The blue-black shine that had so nicely encircled T. J.’s left eye for over a week had almost completely faded by the morning T. J. hopped into the back of the wagon beside Stacey and snuggled in a corner not occupied by the butter, milk, and eggs Big Ma was taking to sell at the market in Strawberry. I sat up front beside Big Ma, still sandy-eyed and not believing that I was actually going.
今天看到提杰时，他眼睛周围的淤青过了一周终于消散了。他钻进马车，车上堆着奶奶要拉到斯特罗贝里集市上卖的黄油、鸡蛋和牛奶。他挤过斯泰西，随便找了个空位坐了下来。我和奶奶坐在马车前排，奶奶似乎还受不了我的兴奋样。
The second Saturday of every month was market day in Strawberry, and for as far back as I could remember the boys and I had been begging Big Ma to take us to it. Stacey had actually gone once, but Christopher-John, Little Man, and I had always been flatly denied the experience. We had, in fact, been denied so often that our pestering now occurred more out of habit than from any real belief that we would be allowed to go. But this morning, while the world lay black, Big Ma called: “Cassie, get up, child, if you gonna go to town with me, and be quiet ’bout it. You wake up Christopher-John or Little Man and I’ll leave you here. I don’t want them cryin’ all over the place ’cause they can’t go.”
每个月的第二个星期天是斯特罗贝里的赶集日。很久之前，我和男孩们就总是央求奶奶带我们去。斯泰西去过一次，我、克里斯托弗和小家伙总是被直截了当地拒绝。一直以来，我们频繁纠缠奶奶却未果，以至于也不再奢望赶集这件事情了。今天清晨，天还是蒙蒙亮的时候，奶奶叫醒我：“凯西，起床了，如果你想跟我去赶集的话就安静点，要是克里斯托弗和小家伙被吵醒了，我就不带你去了。我可不想被他们缠上老半天。”
As Jack swept the wagon into the gray road, Big Ma pulled tightly on the reins and grumbled, “Hold on! You, Jack, hold on! I ain’t got no time to be putting up with both you and T. J.’s foolishness.”
杰克——我们家的马，拖着马车走到路上。奶奶紧紧拉住缰绳，咕哝道：“杰克，听话点！我可没什么闲工夫跟你和提杰瞎磨叽。”
“T. J.!” Stacey and I exclaimed together. “He going!”
“提杰！”我和斯泰西异口同声，“他也去？”
Big Ma didn’t answer immediately; she was occupied in a test of wills with Jack. When hers had prevailed and Jack had settled into a moderate trot, she replied moodily, “Mr. Avery come by after y’all was asleep last night wanting T. J. to go to Strawberry to do some shopping for a few things he couldn’t get at the Wallace store. Lord, that’s all I need with all the trouble about is for that child to talk me to death for twenty-two miles.”
奶奶并没有马上回答，她还忙着收拾杰克呢。等到杰克终于消停下来，她才说：“艾弗里先生昨晚来找我，说希望提杰能去斯特罗贝里买一些在华莱士商店买不到的东西。天哪，一想到这二十二英里的路程都要跟这个叽叽喳喳的孩子在一块儿，我就心烦！”
T. J., however, was surprisingly subdued when he settled into the wagon; I suppose that at three-thirty in the morning even T. J.’s mouth was tired. But by dawn, when the December sun was creeping warily upward shooting pale streams of buff-colored light through the forest, he was fully awake and chattering like a cockatoo. His endless talk made me wish that he had not managed to wheedle his way so speedily back into Stacey’s good graces, but Big Ma, her face furrowed in distant thoughts, did not hush him. He talked the rest of the way into Strawberry, announcing as we arrived, “Well, children, open your eyes and take in Strawberry, Mississippi!”
奇怪的是，提杰上了马车后显得格外的安静。不过凌晨三点半出发，提杰的嘴也没什么力气叽叽喳喳。等到浅金色的阳光穿过云层，洒向十二月的静谧的森林时，提杰活了过来一般，像只鹦鹉一样说个不停。我真希望他的甜言蜜语别那么快使他和斯泰西和好如初。不过奶奶皱着眉沉思着，没有在意提杰的聒噪。到达时，奶奶大声说：“好啦，孩子们，我们到了！密西西比的斯特罗贝里！”
Big Ma didn’t need to say any more and she didn’t. T. J. was far from her favorite person and it was quite obvious that Stacey and I owed our good fortune entirely to T. J.’s obnoxious personality.
提杰大概是奶奶最讨厌的人了吧？而我和斯泰西像是上辈子欠了他好多钱一样，怎么都躲不开他。
“Shoot!” I grumbled. “It sure ain’t nothing to shout about.”
“天哪！”我心生不满，“真是失望。”
“Is this it!” I cried, a gutting disappointment enveloping me as we entered the town. Strawberry was nothing like the tough, sprawling bigness I had envisioned. It was instead a sad, red place. As far as I could see, the only things modern about it were a paved road which cut through its center and fled northward, away from it, and a spindly row of electrical lines. Lining the road were strips of red dirt splotched with patches of brown grass and drying mud puddles, and beyond the dirt and the mud puddles, gloomy store buildings set behind raised wooden sidewalks and sagging verandas.
“是这里吗？”一阵难言的失望笼罩着我。它跟我想象中的不断发展的现代城市简直有云泥之别，它看起来甚至有些凄凉。它唯一看起来还有些现代气息的，大概就是那条贯穿市中心、延伸向北的柏油马路，以及一排细长的电线杆。路旁的红色土地上，杂乱地堆着些枯草和发干的土块。再往前去，是一排死气沉沉的商店。
“Hush up, Cassie,” Big Ma said. “You too, T. J. Y’all in town now and I expects y’all to act like it. In another hour this place’ll be teeming up with folks from all over the county and! don’t want no trouble.”
“凯西，闭嘴！”奶奶斥责我，“还有提杰也是。你们现在在城里，就要有个城里人的样子。再过一个小时，各个县的农夫们就要过来了，别给我惹麻烦。”
As the stores gave way to houses still sleeping, we turned onto a dirt road which led past more shops and beyond to a wide field dotted with wooden stalls. Near the field entrance several farm wagons and pickups were already parked, but Big Ma drove to the other side of the field where only two wagons were stationed. Climbing from the wagon, she said, “Don’t seem like too many folks ahead of us. In the summer, I’d’ve had to come on Friday and spend the night to get a spot like this.” She headed toward the back of the wagon. “Stacey, you and T. J. stay up there a minute and push them milk cans over here so’s I can reach ’em.”
再往前，住房也是沉睡的模样。我们拐到一条泥巴路上，经过一排商店，来到了设有木制摊位的广场。入口处，有几辆马车和货车停在那里，但奶奶把车子拉到了另一头——只有两辆马车停在那里。奶奶从马车上下来。“别看现在没什么人，以前夏天来的时候，我都得星期五出发，早早来占一个位置。”她走到马车后头，“斯泰西，你和提杰留在车上，帮我推一下牛奶罐，这样我才拿得到。”
I studied the wagons parked at the field entrance. then exclaimed, “Well, what the devil we doing way back here then! Can’t nobody see us.”
我看着入口处停着的车，抱怨道：“我们为什么要来到这么偏僻的地方？谁也看不到我们！”
“Not all, I reckon. Some of ’em gets meats and vegetables, quilts and sewing and such. But I guess a good piece of ’em sellin’ the same as us.”
“不一定吧。有些带的是蔬菜和肉，有些带的是被子和针线。不过他们卖的大多数东西和我们卖的一样。”
“You watch your mouth, girl,” warned Big Ma. Then, arranging the milk cans and baskets of eggs near the wagon’s edge, she softened her voice and promised, “We’ll do all right. I got me some regular customers and they’ll check to see if I’m here ‘fore they buy.”
“闭嘴，凯西！”奶奶警告我，随即整理着马车上的牛奶罐和一篮篮鸡蛋。她缓了缓语气：“没事的，我有一些老主顾，他们会到这儿来买我们的东西的。”
“Big Ma.” I said, following her, “all them folks up there selling milk and eggs too!”
“奶奶，”我跟着她，“来这里的人也卖牛奶和鸡蛋吗？”
“Not back here they won’t,” I grumbled. Maybe Big Ma knew what she was doing, but it made absolutely no sense to me to be so far from the entrance. Most of the other farmers seemed to have the right idea, and I couldn’t help ii but try to make her see the business sense in moving the wagon forward. “Why don’t we move our wagon up there with them other wagons, Big Ma! There’s plenty of room, and we could sell more.”
“这么偏僻，他们才不会来呢。”我抱怨道。奶奶是知道自己在做什么吧？但对我来说，这实在是太匪夷所思了，为什么要把车停在离入口那么远的地方呢？大多数农夫都选择停在入口处，这样才有生意呀。“奶奶，为什么我们不把马车停到入口那个地方？那里还有空位，我们也可以卖得更好呀。”
On the main street of Strawberry once more, Big Ma parked the wagon in front of a building where four shingles hung from a rusted post. One of the shingles read: Wade W. Jamison, Attorney-at-Law.
我们再次经过斯特罗贝里的大街，奶奶把车停在一栋建筑物前，生锈的布告牌上挂着四个招牌，其中一个写着：韦德·杰米森律师事务所。
“Them’s white folks’ wagons, Cassie,” Big Ma said gruffly, as if that explained everything. “Now, hush up and help me get this food out.”
“那都是白人的马车，凯西。”这似乎意味着一切，“过来帮忙，把食物帮我拿下来。”
By noon the crowd which had covered the field during the early morning had thinned noticeably, and wagons and trucks began to pack up and head for town. After we had eaten our cold lunch of oil sausages and combread washed down with clabber milk, we did the same.
到了中午，来赶集的人比起早上少了许多，一些农夫开始收拾东西准备离开。当吃完早已凉掉的午饭后，我们也开始收拾起东西来。
“Shoot.” I mumbled, taking one of the buckets from Stacey, “by the time a body walk way back here, they’ll have bunions on their soles and corns on their toes.”
我从斯泰西手里接过一个篮子：“要是有人经过这儿，那才是稀奇事呢！”
“He don’t live here,” said Big Ma, opening her large purse. She pulled out a long manila envelope, checked inside, then gingerly put it back again. “This here’s his office and I got some business with him. You get on back in the wagon. Big Ma climbed down, but I didn’t get back in.”Can’t I just go up and say ‘Hey’!” I persisted.
“他不住这儿。”奶奶一边说，一边从她大大的钱包里抽出一个长形的马尼拉纸信封，确认了一下信封里的东西，然后小心翼翼地放了回去。“这是他的事务所，我有点事找他谈谈。你先回马车上去。”奶奶下了马车。我不甘心地问：“我不能上楼跟杰米森先生打个招呼吗？”
“Mr. Jamison live here!” I cried, scrambling down. “I wanna see him.”
“杰米森先生住在这儿吗？”我惊讶地叫了起来，“我想去看看他。”
When she had gone inside, T. J. said, “What you wanna see that ole white man for anyway, Cassie! What you and him got to talk’bout!”
奶奶走进建筑物里，提杰开口：“凯西，你怎么想去看那个老白人？你跟他有什么好聊的？”
“I just wanted to see him, that’s all,” I said, going to the raised sidewalk and taking a seat. I liked Mr. Jamison and I didn’t mind admitting it. He came to see us several times a year, mainly on business, and although the boys and I were somewhat shy of him, we were always glad to see him.
“我只是想去看看他。”我走到凸起的人行道，找个位置坐了下来。我的确喜欢杰米森先生，这没什么好否认的。他一年来见我们几次，多数是为了工作。虽然我和男孩们每次见到他都会有些害羞，可我们还是很高兴能见到他。
He was the only white man I had ever heard address Mama and Big Ma as “Missus,” and I liked him for it. Besides that, in his way he was like Papa. Ask him a question and he would give it to you straight with none of this pussyfooting- around business. I liked that.
他是我唯一见过的称呼妈妈和奶奶为“夫人”的白人，我喜欢他这样。而且，他还有点儿像爸爸，问他问题时，他会直接回答你，不会拐弯抹角，我也喜欢他这一点。
After several minutes of watching farmers in faded over- alls and their women in hour-sack-cut dresses promenading under the verandas, “T. J. said, “Why don’t we go on down to the mercantile and look around!”
看着穿着褪色的工作服的农民以及穿着松松垮垮的裙子的妇女们在街道上来来往往，提杰变得有些不耐烦：“我们为什么不到商店里去看看呢？”
“I’m gonna ‘Hey’ you,” Big Ma said, “you keep pesterin’ me.” She glanced over at Stacey and T. J. “Y’all wait here for me and soon’s I get back. we’ll go do that shoppin’ so’s we can get on home “fore it gets dark.”
“我会替你说的，别再惹我了。”奶奶又瞥了一眼提杰和斯泰西，“你们老老实实待在这儿等我回来。之后我们一起去商店买东西，买完东西我们就回家。”
“Ah, shoot, man, we’ll be doin’ her a favor. We go on down to the mercantile now and order up our stuff, we’ll save her some time so when she come from seein’ that lawyer, we can jus’ go on home. Besides, I got somethin’ to show ya.”
“哦，走吧，兄弟。我们是在帮她忙呢。我们先去商店，订下要买的东西，这样可以节省时间。等到她见完那个律师，我们也差不多就能回家了。而且，我还有些好玩的东西想给你们看呢！”
Stacey hesitated. “I don’t know. I think Big Ma wanted to go with us.”
斯泰西坚持说：“还是不要吧？奶奶希望我们跟她一起去。”
Stacey pondered the suggestion for a long moment. “Well, I guess it’ll be all right.” he said finally.
斯泰西想了一会儿：“好吧，我想也没什么。”
I dashed after them. I wasn’t about to stay on that side walk by myself.
我追了过去。我可不想一个人孤零零地待在这儿。
“Stay here then,” Stacey called over his shoulder as he crossed the street with T. J.
“那你就待在这儿吧。”斯泰西和提杰一起走向街道。
“Big Ma said stay here I” I objected, hoping that Mr. Jamison would come out with Big Ma.
“奶奶让我们待在这里！”此刻我真希望奶奶和杰米森先生一块儿出来。
The Barnett Mercantile had everything. Its shelves, counters, and floor space boasted items from ladies’ ribbons to burlap bags of seeds; from babies’ bottles to brand-new potbellied stoves. T. J., who had been to the store several times before, wove his way among the farmers and led us to a counter at the far corner of the room. The counter had a glass top, and beneath the glass were handguns artfully displayed on a bolt of red velvet.
巴尼特商店里什么都有。橱子里、柜台上，甚至地板上堆满了各种各样的东西——从缎带到装种子的粗麻袋，从奶瓶到炉子，应有尽有。提杰以前来过这儿几次，他轻车熟路地带着我们挤过一群农夫，走到角落里的一个柜台前。柜台上镶着玻璃，下面是红丝绒布，摆放着一排排精致的手枪。
“Jus’ look at it,” T. J. said dreamily, “Ain’t she somethin’t”
“快看看它。”提杰如痴如醉，“是不是很棒？”
“I reckon I ain’t,” said Stacey politely. “It’s a nice-looking gun all right.”
“不太可能吧？”斯泰西客气地说，“不过是把好枪。”
“What!” I said.
“什么？”我疑惑不解。
“Protection of what!” I asked, thinking of Papa’s sturdy shotgun that hung over his and Mama’s bed, and the sleek Winchester rifle which Big Ma kept locked in the trunk beneath our own bed. “That thing couldn’t hardly kill a rattlesnake.”
“防什么身？”我想起爸爸挂在床头的那把猎枪，想到奶奶藏在我们床底下的那把来复枪，“那东西连一条蛇都杀不死吧？”
T. J. looked at me with disgust. “Ain’t s’pose to hunt with it. It’s for protection.”
提杰露出嫌弃的表情：“我才不用来打猎，这是防身用的。”
“That pearl-handled one. Stacey, man, you ever seen a gun like that before in your whole life! I’d sell my life for that gun. One of these days I’m gonna have it, too.”
“那把镶了珍珠的手枪。斯泰西，这辈子你见过这样的手枪吗？我愿意倾尽一切拥有它。过不了多久，我就可以得到它了。”
There’s other things a body needs protectin’ from more than a rattlesnake,” he said haughtily. “I get me that gun and ain’t nobody gonna mess with me. I wouldn’t need no- body.”
“除了蛇以外，还有很多东西得提防着呢。要是我有了这把枪，就没有人敢惹我了，我也不需要别人来保护我。”
I stared down at the gun. A price tag of $35.95 sfa’ed back at me. “Thirty-five dollars and ninety-five cents!” I almost screamed. “Just for an ole gun! What the devil you gonna use it for! Can’t hunt with it.”
我盯着那把手枪，“35.95美元”的价格牌映入我眼帘：“要35.95美元！天哪，就为了这么一把枪？你要它来干什么呢？又不能用来打猎。”
Stacey backed away from the counter. He seemed nervous being in the store. “We better get those things you need and get on outa here ‘fore Big Ma comes looking for us.
斯泰西退了几步，看起来有些不安：“我们赶紧把东西买完就回去吧，不然奶奶发现就不好了。”
“Come on, T. J.,” ordered Stacey, “or me and Cassie’s gonna go on back outside.”
斯泰西对提杰说：“快走吧。要不然我和凯西在外面等你。”
“Ah, man, there’s plenty of time,” said T. J., looking longingly at the gun. “Sure wish I could jus’ hold it, jus’ once.”
“哎，没事，还有不少时间呢。”提杰依然痴痴地望着那把枪，“要是我能握一下它就好了，就一下也可以。”
“Oh, all right.” T. J. turned reluctantly away and went to a counter where a man was measuring nails onto a scale. We stood patiently waiting behind the people in front of us and when our turn came, T. J. handed his list to the man. “Mr. Barnett, sir,” he said,”I got me this here list of things my mamma want.”
“好吧。”提杰只好不情愿地离开摆着手枪的柜台，走到另一个柜台。我们站在那儿耐心地排着队。轮到我们时，提杰拿出购物单子递给柜台前的人。“巴尼特先生，”提杰说，“这些是我妈妈要的东西。”
The storekeeper studied the list and without looking up asked, “You one of Mr. Granger’s people!”
巴尼特先生看看单子，头也没抬：“你是格兰杰家族的人吗？”
Mr. Barnett turned around. “Just them,” he said, indicating us with a wave of his hand. “What can I do for you. Miz Emmaline!”
巴尼特先生转过身，指了指我们：“只有他们而已。艾莫琳女士，有什么能为您效劳的吗？”
“Yessir,” answered T. J.
“是的，先生。”提杰回答道。
Mr. Barnett walked to another counter and began filling the order, but before he finished a white woman called, “Mr. Barnett, you waiting on anybody just now?”
巴尼特先生走到柜台另一边，开始给我们拿单子上的东西。这时，一个白人女人叫他：“巴尼特先生，你现在有空吗？”
The woman handed him a list twice as long as T. J.’s and the storekeeper, without a word of apology to us, proceeded to fill it.
那女人递给他一张有提杰单子两倍长的单子。连一句道歉也不说，巴尼特就开始给她拿东西。
When the woman’s order was finally filled, Mr. Barnett again picked up T. J.’s list, but before he had gotten the next item his wife called, “Jim Lee, these folks needing help over here and I got my hands full.” And as if we were not even there, he walked away.
等到那女人的东西全都准备好后，巴尼特才拿去提杰的单子，正当他要拿起单子上的一件货物时，巴尼特太太叫住他：“吉姆，我抽不开身，你帮我招呼一下这几个客人。”巴尼特又抛下我们，转身离开了。
“What’s he doing!” I objected.
我抗议道：“他在做什么啊？”
“Hush, Cassie,” said Stacey, looking very embarrassed and uncomfortable. T. J.’s face was totally bland, as if nothing at all had happened.
“住嘴，凯西。”斯泰西命令我，他看起来格外局促不安。提杰则淡然自若，好像什么事也没有发生。
“Where’s hi going!” I cried.
我大叫：“他又去哪了！”
After waiting several minutes for his return, Stacey said “Come on, Cassie, let’s get out of here.” He started toward the door and I followed. But as we passed one of the counters, I spied Mr. Barnett wrapping an order of pork chops for a white girl.
过了好一会儿，巴尼特还没回来。斯泰西对我说：“凯西，我们走吧。”他朝着门口走去，我跟在后头。我们经过一个柜台时，看见巴尼特先生正在给一个白人女孩包猪肉块。
Adults were one thing: I could almost under- stand that. They ruled things and there was nothing that could be done about them. But some kid who was no bigger than me was something else again. Certainly Mr. Barnett had simply forgotten about T. J.’s order. I decided to remind him and, without saying anything to Stacey, I turned around and marched over to Mr. Barnett.
给大人先帮忙也就算了，连跟我们差不多大的小孩也是，我真的无法理解。我想巴尼特先生早就把提杰的单子抛在脑后了。没跟斯泰西打声招呼，我直接走到巴尼特先生面前。
“He’ll be back,” said T. J., wandering away.
“他会回来的。”提杰踱着步子。
“Uh…’scuse me, Mr. Barnett,” I said as politely as I could, waiting a moment for him to look up from his wrapping. “I think you forgot, but you was waiting on us “fore you was waiting on this girl here, and we been waiting a good while now for you to get back.”
“你好…巴尼特先生。”我尽可能表现得礼貌些，“我想您大概忘了，我们比这个女孩先来，而且等了您好一会儿了。”
He recoiled as if I had struck him.
他似乎被我吓了一跳，哆嗦了一下。
“Y-you was helping us,” I said, backing to the front of the counter again.
我又跑回去：“你刚刚不是在帮我们拿东西吗？”
The girl gazed at me strangely, but Mr. Barnett did not look up. I assumed that he had not heard me. I was near the end of the counter so I merely went to the other side of it and tugged on his shirt sleeve to get his attention.
那白人女孩奇怪地看着我，巴尼特先生却没有抬头。我猜他大概是没听见我的话，我绕到柜台另一边，扯了扯他的衣袖，想引起他的注意。
“Well, you just get your little black self back over there and wait some more,” he said in a low, tight voice.
“你这个小黑鬼，站一边去，再等会儿吧。”他口气僵硬。
I was hot. I had been as nice as I could be to him and here he was talking like this. “We been waiting on you for near an hour,” I hissed, “while you ’round here waiting on everybody else. And it ain’t fair. You got no right –“
我怒火中烧。我已经很礼貌地跟他讲话了，没想到他竟然这么对我。我大声说：“我们等了快一个小时了。在这里等的人不应该人人平等吗？太不公平了，你没有权利——”
“Whose little nigger is this!” bellowed Mr. Barnett.
“你是哪来的小黑鬼！”巴尼特先生冲我咆哮。
Everybody in the store turned and stared at me. “I ain’t nobody’s little nigger!” I screamed, angry and humiliated. “And you ought not be waiting on everybody “fore you wait on us.”
商店里所有的人都转过身来，盯着我。“我才不是什么小黑鬼呢！”我愤愤不平，羞愤不堪，“我们先来的，你应该先招呼我们！”
“This gal yourn, Hazel!”
“这是你的孩子吗？”
“Hush up, child, hush up,” someone whispered behind me. I looked around. A woman who had occupied the wagon next to ours at the market looked down upon me. Mr. Barnett, his face red and eyes bulging, immediately pounced on her.
“别说了，孩子。”有人在后头悄声对我说。我转头，是今天在市场上把马车停在我们旁边的女人。巴尼特先生涨红了脸，眼里燃着怒火。
“Then you get her out of here,” he said with hateful force. “And make sure she don’t come back till yo’ mammy teach her what she is.”
“把她给我带出去。”他恶狠狠地说，“让你妈妈好好教教她，让她知道自己是个什么东西，否则就永远别出现在我的店里。”
“I already know what I am!” I retaliated. “But I betcha you don’t know what you are! And I could sure tell you, too, you ole –“
“我知道我是谁！”我反唇相讥，“但你不见得知道你自己是什么！我可以告诉你，你就是个老——”
“Stacey!” I exclaimed, relieved to see him by my side. Tell him! You know he ain’t fair making us wait –“
“斯泰西！”我真高兴他站在我这边，“快跟他说，让我们等这么久，这不公平——”
“No, suh,” answered the woman meekly, stepping hastily away to show she had nothing to do with me.
“啊，不是。”那女人温和地说。她匆匆离开了，似乎不想跟我扯上任何关系。
As I watched her turn her back on me, Stacey emerged and took my hand. “Come on, Cassie, let’s get out of here.”
我看着她转身时，斯泰西突然拉住我的手：“走吧，凯西，我们离开这儿。”
“She your sister, boy!” Mr. Barnett spat across the counter.
“她是你妹妹？”巴尼特先生绕过了柜台。
Stacey bit his lower lip and gazed into Mr. Barnett’s eyes. “Yes sir.”
斯泰西咬了咬下唇，眼睛盯着他：“是的，先生。”
Stacey jerked me forward, crushing my hand in the effort, and whispered angrily, “Shut up, Cassie!” His dark eyes flashed malevolently as he pushed me in front of him through the crowd.
斯泰西拉住我，用力拧着我的手，小声斥责我：“住口，凯西！”他眼神里晃动着不安，推着我离开人群。
As soon as we were outside, I whipped my hand from his. “What’s the matter with you! You know he was wrong!”
一出店门，我就立马甩开他的手：“你怎么了！明明是他做错了！”
“What ’bout T. J.!” I called as he stepped into the street.
“那提杰怎么办？”斯泰西走过街道，我又叫住他。
Stacey laughed wryly.”Don’t worry ’bout T. J. He knows exactly how to act.” He crossed the street sullenly then, his hands jammed in his pockets.
斯泰西苦笑着：“别担心，他知道怎么做。”他闷闷不乐地穿过街道，手插在裤袋里。
I watched him go, but did not follow. Instead, I ambled along the sidewalk trying to understand why Mr. Barnett had acted the way he had. More than once I stopped and gazed over my shoulder at the mercantile. I had a good mind to go back in and find out what had made Mr. Barnett so mad. I actually turned once and headed toward the store, then remembering what Mr. Barnett had said about my returning, I swung back around, kicking at the sidewalk, my head bowed.
我看着他离开了，没有跟上去。我缓缓地走在人行道上，想不通巴尼特先生怎么会这么做。我不止一次停下来，回头望那家商店，很想回去问问清楚。但一想到巴尼特先生对我做的那些事，我又打消了这个念头。我边走边低垂着头，漫不经心地踢着石头。
Stacey swallowed to flush his anger, then said gruffly, “I know it and you know it, but he don’t know it, and that’s where the trouble is. Now come on ‘fore you get us into a real mess. I’m going up to Mr. Jamison’s to see what’s keeping Big Ma.”
斯泰西咽了咽口水，生硬地说：“我知你知，但是他不知道，这就是理由。别再惹什么乱子了。我先去杰米森先生那里，看看奶奶怎么这么晚还没出来。”
I did not feel like messing with Lillian Jean. I had other things on my mind. “Okay,” I said, starting past, “I’m sorry.”
我不想跟她继续纠缠，边走边敷衍地说：“好，对不起。”
“Hey, Jeremy,” I said solemnly, keeping my eyes on Lillian Jean.
“嘿，杰里米。”我依然盯着莉莲。
This second insult of the day was almost more than I could bear. Only the thought of Big Ma up in Mr. Jamison’s office saved Lillian lean’s lip. “I ain’t nasty,” I said, properly holding my temper in check, “and if you’re so afraid of get- ting bumped, walk down there yourself.”
一天中遭受到两次侮辱，我已经忍无可忍了。但想到奶奶还在杰米森先生那里，我不想给她惹麻烦。我忍住想撕碎莉莲的嘴的冲动，“我不脏。”我说，“你要是怕被撞，你自己到马路上去好了。”
“What?”
“什么？”
“Why don’t you look where you’re going?” she asked huffily. Jeremy and her two younger brothers were with her. “Hey, Cassie,” said Jeremy,
“你走路不长眼睛的吗？”她气势汹汹，杰里米和他的两个弟弟也站在她旁边。杰里米跟我打招呼：“嘿，凯西。”
I started past her again, and again she got in my way. “Ah, let her pass, Lillian Jean.” said Jeremy. “She ain’t done nothin’ to you.”
我再次试图从她身旁经过，却又被她拦住了。“放开她吧，莉莲，她又没对你做什么。”杰里米替我求情。
“You bumped into me. Now you apologize.”
“你撞了我，快给我道歉。”
Lillian Jean sidestepped in front of me. “That ain’t enough. Get down in the road.”
莉莲拦住我：“还不够，你给我到马路上去。”
“Well. apologize,” she ordered.
她命令我：“快给我道歉。”
I looked up at her. “You crazy?”
“你疯了吗？”我抬起头看着她。
It was then that I bumped into Lillian Jean Simms.
然后我撞上了莉莲。
“You can’t watch where you going, get in the road. May- be that way you won’t be bumping into decent white folks with your little nasty self.”
“你都不看路，到马路上去好了。像你这样的黑鬼，怎么能弄脏我们高贵的白人。”
Mr. Simms glared down at me. “When my gal Lillian Jean says for youto get yo’self off the sidewalk, you get, you hear!”
西蒙先生瞪着我：“我女儿叫你到马路上去，你就照做，听见没！”
I stared up at Mr. Simms, frightened. Jeremy appeared frightened too. “I — I apologized already.”
我盯着西蒙先生，内心惶恐不安：“我，我已经道歉了。”杰里米也吓坏了。
“She done something to me just standing in front of me.” With that, she reached for my arm and attempted to push me off the sidewalk. I braced myself and swept my arm backward, out of Lillian Jean’s reach. But someone caught it from behind, painfully twisting it, and shoved me off the sidewalk into the road. I landed bottom first on the ground.
“她挡着我的路了。”她突然伸出手拉住我的胳膊，想把我拽到马路上。我立刻把手背过去，让她抓不到。可是突然有人从后面抓住我的手，用力拧着，把我推向了马路。我失去平衡，跌倒在地。
Behind him were his sons R. W. and Melvin. People from the store began to ring the Simmses. “Ain’t that the same little nigger was cuttin’ up back there at Jim Lee’s!” someone asked.
他的儿子马文和罗文站在后面，店里的人也出来了，围成一圈。有个声音说：“这不是那个刚刚在店里捣乱的小黑鬼吗？”
Jeremy seemed relieved that I had spoken. “She daid. Pa. R-right now, ‘fore y’all come, she did –“
听到我这么说，杰里米似乎松了口气：“是的，爸爸，她已经道歉了，在你来之前——”
“Yeah, she the one,” answered Mr. Simms. “You hear me talkin’ to you, gal! You ‘pologize to Miz Lillian Jean this minute.”
“是的，就是她。”西蒙先生说，“听见没有，给我女儿道歉！”
Mr. Simms turned an angry gaze upon his son and Jeremy faltered, looking at me, and hung his head.
西蒙先生愤怒地瞪了他儿子一眼，杰里米住了嘴，垂头丧气地站在那儿。
“奶奶…”
“Big Ma” I balked。
“Tell her, Aunty –“
“让她道歉！阿姨——”
Then Mr. Simms jumped into the street. I moved away from him, trying to get up. He was a mean-looking man, red in the face and bearded. I was afraid he was going to hit me before I could get to my feet, but he didn’t. I scrambled up and ran blindly for the wagon. Someone grabbed me and I fought wildly, attempting to pull loose. “Stop, Cassie!” Big Ma said. “Stop, it’s me. We’re going home now.”
趁他不注意，我试图从地上爬起来。我担心我站起来之后他会打我，好在并没有。我赶紧朝着马车跑去。有人突然抓住我的手，我拼命挣扎。“住手，凯西！”奶奶说，“是我，我们回家吧。”
Big Ma looked at me again, her voice cracking as she spoke. “Go on, child… apologize.”
奶奶再次看着我，声音发着颤：“孩子…道歉吧。”
I swallowed hard.
我用力咽了下去。
Her voice hardened. “Do like I say.”
她的声音强硬了些：“快道歉。”
“I’m sorry.” I mumbled.
“对不起。”我低声说。
Big Ma gazed down at me fear in her eyes, then back at the growing crowd. “She jus’ a child –“
奶奶看着我，眼神里充满恐惧，然后转向人群：“她只是个孩子——”
“I’m sorry, Miz Lillian Jean,” demanded Mr. Simms.
“说，对不起，莉莲小姐。”西蒙先生执意说。
No day in all my life had ever been as cruel as this one.
从来没有哪一天，我受到过这样的屈辱。
“But, Big Ma –“
“但是，奶奶…”
“Not “fore she “pologizes to my gal, y’all ain’t,” said Mr. Simms.
“没给我女儿道歉，你们就别想回家。”西蒙先生说。
A painful tear slid down my cheek and my lips trembled. “I’m sorry… M-Miz… Lillian Jean.”
痛苦的泪水滑过我的脸颊：“对…对不起…莉…莉莲…小姐。”
“Go on!”
“快说。”
When the words had been spoken, I turned and fled crying into the back of the wagon.
说完这些，我再也无法忍住，飞奔向马车。
“Say it, child.”
“快说吧，孩子”
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