Part 3

Mammy had her own method of letting her owners know exactly where she stood on all matters. She knew it was beneath the dignity of quality white folks to pay the slightest attention to what a darky said, even when she was just grumbling¹ to herself. She knew that to uphold² this dignity, they must ignore what she said, even if she stood in the next room and almost shouted.

-GONE WITH THE WIND

1 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

2 uphold   

vt.举起，支撑，赞成

参考例句：

• We will loyally uphold the principles of the United Nations.我们将忠实地维护联合国的原则。
• It's up to the government to uphold the rights of individual citizens.政府有责任维护各个公民的权利。