Chapter Ten

Dude waited outside the garage and looked at the new automobile¹ on display in the show window. Bessie had gone inside. Dude had said he would stay on the street and look through the window a while. Bessie waited in the middle of the floor several minutes before any one came out of the back room to ask what she wanted. Presently a salesman walked over to her and asked her if she wanted anything. He noticed that there was something unusual about her nose the moment he first saw her. "I came to buy a new Ford²," she said. The salesman was so busy looking down into her nostrils³ that he had to ask her to repeat what she said. "I came to buy a new Ford." "Have you got any money?" He glanced around to see if any of the other men were in the room. He wanted them to take a good look at Bessie's nose. "I've got enough to buy a new automobile if it don't cost more than eight hundred dollars." He looked up into her eyes for the first time. It was hard to believe from her appearance that she had as much as a penny. "How'd you get it?" he said. "The Lord provides for me. He always provides for His children." "He ain't never sent me nothing, and I been here thirty years now. You must be on the inside some way." The salesman laughed at what he had said, and looked down into Bessie's nostrils again. "That's because you don't put your trust in the Lord." "You ain't got that much money sure enough, have you?" Bessie took the check-book from her skirt pocket and showed it to him. While he was looking at the name of the bank and the balance to her account tabulated⁴ on the stub, she walked to the door and motioned to Dude to come inside. "Who's that?" the man said. "Is he your kid?" "That's Dude Lester. Everybody's heard of the Lester's on the tobacco road. Me and Dude is going to get married to-day. As soon as we can get the new automobile we're going to ride around to the courthouse and get leave to marry." The salesman shoved the check-book into her hands, and ran to the door of the office. "Come here quick, Harry⁵!" he said. "I got a real sight to show you." An older man came out of the office and walked over to where Bessie and the salesman stood. "What's up?" he said, glancing from one to the other. "This woman here is going to marry that kid, Harry--what do you know about that! Have you ever seen anything like it before?" The older man asked Dude how old he was. Dude was about to tell him that he was sixteen when Bessie pushed him behind her. "That's none of your business, how old he is. I want to buy a new automobile. That's what I came here for. I walked five miles this morning to get here, too." The' two men were whispering to each other when she had finished talking. The older one looked at her face, and when he saw the two large round holes in her nose, he stepped forward and tried to see down into her nostrils. Bessie covered her nose with her hand. "Good God!" he said. "Ain't it a sight, though?" the salesman said. "Has she got any money?" Harry asked him. "Don't waste no time fooling with her if she ain't. There's a lot of them just like her who come in here from the country and never buy nothing." "She's got a check-book from the Farmers' Bank in Augusta, and she said she's got eight hundred dollars in her account. The stub shows it, too." "Better call them up and find out about it first," Harry said. "She might be telling the truth, and she might be lying. Some of them people out in the country do some tricky⁶ things sometimes. She might have found the check-book and filled it out herself." They went back into the office talking about Bessie's nose, and closed the door. After the salesman had called the bank, they came out again where Bessie and Dude were waiting. "How much do you want to pay for a car?" the salesman said. "Eight hundred dollars," Bessie told him. Harry nudged the salesman with his elbow. "Now, this is a nice little job here," he said, leaning against the fender of a new touring model. "It's eight hundred dollars. You can drive it away to-day, if you want to. You won't have to wait for the tags. I'll get them for you some time next week. You can drive a new car anywhere in the State for seven days while you are waiting for the tags to come from Atlanta." They winked⁷ at each other; every time they wanted to put over a quick sale they told that lie about the registration⁸ laws. Dude went to the car and blew the horn several times. The tone of it pleased him, and he grinned at Bessie. "Do you like it, Dude?" "Ain't nothing wrong with it," he said, blowing the horn again. "We'll take that one," Bessie said, pointing at the car. "Let's see your check-book," the other man said, jerking it out of Bessie's hand before she could give it to him. He took the check-book, tore out a blank, and hastily filled it out for eight hundred dollars. While the man was writing the check for Bessie to sign before she could change her mind or leave the garage, the salesman was again trying to look down into her nose. He had never seen anything like it before in all his life. "Sign your name here," she was told. "I always have to make my mark," she said. "What's your name?" "Sister Bessie Rice." "You must be a woman preacher," the man said. "Ain't you one?" "I preach and pray, both." She touched the end of the pen while an "x" was crossed after her name on the check. "The automobile's yours," she was told. "Is the boy going to drive it home for you?" "Wait a minute," Bessie said. "I clear forgot about praying--let's all kneel down on the floor and have a little prayer before the trade is made." "It's all over with now," one of them said. "No it ain't, neither," Bessie insisted. "It ain't over till the Lord sends his blessings¹⁰ on it." The two men laughed at her insistence¹¹, but Bessie had already knelt down on the floor and Dude was getting down on his knees beside the automobile. The two men stood behind her so they would not have to kneel on the floor. "Dear God, we poor sinners kneel down in this garage to pray for a blessing⁹ on this new automobile trade, so You will like what me and Dude is doing. This new automobile is for me and Dude to ride around in and do the work You want done for You in this sinful country. You ought to make us not have wrecks¹² with it, so we won't get hurt none. You don't want us to get killed, right when we're starting out to preach the gospel for You, do You? And these two men here who sold the new car to us need your blessing, too, so they can sell automobiles¹³ for the best good. They is sinful men just like all the rest of us, but I know they don't aim to be, and You ought to bless their work and show them how to sell people new automobiles for the best good, just like You would do if You was down here selling automobiles Yourself, in Fuller. That's all. Save us from the devil and make a place for us in heaven. Amen." Dude was the first to get on his feet. He jumped up and blew the horn six or seven long blasts. The two men came around in front of Bessie, wiping the perspiration¹⁴ from their faces, and laughing at Dude and Bessie. They looked at her nose again until she put her hand over it. Dude and Bessie got into the automobile and sat down. Dude blew the horn again several times. "Wait a minute," the salesman said. "We'll have to roll it outside first and fill up the tank with gas. You can't drive it like it is now." Bessie got out, but Dude refused to leave the horn and steering¹⁵ wheel. He sat where he was and guided the car through the door while the men pushed. After the gasoline had been pumped into the tank, Dude started the engine and got ready to leave. Bessie got in again, sitting in the centre of the back seat. "Where you going now?" the salesman asked Bessie. "To get married?" "We're going around to the courthouse to get leave of the county," she said. "Then we'll get married." The two men whispered to each other. "Did you ever see a nose like that before, Harry?" "Not when I was sober." "Look at them two big round holes running down into her face--how does she keep it from raining down in there, you reckon?" "I'll be damned if I know. Maybe she puts cork¹⁶ stoppers in them to keep the water out. She would have to do something like that in a hard shower." Bessie leaned over and prodded¹⁷ Dude. "Drive off, Dude," she said. "Ain't no sense in staying here no more." Dude put the car into gear and turned the gasoline on. Being unaccustomed to the new model, he did not know how to gauge¹⁸ the amount of gasoline, and the car jerked off so quickly that it almost lifted itself off the ground. The two men jumped out of the way just in time to keep from being hit by the fender. Bessie showed Dude which way to turn to find the courthouse. When they reached it, Dude got out reluctantly and followed Bessie inside. He wanted to stay in the car and blow the horn, but Bessie said he had to go with her to get the license¹⁹. The Clerk's office was found at the end of the hail on the first floor, and they opened the door and went inside. There was a cardboard sign on the door that Bessie remembered seeing when she came there with her first husband. "I want leave to get married to Dude," she stated. The Clerk looked at her and spread out a blank on the table. He gave her a pen and motioned to her to fill it in with answers to the questions. "You'll have to write it for me. I can't write the words down." "Can't you write?" he asked. "Can't you sign your name?" "I never learned how," she said. He was about to say something, when he looked up and saw her nose. His eyes opened wider and wider. "All right, I'll put it down for you. But it ain't my business to do that for you. You ought to do it yourself. I don't get paid for writing people's names for them." "I'll be powerful much obliged if you will do it for me," she said. "What's your name?" "Sister Bessie Rice." "You must be preacher Rice's widow, ain't you?" "He was my former husband." "Who are you going to marry, Sister Rice?" "That's him back there by the door." "Who?" "Dude. His name is Dude Lester." "You ain't going to marry him, are you?" "That's what I came here to get leave of the county for. Me and him is going to get married." "Who--that kid? Is he the one who's going to marry you?" "Dude said he would--" "That boy ain't old enough to marry yet, Sister Rice." "Dude, he's sixteen." "I can't give you a license--you'll have to wait a while and come back next year or so." "Dear God," Bessie said, dropping to her knees on the floor, "this man says he won't give me leave to marry Dude. God, You've got to make him do it. You told me last night to marry Dude and make a preacher out of him, and You have got to see me through now. I'm all excited about getting married. If You don't make the county give me leave to marry, I don't know what evil I might--" "Walt a minute!" the Clerk shouted. "Stop that praying! I'd rather give you the license than listen to that. Maybe we can do something about it." Bessie got up smiling. "I knowed the Lord would help me out," she said. "Has that boy got the consent of his parents? He can't get married unless he's got the consent of both parents, according to the law for his age. What does he want to marry you for anyway? He's too young to marry an old woman like you. Come here, son--" "Don't you try to talk him out of it," Bessie said. "If you start that, I'll pray some more. God won't let you keep us from marrying." "What do you mean by coming here to marry this old woman, son? You ought to wait and marry a girl when you grow up." "I don't know," Dude said. "Bessie, there, brought me along with her." "Well, I can't give you a license to marry," the Clerk said. "It's against the law for a boy under eighteen years old to marry without his parents' consent. And no amount of praying can change the law, neither. It's down on the books and it won't come off." "Dear God," Bessie began again. "You ain't going to let this man put us off, is You? You know how much I been counting on marrying Dude. You ought not to let nothing stop--" "Wait a minute! Don't start that again!" the Clerk said. "Who are this boy's folks?" "His Ma and Pa don't care," Bessie said. "They're glad of it. I talked to them both early this morning on the way down here to Fuller." "What's his daddy's name?" "Jeeter Lester is Dude's Pa, and I don't reckon you would know his Ma if I was to call her name. Her name is Ada." "Sure, I know Jeeter Lester, and I don't reckon he does care. Nor his wife, either. I had to give Lov Bensey a license to marry one of the young girls, because Jeeter said he wanted it done. She wasn't but twelve years old then either, and it was a shame to marry her so young. But it's in the law, and I had to do it. She was a pretty little girl. I never seen a girl before in all my life with such pretty yellow hair and blue eyes. Her eyes was exactly the same color as robins²⁰' eggs. I swear, she was one pretty sight to see." "Dude is older than that," Bessie said. "Dude, he is sixteen." "How old are you, Sister Rice? You didn't tell me your age." "I don't have to tell you that, do I?" she said. "That's the law. I can't give you the license if you don't state your age." "Well--I was thirty-eight not so long back." "How old are you now?" "Thirty-nine, but I don't show it yet." "Who's going to support you two?" he asked. "That boy can't make a man's wages yet." "I-s that in the law, too?" "Well, no. The law doesn't require that question,' but I thought I'd just like to know about it myself." "The Lord will provide," Bessie said. "He always makes provision for His children." "He don't take none too good care of me and mine," the Clerk said, "and I been a supporting member of the Fuller Baptist Church since I was twenty years old, too. He don't do none too much for me." "That's because you ain't got the right kind of religion," Bessie said. "The Baptists is sinners like all the rest, but my religion provides for me." "What's the name of it?" "It ain't got no regular name. I just call it 'Holy,' most of the time. I'm the only member of it now, but Dude is going to be one when we get married. He's going to be a preacher, too." "You'll have to pay me two dollars for the license," he said, writing on the sheet of paper, "Have you got it?" "I've got it right here. I don't see, though, why folks has to pay to get married. It's God's doings." "There's something else I'm going to ask you. It's not required by law, and some clerks don't ask about it, but being a good Baptist I always feel like I ought to." "What's it about?" "Has either of you got any disease?" "Not that I know about," she said. "Has you, Dude?" "What's that?" "Disease," the Clerk said again, pronouncing the word slowly. "Like pellagra and chicken-pox, or anything like that. Is there anything wrong with you, son?" "I ain't got nothing wrong with me that I know about," Dude said. "I don't know what that thing is, noway." "You sure you haven't?" he asked Bessie. "Did your husband leave' you with disease of any kind? What did he die of?" "He died of age mostly, I reckon. He was well on to fifty when he was married." "Has either one of you got venereal disease?" "What's that?" Bessie asked. "You know--" he said, "venereal disease. Maybe you call it sex trouble." "I used to take a powerful number of bottles of Tanlac, but I ain't lately because I ain't had the money to buy them with." "No, not that. What I'm talking about comes from women sleeping with men, sometimes." "My former husband had mites²¹ on him pretty bad sometimes. I had to wash both him and me off with kerosene²² to get rid of them." "No, not mites. Lots of people get those on them. It's something else--but I reckon you ain't got it, if you don't know what I'm talking about." "What other things do you want to know?" Bessie said. "That's all, I reckon. Now, you give me the two dollars." Bessie handed him the two soiled and ragged²³ one-dollar bills she had been gripping in her hand. She had several more in her skirt pocket, all of them rolled in a handkerchief and the ends tied together. It was all the money she had left, now that the eight hundred dollars had been paid for the new automobile. "Well, I reckon you two will get along all right," the Clerk said. "Maybe you will, and maybe you won't." "Is you a married man?" Bessie asked. "I been married fifteen years or more. Why?" "Well, I reckon you know how pleased me and Dude is to get married, then," she said. "All married folks know how it is to get married." "It's all right at the beginning, but it don't keep up like that long. After you been married a year or two a man wants to go out and do it again all over, but it can't be done. The law puts a stop to it after the first time, unless your wife dies, or runs off, but that don't happen often enough to make it of any good." "Me and Dude is going to stay together all the time, ain't we, Dude?" Dude grinned, but he did not speak. Bessie had the license in her hand, and she did not wait to hear the Clerk talk any more. She pulled Dude out of the room, and they left the courthouse and ran to the new automobile. They got in to ride home. Dude blew the horn several times before he started the motor, and again before he put the car into gear. Then he turned it around in the street and drove it out of Fuller towards the tobacco road. Bessie sat erect²⁴ on the back seat, holding the marriage license tight in both hands so the wind would not blow it away.

1 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

2 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

4 tabulated   

把（数字、事实）列成表( tabulate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Results for the test program haven't been tabulated. 试验的结果还没有制成表格。
• A large number of substances were investigated and the relevant properties tabulated. 已经研究了多种物质，并将有关性质列成了表。

5 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

6 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

7 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

9 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

10 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

12 wrecks   

n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉

参考例句：

• The shores are strewn with wrecks. 海岸上满布失事船只的残骸。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• My next care was to get together the wrecks of my fortune. 第二件我所关心的事就是集聚破产后的余财。 来自辞典例句

13 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

15 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

16 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

17 prodded   

v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• She prodded him in the ribs to wake him up. 她用手指杵他的肋部把他叫醒。
• He prodded at the plate of fish with his fork. 他拿叉子戳弄着那盘鱼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

19 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

20 robins   

n.知更鸟，鸫( robin的名词复数 )；（签名者不分先后，以避免受责的）圆形签名抗议书（或请愿书）

参考例句：

• The robins occupied their former nest. 那些知更鸟占了它们的老窝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Benjamin Robins then entered the fray with articles and a book. 而后，Benjamin Robins以他的几篇专论和一本书参加争论。 来自辞典例句

21 mites   

n.（尤指令人怜悯的）小孩( mite的名词复数 )；一点点；一文钱；螨

参考例句：

• The only discovered animals are water bears, mites, microscopic rotifers. 能够发现的动物只有海蜘蛛、螨和微小的轮虫。 来自辞典例句
• Mites are frequently found on eggs. 螨会经常出现在蛋上。 来自辞典例句

22 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。

23 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。

24 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。