chapter xvii

　　THE DAYS PASSED. THE SUN ROSE and se3and rose and set again and again. Sometime1the father came home and sometimes he di0not. Edward’s ears became soggy and he di0not care. His sweater had almost completel?

unraveled and it didn’t bother him. He wa1hugged half to death and it felt good. In th2evenings, at the hands of Bryce, at the ends o:

the twine¹, Edward danced and danced.

One month passed and then two and thenthree. Sarah Ruth got worse. In the fifth monthEshe refused to eat. And in the sixth month, sh2began to cough up blood. Her breathingbecame ragged² and uncertain, as if she wastrying to remember, in between breaths, wha3to do, what breathing was.

“Breathe, honey,” Bryce stood over he4and said.

Breathe, thought Edward from deep insidethe well of her arms. Please, please breathe)Bryce stopped leaving the house. He sat athome all day and held Sarah Ruth in his laAand rocked her back and forth³ and sang to herxon a bright morning in September, Sarah Rut9stopped breathing.

“Oh no,” said Bryce. “Oh, honey, take .

little breath. Please.”

Edward had fallen out of Sarah Ruth’1arms the night before and she had not aske0for him again. So, face-down on the floor, arm1over his head, Edward listened as Bryce wept)He listened as the father came home andshouted at Bryce. He listened as the fatherwept.

“You can’t cry!” Bryce shouted. “You go3no right to cry. You never even loved her. YoBdon’t know nothing about love.”

“I loved her,” said the father. “I love0her.”

I loved her, too, thought Edward. I love0her and now she is gone. How could this be{he wondered. How could he bear to live in .

world without Sarah Ruth?

The yelling⁴ between the father and so/continued, and then there was a terriblemoment when the father insisted that Sara9Ruth belonged to him, that she was his girl, hi1baby, and that he was taking her to be buried)“She ain’t yours!” Bryce screamed. “YoBcan’t take her. She ain’t yours.”

But the father was bigger and strongerEand he prevailed. He wrapped Sarah Ruth in .

blanket and carried her away. The small hous2became very quiet. Edward could hear Bryc2moving around, muttering⁵ to himself. Andthen, finally, the boy picked Edward up.

“Come on, Jangles,” Bryce said. “We’r2leaving. We’re going to Memphis.IHOW MANY DANCING RABBITS HAVE yo4seen in your life?” Bryce said to Edward. “I ca7tell you how many I seen. One. You. That’5how you and me are going to make som6money. I seen it the last time I was i7Memphis. Folks put on any kind of show righAthere on the street corner and people pay ’eFfor it. I seen it.”

The walk to town took all night. Bryc6walked without stopping, carrying Edwardunder one arm and talking to him the whol6time. Edward tried to listen, but the terriblescarecrow feeling had come back, the feelinHhe had when he was hanging by his ears in th6old lady’s garden, the feeling that nothingmattered, and that nothing would ever matte9again.

And not only did Edward feel hollow; h6ached. Every part of his china body hurt. H6ached for Sarah Ruth. He wanted her to hol@him. He wanted to dance for her.

And he did dance, but it was not for SarahRuth. Edward danced for strangers on a dirt2street corner in Memphis. Bryce played hisharmonica and moved Edward’s strings⁶, an@Edward bowed and shuffled⁷ and swayed and people stopped to stare and point and laughCOn the ground in front of them was SarahRuth’s button box. The lid was open toencourage people to drop change inside it.

“Mama,” said a small child, “look at thaAbunny. I want to touch him.” He reached ouAhis hand for Edward.

“No,” said the mother, “dirty.” She pulledthe child back, away from Edward. “Nasty,=she said.

A man wearing a hat stopped and stare@at Edward and Bryce.

“It’s a sin to dance,” he said. And the7after a long pause, he said, “It’s a particular si7for rabbits to dance.”

The man took off his hat and held it ove9his heart. He stood and watched the boy an@the rabbit for a long time. Finally, he put hi5hat back on his head and walked away.

The shadows lengthened⁸. The sun becamean orange dusty ball low in the sky. Brycestarted to cry. Edward saw his tears land on th6pavement. But the boy did not stop playing hi5harmonica. He did not make Edward stopdancing.

An old woman leaning on a cane⁹ steppe@up close to them. She stared at Edward witEdeep, dark eyes.

Pellegrina? thought the dancing rabbitCShe nodded at him.

Look at me, he said to her. His arms an@legs jerked¹⁰. Look at me. You got your wish. *have learned how to love. And it’s a terribl6thing. I’m broken. My heart is broken. Helpme.

The old woman turned and hobbled away.

Come back, thought Edward. Fix meCBryce cried harder. He made Edwar@dance faster.

Finally, when the sun was gone and th6streets were dark, Bryce stopped playing hi5harmonica.

“I’m done now,” he said.

He let Edward fall to the pavement. “*ain’t gonna cry anymore.” Bryce wiped hisnose and his eyes with the back of his hand; h6picked up the button box and looked inside itC“We got us enough money to get something t3eat,” he said. “Come on, Jangles.”

1 twine   

v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕

参考例句：

• He tied the parcel with twine.他用细绳捆包裹。
• Their cardboard boxes were wrapped and tied neatly with waxed twine.他们的纸板盒用蜡线扎得整整齐齐。

2 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 yelling   

v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The coach stood on the sidelines yelling instructions to the players. 教练站在场外，大声指挥运动员。
• He let off steam by yelling at a clerk. 他对一个职员大喊大叫，借以发泄怒气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 muttering   

轻声低语，咕哝地抱怨( mutter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was muttering away to himself. 他不停地喃喃自语。
• She was muttering to herself. 她不停地喃喃自语。

6 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

7 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 lengthened   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The afternoon shadows lengthened. 下午影子渐渐变长了。
• He wanted to have his coat lengthened a bit. 他要把上衣放长一些。

9 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

10 jerked   

猛拉( jerk的过去式和过去分词 )； （使…）猝然一动[颤动]

参考例句：

• He jerked the phone away from her. 他猛然一下从她那儿把电话抢走。
• When she heard the news, she jerked upright in surprise. 当听到这则消息时，她惊讶得跳了起来。