诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第3章Part 18
"Nowhere. Look at me do this." Beloved put her fists on her hips and commenced to skip on barefeet. Denver laughed.
"Now you. Come on," said Beloved. "You may as well just come on." Her black skirt swayed fromside to side.
Denver grew ice-cold as she rose from the bed. She knew she was twice Beloved's size but shefloated up, cold and light as a snowflake.
Beloved took Denver's hand and placed another on Denver's shoulder. They danced then. Roundand round the tiny room and it may have been dizziness, or feeling light and icy at once, that madeDenver laugh so hard. A catching laugh that Beloved caught. The two of them, merry as kittens,swung to and fro, to and fro, until exhausted they sat on the floor. Beloved let her head fall back on the edge of the bed while she found her breath and Denver saw the tip of the thing she always sawin its entirety when Beloved undressed to sleep. Looking straight at it she whispered, "Why youcall yourself Beloved?"
Beloved closed her eyes. "In the dark my name is Beloved."
Denver scooted a little closer. "What's it like over there, where you were before? Can you tell me?"
"Dark," said Beloved. "I'm small in that place. I'm like this here."She raised her head off the bed, lay down on her side and curled up.
Denver covered her lips with her fingers. "Were you cold?"
Beloved curled tighter and shook her head. "Hot. Nothing to breathe down there and no room tomove in."
"You see anybody?"
"Heaps. A lot of people is down there. Some is dead."
"You see Jesus? Baby Suggs?"
"I don't know. I don't know the names." She sat up.
"Tell me, how did you get here?"
“在哪儿都没学过。瞧我这一招儿。”宠儿把拳头放在屁股上，开始光着脚蹦跶。丹芙大笑起来。
“该你了。来吧，”宠儿道，“你最好也来吧。”她的黑裙子左右摇摆。
丹芙从床上站起来，觉得浑身变得冰冷。她知道自己有宠儿两个大，可她竟然飘了起来，好像一片雪花一样冰凉而轻盈。
宠儿一只手拉起丹芙的手，另一只放上丹芙的肩头。于是她们跳起舞来。在小屋里一圈又一圈地转着，不知是因为眩晕，还是因为一下子感到轻盈和冰冷，丹芙纵声大笑起来。这富于感染力的笑声也感染了宠儿。她们两个像小猫一样快活，悠来荡去，悠来荡去，直到疲惫不堪地坐倒在地。宠儿把头靠在床沿上，上气不接下气；这时丹芙看见了那个东西①的一端。宠儿解衣就寝的时候她总能看见它的全部。她直盯着它，悄声问：“你干吗管自己叫宠儿？”
宠儿合上眼睛。“在黑暗中我的名字就叫宠儿。”
丹芙凑近一些。“那边什么样儿，你过去待的地方？能告诉我吗？”
“漆黑，”宠儿说，“在那里我很小。就像这个样子。”她把头从床沿上抬起来，侧身躺下，蜷成一团。
丹芙用手指遮住嘴唇。“你在那儿冷吗？”
宠儿蜷得更紧，摇摇头。“滚热。下边那儿没法呼吸，也没地方待。”
“你看见什么人了吗？”
“成堆成堆的。那儿有好多人，有些是死人。”
“你看见耶稣了吗？还有贝比·萨格斯？”
“我不知道，我没听说过这些名字。”她坐了起来。
“告诉我，你是怎么来这儿的？”
