诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第3章Part 10

Move. Walk. Run. Hide. Steal and move on. Only once had it been possible for him to stay in onespot — with a woman, or a family — for longer than a few months. That once was almost twoyears with a weaver lady in Delaware, the meanest place for Negroes he had ever seen outsidePulaski County, Kentucky, and of course the prison camp in Georgia.
From all those Negroes, Beloved was different. Her shining, her new shoes. It bothered him. Maybe it was just the fact that he didn't bother her. Or it could be timing. She had appeared andbeen taken in on the very day Sethe and he had patched up their quarrel, gone out in public and hada right good time — like a family. Denver had come around, so to speak; Sethe was laughing; hehad a promise of steady work, 124 was cleared up from spirits. It had begun to look like a life. Anddamn! a water-drinking woman fell sick, got took in, healed, and hadn't moved a peg since.
He wanted her out, but Sethe had let her in and he couldn't put her out of a house that wasn't his. Itwas one thing to beat up a ghost, quite another to throw a helpless coloredgirl out in territoryinfected by the Klan. Desperately thirsty for black blood, without which it could not live, thedragon swam the Ohio at will.
Sitting at table, chewing on his after-supper broom straw, Paul D decided to place her. Consultwith the Negroes in town and find her her own place.
No sooner did he have the thought than Beloved strangled on one of the raisins she had picked outof the bread pudding. She fell backward and off the chair and thrashed around holding her throat.
Sethe knocked her on the back while Denver pried her hands away from her neck. Beloved, on herhands and knees, vomited up her food and struggled for breath.
When she was quiet and Denver had wiped up the mess, she said, "Go to sleep now.""Come in my room," said Denver. "I can watch out for you up there."No moment could have been better. Denver had worried herself sick trying to think of a way to getBeloved to share her room. It was hard sleeping above her, wondering if she was going to be sickagain, fall asleep and not wake, or (God, please don't) get up and wander out of the yard just theway she wandered in. They could have their talks easier there: at night when Sethe and Paul Dwere asleep; or in the daytime before either came home. Sweet, crazy conversations full of halfsentences, daydreams and misunderstandings more thrilling than understanding could ever be.
When the girls left, Sethe began to clear the table. She stacked the plates near a basin of water.

挪。走。跑。藏。偷。然后不停地前进。只有一次，他有可能待在一个地方———和一个女人，或者说和一个家在一起———超过几个月的时间。那唯一的一次差不多有两年，是同那个特拉华的女织工一起度过的。特拉华是肯塔基州普拉斯基县以外对待黑人最野蛮的地方，当然，佐治亚的监狱营地就甭提了。
同所有这些黑人相比，宠儿大不一样。她的光芒，她的新鞋，都令他烦恼。也许只是他没有烦扰她的事实令他烦恼。要么就是巧合。她现身了，而且恰好发生在那天，塞丝和他结束了争吵，一起去公共场合玩得很开心———好像一家人似的。可以这么说，丹芙已经回心转意；塞丝在开心地笑；他得到了许诺，会有一份固定的工作；124号除净了鬼魂。已经开始像一种生活了。可是他妈的!一个能喝水的女人病倒了，给带进屋来，康复了，然后就再没挪过窝儿。
他想把她撵走，可是塞丝让她进来了，他又无权把她赶出一所不属于他的房子。打败一个鬼是一码事，可把一个无助的黑人姑娘扔到三K党魔爪下的地方去，则完全是另一码事。那恶龙在俄亥俄随心所欲地游弋，极度渴求黑人的血，否则就无法生存。
坐在饭桌旁，嚼着饭后的金雀花草，保罗·D决定安顿安顿她。同城里的黑人们商量一下，给她找个地儿住。
他刚刚有了这个念头，宠儿就被自己从面包布丁里挑出来的一颗葡萄干噎住了。她向后倒去，摔出椅子，掐着脖子翻来滚去。

塞丝去捶她的背，丹芙将她的手从脖子上掰开。宠儿趴在地上，一边呕吐，一边艰难地捯气。
等到她平静下来，丹芙擦去了秽物。宠儿说道：“现在去睡吧。”“到我屋里来，”丹芙说，“我会在上边好好看着你的。”没有比这更好的时机了。丹芙为了设法让宠儿和她合住一室，都快急疯了。睡在她上铺并不容易，得担心着她是否还会犯病、长睡不醒，或者（上帝保佑，千万可别这样）下床漫步出院，像她漫步进来时那样。她们在那里可以更随便地说话：在夜里，当塞丝和保罗·D睡着以后；或是白天，在他们俩都没到家的时候。甜蜜、荒唐的谈话里充满了半截话、白日梦和远比理解更令人激动的误解。
姑娘们离开以后，塞丝开始收拾饭桌。她把盘子堆在一盆水旁边。