This order, given by me to Cecil Jacobs, was the beginning of a rather thin time for Jem and me. My fists were clenched and I was ready to let fly. Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more; I was far too old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be. I soon forgot.
My father looked at me mildly, amusement in his eyes. Despite our compromise, my campaign to avoid school had continued in one form or another since my first day’s dose of it: the beginning of last September had brought on sinking spells, dizziness, and mild gastric complaints. I went so far as to pay a nickel for the privilege of rubbing my head against the head of Miss Rachel’s cook’s son, who was afflicted with a tremendous ringworm. It didn’t take.
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12
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但是,我还为另一件事担心。“所有的律师都为黑……黑人辩护吗,阿迪克斯?”
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12
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But I was worrying another bone. "Do all lawyers defend n-Negroes, Atticus?"
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13
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“当然,都这样做,斯各特。”
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13
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"Of course they do, Scout."
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14
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“那为什么塞西尔说你为黑鬼辩护呢?他说起来好像你在干违法的事似的。”
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14
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"Then why did Cecil say you defended niggers? He made it sound like you were runnin’ a still."
Atticus sighed. "I’m simply defending a Negro-his name’s Tom Robinson. He lives in that little settlement beyond the town dump. He’s a member of Calpurnia’s church, and Cal knows his family well. She says they’re clean-living folks. Scout, you aren’t old enough to understand some things yet, but there’s been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn’t do much about defending this man. It’s a peculiar case-it won’t come to trial until summer session. John Taylor was kind enough to give us a postponement . . ."
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16
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“要是不该为他辩护,为什么你还这样做昵?”
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16
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"If you shouldn’t be defendin’ him, then why are you doin’ it?"
"For a number of reasons," said Atticus. "The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again."
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18
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“你是说要是你不为那个人辩护,我和杰姆就可以不听你的话了吗?”
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18
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"You mean if you didn’t defend that man, Jem and me wouldn’t have to mind you any more?"
"Because I could never ask you to mind me again. Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess. You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ’em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change . . . it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning."
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22
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“阿迪克斯,我们会赢吗?”
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22
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"Atticus, are we going to win it?"
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23
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“不,乖孩子。”
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23
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"No, honey."
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24
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“那为什么……”
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24
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"Then, why-"
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25
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“道理很简单,我们不能因为一百年前失败过就不再争取胜利了。”阿迪克斯说。
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25
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"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win," Atticus said.
"You sound like Cousin Ike Finch," I said. Cousin Ike Finch was Maycomb County’s sole surviving Confederate veteran. He wore a General Hood type beard of which he was inordinately vain. At least once a year Atticus, Jem and I called on him, and I would have to kiss him. It was horrible. Jem and I would listen respectfully to Atticus and Cousin Ike rehash the war.
"Tell you, Atticus," Cousin Ike would say, "the Missouri Compromise was what licked us, but if I had to go through it agin I’d walk every step of the way there an’ every step back jist like I did before an’ furthermore we’d whip ’em this time . . . now in 1864, when Stonewall Jackson came around by-I beg your pardon, young folks. Ol’ Blue Light was in heaven then, God rest his saintly brow. . . ."
"Come here, Scout," said Atticus. I crawled into his lap and tucked my head under his chin. He put his arms around me and rocked me gently. "It’s different this time," he said. "This time we aren’t fighting the Yankees, we’re fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they’re still our friends and this is still our home."
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29
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脑子里记着这一点,我第二天在学校院子里遇见了塞西尔?雅各布:“你准备把那句话收回去吗,小子?”
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29
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With this in mind, I faced Cecil Jacobs in the schoolyard next day: "You gonna take that back, boy?"
I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away, "Scout’s a cow-ward!" ringing in my ears. It was the first time I ever walked away from a fight.
Somehow, if I fought Cecil I would let Atticus down. Atticus so rarely asked Jem and me to do something for him, I could take being called a coward for him. I felt extremely noble for having remembered, and remained noble for three weeks. Then Christmas came and disaster struck.
Jem and I viewed Christmas with mixed feelings. The good side was the tree and Uncle Jack Finch. Every Christmas Eve day we met Uncle Jack at Maycomb Junction, and he would spend a week with us.
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34
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向上抛硬币,接落下时的正反面作出抉择的方法,反映了亚历山德拉姑妈和弗朗西斯的不妥睇的特点。
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34
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A flip of the coin revealed the uncompromising lineaments of Aunt Alexandra and Francis.
I suppose I should include Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Alexandra’s husband, but as he never spoke a word to me in my life except to say, "Get off the fence," once, I never saw any reason to take notice of him. Neither did Aunt Alexandra. Long ago, in a burst of friendliness, Aunty and Uncle Jimmy produced a son named Henry, who left home as soon as was humanly possible, married, and produced Francis. Henry and his wife deposited Francis at his grandparents’ every Christmas, then pursued their own pleasures.
No amount of sighing could induce Atticus to let us spend Christmas day at home. We went to Finch’s Landing every Christmas in my memory. The fact that Aunty was a good cook was some compensation for being forced to spend a religious holiday with Francis Hancock. He was a year older than I, and I avoided him on principle: he enjoyed everything I disapproved of, and disliked my ingenuous diversions.
Aunt Alexandra was Atticus’s sister, but when Jem told me about changelings and siblings, I decided that she had been swapped at birth, that my grandparents had perhaps received a Crawford instead of a Finch. Had I ever harbored the mystical notions about mountains that seem to obsess lawyers and judges, Aunt Alexandra would have been analogous to Mount Everest: throughout my early life, she was cold and there.
When Uncle Jack jumped down from the train Christmas Eve day, we had to wait for the porter to hand him two long packages. Jem and I always thought it funny when Uncle Jack pecked Atticus on the cheek; they were the only two men we ever saw kiss each other. Uncle Jack shook hands with Jem and swung me high, but not high enough: Uncle Jack was a head shorter than Atticus; the baby of the family, he was younger than Aunt Alexandra. He and Aunty looked alike, but Uncle Jack made better use of his face: we were never wary of his sharp nose and chin.
He was one of the few men of science who never terrified me, probably because he never behaved like a doctor. Whenever he performed a minor service for Jem and me, as removing a splinter from a foot, he would tell us exactly what he was going to do, give us an estimation of how much it would hurt, and explain the use of any tongs he employed. One Christmas I lurked in corners nursing a twisted splinter in my foot, permitting no one to come near me.
When Uncle Jack caught me, he kept me laughing about a preacher who hated going to church so much that every day he stood at his gate in his dressing-gown, smoking a hookah and delivering five-minute sermons to any passers-by who desired spiritual comfort. I interrupted to make Uncle Jack let me know when he would pull it out, but he held up a bloody splinter in a pair of tweezers and said he yanked it while I was laughing, that was what was known as relativity.
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41
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“包裹里是什么?”我指着搬运工人递给他的包裹问。
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41
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"What’s in those packages?" I asked him, pointing to the long thin parcels the porter had given him.
Rose Aylmer was Uncle Jack’s cat. She was a beautiful yellow female Uncle Jack said was one of the few women he could stand permanently. He reached into his coat pocket and brought out some snapshots. We admired them.
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45
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“它越来越肥了。”我说。
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45
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"She’s gettin’ fat," I said.
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46
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“我想是这样。医院里扔掉的手指、耳朵,它都吃。”
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46
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"I should think so. She eats all the leftover fingers and ears from the hospital."
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47
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“该死的,说得这么恶心。”我说。
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47
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"Aw, that’s a damn story," I said.
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48
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“你说什么?”
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48
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"I beg your pardon?"
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49
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阿迪克斯说:“杰克,别理她,她在逗你生气。卡尔说这一个星期她老是骂骂咧咧的。”
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49
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Atticus said, "Don’t pay any attention to her, Jack. She’s trying you out. Cal says she’s been cussing fluently for a week, now."
Uncle Jack raised his eyebrows and said nothing. I was proceeding on the dim theory, aside from the innateattractiveness of such words, that if Atticus discovered I had picked them up at school he wouldn’t make me go.
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51
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但吃晚饭时,当我请他传给我那该死的火腿时,杰克叔叔指着我说:“饭后过来见我,年轻的小姐。”
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51
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But at supper that evening when I asked him to pass the damn ham, please, Uncle Jack pointed at me. "See me afterwards, young lady," he said.
When supper was over, Uncle Jack went to the livingroom and sat down. He slapped his thighs for me to come sit on his lap. I liked to smell him: he was like a bottle of alcohol and something pleasantly sweet. He pushed back my bangs and looked at me. "You’re more like Atticus than your mother," he said. "You’re also growing out of your pants a little."
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53
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“我觉得裤子正合适。”
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53
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"I reckon they fit all right."
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54
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“你现在喜欢说‘该死,见鬼去吧’是吗?”
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54
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"You like words like damn and hell now, don’t you?"
"Well I don’t," said Uncle Jack, "not unless there’s extreme provocation connected with ’em. I’ll be here a week, and I don’t want to hear any words like that while I’m here. Scout, you’ll get in trouble if you go around saying things like that. You want to grow up to be a lady, don’t you?"
We decorated the tree until bedtime, and that night I dreamed of the two long packages for Jem and me. Next morning Jem and I dived for them: they were from Atticus, who had written Uncle Jack to get them for us, and they were what we had asked for.
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60
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“不要在屋里把枪瞄来瞄去。”当杰姆对着墙上的一张画瞄准时,阿迪克斯说。
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60
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"Don’t point them in the house," said Atticus, when Jem aimed at a picture on the wall.
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61
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“你得教他们怎么射击。”杰克叔叔说。
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61
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"You’ll have to teach ’em to shoot," said Uncle Jack.
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62
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“那是你的事,”阿迪克斯说,“我给他们买这样的礼物实在出于无奈。”
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62
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"That’s your job," said Atticus. "I merely bowed to the inevitable."
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63
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阿迪克斯不得不用在法庭上说话时的大嗓门才把我们从圣诞树旁叫开。
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63
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It took Atticus’s courtroom voice to drag us away from the tree.
He declined to let us take our air rifles to the Landing (I had already begun to think of shooting Francis) and said if we made one false move he’d take them away from us for good.
Finch’s Landing consisted of three hundred and sixty-six steps down a high bluff and ending in a jetty. Farther down stream, beyond the bluff, were traces of an old cotton landing, where Finch Negroes had loaded bales and produce, unloaded blocks of ice, flour and sugar, farm equipment, and feminine apparel. A two-rut road ran from the riverside and vanished among dark trees.
At the end of the road was a two-storied white house with porches circling it upstairs and downstairs. In his old age, our ancestor Simon Finch had built it to please his nagging wife; but with the porches all resemblance to ordinary houses of its era ended. The internal arrangements of the Finch house were indicative of Simon’s guilelessness and the absolute trust with which he regarded his offspring.
There were six bedrooms upstairs, four for the eight female children, one for Welcome Finch, the sole son, and one for visiting relatives. Simple enough; but the daughters’ rooms could be reached only by one staircase, Welcome’s room and the guestroom only by another. The Daughters’ Staircase was in the ground-floor bedroom of their parents, so Simon always knew the hours of his daughters’ nocturnal comings and goings.
There was a kitchen separate from the rest of the house, tacked onto it by a wooden catwalk; in the back yard was a rusty bell on a pole, used to summon field hands or as a distress signal; a widow’s walk was on the roof, but no widows walked there-from it, Simon oversaw his overseer, watched the river-boats, and gazed into the lives of surrounding landholders.
There went with the house the usual legend about the Yankees: one Finch female, recently engaged, donned her complete trousseau to save it from raiders in the neighborhood; she became stuck in the door to the Daughters’ Staircase but was doused with water and finally pushed through.
When we arrived at the Landing, Aunt Alexandra kissed Uncle Jack, Francis kissed Uncle Jack, Uncle Jimmy shook hands silently with Uncle Jack, Jem and I gave our presents to Francis, who gave us a present. Jem felt his age and gravitated to the adults, leaving me to entertain our cousin. Francis was eight and slicked back his hair.
Talking to Francis gave me the sensation of settling slowly to the bottom of the ocean. He was the most boring child I ever met. As he lived in Mobile, he could not inform on me to school authorities, but he managed to tell everything he knew to Aunt Alexandra, who in turn unburdened herself to Atticus, who either forgot it or gave me hell, whichever struck his fancy. But the only time I ever heard Atticus speak sharply to anyone was when I once heard him say, "Sister, I do the best I can with them!" It had something to do with my going around in overalls.
Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life.
I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year. She hurt my feelings and set my teeth permanently on edge, but when I asked Atticus about it, he said there were already enough sunbeams in the family and to go on about my business, he didn’t mind me much the way I was.
At Christmas dinner, I sat at the little table in the diningroom; Jem and Francis sat with the adults at the dining table. Aunty had continued to isolate me long after Jem and Francis graduated to the big table. I often wondered what she thought I’d do, get up and throw something?
I sometimes thought of asking her if she would let me sit at the big table with the rest of them just once, I would prove to her how civilized I could be; after all, I ate at home every day with no major mishaps. When I begged Atticus to use his influence, he said he had none-we were guests, and we sat where she told us to sit. He also said Aunt Alexandra didn’t understand girls much, she’d never had one.
But her cooking made up for everything: three kinds of meat, summer vegetables from her pantry shelves; peach pickles, two kinds of cake and ambrosia constituted a modest Christmas dinner. Afterwards, the adults made for the livingroom and sat around in a dazed condition. Jem lay on the floor, and I went to the back yard. "Put on your coat," said Atticus dreamily, so I didn’t hear him.
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84
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在屋后的台阶上,弗朗西斯和我并排坐着。“这是我吃过的最好的饭菜。”我说。
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84
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Francis sat beside me on the back steps. "That was the best yet," I said.
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85
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“我奶奶是个了不起的厨师,”弗朗西斯说,“她准备教我。’
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85
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"Grandma’s a wonderful cook," said Francis. "She’s gonna teach me how."
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86
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“男孩子不做饭莱。”想到杰姆系着条围裙的样子,我格格地笑起来。
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86
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"Boys don’t cook." I giggled at the thought of Jem in an apron.
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87
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“奶奶说,所有的男子都应该学会做饭莱,说男的应该体谅妻子,妻子不舒服的时候要服侍她。”弗朗西斯说。
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87
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"Grandma says all men should learn to cook, that men oughta be careful with their wives and wait on ’em when they don’t feel good," said my cousin.
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88
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“我不愿让迪尔服侍我,”我说,“我倒宁愿服侍他。”
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88
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"I don’t want Dill waitin’ on me," I said. "I’d rather wait on him."
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89
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“迪尔?”
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89
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"Dill?"
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90
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。是的,暂时先别谈论这个,但是我们准备一到年龄就结婚。今年夏天他向我求婚来着。”
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90
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"Yeah. Don’t say anything about it yet, but we’re gonna get married as soon as we’re big enough. He asked me last summer."
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91
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弗朗西斯带着看不起的神气哼了一声。
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91
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Francis hooted.
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92
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“他怎么的?”我问,“他没什么不好。”
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92
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"What’s the matter with him?" I asked. "Ain’t anything the matter with him."
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93
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“你是说奶奶提到过的每年在雷切尔小姐家过夏天的那个小矮个吗?”
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93
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"You mean that little runt Grandma says stays with Miss Rachel every summer?"
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94
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“正是他。”
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94
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"That’s exactly who I mean."
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95
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“他的事我都知道。”弗朗西斯说。
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95
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"I know all about him," said Francis.
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96
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“什么事?”
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96
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"What about him?"
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97
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“奶奶说他没有家……”
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97
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"Grandma says he hasn’t got a home-"
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98
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“当然有家,他住在梅里迪安。”
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98
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"Has too, he lives in Meridian."
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99
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“……他总是轮流在他的亲戚家住,每年夏天轮到雷切尔小姐家。”
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99
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"-he just gets passed around from relative to relative, and Miss Rachel keeps him every summer."
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100
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“弗朗西斯,不是那么回事!”
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100
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"Francis, that’s not so!"
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101
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他笑着对我说:“有时候你太笨了,琼-路易斯。我看你还不知道。”.
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101
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Francis grinned at me. "You’re mighty dumb sometimes, Jean Louise. Guess you don’t know any better, though."
"If Uncle Atticus lets you run around with stray dogs, that’s his business, like Grandma says, so it ain’t your fault. I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family-"
"Just what I said. Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He’s ruinin’ the family, that’s what he’s doin’."
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106
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弗朗西斯站起来,从那狭窄的过道上拼命跑向旧厨房。跑到安全距离后,他喊道:“阿迪克斯为黑鬼帮腔!”
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106
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Francis rose and sprinted down the catwalk to the old kitchen. At a safe distance he called, "He’s nothin’ but a nigger-lover!"
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107
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“不是的!”我大吼一声,“我不知道你在讲什么,不过在我的气头上,你最好立刻住嘴!”
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107
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"He is not!" I roared. "I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, but you better cut it out this red hot minute!"
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108
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我跳下台阶,跑副过道上,轻而易举地抓住了他的衣领。我要他把话收回去。
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108
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I leaped off the steps and ran down the catwalk. It was easy to collar Francis. I said take it back quick.
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109
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弗朗西斯猛地一下挣脱了,跑进旧厨房。“为黑鬼帮腔I”他叫起来。
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109
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Francis jerked loose and sped into the old kitchen. "Nigger-lover!" he yelled.
When stalking one’s prey, it is best to take one’s time. Say nothing, and as sure as eggs he will become curious and emerge. Francis appeared at the kitchen door. "You still mad, Jean Louise?" he asked tentatively.
"You gonna take it back, Fra-ancis?" But I was too quick on the draw. Francis shot back into the kitchen, so I retired to the steps. I could wait patiently. I had sat there perhaps five minutes when I heard Aunt Alexandra speak: "Where’s Francis?"
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114
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“他在那边的厨房里。”
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114
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"He’s out yonder in the kitchen."
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115
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“他知道他是不许在那儿玩的。”
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115
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"He knows he’s not supposed to play in there."
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116
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弗朗西斯来到门日叫起来:“奶奶,她把我追到这儿的,她不让我出来。”
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116
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Francis came to the door and yelled, "Grandma, she’s got me in here and she won’t let me out!"
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117
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“这是怎么回事,琼?路易斯?”
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117
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"What is all this, Jean Louise?"
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118
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我抬头看看亚历山德拉姑妈,“我没把他追到那儿,又不是我不让他出来。”
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118
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I looked up at Aunt Alexandra. "I haven’t got him in there, Aunty, I ain’t holdin’ him."
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119
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“是的,是她。”弗朗西斯叫起来,“她不让我出来!”
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119
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"Yes she is," shouted Francis, "she won’t let me out!"
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120
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你们是闹着玩的吗?”
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120
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"Have you all been fussing?"
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121
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“琼?路易斯跟我翻脸了,奶奶。”弗朗西斯大声说。
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121
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"Jean Louise got mad at me, Grandma," called Francis.
He jumped into the yard and kept his distance, kicking tufts of grass, turning around occasionally to smile at me. Jem appeared on the porch, looked at us, and went away. Francis climbed the mimosa tree, came down, put his hands in his pockets and strolled around the yard. "Hah!" he said. I asked him who he thought he was, Uncle Jack? Francis said he reckoned I got told, for me to just sit there and leave him alone.
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127
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“我又没惹你。”我说。
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127
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"I ain’t botherin’ you," I said.
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128
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弗朗西斯仔细打量了我,确信我已被制服,然后轻轻地哼着:为黑鬼帮腔……”
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128
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Francis looked at me carefully, concluded that I had been sufficiently subdued, and crooned softly, "Nigger-lover . . ."
This time, I split my knuckle to the bone on his front teeth. My left impaired, I sailed in with my right, but not for long. Uncle Jack pinned my arms to my sides and said, "Stand still!"
Aunt Alexandra ministered to Francis, wiping his tears away with her handkerchief, rubbing his hair, patting his cheek. Atticus, Jem, and Uncle Jimmy had come to the back porch when Francis started yelling.
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131
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“谁挑起的?”杰克叔叔问。
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131
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"Who started this?" said Uncle Jack.
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132
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弗朗西斯和我互相指着。“奶奶,”他大哭起来,“她骂我是婊子婆,还打了我。”
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132
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Francis and I pointed at each other. "Grandma," he bawled, "she called me a whore-lady and jumped on me!"
When Uncle Jack looked down at me, his features were like Aunt Alexandra’s. "You know I told you you’d get in trouble if you used words like that? I told you, didn’t I?"
I was debating whether to stand there or run, and tarried in indecision a moment too long: I turned to flee but Uncle Jack was quicker. I found myself suddenly looking at a tiny ant struggling with a bread crumb in the grass.
"I’ll never speak to you again as long as I live! I hate you an’ despise you an’ hope you die tomorrow!" A statement that seemed to encourage Uncle Jack, more than anything. I ran to Atticus for comfort, but he said I had it coming and it was high time we went home. I climbed into the back seat of the car without saying good-bye to anyone, and at home I ran to my room and slammed the door. Jem tried to say something nice, but I wouldn’t let him.
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140
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我看看我受的伤,只有七八条红印子。我正在想着相对论时,有人敲门了。我问是谁。杰克叔叔回答了我。
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140
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When I surveyed the damage there were only seven or eight red marks, and I was reflecting upon relativity when someone knocked on the door. I asked who it was; Uncle Jack answered.
Uncle Jack said if I talked like that he’d lick me again, so I was quiet. When he entered the room I retreated to a corner and turned my back on him. "Scout," he said, "do you still hate me?"
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143
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“请说下去,叔叔。”
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143
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"Go on, please sir."
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144
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“我以为你不会怪我,”他说,“你使我很失望——你自作自受,你自己知道。”’
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144
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"Why, I didn’t think you’d hold it against me," he said. "I’m disappointed in you-you had that coming and you know it."
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145
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“我也以为你不会怪我。”
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145
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"Didn’t either."
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146
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“乖孩子,你不该到哪儿都喊人家……”
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146
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"Honey, you can’t go around calling people-"
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147
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“你不公平,”我说,“你不公平。”
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147
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"You ain’t fair," I said, "you ain’t fair."
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148
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杰克叔叔感到吃惊,“不公平,怎么不公平?”
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148
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Uncle Jack’s eyebrows went up. "Not fair? How not?"
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149
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“你确实很好,杰克叔叔,我想尽管你这样对待我,我还是喜欢你,但你并不太理解小孩。’
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149
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"You’re real nice, Uncle Jack, an’ I reckon I love you even after what you did, but you don’t understand children much."
Uncle Jack put his hands on his hips and looked down at me. "And why do I not understand children, Miss Jean Louise? Such conduct as yours required little understanding. It was obstreperous, disorderly, and abusive-"
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151
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“你不想给我说话的机会吗?我并不是对你顶嘴,只是要告诉你。”
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151
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"You gonna give me a chance to tell you? I don’t mean to sass you, I’m just tryin’ to tell you."
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152
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杰克叔叔坐在床上。他的眉毛皱在一块儿,他从眉毛下面看着我。“说吧。”他说。
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152
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Uncle Jack sat down on the bed. His eyebrows came together, and he peered up at me from under them. "Proceed," he said.
I took a deep breath. "Well, in the first place you never stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it-you just lit right into me. When Jem an’ I fuss Atticus doesn’t ever just listen to Jem’s side of it, he hears mine too, an’ in the second place you told me never to use words like that except in extreme provocation, and Francis provocated me enough to knock his block off-"
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154
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杰克叔叔搔搔脑袋。“你的理由是什么,斯各特?”
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154
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Uncle Jack scratched his head. "What was your side of it, Scout?"
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155
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“弗朗西斯骂爸爸,我才不让他呢。”
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155
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"Francis called Atticus somethin’, an’ I wasn’t about to take it off him."
"A nigger-lover. I ain’t very sure what it means, but the way Francis said it-tell you one thing right now, Uncle Jack, I’ll be-I swear before God if I’ll sit there and let him say somethin’ about Atticus."
From the look on Uncle Jack’s face, I thought I was in for it again. When he said, "We’ll see about this," I knew Francis was in for it. "I’ve a good mind to go out there tonight."
"Uncle Jack, please promise me somethin’, please sir. Promise you won’t tell Atticus about this. He-he asked me one time not to let anything I heard about him make me mad, an’ I’d ruther him think we were fightin’ about somethin’ else instead. Please promise . . ."
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164
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“但是找不能让弗朗西斯说出这样的话而不受到处罚。”
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164
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"But I don’t like Francis getting away with something like that-"
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165
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“他已经受到了处罚。你可以帮我把手包扎一下吗?还在流血呢。”
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165
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"He didn’t. You reckon you could tie up my hand? It’s still bleedin’ some."
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166
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“当然可以,孩子。为你包扎好手是我最乐意干的事。到这儿来好吗?”
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166
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"Of course I will, baby. I know of no hand I would be more delighted to tie up. Will you come this way?"
Uncle Jack gallantly bowed me to the bathroom. While he cleaned and bandaged my knuckles, he entertained me with a tale about a funny nearsighted old gentleman who had a cat named Hodge, and who counted all the cracks in the sidewalk when he went to town. "There now," he said. "You’ll have a very unladylike scar on your wedding-ring finger."
Uncle Jack plunged into another long tale about an old Prime Minister who sat in the House of Commons and blew feathers in the air and tried to keep them there when all about him men were losing their heads. I guess he was trying to answer my question, but he made no sense whatsoever.
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172
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后来,当我该上床睡觉时,我到过厅去喝水,听到阿迪克斯和杰克叔叔在客厅里谈话:
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172
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Later, when I was supposed to be in bed, I went down the hall for a drink of water and heard Atticus and Uncle Jack in the livingroom:
"I know. Your daughter gave me my first lesson this afternoon. She said I didn’t understand children much and told me why. She was quite right. Atticus, she told me how I should have treated her-oh dear, I’m so sorry I romped on her."
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178
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阿迪克斯抿着嘴轻声笑起来。“她自找的,你用不着那么懊悔。”
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178
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Atticus chuckled. "She earned it, so don’t feel too remorseful."
I waited, on tenterhooks, for Uncle Jack to tell Atticus my side of it. But he didn’t. He simply murmured, "Her use of bathroom invective leaves nothing to the imagination. But she doesn’t know the meaning of half she says-she asked me what a whore-lady was . . ."
"Jack! When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ’em. No," my father mused, "you had the right answer this afternoon, but the wrong reasons.Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they’re not attracting attention with it. Hotheadedness isn’t. Scout’s got to learn to keep her head and learn soon, with what’s in store for her these next few months. She’s coming along, though. Jem’s getting older and she follows his example a good bit now. All she needs is assistance sometimes."
"I admit that. So far I’ve been able to get by with threats. Jack, she minds me as well as she can. Doesn’t come up to scratch half the time, but she tries."
"No, the answer is she knows I know she tries. That’s what makes the difference. What bothers me is that she and Jem will have to absorb some ugly things pretty soon. I’m not worried about Jem keeping his head, but Scout’d just as soon jump on someone as look at him if her pride’s at stake. . . ."
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187
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我等待着,料想杰克叔叔会不守诺言。但他很守信用。
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187
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I waited for Uncle Jack to break his promise. He still didn’t.
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188
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“阿迪克斯,事情会糟糕到什么程度?你还没机会谈这个问题。”
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188
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"Atticus, how bad is this going to be? You haven’t had too much chance to discuss it."
"It couldn’t be worse, Jack. The only thing we’ve got is a black man’s word against the Ewells’. The evidence boils down to you-did-I-didn’t. The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells’-are you acquainted with the Ewells?"
Uncle Jack said yes, he remembered them. He described them to Atticus, but Atticus said, "You’re a generation off. The present ones are the same, though."
"Before I’m through, I intend to jar the jury a bit-I think we’ll have a reasonable chance on appeal, though. I really can’t tell at this stage, Jack. You know, I’d hoped to get through life without a case of this kind, but John Taylor pointed at me and said, ’You’re It.’ "
"Right. But do you think I could face my children otherwise? You know what’s going to happen as well as I do, Jack, and I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease. Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand . . . I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town. I hope they trust me enough. . . . Jean Louise?"
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195
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我吃了一惊,把头探出墙角,“爸爸?”
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195
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My scalp jumped. I stuck my head around the corner. "Sir?"
I scurried to my room and went to bed. Uncle Jack was a prince of a fellow not to let me down. But I never figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said.