’ve got little enough of it and I’m tired of hearing Mammy grumble about the cracks in the attic. I hope when Wade grows up I’ll have plenty of greenbacks to give him instead of Confederate trash.”
Will, who had been enticing little Beau across the blanket with the bill during this argument, looked up and, shading his eyes, glanced down the driveway.“啊,你别伤感了!媚兰!纸就纸,而且我们正缺纸用。嬷嬷又经常抱怨阁楼上的一些墙缝。我就听得厌烦死了。韦德长大以后,我想我会有大量的联邦钞票给她,而不是这些联盟的废纸了。"
她们争论时,威尔一直拿那张票子逗着小博在毯子上爬着玩。这时他抬起头来,用手遮着阳光向车道那边凝望。Scarlett followed his gaze and saw a familiar sight, a bearded man coming slowly up the avenue under the cedars, a man clad in a ragged mixture of blue and gray uniforms, head bowed tiredly, feet dragging slowly.
“I thought we were about through with soldiers,” she said. “I hope this one isn’t very hungry.”“He’ll be hungry,” said Will briefly.
Melanie rose.思嘉朝他观看的方向看去,看见一个熟悉的人影,一个有胡子的人从林荫道的柏树底下缓缓走来,他穿着一身褴褛的蓝色混杂的军服,疲乏地耷拉着脑袋,慢腾腾地拖着两条沉重的腿。
“我还以为不会再有大兵来了,"思嘉说。"但愿这不是个饿痨鬼。"“他一定是饿了,”威尔简单地说。
媚兰站起来。She stopped so suddenly that Scarlett turned to look at her. Melanie’s thin hand was at her throat, clutching it as if it was torn with pain, and Scarlett could see the veins beneath the white skin throbbing swiftly. Her face went whiter and her brown eyes dilated enormously.
She’s going to faint, thought Scarlett, leaping to her feet and catching her arm.But, in an instant, Melanie threw off her hand and was down the steps. Down the graveled path she flew, skimming lightly as a bird, her faded skirts streaming behind her, her arms outstretched. Then, Scarlett knew the truth, with the impact of a blow. She reeled back against an upright of the porch as the man lifted a face covered with a dirty blond beard and stopped still, looking toward the house as if he was too weary to take another step. Her heart leaped and stopped and then began racing, as Melly with incoherent cries threw herself into the dirty soldier’s arms and his head bent down toward hers. With rapture, Scarlett took two running steps forward but was checked when Will’s hand closed upon her skirt.
“Don’t spoil it,” he said quietly.说到这里她突然打住了,思嘉回过头来看着她,媚兰纤瘦的手紧紧地抓住喉咙,思嘉看得出,仿佛她那里疼极了似的,她那白晰皮肤下的青筋在急急地跳动。她的脸色更苍白,那双褐色的眼睛也瞪大到了吓人的程度。
思嘉心想,她快要晕倒了,便连忙跳起来抓住她的胳膊。可是一刹那间媚兰就把她的手甩开,跑下台阶。像只小鸟似的轻盈而迅疾地朝碎石道上飞跑而去,那条褪色的裙子在背后随风飘舞,两只胳臂直挺挺地伸着。接着,思嘉明白了,她像挨了当头一棒。那个人抬起一张长满了肮脏的金黄胡须的脸,停住脚步,站在那里望着房子,好像疲惫得一步也挪不动了,思嘉这时才晕头转向地向后一退,靠在走廊里一根柱子上。她的心脏忽而急跳,忽而停止不动,眼看着媚兰抽抽搭搭地投入那个肮脏士兵的怀抱,他也俯下头去吻她,思嘉满怀狂嘉地向前跑了两步,但威尔拉住她的裙子,拦住了她。
“别破坏这个场景,"He did not relax his grip.
“After all, he’s her husband, ain’t he?” Will asked calmly and, looking down at him in a confusion of joy and impotent fury, Scarlett saw in the quiet depths of his eyes understanding and pity.他没有松手。
“他毕竟是她的丈夫嘛,是不是?"威尔平静地说。这时思嘉低下头,怀着一种又高兴又恼火,但却无能为力的惶惑神情看着他,她从他宁静的眼睛深处感受到了理解和怜悯之情。