诺贝尔文学经典:《宠儿》第3章Part 5

"Your woman she never fix up your hair?" was clearly a question for sethe, since that's who shewas looking at.
"My woman? You mean my mother? If she did, I don't remember. I didn't see her but a few times out in the fields and once when she was working indigo. By thetime I woke up in the morning, she was in line. If the moon was bright they worked by its light. Sunday she slept like a stick. She must of nursed me two or three weeks — that's the way theothers did. Then she went back in rice and I sucked from another woman whose job it was. So toanswer you, no. I reckon not. She never fixed my hair nor nothing. She didn't even sleep in thesame cabin most nights I remember. Too far from the lineup, I guess. One thing she did do. She picked me up and carried me behind the smokehouse. Back there she opened up her dress front andlifted her breast and pointed under it. Right on her rib was a circle and a cross burnt right in theskin. She said, 'This is your ma'am. This,' and she pointed. 'I am the only one got this mark now.
The rest dead.
If something happens to me and you can't tell me by my face, you can know me bythis mark.' Scared me so. All I could think of was how important this was and how I needed tohave something important to say back, but I couldn't think of anything so I just said what I thought.
'Yes, Ma'am,' I said. 'But how will you know me? How will you know me? Mark me, too,' I said.
'Mark the mark on me too.'" Sethe chuckled.
"Did she?" asked Denver.
"She slapped my face."

"你的女人她从来不给你梳头吗？"这个问题显然是提给塞丝的，因为她正看着她。
"我的女人？你是说我的妈妈？就算她梳过，我也不记得了。我只在田里见过她几回，有一回她在种木蓝。早晨我醒来的时候，她已经入队了。要是有月亮，她们就在月光下干活。星期天她睡得像根木头。她肯定只喂了我两三个星期——人人都这么做。然后她又回去种稻子了，我就从另一个负责看孩子的女人那里吃奶。所以我回答你，没有。我估计没有。她从来没为我梳过头，也没干过别的。我记得她甚至总不跟我在同一间屋子里过夜。怕离队伍太远了，我猜是。有一件事她倒肯定干过。她来接我，把我带到熏肉房后面。就在那儿，她解开衣襟，提起乳房，指着乳房下面。就在她肋骨上，有一个圆圈和一个十字，烙进皮肤里这是你的太太。这个，她指着说，现在我是唯一有这个记号的。
其他人都死了。
如果我出了什么事，你又认不出我的脸，你会凭这个记号认得我把我吓得够戗。我能想到的只是这有多么重要，还有我多么需要答上两句重要的话，可我什么都想不出来，所以我就说了我脑子里蹦出来的
是，太太，我说可是你怎么认出我来呢？你怎么认出我来呢？也给我烙上吧，我说
把那个记号也烙在我身上"塞丝格格地笑了起来。
"她烙了吗？"丹芙问。
"她打了我一个耳光。"