目 录 上一节 下一节 
山姆,是你吗?他们在哪里?" "Mas'r Haley 's a-restin' at the tavern; he's drefful fatigued, Missis."" 赫利先生在河边的客店里休息呢,他太累了,太太。" "And Eliza, Sam?"" 艾莉查怎么样了,山姆?" "Wal, she's clar 'cross Jordan. As a body may say, in the land o' Canaan."" 噢,她已经过了约旦河,现在可以说她已抵达乐土迦南了。" "Why, Sam, what _do_ you mean?" said Mrs. Shelby, breathless, and almost faint, as the possible meaning of these words came over her." 喂,山姆,你说的是什么意思?"希尔比太太提心吊胆地问道,当那些话中所包含的言外之意传到她耳中时,她几乎要昏倒了。 
太太,上帝一直在保佑他的儿女。莉兹以一种神奇的方式过了俄亥俄河,就如同上帝用火轮车和两匹马把她送过去似的。" Sam's vein of piety was always uncommonly fervent in his mistress' presence; and he made great capital of scriptural figures and images. 当着女主人的面,山姆显得是那样的虔诚,而且他还不时在话中引用一些圣经书中常使用的象征和比喻。 "Come up here, Sam," said Mr. Shelby, who had followed on to the verandah, "and tell your mistress what she wants. Come, come, Emily," said he, passing his arm round her, "you are cold and all in a shiver; you allow yourself to feel too much."" 过来,山姆,"希尔比先生说,他一直跟随他们来到阳台前面,"告诉女主人她想知道的一切。过来,艾米丽,"说着,他用两只手臂紧紧抱住她,"你浑身发冷,全身都在发抖,你让自己过于激动了。" "Feel too much! Am not I a woman,--a mother? Are we not both responsible to God for this poor girl? My God! lay not this sin to our charge."" 过于激动!难道我不是一个女人,一个母亲吗?在上帝的面前,难道我们不该对这个可怜的女人负责吗?上帝啊!不要把这罪过加到我们的头上。" "What sin, Emily? You see yourself that we have only done what we were obliged to."" 艾米丽,你说什么罪过?你自己也清楚我们这样做是迫不得已的。" 
但我心中总有一种挥之不去的负罪感,"希尔比太太说,"我不能忘掉它。" "Here, Andy, you nigger, be alive!" called Sam, under the verandah; "take these yer hosses to der barn; don't ye hear Mas'r a callin'?" and Sam soon appeared, palm-leaf in hand, at the parlor door." 喂,艾迪,你快些替我把马牵到马厩中,"山姆站在阳台下喊着,"你没听到老爷叫我过去吗?"很快,山姆便出现在大厅门口,手中还拿着棕榈叶。 "Now, Sam, tell us distinctly how the matter was," said Mr. Shelby. "Where is Eliza, if you know?"" 山姆,现在把事情的经过仔细地说给我们听,"希尔比先生说,"如果你知道的话,赶快告诉我们艾莉查在什么地方?" "Wal, Mas'r, I saw her, with my own eyes, a crossin' on the floatin' ice. She crossed most 'markably; it wasn't no less nor a miracle; and I saw a man help her up the 'Hio side, and then she was lost in the dusk."" 老爷,我亲眼看着她踩着河中的冰筏过了河。那真是个奇迹,太神奇了,简直是一个奇迹。我看见一个男人扶着她上了俄亥俄河的大堤,然后她就消失于缥缈的薄雾中,再也见不到她了。" "Sam, I think this rather apocryphal,--this miracle. Crossing on floating ice isn't so easily done," said Mr. Shelby." 山姆,真是不可思议,真是个奇迹,踩着浮动的冰筏过河,真是不容易做到。"希尔比先生说着。 
容易?如果没有上帝的帮助,没有人能做到这一点儿。"山姆说,"事情的经过是这样的:赫利老爷、我,还有艾迪,正经过河边的一家客店,我走在前面一点(我急于抓住莉兹,所以我走在了前面)。当我走过客店窗前时,一眼就看见了莉兹。于是我故意让风吹掉帽子,并大叫了一声,那声音大得连死人也能听到,莉兹当然听到了。当赫利老爷经过门前时,她把身体缩了回去,然后,她飞快地从后门向河边跑去。这时,赫利先生也看到了她,便大声喊叫着,于是,艾迪,我和他便追了过去。她跑到了河边,那湍急的河流有十英尺宽。外面一点就是横冲直撞的大块浮冰,就如同一个由冰组成的小岛。当时我们就跟在她后面,我想赫利老爷肯定会抓住她的。但就在此时,她大叫了一声(以前我从没听她那样叫过),接着便纵身一跃,越过急流跳到了冰筏上。她没敢停下来,只是边叫边向前跳着。在她的脚下,浮冰咯吱吱地响着,并不时发出扑通扑通的声音,她像小鹿一样飞快地向前跳去。上帝,她那几个跳跃真是不简单,我想那是不简单的。" Mrs. Shelby sat perfectly silent, pale with excitement, while Sam told his story. 在听山姆叙述事情的经过时,希尔比太太一直默默地坐着,她的脸因为激动而显得非常苍白。 "God be praised, she isn't dead!" she said; "but where is the poor child now?"" 上帝保佑,她没有死掉,"她说,"但那可怜的孩子现在在哪儿呢?" "De Lord will pervide," said Sam, rolling up his eyes piously. "As I've been a sayin', dis yer 's a providence and no mistake, as Missis has allers been a instructin' on us. Thar's allers instruments ris up to do de Lord's will. Now, if 't hadn't been for me today, she'd a been took a dozen times. Warn't it I started off de hosses, dis yer morning' and kept 'em chasin' till nigh dinner time? And didn't I car Mas'r Haley night five miles out of de road, dis evening, or else he'd a come up with Lizy as easy as a dog arter a coon. These yer 's all providences."" 上帝会保佑她的,"山姆说,虔诚地翻动着眼睛,"就像我曾经说过的,这是老天爷的意见,不会错的。正如太太经常教导我们的,总会有个人挺身而出来履行上帝的旨意的。今天如果没有我的话,她至少已经被抓住十多次了。今天早上不是我惊跑了那匹马,并一直拖延到快吃午饭了吗?下午时,不是我使得赫利老爷多走了五英里长的弯路吗?否则他早像狗抓浣熊一样轻易把莉兹抓到了。这是上天的意愿啊!" "They are a kind of providences that you'll have to be pretty sparing of, Master Sam. I allow no such practices with gentlemen on my place," said Mr. Shelby, with as much sternness as he could command, under the circumstances." 我的山姆大爷,以后你还是少说点类似的天意吧,我不能允许你在我的地面上对老爷们搞这种把戏。"在这种情况下,希尔比先生故作严厉地训斥道。 
假装对黑人发脾气并不比对小孩假装生气看起来起作用。虽然你竭尽全力做出生气的神情,但本能地,大家都明白为什么主人那样做。受到了责备的山姆看起来并不显得垂头丧气,虽然看起来他满脸悲伤,低垂着嘴角,显出后悔的神情。 "Mas'r quite right,--quite; it was ugly on me,--there's no disputin' that ar; and of course Mas'r and Missis wouldn't encourage no such works. I'm sensible of dat ar; but a poor nigger like me 's 'mazin' tempted to act ugly sometimes, when fellers will cut up such shines as dat ar Mas'r Haley; he an't no gen'l'man no way; anybody's been raised as I've been can't help a seein' dat ar."" 老爷说得对,很对,都是我不好,这是不容置疑的。我很清楚老爷和太太是不喜欢这种鬼把戏的,但我是个低等黑人,所以看到赫利先生把农庄的人折腾得忙这儿忙那儿,我也会做出一些不太雅观的事。他看起来哪儿像一位老爷!就连我这样缺少教养的人也可以看清他的心思。" "Well, Sam," said Mrs. Shelby, "as you appear to have a proper sense of your errors, you may go now and tell Aunt Chloe she may get you some of that cold ham that was left of dinner today. You and Andy must be hungry."" 好了,山姆,"希尔比太太说,"既然你已认识了自己的过错,那还是快去克鲁伊那儿吃点东西吧。让她给你们弄点中午的剩火腿吃,你和艾迪肯定饿坏了。" "Missis is a heap too good for us," said Sam, making his bow with alacrity, and departing." 太太对我们太好了。"山姆说着,弯了一下腰,高兴地跑出了客厅。 It will be perceived, as has been before intimated, that Master Sam had a native talent that might, undoubtedly, have raised him to eminence in political life,--a talent of making capital out of everything that turned up, to be invested for his own especial praise and glory; and having done up his piety and humility, as he trusted, to the satisfaction of the parlor, he clapped his palm-leaf on his head, with a sort of rakish, free-and-easy air, and proceeded to the dominions of Aunt Chloe, with the intention of flourishing largely in the kitchen. 我们在前面已经做了暗示,我想各位读者也已经注意到了,那就是山姆有种天赋的、可以使他在政治生活中很快出人头地的才能,也就是可以使他在各种场合赢得人们的称赞的才能。在客厅中,他那故作虔诚、低微的样子获得称赞,现在他已把棕榈叶戴在了头上,轻快地赶到了厨房,想在克鲁伊大婶的地盘上出一番风头。 
我要向这些黑奴大讲一番,"山姆低声自语着说,"现在我得到了一个机会。上帝,我一定要让他们刮目相看。"
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