評論
打印
There remained only one man whose attitude did not fit into an anti-Negro category, for I had heard the white men refer to him as a "Pope lover". He was an Irish Catholic and washated by the white Southerners. I knew that he read books, because I had got him volumes from the library several times. Since he, too, was an object of hatred, I felt that he might refuse me but would hardly betray me. I hesitated, weighing and balancing the imponderable realities.
只剩下一個人，他的態度不屬于歧視黑人的一類，因為我曾聽到白人稱他為"拍教皇馬屁的人"。他是個愛爾蘭天主教徒，受到南方白人的憎恨。我知道他看書，因為我曾好幾次為他到圖書館去借書。既然他也是個被仇恨的對象，我感到他雖有可能拒絕幫助我，但不太可能出賣我。我猶豫不決，反復掂量著，權衡著這無法估量的現實。
One morning I paused before the Catholic fellow's desk.
一天上午，我在這位天主教徒的辦公桌前停下來。
"I want to ask you a favor," I whispered to him.
"我想求你幫個忙，"我低聲對他講。
"What is it?"
"幫什么忙?"
"I want to read. I can't get books from the library. I wonder if you'd let me use your card?"
"我想看書，卻無法從圖書館借到。我在想，你肯不肯把借書證借給我用?"
He looked at me suspiciously.
他懷疑地看著我。
"My card is full most of the time," he said.
"我的借書證大部分時間都是滿的，"他說。
"I see," I said and waited, posing my question silently.
"哦，"我說后便等待著，無聲地提出我的問題。
"You're not trying to get me into trouble, are you, boy?" he asked, staring at me.
"你不是想給我找麻煩吧，伙計?"他兩眼直盯著我，問道。
"Oh, no, sir."
"喔，不會的，先生。"
"What book do you want?"
"你想要什么書?"
"A book by H. L. Mencken."
"一本H·L·門肯寫的書。"
"Which one?"
"哪一本?"
"I don't know. Has he written more than one?"
"我不知道。他寫了不止一本書吧?"
"He has written several."
"他寫過好幾本書。"
"I didn't know that."
"我原本不知道。"
"What makes you want to read Mencken?"
"你怎么會想到要看門肯的書?"
"Oh, I just saw his name in the newspaper," I said.
"哦，我只是在報紙上看見他的名字，"我說。
"It's good of you to want to read," he said. "But you ought to read the right things."
"你想看書是好的，"他說，"但你該看那些正當的書。"
I said nothing. Would he want to supervise my reading?
我沒有回答。他是不是要監督我看哪些書？
"Let me think," he said. "I'll figure out something."
"讓我想想，"他說。"我想想辦法。"
I turned from him and he called me back. He stared at me quizzically.
我轉身離開，但他把我叫了回來。他疑惑地盯著我看。
