was born of a line of men who used their leisure for thinking, not doing, for spinning
brightly colored dreams that had in them no touch of reality. He moved in an inner world that was
more beautiful than Georgia and came back to reality with reluctance. He looked on people, and he
neither liked nor disliked them. He looked on life and was neither heartened nor saddened. He
accepted the universe and his place in it for what they were and, shrugging, turned to his music and
books and his better world.

因为艾希礼天生属于那种类型,一有闲暇不是用来做事,而是用来思想,用来编织色彩斑斓而毫无现实内容的幻梦。他生活在一个比佐治亚美好得多的内心世界里留连忘返。他对人冷眼旁观,既不喜欢也不厌恶。他对生活漠然视之,无所动心,也无所忧虑。他对宇宙以及他在其中的地位,无论适合与否都坦然接受,有时耸耸肩,回到他的音乐、书本和那个更好的世界里去。

……

(Melanie said to scarllet:)

“We haven’t lost each other and
our babies are all right and we have a roof over our heads,” said
Melanie and there was a lilt in her voice. “And that’s all anyone can
hope for now. … Goodness but Beau is wet! I suppose the Yankees even
stole his extra diapers. He— Scarlett, what on earth is in his diaper?”

She
thrust a suddenly frightened hand down the baby’s back and brought up
the wallet. For a moment she looked at it as if she had never seen it
before and then she began to laugh, peal on peal of mirth that had in it
no hint of hysteria.

“我们彼此没有丢掉嘛,我们的孩子都安然无恙嘛,而且还有房子住,"媚兰用轻快的口气说,”要知道,这些是目前人人都需要的……我的天,小尿布了!我想北方佬一定把剩下的尿布都拿走了。他–思嘉,尿布里藏的什么呀?"

她慌忙把手伸到孩子的腰背底下,立即掏出那个钱包来,她一时茫然地注视着,仿佛从来没见过似的,接着便哈哈大笑,笑得那么轻松,那么畅快,一点也没有失常的感觉。

“Nobody but you would ever have thought of it,” she
cried and flinging her arms around Scarlett’s neck she kissed her. “You
are the beatenest sister I ever had!”

Scarlett permitted the embrace because she was too tired to struggle,
because the words of praise brought balm to her spirit and because, in
the dark smoke-filled kitchen, there had been born a greater respect for
her sister-in-law, a closer feeling of comradeship.

“I’ll say this for her,” she thought grudgingly, “she’s always there when you need her.”

“只有你才想得出来呀!"她大声喊道,一面紧紧搂住思嘉的脖子,连连地吻她。"你真是我的最淘气的妹妹啊!"

思嘉任凭她搂着,因为她实在太疲倦,挣扎不动了;因为媚兰的夸奖使她既感到舒服又大受鼓舞;因为刚才在烟雾弥漫的厨房里,她对这位小姑子产生了更大的敬意,一种更亲密的感情。

“我要为她这样说,"她有些不情愿地想道。"一旦你需要她,她就会在身边。”

……

(Ashley said to Scarllet)

“We’ve come a long way, both of us, since that day, haven’t we,
Scarlett? We’ve traveled roads we never expected to travel. You’ve come
swiftly, directly, and I, slowly and reluctantly.”

“Did you ever stop to think, Scarlett, that Rhett and I are fundamentally alike?”

“Oh, no! You are so fine, so honorable and he—” She broke off, confused.

“But
we are. We came of the same kind of people, we were raised in the same
pattern, brought up to think the same things. And somewhere along the
road we took different turnings. We still think alike but we react
differently. As, for instance, neither of us believed in the war but I
enlisted and fought and he stayed out till nearly the end. We both knew
the war was all wrong. We both knew it was a losing fight, I was willing
to fight a losing fight. He wasn’t. Sometimes I think he was right and
then, again—”

“Oh, Ashley, when will you stop seeing both sides of questions?” she
asked. But she did not speak impatiently as she once would have done.
“No one ever gets anywhere seeing both sides.”

“That’s true
but—Scarlett, just where do you want to get? I’ve often wondered. You
see, I never wanted to get anywhere at all. I’ve only wanted to be
myself.”

“思嘉,你可曾想过瑞德和我是基本相同的一种人吗?"

“啊,没有!你这么文雅,这么正直,而瑞德–"她停下来,不知道怎么说好。

“但实际是一样。我们出身于同一类的人家,在同样的模式下教育成长,养成了同样的思维方式。不过在人生道路上某个地方我们分道扬镳了。但我们的想法依然相同,只不过作出的反应不一样而已。举例说,我们谁都不赞成战争,可是我参加了军队,打过仗,而他直到战争快结束时才去入伍。我们两人都明白这场战争是完全错误的。我们两人都知道这一场必定要输的战争。可是我愿意去打这场必败的战争,而他却不是这样。有时我觉得他是对的,可是接着,又觉得—-"

"唔,艾希礼,你什么时候才放弃从两个方面去看问题呢?“她问。但是她说这话时并没有像以前那样很不耐烦。“要是从两个方面去看,就谁也得不出什么结果了。"

“这也对,不过–思嘉,你到底要得到什么结果呀?我常常这样猜想。你瞧,我可是从来也不想得到什么结果的。我只要我自己自由自在地做人。"

Where did she want to get? That was a silly
question. Money and security, of course. And yet— Her mind fumbled. She
had money and as much security as one could hope for in an insecure
world. But, now that she thought about it, they weren’t quite enough.
Now that she thought about it, they hadn’t made her particularly happy,
though they made her less harried, less fearful of the morrow. If I’d
had money and security and you, that would have been where I wanted to
get, she thought, looking at him yearningly. But she did not speak the
words, fearful of breaking the spell that lay between them, fearful that
his mind would close against her.

思嘉要得到什么结果?过个问题太可笑了。当然,是金钱和安全嘛。不过–她又感到说不清楚了。她如今已经有了钱,也有了在这个不安定的世界上渴望得到的安全。可是,仔细想来,这些也还是不够的。仔细想想,它们并没有使她特别快活,尽管已不再那么拮据,不再那么提心吊胆了。要是我有了钱和安全,又有了你,那大概就是我要得到的结果吧–思嘉这样想,一面热切地望着艾希礼。可是她没有说这个话,因为生怕破坏了他们之间此刻在的那种默契,生怕他的心又要向她关闭起来。

……

“Yes, you will listen. And I’ll tell you this to
ease your worry. Miss Melly is a fool but not the kind you think. It was
obvious that someone had told her but she didn’t believe it. Even if
she saw, she wouldn’t believe. There’s too much honor in her to conceive
of dishonor in anyone she loves. I don’t know what lie Ashley Wilkes
told her—but any clumsy one would do, for she loves Ashley and she loves
you. I’m sure I can’t see why she loves you but she does. Let that be
one of your crosses.”

“不对,你是要听的。我要告诉你这些,是让你别那样烦恼,媚兰小姐是个傻瓜,但不是你所想的那一种。事情很明显,已经有人告诉她了,但是她并不相信。哪怕她亲眼看见,她也不会信的。她这个人太道德了,以致不能想像她所爱的任何一个人身上会有什么不高尚之处。我不知道艾希礼对她说了什么样的谎话–不过无论什么笨拙的谎话都行,因为她既爱艾希礼也爱你。我实在看不出她爱你的理由,可她就是爱。让它成为你良心上的一个十字架吧!"

-End-

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