2012诺贝尔文学获得者 诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第1章Part 13

诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第1章Part 13  

"And they took my milk!"The fat white circles of dough lined the pan in rows. Once more Sethe touched a wet forefinger tothe stove. She opened the oven door and slid the pan of biscuits in. As she raised up from the heatshe felt Paul D behind her and his hands under her breasts. She straightened up and knew
butcould not feel
that his cheek was pressing into the branches of her chokecherry tree.
Not even trying
he had bee the kind of man who could walk into a house and make thewomen cry. Because with him
in his presence
they could. There was something blessed in hismanner. Women saw him and wanted to weep — to tell him that their chest hurt and their kneesdid too. Strong women and wise saw him and told him things they only told each other: that waypast the Change of Life
desire in them had suddenly bee enormous
greedy
more savage thanwhen they were fifteen
and that it embarrassed them and made them sad; that secretly they longedto die — to be quit of it — that sleep was more precious to them than any waking day. Young girls sidled up to him to confess or describe how well-dressed the visitations were that had followedthem straight from their dreams. Therefore
although he did not understand why this was so
hewas not surprised when Denver dripped tears into the stovefire.
Nor
fifteen minutes later
aftertelling him about her stolen milk
her mother wept as well. Behind her
bending down
his body anarc of kindness
he held her breasts in the palms of his hands. He rubbed his cheek on her back andlearned that way her sorrow
the roots of it; its wide trunk and intricate branches. Raising hisfingers to the hooks of her dress
he knew without seeing them or hearing any sigh that the tearswere ing fast. And when the top of her dress was around her hips and he saw the sculpture herback had bee
like the decorative work of an ironsmith too passionate for display
he couldthink but not say
"Aw
Lord
girl." And he would tolerate no peace until he had touched everyridge and leaf of it with his mouth
none of which Sethe could feel because her back skin had beendead for years. What she knew was that the responsibility for her breasts
at last
was in somebodyelse's hands.
一刻钟之后，她的妈妈向他说完被掠走的奶水后同样啜泣的时候，他也不感到惊讶。他在她背后俯下身去，身体形成一道爱怜的弧线，手掌托起她的乳房。他用脸颊揉擦着她的后背，用这种方式感受她的悲伤，它的根，它巨大的主干和繁茂的枝杈。他把手指挪到裙子的挂钩上，不用看到眼泪，也不用听到一声叹息，便知道它们已汹涌而至。当裙子的上身褪下来围住她的臀部时，他看到她后背变成的雕塑，简直就像一个铁匠心爱得不愿示人的工艺品。他百感交集，一时说不出话来："噢，主啊，姑娘。"直到每一道隆起、每一片树叶都被他的嘴唇犁遍，他才平静下来，而这一切塞丝丝毫感觉不到，因为她背上的皮肤已死去多年了。她只知道，她双乳的负担终于落在了另一个人的手中。