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诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第14章Part6

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Pigs were crying in the chute. All day Paul D, Stamp Paid and twenty more had pushed andprodded them from canal to shore to chute to slaughterhouse. Although, as grain farmers movedwest, St. Louis and Chicago now ate up a lot of the business, Cincinnati was still pig port in theminds of Ohioans. Its main job was to receive, slaughter and ship up the river the hogs thatNortherners did not want to live without. For a month or so in the winter any stray man had work,if he could breathe the stench of offal and stand up for twelve hours, skills in which Paul D wasadmirably trained. A little pig shit, rinsed from every place he could touch, remained on his boots,and he was conscious of it as he stood there with a light smile of scorn curling his lips. Usually heleft his boots in the shed and put his walking shoes on along with his day clothes in the cornerbefore he went home. A route that took him smack dab through the middle of a cemetery as old assky, rife with the agitation of dead Miami no longer content to rest in the mounds that coveredthem. Over their heads walked a strange people; through their earth pillows roads were cut; wellsand houses nudged them out of eternal rest. Outraged more by their folly in believing land washoly than by the disturbances of their peace, they growled on the banks of Licking River, sighed inthe trees on Catherine Street and rode the wind above the pig yards. Paul D heard them but hestayed on because all in all it wasn't a bad job, especially in winter when Cincinnati reassumed itsstatus of slaughter and riverboat capital. The craving for pork was growing into a mania in everycity in the country. Pig farmers were cashing in, provided they could raise enough and get themsold farther and farther away. And the Germans who flooded southern Ohio brought and developedswine cooking to its highest form. Pig boats jammed the Ohio River, and their captains' holleringat one another over the grunts of the stock was as common a water sound as that of the ducksflying over their heads. Sheep, cows and fowl too floated up and down that river, and all a Negrohad to do was show up and there was work: poking, killing, cutting, skinning, case packing andsaving offal.猪在滑运道里嚎叫着。保罗·D、斯坦普·沛德和另外二十多人一整天都在把它们催来赶去,从运河到岸上到滑运道再到屠宰场。尽管由于粮农迁往西部,圣路易斯和芝加哥现在吞并了许多企业,但辛辛那提在俄亥俄人的印象里仍旧是猪的港口。它的主要职责是接收、屠宰和向上游运去北方人离不开的肉猪。冬天里有一个月左右的时间,所有流浪汉都有活儿干,只要他们能忍受死牲口的恶臭,一连站上十二个小时。这些事,保罗·D都令人惊叹地训练有素。他冲洗干净身上所有够得着的地方,还剩一点猪屎粘在他的靴子上;他站在那里,意识到这一点,一丝鄙夷的微笑卷起了他的嘴唇。他通常是把靴子留在棚屋里,回家之前在角落里换上便鞋和便衣。一条路正好把他带进一片天空一样古老的墓地中央,路上充斥着死去的迈阿密人①骚动的亡灵,他们已不再满足于在坟堆下面安眠了。他们的头顶上走动着一个陌生的人种;他们的土地枕头被公路切开;水井和房屋将他们从永恒的憩息中撼醒。与其说是由于安宁受到搅扰,不如说是他们对土地之神圣的愚蠢信仰令他们恼羞成怒,于是他们在黎津河畔怒吼,在凯瑟琳大街的树上叹息,并乘风驶过宰猪场的上空。保罗·D听见了他们的声音,但仍旧留了下来,因为无论如何那是个不赖的工作,尤其是在辛辛那提作为屠宰与河运之都的地位得到确立的冬天。在这个国家的每一座城市里,对猪肉的渴望正在演化成一种癫狂。倘若猪农们能养足够的猪,再把它们卖得越来越远,他们是会赚大钱的。在南俄亥俄泛滥的德国人带来了猪肉烹调术,并把它发展到登峰造极的地步。运肉猪的船只阻塞了俄亥俄河;在水上,船长们彼此的吆喝声盖过了牲口的哼叫声,这就像鸭群飞过头顶一样寻常。绵羊、奶牛和家禽也在河上往来辗转,而一个黑人只须露个面,就会有活儿干:捅、杀、割肉、剥皮、装箱,以及储存下脚料。
A hundred yards from the crying pigs, the two men stood behind a shed on Western Row and it was clear why Stamp had been eyeing Paul D this last week of work; why he paused when theevening shift came on, to let Paul D's movements catch up to his own. He had made up his mind toshow him this piece of paper — newspaper — with a picture drawing of a woman who favoredSethe except that was not her mouth. Nothing like it.距离号叫的猪群一百码远,两个男人站在西线公司的一间棚屋后面。现在清楚了,为什么这一个星期的工作中斯坦普一直盯着保罗·D看;为什么轮到上夜班时他就停下来,好让保罗·D的动作赶上他的。他已经打定主意要向他出示这张纸——报纸——上面有一个女人的肖像,酷似塞丝,只不过那不是她的嘴。一点也不像。
Paul D slid the clipping out from under Stamp's palm. The print meant nothing to him so he didn'teven glance at it. He simply looked at the face, shaking his head no. No. At the mouth, you see.And no at whatever it was those black scratches said, and no to whatever it was Stamp Paid wantedhim to know. Because there was no way in hell a black face could appear in a newspaper if thestory was about something anybody wanted to hear. A whip of fear broke through the heartchambers as soon as you saw a Negro's face in a paper, since the face was not there because theperson had a healthy baby, or outran a street mob. Nor was it there because the person had beenkilled, or maimed or caught or burned or jailed or whipped or evicted or stomped or raped orcheated, since that could hardly qualify as news in a newspaper. It would have to be something outof the ordinary — something whitepeople would find interesting, truly different, worth a fewminutes of teeth sucking if not gasps. And it must have been hard to find news about Negroesworth the breath catch of a white citizen of Cincinnati.保罗·D从斯坦普的手掌下抽出那张剪报。上面的铅字他一个也不认得,所以他根本就没瞥上一眼。他只是看了看那张脸,摇头说不是。不是。嘴那儿,你看。不管那些黑道道写的是什么,也不管斯坦普·沛德想让他知道些什么,反正不是。因为即便在地狱里,一张黑脸也不可能上报纸,哪怕那个故事有人想听。你在报上刚看见一张黑人的脸,恐惧的鞭笞就会掠过你的心房,因为那张脸上报,不可能是由于那个人生了个健康的婴儿,或是逃脱了一群暴徒。也不会因为那个人被杀害、被打残、被抓获、被烧死、被拘禁、被鞭打、被驱赶、被蹂躏、被奸污、被欺骗,那些作为新闻报道根本不够资格。它必须是件离奇的事情——白人会感兴趣的事情,确实非同凡响,值得他们回味几分钟,起码够倒吸一口凉气的。而找到一则值得辛辛那提的白人公民屏息咋舌的有关黑人的新闻,肯定非常困难。

Pigs were crying in the chute. All day Paul D, Stamp Paid and twenty more had pushed andprodded them from canal to shore to chute to slaughterhouse. Although, as grain farmers movedwest, St. Louis and Chicago now ate up a lot of the business, Cincinnati was still pig port in theminds of Ohioans. Its main job was to receive, slaughter and ship up the river the hogs thatNortherners did not want to live without. For a month or so in the winter any stray man had work,if he could breathe the stench of offal and stand up for twelve hours, skills in which Paul D wasadmirably trained. A little pig shit, rinsed from every place he could touch, remained on his boots,and he was conscious of it as he stood there with a light smile of scorn curling his lips. Usually heleft his boots in the shed and put his walking shoes on along with his day clothes in the cornerbefore he went home. A route that took him smack dab through the middle of a cemetery as old assky, rife with the agitation of dead Miami no longer content to rest in the mounds that coveredthem. Over their heads walked a strange people; through their earth pillows roads were cut; wellsand houses nudged them out of eternal rest. Outraged more by their folly in believing land washoly than by the disturbances of their peace, they growled on the banks of Licking River, sighed inthe trees on Catherine Street and rode the wind above the pig yards. Paul D heard them but hestayed on because all in all it wasn't a bad job, especially in winter when Cincinnati reassumed itsstatus of slaughter and riverboat capital. The craving for pork was growing into a mania in everycity in the country. Pig farmers were cashing in, provided they could raise enough and get themsold farther and farther away. And the Germans who flooded southern Ohio brought and developedswine cooking to its highest form. Pig boats jammed the Ohio River, and their captains' holleringat one another over the grunts of the stock was as common a water sound as that of the ducksflying over their heads. Sheep, cows and fowl too floated up and down that river, and all a Negrohad to do was show up and there was work: poking, killing, cutting, skinning, case packing andsaving offal.
A hundred yards from the crying pigs, the two men stood behind a shed on Western Row and it was clear why Stamp had been eyeing Paul D this last week of work; why he paused when theevening shift came on, to let Paul D's movements catch up to his own. He had made up his mind toshow him this piece of paper — newspaper — with a picture drawing of a woman who favoredSethe except that was not her mouth. Nothing like it.
Paul D slid the clipping out from under Stamp's palm. The print meant nothing to him so he didn'teven glance at it. He simply looked at the face, shaking his head no. No. At the mouth, you see.And no at whatever it was those black scratches said, and no to whatever it was Stamp Paid wantedhim to know. Because there was no way in hell a black face could appear in a newspaper if thestory was about something anybody wanted to hear. A whip of fear broke through the heartchambers as soon as you saw a Negro's face in a paper, since the face was not there because theperson had a healthy baby, or outran a street mob. Nor was it there because the person had beenkilled, or maimed or caught or burned or jailed or whipped or evicted or stomped or raped orcheated, since that could hardly qualify as news in a newspaper. It would have to be something outof the ordinary — something whitepeople would find interesting, truly different, worth a fewminutes of teeth sucking if not gasps. And it must have been hard to find news about Negroesworth the breath catch of a white citizen of Cincinnati.


猪在滑运道里嚎叫着。保罗·D、斯坦普·沛德和另外二十多人一整天都在把它们催来赶去,从运河到岸上到滑运道再到屠宰场。尽管由于粮农迁往西部,圣路易斯和芝加哥现在吞并了许多企业,但辛辛那提在俄亥俄人的印象里仍旧是猪的港口。它的主要职责是接收、屠宰和向上游运去北方人离不开的肉猪。冬天里有一个月左右的时间,所有流浪汉都有活儿干,只要他们能忍受死牲口的恶臭,一连站上十二个小时。这些事,保罗·D都令人惊叹地训练有素。他冲洗干净身上所有够得着的地方,还剩一点猪屎粘在他的靴子上;他站在那里,意识到这一点,一丝鄙夷的微笑卷起了他的嘴唇。他通常是把靴子留在棚屋里,回家之前在角落里换上便鞋和便衣。一条路正好把他带进一片天空一样古老的墓地中央,路上充斥着死去的迈阿密人①骚动的亡灵,他们已不再满足于在坟堆下面安眠了。他们的头顶上走动着一个陌生的人种;他们的土地枕头被公路切开;水井和房屋将他们从永恒的憩息中撼醒。与其说是由于安宁受到搅扰,不如说是他们对土地之神圣的愚蠢信仰令他们恼羞成怒,于是他们在黎津河畔怒吼,在凯瑟琳大街的树上叹息,并乘风驶过宰猪场的上空。保罗·D听见了他们的声音,但仍旧留了下来,因为无论如何那是个不赖的工作,尤其是在辛辛那提作为屠宰与河运之都的地位得到确立的冬天。在这个国家的每一座城市里,对猪肉的渴望正在演化成一种癫狂。倘若猪农们能养足够的猪,再把它们卖得越来越远,他们是会赚大钱的。在南俄亥俄泛滥的德国人带来了猪肉烹调术,并把它发展到登峰造极的地步。运肉猪的船只阻塞了俄亥俄河;在水上,船长们彼此的吆喝声盖过了牲口的哼叫声,这就像鸭群飞过头顶一样寻常。绵羊、奶牛和家禽也在河上往来辗转,而一个黑人只须露个面,就会有活儿干:捅、杀、割肉、剥皮、装箱,以及储存下脚料。
距离号叫的猪群一百码远,两个男人站在西线公司的一间棚屋后面。现在清楚了,为什么这一个星期的工作中斯坦普一直盯着保罗·D看;为什么轮到上夜班时他就停下来,好让保罗·D的动作赶上他的。他已经打定主意要向他出示这张纸——报纸——上面有一个女人的肖像,酷似塞丝,只不过那不是她的嘴。一点也不像。
保罗·D从斯坦普的手掌下抽出那张剪报。上面的铅字他一个也不认得,所以他根本就没瞥上一眼。他只是看了看那张脸,摇头说不是。不是。嘴那儿,你看。不管那些黑道道写的是什么,也不管斯坦普·沛德想让他知道些什么,反正不是。因为即便在地狱里,一张黑脸也不可能上报纸,哪怕那个故事有人想听。你在报上刚看见一张黑人的脸,恐惧的鞭笞就会掠过你的心房,因为那张脸上报,不可能是由于那个人生了个健康的婴儿,或是逃脱了一群暴徒。也不会因为那个人被杀害、被打残、被抓获、被烧死、被拘禁、被鞭打、被驱赶、被蹂躏、被奸污、被欺骗,那些作为新闻报道根本不够资格。它必须是件离奇的事情——白人会感兴趣的事情,确实非同凡响,值得他们回味几分钟,起码够倒吸一口凉气的。而找到一则值得辛辛那提的白人公民屏息咋舌的有关黑人的新闻,肯定非常困难。
重点单词   查看全部解释    
shed [ʃed]

想一想再看

n. 车棚,小屋,脱落物
vt. 使 ...

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scorn [skɔ:n]

想一想再看

n. 轻蔑,奚落,笑柄
v. 轻蔑,鄙视,嘲弄

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except [ik'sept]

想一想再看

vt. 除,除外
prep. & conj.

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glance [glɑ:ns]

想一想再看

v. 一瞥,扫视,匆匆一看,反光,闪烁,掠过

 
stock [stɔk]

想一想再看

n. 存货,储备; 树干; 血统; 股份; 家畜

 
stamp [stæmp]

想一想再看

n. 邮票,图章,印,跺脚
v. 跺脚,盖章

 
qualify ['kwɔlifai]

想一想再看

vt. 使合格,限定,描述
vi. 合格,取得

 
route [ru:t]

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n. 路线,(固定)线路,途径
vt. 为 .

 
row [rəu,rau]

想一想再看

n. 排,船游,吵闹
vt. 划船,成排

 
agitation [.ædʒi'teiʃən]

想一想再看

n. 激动,鼓动,搅动

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