飘 第六章3

Scarlett digested this in silence, for she had never before been under the same roof with anyone who was not received. It was very exciting.

思嘉默默地寻思这件事，因为她还从不曾跟一个不受招待的人在一起待过呢。这倒是一种很令人兴奋的局面。

"What did he do?"268

"他干过什么事了?”

"Oh, Scarlett, he has the most terrible reputation. His name is Rhett Butler and he's from Charleston and his folks are some of the nicest people there, but they won't even speak to him.

"唔，思嘉，他的名声坏极了!他叫瑞德·巴特勒，是查尔斯顿人，他的朋友本来都是那里最上等的人，可现在都不理他了。

Caro Rhett told me about him last summer.

去年夏天卡罗·雷特跟我谈了他的情形。

He isn't any kin to her family, but she knows all about him, everybody does.

她跟他的家庭并没有亲属关系，可是她了解他的一切，而且谁都了解。

He was expelled from West Point. Imagine!

他是从西点军校开除出来的。你想想吧!

And for things too bad for Caro to know. And then there was that business about the girl he didn't marry."

还有些事情实在太糟糕了，卡罗也不便知道。此外就是关于他没有娶那个姑娘的事--"

"Do tell me!"

"快告诉我!"

"Darling, don't you know anything? Caro told me all about it last summer and her mama would die if she thought Caro even knew about it.

"亲爱的，你真的什么也不知道?卡罗去年夏天全都告诉我了，可要是她妈听说她居然知道这种事，恐怕会气得要死呢。

Well, this Mr. Butler took a Charleston girl out buggy riding.

唔，这位巴特勒先生带着一个查尔斯顿姑娘坐马车出去玩。

I never did know who she was, but I've got my suspicions. She couldn't have been very nice or she wouldn't have gone out with him in the late afternoon without a chaperon.

我从来不知道她究竟是谁，不过我能猜到一点。她一定不是什么好东西，否则便不会在下午那么晚的时候没个陪伴就跟他出去了。

And, my dear, they stayed out nearly all night and walked home finally, saying the horse had run away and smashed the buggy and they had gotten lost in the woods. 269

而且亲爱的，他们在外面几乎待了个通宵，最后才步行回家，据说是马跑了，车也给摔坏了，他们在树林里迷了路。

And guess what-"

后来你猜怎么样--"

"I can't guess. Tell me," said Scarlett enthusiastically, hoping for the worst.

"我猜不着，你说吧。"思嘉很热心地说，巴不得发生最糟糕的事。

"He refused to marryher the next day!"

"Oh,” said Scarlett, her hopes dashed.

“第二天他居然拒绝同她结婚!”“啊。”思嘉的希望破灭了。

"He said he hadn't -er-done anything to her and he didn't see why he should marry her.

"他说他没--嗯--没跟她有过什么，也看不出为什么就该娶她。

And, of course, her brother called him out, and Mr. Butler said he'd rather be shot than marry a stupid fool.

于是，当然喽，她哥哥把他叫出来，这时巴特勒先生声称他宁愿给枪毙也不要娶一个蠢货。

And so they fought a duel and Mr. Butler had to leave Charleston and now nobody receives him,"

这样一来，他们就只有进行决斗，结果巴特勒先生击中了那姑娘的哥哥，他死了，同时巴特勒先生也只好离开查尔斯顿，可至今没有人接待他。”

finished Cathleen triumphantly, and just in time, for Dilcey came back into the room to oversee the toilet of her charge.

凯瑟琳得意地结束了她的故事，而且很及时，因为这时迪尔茜回到房里照料思嘉梳妆来了。

"Did she have a baby?"whispered Scarlett in Cathleen's ear.

“她*了没有?”思嘉在凯瑟琳的耳边悄悄地问。

Cathleen shook her head violently.

凯瑟琳拼命摇头。

“But she was ruined just the same," she hissed back.

"不过她同样给毁了。"她有点厌恶地低声回答。

"I wish I had gotten Ashley to compromise me," thought Scarlett suddenly. "He'd be too much of a gentleman not to marry me.

但愿艾希礼别毁了我才好，思嘉突然这样想。像他这样一个十十足足的正人君子，是决不会不娶我的。

But somehow, unbidden, she had a feeling of respect for Rhett Butler for refusing to marry a girl who was a fool."270

可是，不知怎的，她情不自禁地对瑞德·巴特勒产生了一种敬意，因为他还拒绝跟一个蠢女人结婚哩。

* * *

Scarlett sat on a high rosewood ottoman, under the shade of a huge oak in the rear of the house, her flounces and ruffles billowing about her and two inches of green morocco slippers-all that a lady could show and still remain a lady- peeping from beneath them.

思嘉坐在屋后那株大橡树树荫下一张高高的花梨木褥榻上，她衣裙上的荷叶边和皱襞向周围荡漾着，底下那双绿羊皮软鞋露出了大约两英寸的样子，这是大家闺秀坐着时双脚所能露出的最大部分了。

She had a scarcely touched plate in her hands and seven cavaliers about her.

她手里捧着一个几乎没有动过的盘子，两旁站着七位骑士。

The barbecue had reached its peak and the warm air was full of laughter and talk, the click of silver on porcelain and the rich heavy smells of roasting meats and redolent gravies.

野宴已达到高潮，暖烘烘的空气中洋溢着笑声、谈话声、餐具碰着杯盘的丁当声，以及烤肉和黏稠肉汤的浓烈香味。

Occasionally when the slight breeze veered, puffs of smoke from the long barbecue pits floated over the crowd and were greeted with squeals of mock dismay from the ladies and violent flappings of palmetto fans.

间或一阵清风吹过，从长长的烤牲火坑向宾客们飘来了股股轻烟，小姐太太们假装厌烦地尖叫起来，一面使劲挥舞手中的棕榈叶扇子。

Most of the young ladies were seated with partners on the long benches that faced the tables,

大多数年轻小姐同她们的男伴坐在餐桌两旁长长的条凳上，

but Scarlett, realizing that a girl has only two sides and only one man can sit on each of these sides, had elected to sit apart so she could gather about her as many men as possible.271

惟独思嘉，她明白在这种座席上只能每边各坐一个男人，便单单另外挑了个位置，这样她就可以引来尽可能多的男人聚在自己周围了。

Under the arbor sat the married women, their dark dresses decorous notes in the surrounding color and gaiety.

已婚妇女都坐在凉亭里，她们的深色衣裳在周围的欢快色彩中看来更加显眼。

Matrons , regardless of their ages, always grouped together apart from the bright-eyed girls, beaux and laughter, for there were no married belles in the South.

主妇们无论年龄大小，常常坐在一起，稍稍离开那些明眸皓齿的小姐、情郎和他们的喧笑声，因为在南方，妇女一结婚就不算美人了。

From Grandma Fontaine,who was belching frankly with the privilege of her age, to seventeen-year-old Alice Munroe, struggling against the nausea of a first pregnancy, they had their heads together in the endless genealogical and obstetrical discussions that made such gatherings very pleasant and instructive affairs.

从那位倚老卖老，公然在打嗝儿的方丹老太太到初次*正在极力忍住不呕吐出来的十七岁的艾丽斯·芒罗，她们正交头接耳不停地讨论着家系和产科方面的问题，这才使得这样的集会更加愉快而富于教育意义了。

Casting contemptuous glances at them, Scarlett thought that they looked like a clump of fat crows.

思嘉朝她们轻蔑地瞥了一眼，觉得她们活像一群肥老鸦。

Married women never had any fun.

已婚妇女从来都是没有什么趣味的。

It did not occur to her that if she married Ashley she would automatically be relegated to arbors and front parlors with staid matrons in dull silks, as staid and dull as they and not a part of the fun and frolicking.

可她就不想想，要是她嫁给了艾希礼，不也得自动地跟这些穿深色绸衣的庄重主妇们一起，坐到凉亭下和前屋客厅里去，并且跟她们一样庄重，一样呆板，不再属于那有趣而快活的一群了。

Like most girls, her imagination carried her just as far as the altar and no further. Besides, she was too unhappy now to pursue an abstraction.

原来她像大多数女孩子那样，她的想象力只能把她带到结婚的礼坛上去，不近也不远，到此为止。此外，她现在正觉得十分不幸，没有心思去考虑这种抽象的事。

She dropped her eyes to her plate and nibbled daintily on a beaten biscuit with an elegance and an utter lack of appetite that would have won Mammy's approval.

她垂下眼睛看看手里的盘子，灵巧地拿起一片薄薄的饼干送到嘴边轻轻咬了一点，模样是那么文雅，好像根本没有食欲似的，要是嬷嬷见了准会大加赞赏的。

For all that she had a superfluity of beaux, she had never been more miserable in her life.

的小伙子，可是从没像现在这样难受过。

In some way that she could not understand, her plans of last night had failed utterly so far as Ashley was concerned.

她尽管周围有了那么多向她献殷勤她自己也不明白是怎么回事，昨天晚上她想好的那些计划至少在艾希礼身上已经彻底完了。

She had attracted other beaux by the dozens, but not Ashley,

她吸引来几十个旁的男人，偏偏艾希礼没有来。

and all the fears of yesterday afternoon were sweeping back upon her, making her heart beat fast and then slow, and color flame and whiten in her cheeks.

因此昨天下午她所感到的那些恐惧现在又都卷土重来，笼罩在她身上了，使她的心脏时紧时慢地跳得很不正常，脸色也红一阵白一阵，难看得很。

Ashley made no attempt to join the circle about her, in fact she had not had a word alone with him since arriving, or even spoken to him since their first greeting.

艾希礼不想加入她周围的那个圈子，实际上她来到以后还没有单独跟他说过一句话，甚至自从见面时打了招呼便再没有机会对他说话了。

He had come forward to welcome her when she came into the back garden, but Melanie had been on his arm then, Melanie who hardly came up to his shoulder.

当她走进后花园时，他上前来欢迎过她，但当时媚兰正挎着他的胳膊--她几乎还没有他的肩膀高呢。

She was a tiny, frailly built girl, who gave the appearance of a child masquerading in her mother's enormous hoop skirts -an illusion that was heightened by the shy, almost frightened look in her too large brown eyes.

媚兰是个娇小脆弱的姑娘，从外表看就像个躲在母亲裙子里玩耍的孩子，加上她那双褐色大眼睛流露的怕羞到几乎惊恐的神色，就更加给人以这样的印象了。

She had a cloud of curly dark hair which was so sternly repressed beneath its net that no vagrant tendrils escaped, and this dark mass, with its long widow's peak, accentuated the heart shape of her face.

她长着一头稠密乌黑的鬈发，上面严严地罩着发网，显得一丝不乱。这黑毵毵的一大堆前面挂着个长长的寡妇嘴刘海儿，使得她的脸蛋完全成了鸡心形。

Too wide across the cheek bones, too pointed at the chin, it was a sweet, timid face but a plain face, and she had no feminine tricks of allure to make observers forget its plainness.

由于两个颧骨隔得太远，下巴太尖，那张脸虽然娇怯可人，但仍然比较平淡，何况她又不会讨好卖乖来诱惑男人，让他们忘记她这种平淡。

She looked-and was-as simple as earth, as good as bread, as transparent as spring water.

她长得像--而且就是--泥土一样简单，面包一样可贵，春水一样清澈。

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But for allher plainness of feature and smallness of stature, there was a sedate dignity about her movements

不过，无论她的相貌多么平淡，身材多么娇小，她的举止行动中仍包含着一种沉静而非常动人的庄重美，

that was oddly touching and far older than her seventeen years.

这使她看起来像个远不止十七岁的大姑娘了。

Her gray organdie dress, with its cherry- colored satin sash, disguised with its billows and ruffles how childishly undeveloped her body was, and the yellow hat with long cherry streamers made her creamy skin glow.

她穿一件灰色细棉布衣裳，上面配有樱桃色缎带，裙裾荡漾，皱襞粼粼，似在掩饰那个如孩子般尚未充分发育的身躯，而那顶垂着鲜红的细长饰带的黄帽子，则使她的奶油色皮肤更加光莹夺目了。

Her heavy earbobs with their long gold fringe hung down from loops of tidily netted hair, swinging close to her brown eyes, eyes that had the still gleam of a forest pool in winter when brown leaves shine up through quiet water.

她那对沉甸甸的耳坠子吊在长长的金链上，从整整齐齐网着的鬈发中垂下来，在褐色眼睛近旁摆荡着，这对眼睛像冬天树林中波光皎洁的湖水，两片褐色的叶子从宁静的湖水中闪映出来。

She had smiled with timid liking when she greeted Scarlett and told her how pretty her green dress was, and Scarlett had been hard put to be even civil in reply, so violently did she want to speak alone with Ashley.

她用怯生生的喜悦心情微笑着欢迎思嘉，称赞她那件绿色衣裳多么漂亮，这时思嘉很不好意思，几乎装不出一副礼貌的笑容来回答，因为她那么迫切地需要同艾希礼单独谈话呀!

Since then, Ashley had sat on a stool at Melanie's feet, apart from the other guests, and talked quietly with her, smiling the slow drowsy smile that Scarlett loved.

从那以后，艾希礼就离开宾客坐在媚兰脚边一只小凳上，同她悄悄地谈着，悠闲而睡眼朦眬地微笑着，这样的微笑正是思嘉最心爱不过的。

What made matters worse was that under his smile a little sparkle had come into Melanie's eyes, so that even Scarlett had to admit that she looked almost pretty.

更糟糕的是在他的微笑下媚兰眼中焕发着一闪一闪的光辉，以致连思嘉也不得不承认她几乎是美丽的了。

As Melanie looked at Ashley, her plain face lit up as with an inner fire, for if ever a loving heart showed itself upon a face, it was showing now on Melanie Hamilton's.275

媚兰望着艾希礼时，她那平淡的脸上也仿佛被一支内心的火炬照耀得容光焕发，因为只要一颗热恋的心能够在脸上显现，那么现在媚兰脸上显现的正是这样的一颗心。

Scarlett tried to keep her eyes from these two but could not, and after each glance she redoubled her gaiety with her cavaliers , laughing, saying daring things, teasing, tossing her head at their compliments, until her earrings danced.

思嘉想把目光从这两个人身上挪开，不再看他们，可是办不到，而且每看一眼就得从她周围的骑士们找到加倍的欢乐，跟他们一起笑着，谈着冒失的事情，挑逗他们，对他们的奉承话拼命摇头，摇得那双耳坠狂跳不止。

She said “fiddle-dee-dee!" many times, declared that the truth wasn't in any of them, and vowed that she'd never believe anything any man told her.

她说了好几遍“胡说八道”，声明真理不在他们任何一个人身上，并且发誓永远不相信他们任何人说的任何事情。

But Ashley did not seem to notice her at all.

可是艾希礼好像根本没有注意到她。

He only looked up at Melanie and talked on, and Melanie looked down at him with an expression that radiated the fact that she belonged to him.

他只一味地仰望着媚兰不停地说下去，同时媚兰俯视着他，她脸上的表情明明显示出她是属于他的。

So, Scarlett was miserable.

这样，思嘉便觉得难堪极了。

To the outward eye, never had a girl less cause to be miserable.

在局外人看来，她是比谁也更没有理由觉得难堪的。

She was undoubtedly the belle of the barbecue, the center ofattention.

她无疑是这次野宴上的美人，是大家注意的中心。

The furore she was causing among the men, coupled with the heart burnings of the other girls, would have pleased her enormously at any other time.

她正在男人们中间激起的那阵狂热，加上其他姑娘们心中的妒火，在任何别的时候都会叫她心满意足了。276

Charles Hamilton , emboldened by her notice, was firmly planted on her right,refusing to be dislodged by the combined efforts of the Tarleton twins.

查尔斯·汉密尔顿由于受到她的青睐，仍牢牢地站在她右边，任凭塔尔顿家的孪生兄弟合力挤他也不挪动一步。

He held her fan in one hand and his untouched plate of barbecue in the other and stubbornly refused to meet the eyes of Honey, who seemed on the verge of an outburst of tears.

他一只手拿着她的扇子，另一只手端着自己那盘连碰也没碰的烤肉，固执地不去跟霍妮的眼光接触，这叫霍妮伤心得快要哭了。

Cade lounged gracefully on her left, plucking at her skirt to attract her attention and staring up with smoldering eyes at Stuart.

她左边是凯德懒洋洋地待在那里，他不时拉拉她的衣角让她注意，同时用一双怒气冲冲的眼睛直瞪着斯图尔特。

Already the air was electric between him and the twins and rude words had passed.

他和这对孪生兄弟之间的敌对气氛已达到了一触即发的程度，并且已开始斗起嘴来。

Frank Kennedy fussed about like a hen with one chick, running back and forth from the shade of the oak to the tables to fetch dainties to tempt Scarlett, as if there were not a dozen servants there for that purpose.

弗兰克·肯尼迪像只带小鸡的母鸡在瞎忙着，到橡树树荫下的餐桌旁来回奔跑，替思嘉挑拣好吃的东西，仿佛那儿的十几个仆人都不中用似的。

As a result, Suellen's sullen resentment had passed beyond the point of ladylike concealment and she glowered at Scarlett.

最后，苏伦已实在按捺不住满腔怨愤，便冲出大家闺秀的忍让范围，公然向思嘉怒目而视。277

Small Carreen could have cried because, for all Scarlett's encouraging words that morning,Brent had done no more than say “Hello,Sis”and jerk her hair ribbon before turning his full attention to Scarlett.

小卡琳也早就想哭的，因为尽管思嘉讲了不少鼓励的话，可布伦特只对她说了声“好啊，小妹”，同时拨了拨她头上的发带便转身去全心全意奉承思嘉了。

Usually he was so kind and treated her with a careless deference that made her feel grown up, and Carreen secretly dreamed of the day when she would put her hair up and her skirts down and receive him as a real beau.

往常他总是那么亲切，用一种出于自然的敬重态度对待她，让她感到自己已经是个大人，便暗暗梦想有一天她将绾起发髻，放下裙裾，把他当做一个真正的情人来接待。

And now it seemed that Scarlett had him.

可现在看来，思嘉已经把他捞到手了!

The Munroe girls were concealing their chagrin at the defection of the swarthy Fontaine boys, but they were annoyed at the way Tony and Alex stood about the circle, jockeying for a position near Scarlett should any of the others arise from their places.

至于芒罗家的几位姑娘，她们眼看方丹家那些黑皮肤小伙子已公然背叛她们，可是仍极力掩饰着心头的懊恼，不过当托尼和亚历克斯站在圈子外面等着觑着，随时准备只要有人站起身来便立即抢占一个靠近思嘉的位置，那副讨厌相就叫她们忍无可忍了。

They telegraphed their disapproval of Scarlett's conduct to Hetty Tarleton by delicately raised eyebrows.

她们用微妙地扬起眉头的方式将自己对思嘉行为的反感传递给赫蒂·塔尔顿。

“Fast" was the only word for Scarlett.

对于思嘉来说，惟一的要诀是“快”。

Simultaneously, the three young ladies raised lacy parasols, said they had had quite enough to eat, thank you, and, laying light fingers on the arms of the men nearest them, clamored sweetly to see the rose garden, the spring and the summer house.

这时，那三个年轻姑娘不约而同地举起花边阳伞，说她们已吃够了，谢谢，一面用手指轻轻扶着身边男人的胳膊，娇声笑嚷着到玫瑰园、清泉和夏季别墅参观去了。

This strategic retreat in good order was not lost on a woman present or observed by a man.

这种有秩序的战略性撤退对于一个在场的女人是不会不产生效果的，可男人就看不出来。

Scarlett giggled as she saw three men dragged out of the line of her charms to investigate landmarks familiar to the girls from childhood, and cut her eye sharply to see if Ashley had taken note.

思嘉看见那三个男人被拉出了她的魅力圈，跟着女孩子们到她们从小便熟悉的名胜地观光去了，便咯咯地笑起来，同时狠狠盯住艾希礼，看他是否注意到这件事。

But he was playing with the ends of Melanie's sash and smiling up at her. Pain twisted Scarlett's heart.

可是他正在玩媚兰的那条缎带，一面微笑地望着她。思嘉感到揪心般一阵剧痛。

She felt that she could claw Melanie's ivory skin till the blood ran and take pleasure in doing it.

她恨不得立刻跑过去将媚兰的乳白色皮肤狠狠地抓呀，掐呀，直到鲜血淋漓才痛快哩。

As her eyes wandered from Melanie, she caught the gaze of Rhett Butler, who was not mixing with the crowd but standing apart talking to John Wilkes.

她的眼光从媚兰身上移开，便瞥见了瑞德·巴特勒，他已跟众人厮混在一起，可是仍站在一旁同约翰·威尔克斯交谈。

He had been watching her and when she looked at him he laughed outright.

他一直在观察她，但一旦接触到她的眼光便笑起来。

Scarlett had an uneasy feeling that this man who was not received was the only one present who knew what lay behind her wild gaiety and that it was affording him sardonic amusement.

思嘉感到很不自在，觉得这个不受招待的男子是在场惟一知道她那狂欢背后隐藏着什么心事的人，而且这只能给他以讥诮的乐趣。

She could have clawed him with pleasure too. 279

那么，她也可以抓他掐他来取乐呀!

"If I can just live through this barbecue till this afternoon," she thought, "all the girls will go upstairs to take naps to be fresh for tonight and I'll stay downstairs and get to talk to Ashley .

"只要我能够熬过这个野宴，一直坚持到午后，"她想，“所有的女孩子便会上楼去午睡，准备精神饱满地参加晚上的舞会，那时我要留在楼下找机会跟艾希礼说话。

Surely he must have noticed how popular I am."

他一定已经注意到我是多么受人爱慕了。

She soothed her heart with another hope:" Of course, he has to be attentive to Melanie because, after all, she is his cousin and she isn't popular at all, and if he didn't look out forher she'd just be a wallflower.

”接着，她又自我宽慰地做出了另一种推测:“当然喽，他必须照顾到媚兰，因为她毕竟是他的表妹，而且又一点不引人注目，如果他不那么关照她，她简直就要做无人问津的‘墙花’了。”