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“Well, it’s fun to hear her gabble. And it’ll be somewhere to hide out till Ma has gone to bed.”
“那么，去聽聽她的那套胡扯也挺有趣呀。況且那也是個藏身之地，可以讓我們等媽媽上床睡了再回家去。”
“Well, hell! I like Cathleen and she is fun and I’d like to hear about Caro Rhett and the rest of the Charleston folks; but I’m damned if I can stand sitting through another meal with that Yankee stepmother of hers.”“Don’t be too hard on her, Stuart. She means well.”“I’m not being hard on her. I feel sorry for her, but I don’t like people I’ve got to feel sorry for. And she fusses around so much, trying to do the right thing and make you feel at home, that she always manages to say and do just exactly the wrong thing. She gives me the fidgets! And she thinks Southerners are wild barbarians. She even told Ma so. She’s afraid of Southerners. Whenever we’re there she always looks scared to death. She reminds me of a skinny hen perched on a chair, her eyes kind of bright and blank and scared, all ready to flap and squawk at the slightest move anybody makes.”“Well, you can’t blame her. You did shoot Cade in the leg.”
“唔，好極了！我喜歡凱瑟琳，她很好玩，我也想打聽打聽卡羅·萊特和其他查爾斯頓的人消息；可是要再去跟她的北方佬繼母坐在一起吃頓飯，那才真要我的命呢！”“別對她太苛求了，斯圖。她還是懷有好意的。”“我并不是苛求她。倒是為她難過，可是我不喜歡那種讓我為她難過的人。她在你周圍轉來轉去，總想叫你感到舒適自在，可是她所做的和說的使你反感。簡直讓我坐立不安！她還把南方人當做蠻子。她甚至跟媽媽這樣說過。她害怕南方人。每次我們在她家，她都像嚇得要死似的。她讓我想起一只蹲在椅子上的瘦母雞，瞪著兩只又亮又呆板的怯生生的眼睛，仿佛一聽到有什么動靜就要扇著翅膀咯咯地叫起來。”“這個你也不能怪她。你曾經開槍打傷過凱德的腿哩。”
“Well, I was lickered up or I wouldn’t have done it,” said Stuart. “And Cade never had any hard feelings. Neither did Cathleen or Raiford or Mr. Calvert. It was just that Yankee stepmother who squalled and said I was a wild barbarian and decent people weren’t safe around uncivilized Southerners.”“Well, you can’t blame her. She’s a Yankee and ain’t got very good manners; and, after all, you did shoot him and he is her stepson.”
“對，但那次是我喝醉了，否則也不會干出那樣的事來，”斯圖爾特為自己辯護，”而且凱德自己從不懷恨。凱瑟琳和雷福德或者卡爾費特先生也沒有什么惡感。就是那個北方佬繼母，她卻大聲嚷嚷，說我是個蠻子，說文明人跟粗野的南方人在一起很不安全。”“不過，你不能怪她。她是個北方佬，不很懂禮貌，而且你畢竟打傷了她的繼子呀。”
“Well, hell! That’s no excuse for insulting me! You are Ma’s own blood son, but did she take on that time Tony Fontaine shot you in the leg? No, she just sent for old Doc Fontaine to dress it and asked the doctor what ailed Tony’s aim. Said she guessed licker was spoiling his marksmanship. Remember how mad that made Tony?”Both boys yelled with laughter.
“可是，呸！那也不能作為侮辱我的理由啊！你是媽媽的親生兒子，但那次托尼·方丹打傷了你的腿，她發過火嗎？沒有，她只請老方丹大夫來給你包扎了一下，還問他托尼的槍怎么會找不準哪。你還記得那句話使托尼多么難過的吧？"哥兒倆都大笑起來。
