诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第13章Part 3

"Here we are."Baby picked up her bundle and with great difficulty, caused by her hip and the hours of sitting in awagon, climbed down. Mr. Garner was up the walk and on the porch before she touched ground,but she got a peep at a Negro girl's face at the open door before she followed a path to the back ofthe house. She waited what seemed a long time before this same girl opened the kitchen door andoffered her a seat by the window.
"Can I get you anything to eat, ma'am?" the girl asked. "No, darling. I'd look favorable on somewater though." The girl went to the sink and pumped a cupful of water. She placed it in BabySuggs' hand. "I'm Janey, ma'am."Baby, marveling at the sink, drank every drop of water although it tasted like a serious medicine.
"Suggs," she said, blotting her lips with the back of her hand. "Baby Suggs.""Glad to meet you, Mrs. Suggs. You going to be staying here?" "I don't know where I'll be. er — that's him what brought me here — he say he arrange something for me." And then, "I'mfree, you know."Janey smiled. "Yes, ma'am.""Your people live around here?""Yes, ma'am. All us live out on Bluestone.""We scattered," said Baby Suggs, "but maybe not for long."Great God, she thought, where do I start? Get somebody to write old Whitlow. See who took Pattyand Rosa Lee. Somebody name Dunn got Ardelia and went West, she heard. No point in trying forTyree or John. They cut thirty years ago and, if she searched too hard and they were hiding,finding them would do them more harm than good. Nancy and Famous died in a ship off theVirginia coast before it set sail for Savannah. That much she knew. The overseer at Whitlow'splace brought her the news, more from a wish to have his way with her than from the kindness ofhis heart. The captain waited three weeks in port, to get a full cargo before setting off. Of theslaves in the hold who didn't make it, he said, two were Whitlow pickaninnies name of...

"我们到了。" 贝比拾起包袱，因为屁股的伤和几个小时的舟车劳顿，费了好大力气才爬下车来。加纳先生在她落地之前就到了甬道和门廊，而她瞄见门开处一个黑人姑娘的脸，就从一条小路向房后绕去。她似乎等了很久，那同一个姑娘才打开厨房门，请她在窗前的座位上坐下。
"我给你拿点吃的好吗，太太？"姑娘问。"不了，亲爱的。我只是挺想喝点水的。"那个姑娘走到洗碗池边压了一杯水。她把杯子放到贝比·萨格斯的手上。"我叫简妮，太太。"贝比在水池边迟疑了一下，但还是把水喝个精光，尽管它喝起来像一种正儿八经的药。
"萨格斯。"她用手背抹着嘴唇，说道，"贝比·萨格斯。""很高兴见到你，萨格斯太太。你要在这儿留下来吗？""我不知道我会留在哪儿，加纳先生——是他带我来这儿的——他说他给我安排好了。"然后她又说道："我自由了，你知道。"简妮笑了。"是的，太太。""你家里人住在附近吗？""是的，太太。我们都住在蓝石路。""我们都失散了。"贝比·萨格斯道，"可也许不会太久的。"万能的上帝啊，她想，我从何处开始呢？找人写信给惠娄。看看谁带走了帕蒂和罗莎丽。她听说，有个叫丹的要了阿黛丽亚到西部去了。犯不上去找泰瑞或者约翰。他们三十年没有音讯了，要是她找得太紧而他们又正在东躲西藏，找到他们就会使他们反受其害。南希和菲莫斯死在了弗吉尼亚海岸一艘将驶往萨凡纳的船上。她知道的就这些。是惠特娄那里的工头给她带来的信儿，倒不是工头怎么心地善良，而是因为他想让她听他的摆布。船长在港口等了整整三个星期，塞满了货船才启航。在货舱里没活下来的奴隶当中，他说，有两个是惠特娄的小黑鬼，名字叫……