历年诺贝尔文学奖书名 诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第8章Part 5

诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第8章Part 5  

That was it
they thought
and removed themselves from those Cherokee who signed the treaty
inorder to retire into the forest and await the end of the world. The disease they suffered now was amere inconvenience pared to the devastation they remembered. Still
they protected each otheras best they could. The healthy were sent some miles away; the sick stayed behind with the dead— to survive or join them.
The prisoners from Alfred
Geia
sat down in semicircle near the encampment. No one cameand still they sat. Hours passed and the rain turned soft. Finally a woman stuck her head out of herhouse. Night and nothing happened. At dawn o men with barnacles covering theirbeautifulskinappro(came) ached them. No one spoke for a moment
then Hi Man raised his hand. TheCherokee saw the chains and went away. When they returned each carried a handful of small axes. Two children followed with a pot of mush cooling and thinning in the rain.
Buffalo men
they called them
and talked slowly to the prisoners scooping mush and tapping awayat their chains. Nobody from a box in Alfred
Geia
cared about the illness the Cherokee warnedthem about
so they stayed
all forty-six
resting
planning their next move. Paul D had no idea ofwhat to do and knew less than anybody
it seemed. He heard his co-convicts talk knowledgeably ofrivers and states
towns and territories. Heard Cherokee men describe the beginning of the worldand its end. Listened to tales of other Buffalo men they knew — three of whom were in the healthycamp a few miles away. Hi Man wanted to join them; others wanted to join him. Some wanted toleave; some to stay on. Weeks later Paul D was the only Buffalo man left — without a plan. All hecould think of was tracking dogs
although Hi Man said the rain they left in gave that no chance ofsuccess. Alone
the last man with buffalo hair among the ailing Cherokee
Paul D finally woke upand
admitting his ignorance
asked how he might get North. Free North. Magical North. Weling
benevolent North. The Cherokee smiled and looked around. The flood rains of amonth ago had turned everything to steam and blossoms.
"That way
" he said
pointing. "Follow the tree flowers
" he said. "Only the tree flowers. As they go
you go. You will be where you want to be when they aregone."