诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第4章Part 9

Nine years without the fingers or the voice of Baby Suggs was too much. And words whispeRed inthe keeping room were too little. The butter-smeared face of a man God made none sweeter thandemanded more: an arch built or a robe sewn. Some fixing ceremony. Sethe decided to go to theClearing, back where Baby Suggs had danced in sunlight.
Before 124 and everybody in it had closed down, veiled over and shut away; before it had become the plaything of spirits and the home of the chafed, 124 had been a cheerful, buzzing house whereBaby Suggs, holy, loved, cautioned, fed, chastised and soothed. Where not one but two potssimmered on the stove; where the lamp burned all night long. Strangers rested there while childrentried on their shoes. Messages were left there, for whoever needed them was sure to stop in oneday soon. Talk was low and to the point — for Baby Suggs, holy, didn't approve of extra.
"Everything depends on knowing how much," she said, and "Good is knowing when to stop."
It was in front of that 124 that Sethe climbed off a wagon, her newborn tied to her chest, and feltfor the first time the wide arms of her mother-in-law, who had made it to Cincinnati. Who decidedthat, because slave life had "busted her legs, back, head, eyes, hands, kidneys, womb and tongue,"she had nothing left to make a living with but her heart — which she put to work at once.
Accepting no title of honor before her name, but allowing a small caress after it, she became anunchurched preacher, one who visited pulpits and opened her great heart to those who could use it.
In winter and fall she carried it to AME's and Baptists, Holinesses and Sanctifieds, the Church ofthe Redeemer and the Redeemed. Uncalled, unrobed, un anointed, she let her great heart beat intheir presence. When warm weather came, Baby Suggs, holy, followed by every black man,woman and child who could make it through, took her great heart to the Clearing — a wide-openplace cut deep in the woods nobody knew for what at the end of a path known only to deer andwhoever cleared the land in the first place. In the heat of every Saturday afternoon, she sat in theclearing while the people waited among the trees. After situating herself on a huge flat-sided rock,Baby Suggs bowed her head and prayed silently. The company watched her from the trees.

整整九年没有贝比·萨格斯的手指和声音，这太过分了。而且，仅仅在起居室里低语也太不够了。一张脸上涂满了牛油，上帝创造的那个男人可丝毫不比她的非分之求更甜蜜：一道筑起的拱门，或者一件缝好的礼袍。某种固有的仪式。塞丝决定到“林间空地”去，那里，贝比·萨格斯曾在阳光中舞蹈。
在124号和它里面的每个人一起关闭、掩藏和隔绝之前，在它成为鬼魂的玩物和愤怒的家园之前，它曾是一所生机勃勃、热闹非凡的房子，圣贝比·萨格斯在那里爱、告诫、供养、惩罚和安慰他人。那里，不是一只、而是两只锅在炉火上咝咝作响；那里，灯火彻夜通明。陌生人在那里歇脚的时候，孩子们试着他们的鞋子。口信留在那里，因为等待口信的人不久就会到那里过访。谈话声很低而且点到即止———因为圣贝比·萨格斯不赞成废话。
“什么都靠分寸，”她说，“好就好在适可而止。”
就是在那个124号跟前，胸前绑着新生儿的塞丝爬下一辆大车，第一次感受她的婆婆敞开的怀抱。贝比是先期抵达辛辛那提的，她认定，由于奴隶生活“摧毁了她的双腿、后背、脑袋、眼睛、双手、肾脏、子宫和舌头”，她什么都不剩了，只能靠心灵谋生———于是她立即付诸实践。
她拒绝接受加在名字前的任何荣誉称号，只允许人们在名字后缀上一点东西以示爱戴，就这样她成为一位不入教的牧师，走上讲坛，把她伟大的心灵向那些需要的人们敞开。
在冬天和秋天，她把心带给AME教徒和浸礼教徒，带给圣洁教会教友和神圣者会教友，带给救世主和赎罪者教会。不用人请，不穿圣袍，没有涂膏，她让自己伟大的心灵在人们面前搏动。天气转暖时，身后尾随着所有劫后余生的黑人男子、妇女和孩子，圣贝比·萨格斯把她伟大的心灵带到“林间空地”———那是密林深处、小路尽头的一块宽敞的空地，只有野鹿和早先的开垦者才会知道它的由来。每一个星期六下午，在酷暑中，她坐在空地上，而人们等在树林里。