諾貝爾文學經典:《寵兒》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."

"你的女人她從來不給你梳頭嗎？"這個問題顯然是提給塞絲的，因爲她正看着她。
"我的女人？你是說我的媽媽？就算她梳過，我也不記得了。我只在田裏見過她幾回，有一回她在種木藍。早晨我醒來的時候，她已經入隊了。要是有月亮，她們就在月光下幹活。星期天她睡得像根木頭。她肯定只餵了我兩三個星期——人人都這麼做。然後她又回去種稻子了，我就從另一個負責看孩子的女人那裏吃奶。所以我回答你，沒有。我估計沒有。她從來沒爲我梳過頭，也沒幹過別的。我記得她甚至總不跟我在同一間屋子裏過夜。怕離隊伍太遠了，我猜是。有一件事她倒肯定幹過。她來接我，把我帶到燻肉房後面。就在那兒，她解開衣襟，提起乳房，指着乳房下面。就在她肋骨上，有一個圓圈和一個十字，烙進皮膚裏這是你的太太。這個，她指着說，現在我是唯一有這個記號的。
其他人都死了。
如果我出了什麼事，你又認不出我的臉，你會憑這個記號認得我把我嚇得夠戧。我能想到的只是這有多麼重要，還有我多麼需要答上兩句重要的話，可我什麼都想不出來，所以我就說了我腦子裏蹦出來的
是，太太，我說可是你怎麼認出我來呢？你怎麼認出我來呢？也給我烙上吧，我說
把那個記號也烙在我身上"塞絲格格地笑了起來。
"她烙了嗎？"丹芙問。
"她打了我一個耳光。"