But I oin’t gonna
但他不会得逞
Roll of thunder
雷声隆隆
bye and bye
再见吧，再见了
Ole man comin’ down the line
握着皮鞭的身影
Whip in hand to beat me down
向我走来
let him Turn me’round
我绝不会就此倒下
Over the water
在水一方
The night whispered of distant thunder. It was muggy, hot, a miserable night for sleeping.
远处的雷声如巨大的鼾声，这黏腻而闷热的夜晚，惹得人无法入睡。
hear my cry
听我呐喊
Mr. Morrison’s song faded and I guessed he was on his way to the rear of the house. He would stay there for a while, walking on cat’s feet through the quiet yard, then eventually return to the front porch again. Unable to sleep, I resigned myself to await his return by counting states. Miss Crocker had had a big thing about states, and I sometimes found that if I pretended that she was naming them off I could fall asleep. I decided to count the states geo- graphically rather than alphabetically; that was more of a challenge. I had gotten as far west as the Dakotas when my silent recitation was disturbed by a tapping on the porch. I lay very still. Mr. Morrison never made sounds like that.
莫里森先生的声音渐渐远去，我猜他是往屋子后面去了。他会在那里停一下，然后悄悄地穿过庭院，然后再回到前门。因为睡不着，我决定开始背州名，等着莫里森先生回来。我决定按照地理位置背，而不是按字母顺序背，这样更有挑战性。背到达科他州时我听到有人在敲打门廊。我僵直地躺着，莫里森先生可不会发出这样的声音。
Twice I had awakened hoping that it was time to be up, but each time the night had been total blackness with no hint of a graying dawn. On the front porch Mr. Morrison sat singing soft and low into the long night, chanting to the approaching thunder, He had been there since the house had darkened after church, watching and waiting as he had done every night since Papa had been injured. No one had ever explained why he watched and waited, but I knew. It had to do with the Wallaces.
我醒了两次，真希望天快点亮，可天还是漆黑一片，没有一点光亮的迹象。莫里森先生坐在前廊，悄声歌唱。自从爸爸受伤后，他便每天如此。没有人能说出莫里森先生守夜的原因，可我知道，一定跟华莱士有关。
Cautiously, I climbed from the bed, careful not to awaken Big Ma. who was still snoring soundly, and crept to the door. I pressed my ear against the door and listened, then slipped the latch furiously and darted outside, “Boy, what you doing here!” I hissed.
我小心翼翼地爬下床，不想吵醒奶奶，蹑手蹑脚地走到门口。我把耳朵贴在门边静静听着，然后猛地打开门，走了出去：“你来这里干什么！”
The door swung open and T. J. slipped inside. I pulled my own door closed and followed him. “I-I’m in trouble, Stacey, he said. “I mean I’m r-really in trouble.”
门开了，提杰钻了进去，我跟在后面，将门关上。“我，我遇到麻烦了，斯泰西。真的…真的是大麻烦。”
“Hey, Cassie, wouldja keep it down!” whispered T. J., invisible in the darkness. Then he tapped lightly on the boys’ door again, calling softly, “Hey, Stacey, come on and wake up, will ya? Let me in.”
“凯西，你小点声！”提杰躲在暗处悄声说。然后他敲了敲男孩们的房间门：“斯泰西，起来一下好吗？让我进去。”
“That ain’t nothing new.” I remarked.
“那不是什么新鲜事吧？”我嘲讽道。
In the darkness there was a low sob and T. J., hardly sounding like T, J., mumbled. “They the ones got me in it. Where’s the bed? I gotta sit down.”
黑暗中传来低声的啜泣，听起来真不像那个讨人厌的提杰：“就是他们害的。床在哪？让我坐下。”
In the darkness he groped for the bed, his feet dragging as if he could hardly lift them. “I ain’t no bed!” I exclaimed as his hands fell on me.
他在黑暗中摸索，脚步沉重得似乎快抬不起来了。“这不是床！”提杰碰到了我，我叫了起来。
There it was again.
那个声音，又响起来了。
“What you coming here for!” whispered Stacey icily, “Go get R. W. and Melvin to get you out of it.”
“你来这里干吗？”斯泰西语气冰冷，“去找马文和罗文啊。”
“What’s the matter!” Stacey asked. his voice wary.
“你怎么了？”斯泰西的声音里带着警觉。
“R. W. and Melvin,” whispered T. J. “they hurt me bad.” He looked up, expecting sympathy. But our faces, grim behind the light Stacey held, showed no compassion. T. J.’s eyes dimmed, then, undoing the buttons to his shirt, he pulled the shirt open and stared down at his stomach.
“罗文和马文，他们把我伤得很重。”他抬起头，希望得到我们的同情，不过我们脸上并没有什么表情变化。提杰的目光黯淡下去，他解开衬衫纽扣，拉开衣服，低头看着他的肚子。
T. J. did not answer at first, staring in horror at the deep blue-black swelling of his stomach and chest. “I think something’s busted.” he gasped finally. “I hurt something awful.”
提杰起初没有回答，只是低头看着自己胸部和腹部青紫的伤口，“里面好像有什么东西破了。”他喘着气说，“我好像伤得很重。”
I grimaced and shook my head at the sight.
我厌恶地转过头。
“Lord, T. J.!” Stacey exclaimed in a whisper. “What happened!”
“天哪，提杰！”斯泰西低声说，“你怎么了？”
“Why’d they do it!” asked Stacey.
“他们为什么这么做？”斯泰西问。
T. J. looked up into the bright light. “Help me, Stacey. Help me get home… I can’t make it by myself.”
提杰抬头看着光亮说：“帮帮我，送我回家…我一个人办不到。”
“‘Cause…’cause I said I was gonna tell what happened.”
“因为…我跟他们说，我要把事情说出来。”
“Tell me how come they did this to you.”
“告诉我，他们为什么这么做？”
Stacey and I looked at each other, then together leaned closer to T. J. “Tell what!” we asked.
斯泰西和我看着对方，然后一起靠近提杰“什么事？”我们问。
There was a deep sigh. Stacey clicked on the flashlight and T. J. found the bed, sitting down slowly and holding his stomach as if he were hurt.
斯泰西重重地叹了口气，打开手电筒。提杰找到床，坐了下来，他捂着肚子，一副受了重伤的模样。
T. J. gulped and leaned over, his head between his legs. “I… I’m sick, Stacey. I gotta get home ‘fore my daddy wake up… He say I stay ‘way from that house one more night. he gonna put me out, and he mean it, too. He put me out, I got no place to go. You gotta help me.”
提杰吸了口气，把头埋在两腿间：“我…我好难受，斯泰西。我得在爸爸醒来前回到家…他说我要是晚上再离开家一次，他就要把我赶出去了。他说真的。要是我被赶出家门，我就无处可去了。帮帮我吧。”
After he and the Simmses left Great Faith, they went directly into Strawberry to get the pearl-handled pistol, but when they arrived the mercantile was already closed. The Simmses said that there was no sense in coming back for the pistol; they would simply go in and take it. T. J. was frightened at the thought, but the Simmses assured him that there was no danger. If they were caught, they would simply say that they needed the pistol that night but intended to pay for it on Monday.
他和马文、罗文离开大信仰中小学后，就到斯特罗贝里去拿那把有着珍珠手柄的手枪。他们到的时候，店已经关了。马文他们说再跑一趟没什么意义，还不如直接进去拿。提杰很害怕，但马文兄弟保证说没有危险。要是他们被抓了，就说他们晚上需要枪，星期一再付钱。
“Tell us what happened.”
“告诉我们，到底发生了什么？”
T. J. began to cry. “But they said they’d do worse than this if I ever told!”
提杰开始哭泣：“可是，要是我说了，他们会变本加厉的！”
“Well, I ain’t about to go nowhere unless I know what happened,” said Stacey with finality.
“不弄清是什么事，我哪里也不会去。”斯泰西很坚决。
T. J. searched Stacey’s face in the rim of ghostly light cast by the flashlight. Then he told his story.
透过手电筒微弱的光亮，提杰观察着斯泰西的神色，然后说出了事实。
In the storage room at the back of the store was a small open window through which a child or a person as thin as T. J. would wriggle. After waiting almost an hour after the lights had gone out in the Barnetts’ living quarters on the second floor, T. J. slipped through the window and opened the door, and the Simmses entered, their faces masked with stockings and their hands gloved. T. J., now afraid that they had something else in mind, wanted to leave without the pistol, but R. W. had insisted that he have it. R. W. broke the lock of the gun case with an axe and gave T. J. the much- longed-for gun.
店铺后面的仓库开着一扇窗户，只有像提杰那么瘦的小孩才能爬进去。等到巴尼特先生二楼住处的灯光熄灭后，他们又等了一个小时。提杰先从窗户进去打开了门。马文他们用丝袜蒙住头，戴着手套走进店铺。提杰担心他们还想拿别的东西，打算放弃计划赶紧出去，但马文他们坚决要拿。罗文用斧头敲开了锁，把枪给了提杰。
For a long moment no one moved or said a word as Mr. Barnett shone the light directly on T. J., then on R. W. and Melvin, their faces darkened by the stockings. But when Mr. Barnett saw the cabinet lock busted, he flew into frenzied action, hopping madly down the stairs and trying to grab the metal box from Melvin. They struggled. with Mr. Barnett getting the better of Melvin, until R. W, whopped Mr. Barnett solidly on the head from behind with the flat of the axe, and Mr. Barnett slumped into a heap upon the floor as if dead.
他们一动不动，巴尼特先生将手电筒照在他们三人身上，但他们的脸都被丝袜罩住了。巴尼特先生看到壁橱被打开了，就迅速地冲了下来，想把钱盒子抢回去。于是他们陷入了争抢。本来巴尼特先生是占上风的，但罗文举起斧头，狠狠打向巴尼特先生的头，巴尼特先生一下子晕倒在地。
Then R. W, and Melvin went over to a wall cabinet and tried to break off the brass lock. After several unsuccessful minutes, R. W. swung the axe sharply against the lock and it gave. But as Melvin reached for the metal box inside, Mr. Barnett appeared on the stairs, a flashlight in his hand, his wife behind him.
然后他们走到一个壁橱前，想把铜锁打开，但试了几次都没有成功。罗文挥起斧头，劈开了锁。正当马文要拿钱盒子时，巴尼特先生拿着手电筒出现在了楼梯上，他的太太跟在后头。
When Mrs. Barnett saw her husband fall, she dashed across the room and flailed into R. W., crying “You niggers done killed Jim Lee! You done killed him!” R. W., trying to escape her grasp, slapped at her and she fell back, hitting her head against one of the stoves, and did not move.
巴尼特太太看到丈夫倒了下去，立刻冲下楼，狠狠捶打着罗文，哭喊着：“你这个黑鬼！你把他打死了！打死了！”罗文为了摆脱她，打了她一巴掌，巴尼特太太的头撞向了炉子，也晕了过去。
Once they were outside T. J. wanted to come straight home, but the Simmses said they had business to take care of and told him to wait in the back of the truck. When T. J. objected and said that he was going to tell everybody it was R. W. and Melvin who had hurt the Barnetts unless they took him home, the two of them lit into him, beating him with savage blows until he could not stand, then flung him into the back of the truck and went down the street to the pool hall. T. J. lay there for what he thought must have been an hour before crawling from the truck and starring home. About a mile outside of town, he got a ride with a farmer headed for Smellings Creek by way of Soldiers Road. Not wanting to walk past the Simmses’ place for fear R. W. and Melvin had taken the Jackson Road home, he did not get out at the Jefferson Davis School Road intersection, but instead crossed Soldiers Bridge with the farmer and got out at the intersection beyond the bridge and walked around, coming from the west to our house.
他们出来后，提杰想直接回家，但罗文和马文说还有事情要办，让提杰在卡车后面等着。提杰威胁他们，要是不先送他回家，他就说是他们俩伤了巴尼特夫妇。结果罗文他们狠狠地揍了他一顿，直到他站都站不起来。然后他们撇下他，去了撞球店。提杰在那里躺了约莫一个小时才起来，往家里走。出城一千米后，他遇到了一个要经过士兵桥岔路口到斯梅林河的农夫，就搭了一段便车。他担心马文他们走杰克逊路回家，所以过桥之后才敢下车，从西边绕到我们家。
“You sure you ain’t lying, T. J.!” I asked suspiciously.
“你没有说谎吗，提杰？”我还是很怀疑。
I studied T. J. closely under the light, sure that he was pulling another fast one. But then he coughed and blood spurted from his mouth; his eyes glazed, his face paled, and I knew that this time T. J. was not faking.
透过微弱的光线，我看着提杰，觉得他是在假装。但他咳了一下，喷出了血，眼神涣散，脸色发白，看来是真的受伤了。
“T. J., was… was them Barnetts dead!” asked Stacey when T. J. grew quiet.
“提杰…巴尼特夫妇…他们死了吗？”提杰平静下来后，斯泰西问道。
T. J. shook his head. “I dunno. They sure looked dead. Stacey, anybody find out, you know what they’d do to me!” He stood up, his face grimacing with pain.”Stacey, help me get home,” he pleaded. “I’m afraid to go there by myself… R. W. and Melvin might be waitin’…”
“我不知道。看起来他们好像是死了。斯泰西，要是有人发现了，你知道他们会怎么对我吗？”他站了起来，脸色惨白，“斯泰西，帮帮我吧。我不敢一个人回去…罗文和马文他们可能会在路上等我…”
“No!” cried T. J., his eyes big with terror.”Can’t tell no- body! I gotta go!” He headed for thedoor. holding his side. But before he could reach it, his legs gave way and Stacey caught him and guided him back to the bed.
“不！”提杰眼里充满惊恐，“不可以！任何人都不能告诉！我该走了！”他走向门口，可是没走几步，就撑不住了。斯泰西扶住他，把他扶回床边。
Stacey thought a moment.”Why don’t you stay here to- night! Papa’ll tell your daddy what happened and he won’t put –“
斯泰西思忖了一会儿：“你为什么不在这儿待一晚？我爸爸跟你爸爸说明真相，他就不会…”
“I swear everything I told y’all is the truth. I… I admit I lied ’bout tellin’ on your mama, but I ain’t lyin’ now, I ain’t!”
“我发誓，我说的都是真的…我承认我告发了你妈妈，可是这次我真的没有说谎。”
“Stacey!” I whispered, afraid of what he might do. As far back as I could remember, Stacey had felt a responsibility for T. J. I had never really understood why. Perhaps he felt that even a- person as despicable as T. J. needed someone he could call “friend,” or perhaps he sensed T. J.’s vulnerability better than T. J. did himself. “Stacey, you ain’t going, are you!”
“斯泰西！”我担心斯泰西会答应。斯泰西总觉得他对提杰有责任，但我不清楚那是为什么。或许他觉得，像提杰那样一个坏小孩，也需要朋友吧。又或许，他了解提杰的弱点甚过他自己吧。我说：“斯泰西，你不会去吧？不会的吧？”
“Yeah, I know you gonna be all right ’cause I’m gonna tell Papa!” I cried, turning to dash for the other room. But Stacey reached into the darkness and caught me. “look, Cassie, it won’t take me but twenty-five or thirty minutes to run down there and back. Really, it’s all right.”
“是！你不会有事的，因为我要去告诉爸爸！”我大叫着冲向爸妈的房间。斯泰西抓住我：“听着，凯西，我二三十分钟就回来了。真的，我会没事的。”
“You’re bad hurt,” Stacey said. “Let me get Big Ma — she’ll know what to do.”
“你伤得很重，我去——去找奶奶，她会帮你处理。”
Stacey wet his lips, thinking. Then he looked at me. “You go on back to bed, Cassie. I’ll be all right.”
斯泰西思考了一会儿，对我说：“凯西，回去睡觉吧，我不会有事的。”
T. J. shook his head weakly. “My mama… I’ll just tell her them white boys beat me for no reason and she’ll believe it… she’ll take care of me. But you go wakin’ your grand- mama and your daddy’ll be in it. Stacey, please! You my only friend… ain’t never really had no true friend but you…”
提杰摇摇头：“我只要跟我妈妈说…说那些白人小孩揍了我，她会相信的…会照顾我的。你要是去找你奶奶，你爸就会知道。斯泰西，我唯一的朋友…我没有别的朋友了…”
I stared after him; then I said, “Well, you ain’t going without me.” If Stacey was going to be a fool and go running out into the night to take an even bigger fool home, the least I could do was make sure he got back in one piece.
我看着斯泰西：“好，我跟你一起去。”如果斯泰西真打算做个傻瓜，坚持要把提杰送回去，我只能确信他可以平安回家。
Stacey released me. “He’s hurt bad, Cassie. I gotta get him home.” He turned away from me and grabbed his pants.
斯泰西松开我：“他伤得很重，凯西，我得送他回家。”
“Go where?” piped Little Man, sitting up. Christopher-John sat up too. yawning sleepily.
“去哪里？”小家伙突然醒来，克里斯托弗也跟着起来了，还打着哈欠。
“Cassie, you can’t go –“
“凯西，别去…”
“Is it morning! What y’all doing up!” Little Man questioned. He blinked into the light and rubbed his eyes. T. J., that you! What you doing here! Where y’all going!”
“天亮了吗？你们做什么呢？”小家伙对着灯光眨了眨眼，然后揉了揉，“提杰？你来这里做什么？你们要去哪儿？”
“Nowhere. I’m just gonna walk T. J. home,” Stacey said. “Now go on back to sleep.”
“没什么。我只是要送提杰回家。”斯泰西说，“回去睡觉！”
Little Man jumped out of bed and pulled his clothes from the hanger where he had neatly hung them. “I’m going too.” he squealed.
小家伙从床上跳下来，拽下衣架上的衣服：“我也要去！”
“You as big a fool as he is then,” I accused frantically. “You don’t owe him nothin’, ‘specially after what he done to Mama.”
“你真是个大笨蛋！”我像是发了疯一样，“你又没有欠他什么！何况他还那样对妈妈！”
“Not me.” said Christopher-John, lying back down again.
“我也是。”克里斯托弗说着也跳下了床。
While Stacey attempted to put Little Man back to bed,! checked the porch to make sure that Mr. Morrison wasn’t around, then slipped back to my own room to change. When I emerged again, the boys were on the porch and Christopher-john, his pants over his arm, was murmuring a strong protest against this middle of-the-night stroll. Stacey attempted to persuade both him and Little Man back inside, but Little Man would not budge and Christopher- John, as much as he protested, would not be left behind, Finally Stacey gave up and with T. J. leaning heavily against him hurried across the lawn. The rest of us followed.
斯泰西还在劝着男孩们回去睡觉时，我查看了前门，确信莫里森先生不在附近，便溜回了房间换衣服。等我回去时，他们已经在前廊了。克里斯托弗右臂挂着裤子，嘴里还抱怨着大半夜还要出门。斯泰西还想劝他俩回去，但小家伙一直不肯，而克里斯托弗也不愿意一个人留下来，最后斯泰西只好放弃了。他扶着提杰穿过草地，我们都在后头跟着。
Once on the road, we became part of the night. Quiet, frightened, and wishing just to dump T. J. on his front porch and get back to the safety of our own beds, we hastened along the invisible road, brightened only by the round of the flashlight.
路上，克里斯托弗穿上裤子，我们融进了夜色里。我们都很害怕，希望早点把提杰安全送到家，赶快回家躲进被窝里。
The thunder was creeping closer now, rolling angrily over the forest depths and bringing the lightning with it, as we emerged from the path into the deserted Avery yard. “W-wait till I get inside, will ya!” requested T. J.
雷声隆隆，闪电狂舞，我们好不容易到了艾弗里家的院子前面。“等我进去…好吗？”提杰央求道。
Beyond the Avery house bright lights appeared far away on the road near the Granger mansion. For a breathless second they lingered there, then plunged suddenly downward toward the Averys’. The first set of lights was followed by a second, then a third, until there were half a dozen sets of headlights beaming over the trail.
在靠近格兰杰家的路上出现了一些光亮，那束光停留了一会儿，然后突然冲向了艾弗里家。后头还跟着一束光，又一束，再一束…一共有六束光在闪烁。
“Go on T. J.,” said Stacey. “We’ll wait.”
“进去吧，提杰，我们等你进去再走。”斯泰西说。
“Th-thanks, y’all,” T. J. said, then he limped to the side of the house and slipped awkwardly into his room through an open window.
“谢谢…谢谢你们。”提杰一拐一瘸地走向屋子，从窗户里爬了进去。
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” said Stacey. herding us back to the path. But as we neared the forest, Little Man turned. “Hey, y’all, look over yonder! What’s that!”
“回去吧。”斯泰西转身离开。我们快靠近森林时，小家伙突然转身：“你们看！那是什么！”
“Ain’t nobody here,” I said sourly. “What you need us to wait for!”
“这里又没有人，你要我们在这儿等什么？”我说。
For what seemed an interminable wait, we stood watching those lights drawing nearer and nearer before Stacey clicked off the flashlight and ordered us into the forest. Silently, we slipped into the brush and fell hat to the ground. Two pickups and four cars rattled into the yard, their lights focused like spotlights on the Avery front porch. Noisy, angry men leaped from the cars and surrounded the house.
我们站了一会儿，看着光亮渐渐逼近。斯泰西关掉手电筒，叫我们躲进森林。我们悄悄躲进灌木丛，趴在地上。两辆卡车和四辆汽车开进了艾弗里家的院子，车灯像探照灯一样照亮了院子。车里的人吵吵嚷嚷，生气地从车里跳出来，围住了房子。
“Wh-what’s happening!” cried Christopher-John.
“发生了什么？”克里斯托弗大叫起来。
Stacey quickly muffled me with the palm of his hand as Melvin thrust himself against the door in an attempt to bleak it open and R. W. smashed a window with his gun. At the side of the house, several men were climbing through the same window T. J. had entered only a few minutes be- fore. Soon, the front door was flung open from the inside and Mr. and Mrs. Avery were dragged savagely by their feet from the house. The Avery girls were thrown through the open windows. The older girls, attempting to gather the younger children to them, were slapped back and spat upon. Then quiet, gentle Claude was hauled out, knocked to the ground and kicked.
斯泰西迅速捂住我的嘴。只见马文撞开了门，罗文用枪敲碎了窗户。另一边，一些人从提杰刚刚爬进去的窗户爬了进去。过了一会儿，前门从里面被打开了，艾弗里夫妇被他们蛮横地拖了出来。艾弗里家的女孩们则被他们从窗户里扔了出来。大一些的女孩本打算去扶起小一些的孩子，却被人推倒了。接着，老实善良的克劳德也被丢在地上，被人一顿拳打脚踢。
“St-Stacey,” I stammered, feeling the same nauseous fear I had felt when the night men had passed and when Papa had come home shot and broken, “wh-what they gonna do!”
“斯…斯泰西”我结结巴巴地说，我感到一种恶心的恐惧，就像我在晚上当爸爸回家的时候被路过的人枪伤了，“他们要做什么？”
Kaleb Wallace and his brother Thurston, his left arm hanging akimbo at his side, pounded the front door with their rifle butts. “Y’all come on outa there!” called Kaleb. “We want that thieving, murdering nigger of y’all’s.”
华莱士和他的兄弟站在一块儿，左手叉腰，用来复枪的枪托撞着前门：“都给我出来！我要抓住那个杀人抢劫的黑鬼！”
“I — I dunno,” Stacey whispered as two more men joined the Wallaces at the door.
“不知道。”斯泰西低声说。这时候有两个人走到了门口。
“Why, ain’t… ain’t that R. W, and Melvin!” I exclaimed. “What the devil they doing –“
“那不是…罗文和马文吗？”我叫了出来，“他们想干吗？”
Then T. J. emerged, dragged from the house on his knees. His face was bloody and when he tried to speak he cried with pain, mumbling his words as if his jaw was broken. Mr. Avery tried to rise to get to him, but was knocked back.
提杰也被拖出来了。他双膝跪地，脸上全是血迹。他想说些什么，却疼得无法开口，不停地流着眼泪，大概是他的下巴脱臼了。艾弗里先生本想把提杰扶起来，却被再次推倒。
“W-we gotta get help,” Stacey rasped, but none of us could move. I watched the world from outside myself.
“我们得找人帮忙！”斯泰西说，可我们却吓得动弹不了。
“Look what we got here!” one of the men said, holding up a gun. “That pearl-handled pistol from Jim Lee’s store.”
“看我们找到了什么！”其中一个人举起了一把枪，“巴尼特商店里的珍珠手柄手枪！”
“Oh, Lord,” Stacey groaned. “Why didn’t he get rid of that thing!”
“天！”斯泰西叹着气，“他怎么不把它丢掉？”
“C-Claude!” whimpered Christopher-John. trying to rise. But Stacey hushed him and held him down.
“克劳德！”克里斯托弗想站起来，斯泰西拽住了他。
T. J. mumbled something we could not hear and Kaleb Wallace thundered, “Stop lyin’, boy,’cause you in a whole lot of trouble. You was in there — Miz Barnett, when she come to and got help, said three black boys robbed their store and knocked out her and her husband. And R. W. and Melvin Simms seen you and them two other boys running from behind that store when they come in to town to shoot some pool –“
我们听不见提杰的说话声，只听见华莱士的怒吼：“别说谎了！你摊上事了！巴尼特太太醒过来之后，说有三个黑鬼抢了他们的店，还打了他们夫妇俩。马文和罗文说他们要去打撞球时，看到你和其他两个人从店的后面跑了出去…”
“Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus!” cried Mrs. Avery, wrenching herself free from the men who held her and rushing toward her son. “Don’t let ’em hurt my baby no more! Kill me, Lord, but not my child!” But before she could reach T. J., she was caught by the arm and flung so ferociously against the house that she fell, dazed, and Mr. Avery, struggling to reach her, was helpless to save either her or T. J.
“天主啊！天主啊！”艾弗里太太挣脱抓着她的人，冲向了她的儿子，“别伤害我的孩子！要杀就杀了我吧！别伤害我的孩子！”但她还没冲向她的儿子，就被再次抓住，狠狠地丢向墙面，她一下子晕倒在地。艾弗里先生想挣脱开来，却无能为力。
Now who was them other two and where’s that money y’all took!”
“其他两个人是谁？你们偷的钱呢？”
Whatever T. J.’s reply, it obviously was not what Kaleb Wallace wanted to hear, for he pulled his leg back and kicked T. J.’s swollen stomach with such force that T. J. emitted a cry of awful pain and fell prone upon the ground.
提杰的回答显然不是华莱士想听到的，他踢了提杰肚子一脚，提杰痛苦地叫着，倒在地上。
“But it was R. W. and Melvin –” I started before Stacey clasped his hand over my mouth again.
“明明是罗文和马文…”我一说话，斯泰西又捂住了我的嘴。
Christopher-John was sobbing distinctly now. “Cassie,” Stacey whispered, “you take Little Man and Christopher- John and y’all –“
克里斯托弗哭了起来。“凯西，”斯泰西低声说，“你带着克里斯托弗和小家伙，你们仨…”
The headlights of two more cars appeared in the distance and Stacey immediately hushed. One of the cars halted on the Granger Road, its lights beaming aimlessly into the blackness of the cotton fields, but the lead car came crazy and fast along the rutted trail toward the Avery house, and before it had rolled to a complete stop Mr. Jamison leaped out. But once out of the car, he stood very still surveying the scene: then he stared at each of the men as if preparing to charge them in the courtroom and said softly, “Y’all decide to hold court out here tonight!”
远处又出现了两辆车，其中一辆停在格兰杰路上，车灯照向黑漆漆的棉花田。突然另一辆车疯了似的开向艾弗里家。车还没停稳，杰米森先生就从车上跳了下来。他静静地站着，看着每一个人，像是在法庭上准备判他们的罪一样：“你们打算今晚在这儿开庭吗？”
“That’s him up at Harlan Granger’s,” Mr. Jamison said with a wave of his hand over his shoulder, “He’ll be down in a minute. Now leave the boy be.”
“他去格兰杰家了。他一会儿就过来，你们放开那孩子。”
“You do,” warned Thurston hotly, “we just likely to take care of ourselves a nigger lover too tonight.”
“要是你插手的话，”华莱士的弟弟瑟斯顿警告说，“今晚我们也要得罪一个喜欢黑鬼的人了。”
An electric tenseness filled the air, but Mr. Jamison’s placid face was unchanged by the threat. “Jim Lee Barnett and his wife are still alive. Y’all let the sheriff and me take the boy. Let the law decide whether or not he’s guilty.”
杰米森先生并没有因被威胁而改变平静的脸色：“巴尼特夫妇还活着，你们就让我和警长来处理这件事，让法律来判定这孩子是否有罪。”
“Where’s Hlank!” someone asked. “I don’t see no law.”
“汉克去哪了？我们可不懂什么法律。”有人插了一句。
A crescendo of ugly hate rose from the men as the second car approached. They grew momentarily quiet as the sheriff stepped out. The sheriff looked uneasily at the crowd as if he would rather not be here at all, then at Mr. Jamison.
这些人内心的恨意渐渐加深，情况一触即发。这时另一辆车开了过来，警长下了车。大家都静了下来，警长有些不自在地看着他们，似乎希望自己没有来过这里，他看向杰米森先生。
There was an embarrassed silence. Then Kaleb Wallace spoke up. “Now look here, Mr. Jamison, don’t you come messin’ in this thing.”
院子里一下子安静下来了。华莱士说道：“杰米森，你别来插手这件事。”
“For my money, I say let’s do it now.” a voice cried. “Ain’t no need to waste good time and money tryin’ no thievin’ nigger!”
有人大喊：“没这个必要。凭什么要浪费时间和金钱来审判这个黑鬼！”
“Hush!”
“安静！”
“And why not that boy he working for too!” yelled Thurston.
“为什么不一起处理他的主人呢？”瑟斯顿说。
“Big as that one nigger is, an old one might break!”
“他那么高大，旧绳子说不定会被弄断！”
“Stacey!” I gasped.
“斯泰西！”我喘着气。
The men took the news in grim silence.
那群人安静了下来。
“No!” cried Mr. Jamison, rushing to shield T. J. with his own body.
“不！”杰米森先生想用身体挡住。
The sheriff turned from Mr. Jamison to the crowd with- out answering him. Then he spoke to the men : “Mr. Granger sent word by me that he ain’t gonna stand for no hanging on his place. He say y’all touch one hair on that boy’s head while he on this land, he’s gonna hold every man here responsible.”
警长扭头看着那些人，然后对大家说：“格兰杰先生要我跟你们说，他不愿意在自己的地盘上吊死人。要是你们敢碰那个男孩一根毫毛，他会让你们每个人都付出代价。”
A welling affirmation rose from the men.
那些人都赞同瑟斯顿的说法。
“New! How come you wanna waste a new rope on a nigger!” asked Melvin Simms.
“新绳子？没必要为了一个黑鬼浪费一条新绳子吧？”
Then Kaleb Wallace cried : “Then why don’t we go somewhere else! I say what we oughta do is take him on down the road and take care of that big black giant of a nigger at the same time?”
华莱士叫了起来：“那我们为何不到别的地方去？我们可以把他带走，顺便还可以处理那个大黑鬼！”
There was chilling laughter and the men moved toward their cars, dragging T. J. with them.
他们发出刺耳的笑声，然后开始上车，并把提杰往车上拖。
“Where’s Harian!” asked Mr. Jamison.
“格兰杰先生呢？”杰米森先生问。
“I got me three new ropes!” exclaimed Kaleb.
“我带了条新绳子。”华莱士说。
“You come too.”
“你跟我们一起去吧。”
“Cassie,” Stacey whispered hoarsely, “Cassie, you gotta get Papa now. Tell him what happened. I don’t think Mr. Jamison can hold them –“
“凯西，”斯泰西沙哑着声音，“你现在去找爸爸，把这里发生的事情告诉他，杰米森先生可能拦不住他们——”
“I ain’t going without you!” I declared, afraid that he would do something stupid like trying to rescue T. J. alone.
“你去我才去。”我担心他意气用事去救提杰。
“No. I’ll wait here.”
“不，我在这儿等一会儿。”
“Yeah, I promise. Just get Papa and Mr. Morrison ‘fore they — ‘fore they hurt them some more.” He placed the unlit flashlight in my hand and pushed me up. Clutching Little Man’s hand, I told him to grab Christopher-John’s, and together the three of us picked our way along the black path, afraid to turn on the flashlight for fear of its light being seen.
“我保证。在那些人伤害提杰之前，快把爸爸和莫里森先生叫来。”他把手电筒放在我手上，把我推起来。我抓着小家伙的手，小家伙抓着克里斯托弗的手，我们三个抄着小道回到家。一路上，我们不敢开手电筒，担心会被发现。
“Look, Cassie, go on, will ya please! Papa’ll know what to do. Somebody’s gotta stay here case they take T. J. off into the woods somewhere. I’ll be all right.”
“凯西，快去！求你了，爸爸知道怎么做，我得待在这儿，万一他们把提杰带到森林里怎么办？我会没事的。”
“Please. Cassie! Trust me, will ya!”
“求你了，凯西，相信我。”
I hesitated. “Y-you promise you won’t go down there by yourself!”
我犹豫了一下：“你不会一个人意气用事吧？”
Thunder crashed against the corners of the world and lightning split the sky as we reached the road, but we did not stop. We dared not.
雷声又响起来了，闪电划过夜空，可我们不敢停下脚步。
We had to reach Papa.
我们得找到爸爸。
0 条评论