鲍勃迪伦诺贝尔文学 诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第15章Part3

诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第15章Part3  

"There was this piece of goods Mrs. Garner gave me. pes it had with little flowers in beeen. 'Bout a yard — not enough for more 'n a head tie. ButI been wanting to make a shift for my girl with it. Had the prettiest colors. I don't even know whatyou call that color: a rose but with yellow in it. For the longest time I been meaning to make it forher and do you know like a fool I left it behind? No more than a yard
and I kept putting it offbecause I was tired or didn't have the time. So when I got here
even before they let me get out ofbed
I stitched her a little something from a piece of cloth Baby Suggs had. Well
all I'm saying isthat's a selfish pleasure I never had before. I couldn't let all that go back to where it was
and Icouldn't let her nor any of em live under schoolteacher. That was out."Sethe knew that the circle she was making around the room
him
the subject
would remain one.
That she could never close in
pin it down for anybody who had to ask. If they didn't get it right off— she could never explain. Because the truth was simple
not a long drawn-out record of floweredshifts
tree cages
selfishness
ankle ropes and wells. Simple: she was squatting in the garden andwhen she saw them ing and recognized schoolteacher's hat
she heard wings. Littlehummingbirds stuck their needle beaks right through her headcloth into her hair and beat theirwings. And if she thought anything
it was No. No. Nono. Nonono. Simple. She just flew. Collected every bit of life she had made
all the parts of her that were precious and fine andbeautiful
and carried
pushed
dragged them through the veil
out
away
over there where no onecould hurt them. Over there. Outside this place
where they would be safe. And the hummingbirdwings beat on. Sethe paused in her circle again and looked out the window. She remembered whenthe yard had a fence with a gate that somebody was always latching and unlatchingin the. timewhen 124 was busy as a way station. She did not see the whiteboys who pulled it down
yanked upthe posts and smashed the gate leaving 124 desolate and exposed at the very hour when everybodystopped dropping by. The shoulder weeds of Bluestone Road were all that came toward the house.
When she got back from the jail house
she was glad the fence was gone. That's where they hadhitched their horses — where she saw
floating above the railing as she squatted in the garden
school-teacher's hat. By the time she faced him
looked him dead in the eye
she had something inher arms that stopped him in his tracks. He took a backward step with each jump of the baby heartuntil finally there were none.
"I stopped him
" she said
staring at the place where the fence used to be. "I took and put my babieswhere they'd be safe."