【正文】 “These old things was just done by me and Big Dee from some tops your grandma pieced before she died.”“No,” said Wangero. “I don39。t want those. They are stitched around the borders bymachine.”[17]“媽媽，”萬杰蘿的聲音像小鳥一樣甜美，“我能拿走這些舊被子嗎？”我聽到廚房里有什么東西掉了，緊接著，又聽到廚房門“砰”地關上了。“你干嗎不拿一兩床別的被子？”我問，“這兩床舊東西還是你外婆去世之前拼好被面，我和大迪伊做的。”“不，”萬杰蘿說，“我不想要那些，它們的邊線是用機器縫的?！盵18]“That’ll make them last better,” I said.“That’s not the point,” said Wangero. “These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear. She did all this stitching by hand. Imagine!” She held the quilts securely in her arms,stroking them.“Some of the pieces, like those lavender ones, e from old clothes her mother handed down to her,” I said, moving up to touch the quilts. Dee (Wangero) moved back just enough so that I couldn’t reach the quilts. They already belonged to her.[18]“機器縫的更耐用啊?！蔽艺f?！澳陀貌皇顷P鍵，”萬杰蘿說，“這些布片都是外婆曾經(jīng)穿過的衣服，全是她自己一針一針縫起來的。想想看！”她把被子緊緊抱在懷中，輕輕撫摸?！捌渲幸恍┎计?，像那些薰衣草顏色的布片，還是來自她母親傳給她的舊衣服?！蔽艺f著，走上前去摸被子。迪伊/萬杰蘿往后退，讓我剛好夠不著。那兩床被子已經(jīng)屬于她了。[19]“Imagine!” she breathed again, clutching them closely to her bosom.“The truth is,” I said, “I promised to give themquilts to Maggie, for when she marries John Thomas.”She gasped like a bee had stung her.“Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” she said. “She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.”[19]“想想看！”她又輕聲道，把被子緊緊抱在胸前?！罢f實話，”我說，“我已經(jīng)答應把被子給瑪吉了，在她嫁給約翰托馬斯的時候當嫁妝?！彼刮跉猓癖幻鄯湎U了一下。“瑪吉不會珍惜這些被子！”她說，“她很可能笨到把它們當成生活用品?！盵20]“I reckon she would,” I said. “God knows I been saving’em for long enough with nobody using ’em. I hope she will!” I didn’t want to bring up how I had offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told they were oldfashioned, out of style.[20]“我想她會的，”我說，“天曉得我把它們放了多久，一直都沒人用。我希望她用！”我不想提這事：當初迪伊離家上大學時，我給過她一床被子，而她說它們是老古董，過時貨。[21]“But they’re priceless!” she was saying now, furiously。 for she has a temper. “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!”“She can always make some more,” I said. “Maggie knows how to quilt.”Dee (Wangero) looked at me with hatred. “You just will not understand. The point is these quilts,thesequilts!”[21]“可它們是無價之寶！”這會兒她說，樣子很是氣憤，她可是有脾氣的，“瑪吉會把它們鋪在床上，五年后它們就會變成破布。甚至都用不了五年！”“破了，她可以再做，”我說，“瑪吉知道怎么縫被子?！钡弦粒ㄈf杰蘿）憎恨地看著我。“你根本不會明白。關鍵的是這些被子，這些被子！”[22]“Well,” I said, stumped. “What would you do with them?”“Hang them,” she said. As if that was the only thing youcoulddo with quilts.Maggie by now was standing in the door. I could almost hear the sound her feet made as they scraped over each other.“She can have them, Mama,” she said, like somebody used to never winning anything, or having anything reserved for her. “I can’member Grandma Dee without the quilts.”[22]“那么，”我說，一時沒反應過來，“你打算拿它們干什么呢？”“掛起來?！彼f，那口氣好像被子只能用來掛著?，敿@時正站在門口，我?guī)缀蹩梢月牭剿p腳互相磨蹭發(fā)出的聲音?！敖o她吧，媽媽，”她說，那樣子就像從沒贏得過什么，也從沒有過什么是留給她的，“沒有這些被子，我也記得迪伊外婆?！盵23]I looked at her hard. She had filled her bottom lip with checkerberry snuff and gave her face a kind of dopey, hangdog look. It was Grandma Dee and Big Dee who taught her how to quilt herself. She stood there with her scarred hands hidden in the folds of her skirt. She looked at her sister with something like fear but she wasn’t mad at her. This was Maggie’s portion. This was the way she knew God to work.[23]我使勁盯著她。她的下嘴唇沾滿了鹿蹄草煙粉，讓她的臉帶著一絲迷糊和愧色。她能自己縫被子，是迪伊外婆和大迪伊教會的。她站在那兒，將有疤的雙手藏在裙褶中。她有些膽怯地望著姐姐，卻沒有對她生氣。這就是瑪吉的命，她知道上帝就是這樣安排的。[24]When I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet. Just like when I’m in church and the spirit of God touches me and I get happy and shout. I did something I never done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap. Maggie just sat there on my bed with her mouth open.[24]我這樣看著她時，突然感到被什么東西擊中頭頂，直透腳底。那感覺就像我在教堂，受到圣靈的觸摸，讓我欣喜，讓我吶喊。于是，我做了件以前從未做過的事：我摟過瑪吉，把她拉進房里，從萬杰蘿小姐手中一把奪過被子，扔到瑪吉的腿上?，敿獜堉?，愣坐在我床上。[25]“Take one or two of the others,”I said to Dee.But she turned without a word and went out to Hakimabarber.“You just don’t understand,” she said, as Maggie and I came out to the car.“What don’t I understand?” I wanted to know.“Your heritage,” she said, and then she turned to Maggie, kissed her, and said, “You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it.”[25]“你拿一兩床別的被子走?！蔽覍Φ弦琳f。但她一言不發(fā)，轉(zhuǎn)身出門，朝哈基姆理發(fā)師走去。當我和瑪吉出來走向汽車時，她說：“你根本不懂。”“我不懂什么？”我想知道?！澳愕倪z產(chǎn)?！钡弦琳f，然后轉(zhuǎn)向瑪吉，吻了吻她，“瑪吉，你也應該有所作為。對我們來說，這真是個新時代。但你和媽媽還是按老樣子生活，就沖這個，你們永遠也不會懂?！盵26]She put on some sunglasses that hid everything above the tip of her nose and chin.Maggie smiled。 maybe at the sunglasses. But a real smile, not scared. After we watched the car dust settle I asked Maggie to bring me a dip of snuff. And then the two of us sat there just enjoying, until it was time to go in the house and go to bed.[26]她戴上太陽鏡，把鼻尖和下巴以上的面孔全部遮住了?，敿α?，也許是在笑那太陽鏡，但這是發(fā)自內(nèi)心的笑，而不是害怕。我們目送汽車遠去，待揚起的灰塵消失殆盡，我讓瑪吉給我拿點煙粉來。然后，我們娘兒倆坐在那兒慢慢享受，直到夜色已深，該進屋睡覺了。