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汤姆，你一定要告诉我到底发生什么事了？我看见你刚才和普吕那个老太婆说话。" Tom, in simple, earnest phrase, told Eva the woman's history. She did not exclaim or wonder, or weep, as other children do. Her cheeks grew pale, and a deep, earnest shadow passed over her eyes. She laid both hands on her bosom, and sighed heavily. 汤姆简单而郑重地将老普吕的不幸遭遇告诉了伊娃。伊娃听后并没有像别的孩子那样大惊小怪，失声痛哭。她的面庞变得十分苍白，眼睛里闪现出阴郁而深沉的神色，两只手按在胸口上，深沉地叹了口气。 "Tom, you needn't get me the horses. I don't want to go," she said." 汤姆，你不必为我套车了，因为我现在不想出去了。"伊娃说。 "Why not, Miss Eva?"" 为什么，伊娃小姐？" "These things sink into my heart, Tom," said Eva,--"they sink into my heart," she repeated, earnestly. "I don't want to go;" and she turned from Tom, and went into the house." 你说的那件事情像块石头压在我的心头，我忘不了它，汤姆，"伊娃说，"我实在很难受，"她嘴里不断重复着，"我不想出去了。"说完，她转身走进屋里去了。 
几天以后，来送烤面包的是另外一个女人，而不是普吕。奥菲利亚小姐恰好也在厨房里。 "Lor!" said Dinah, "what's got Prue?"" 普吕怎么没有来？"黛娜问道，"她怎么啦？" "Prue isn't coming any more," said the woman, mysteriously." 她再也不会来了。"那个女人神秘地回答。 "Why not?" said Dinah. "she an't dead, is she?"" 为什么？难道她死了不成？" "We doesn't exactly know. She's down cellar," said the woman, glancing at Miss Ophelia." 我也不大清楚到底是怎么回事，只听说她被关在地窖里。"那个女人看了一眼奥菲利亚小姐说。 
奥菲利亚小姐拿过了面包以后，黛娜将那个女人送到了门口。 "What _has_ got Prue, any how?" she said." 普吕到底怎么啦？"黛娜问道。 The woman seemed desirous, yet reluctant, to speak, and answered, in low, mysterious tone."Well, you mustn't tell nobody, Prue, she got drunk agin,--and they had her down cellar,--and thar they left her all day,--and I hearn 'em saying that the _flies had got to her_,--and _she's dead_!" 那女人欲言又止，犹豫了片刻，压低了嗓门神秘地说："我告诉你，可你千万别再告诉其他人了。普吕又喝醉了酒，于是他们把她关到地窖里--整整关了一天--听人家说她满身都爬满了苍蝇--人已经死啦！" Dinah held up her hands, and, turning, saw close by her side the spirit-like form of Evangeline, her large, mystic eyes dilated with horror, and every drop of blood driven from her lips and cheeks. 黛娜听到这里，恐惧地举起双手，猛一回头，发现伊娃正站在她们身后，两只眼睛瞪得大大的，嘴唇和脸上连一点血色都没有。 "Lor bless us! Miss Eva's gwine to faint away! What go us all, to let her har such talk? Her pa'll be rail mad."" 天呀，伊娃小姐快晕倒了！怎么能让她听到这种事呢？圣克莱尔先生一定会大发雷霆的。"黛娜惊叫道。 
黛娜，我不会这么容易就晕倒的。为什么不能让我听见这种事呢？我听到了又能怎么样呢？总不会有普吕受的苦那么大吧。" "_Lor sakes_! it isn't for sweet, delicate young ladies, like you,--these yer stories isn't; it's enough to kill 'em!"" 唉呀，像你这样天真可爱的千金小姐可不能听这种事情，听了非得把你吓死不可。" Eva sighed again, and walked up stairs with a slow and melancholy step. 伊娃叹了口气，转身慢慢吞吞地，心情沉重地上楼去了。 Miss Ophelia anxiously inquired the woman's story. Dinah gave a very garrulous version of it, to which Tom added the particulars which he had drawn from her that morning. 由于奥菲利亚小姐急切地想得知有关普吕的情况，所以黛娜把自己听到的又叙述了一遍。汤姆也把那天从普吕嘴里亲耳听到的情况重述了一遍。 "An abominable business,--perfectly horrible!" she exclaimed, as she entered the room where St. Clare lay reading his paper. 此时，圣克莱尔正在书房里看着报纸，奥菲利亚小姐走了进来，大声说道："简直骇人听闻！实在是太恐怖了！" 
又发生了什么大逆不道的事啊？"圣克莱尔问道。 "What now? why, those folks have whipped Prue to death!" said Miss Ophelia, going on, with great strength of detail, into the story, and enlarging on its most shocking particulars." 什么事？他们居然把普吕活活地打死了！"奥菲利亚小姐把自己刚才听到的原原本本地给圣克莱尔讲了一遍，对于那些令人恐怖、惊骇的细节部分讲述得尤为详细。 "I thought it would come to that, some time," said St. Clare, going on with his paper." 我早就知道会有这么一天的。"圣克莱尔一边说，一边仍旧看着他的报纸。 "Thought so!--an't you going to _do_ anything about it?" said Miss Ophelia. "Haven't you got any _selectmen_, or anybody, to interfere and look after such matters?"" 早就知道？！难道你对这种事就无动于衷吗？难道你们这里就没有民政代表之类的人或别的什么人来过问和处理这类事情吗？" "It's commonly supposed that the _property_ interest is a sufficient guard in these cases. If people choose to ruin their own possessions, I don't know what's to be done. It seems the poor creature was a thief and a drunkard; and so there won't be much hope to get up sympathy for her."" 一般人都认为这是属于私有财产权益范围之内的事。如果有人偏偏乐意毁坏自己的财产，那你能拿他怎么办呢？这个老太婆平常就喜欢偷东西，又喜欢酗酒，所以要想唤起人们对她的同情和怜悯，我看是不大可能的事。" 
这简直太不像话了！这种行为实在是太可怕了！奥古斯丁，上帝总有一天会惩罚你们的。" "My dear cousin, I didn't do it, and I can't help it; I would, if I could. If low-minded, brutal people will act like themselves, what am I to do? they have absolute control; they are irresponsible despots. There would be no use in interfering; there is no law that amounts to anything practically, for such a case. The best we can do is to shut our eyes and ears, and let it alone. It's the only resource left us."" 亲爱的堂姐，我自己没做过这种事，可我却无法阻止别人做这种事呀！我如果有办法能阻止这种事情的发生，我肯定会去做的。那些野蛮、卑鄙的人非要做这种事，我又能有什么办法？他们有权力那么做，别人无权干涉他们的行为，而且就是干涉也没有用，因为没有成文的法律来处理这类事情。所以，我们对此只有充耳不闻，置之不理。这就是唯一的办法。" "How can you shut your eyes and ears? How can you let such things alone?"" 你怎么能听之任之呢？" "My dear child, what do you expect? Here is a whole class,--debased, uneducated, indolent, provoking,--put, without any sort of terms or conditions, entirely into the hands of such people as the majority in our world are; people who have neither consideration nor self-control, who haven't even an enlightened regard to their own interest,--for that's the case with the largest half of mankind. Of course, in a community so organized, what can a man of honorable and humane feelings do, but shut his eyes all he can, and harden his heart? I can't buy every poor wretch I see. I can't turn knight-errant, and undertake to redress every individual case of wrong in such a city as this. The most I can do is to try and keep out of the way of it."" 那你还指望什么呢？黑奴本身就是一个卑贱、懒惰、没有教养的社会阶层呀。那些缺乏同情之心和自控力的白人们掌握着黑奴们的命运，那些白人甚至对于自己的利益都缺乏明智的关切。其实，大多数人都是这样子的。在我们这个社会中，一个有正义感和同情心的人，除了听之任之，不闻不问以外，还能做些什么呢？世上有那么多可怜的人，我总不能碰见一个买一个吧。人海茫茫，我总不能变成个游侠骑士去为每个蒙冤的人报仇雪恨吧。我能做的只能是对这种事避而远之。" St. Clare's fine countenance was for a moment overcast; he said,"Come, cousin, don't stand there looking like one of the Fates; you've only seen a peep through the curtain,--a specimen of what is going on, the world over, in some shape or other. If we are to be prying and spying into all the dismals of life, we should have no heart to anything. 'T is like looking too close into the details of Dinah's kitchen;" and St. Clare lay back on the sofa, and busied himself with his paper. 转眼间，阴霾笼罩上圣克莱尔那俊朗的脸庞。但不一会儿，他马上又变为满脸笑容。他笑着对奥菲利亚小姐说："堂姐，行了，别像女神一样站在那儿了。这种事情还多着呢，每时每刻都以不同的方式发生着，你只是少见多怪罢了。如果生活中所有黑暗之事，我们都要去过问，去追究，恐怕我们就没什么精力去管别的事情了。这就像过分仔细地去检查黛娜厨房里塞的那些乱七八糟的东西。"说完，圣克莱尔往沙发上一靠，继续看起报纸来。 
奥菲利亚小姐这会儿也坐了下来，拿出毛线活，但脸上依旧是副严肃而愤怒的表情。她手里不停地织着，织着，可心情却越来越气愤。最后，她实在忍受不住了，说："奥古斯丁，我可做不到像你那样容易忘掉这种事。而且你竟然还维护这种制度，简直是不可原谅。" "What now?" said St. Clare, looking up. "At it again, hey?"" 你说什么？又要谈论那个问题吗？"圣克莱尔抬起头来，问道。
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