"You really mean that about Dodie, do you, Mammy Jane?" asked the delighted mother, who never tired of hearing her own opinion confirmed concerning this wonderful child, which had come to her like an angel from heaven.
"Does I mean it!" exclaimed Mammy Jane, with a tone and an expression which spoke6 volumes of reproach. "Now, Mis' 'Livy, what is I ever uttered er said er spoke er done dat would make you s'pose I could tell you a lie 'bout5 yo' own chile?"
"No, Mammy Jane, I'm sure you wouldn't."
"'Deed, ma'am, I'm tellin' you de Lawd's truf. I don' haf ter tell no lies ner strain no p'ints 'bout my ole mist'ess's gran'chile. Dis yer boy is de ve'y spit an' image er yo' brother, young Mars Alick, w'at died w'en he wuz 'bout eight mont's ole, w'iles I wuz laid off havin' a baby er my own, an' couldn' be roun' ter look after 'im. An' dis chile is a rale quality chile, he is,—I never seed a baby wid sech fine hair fer his age, ner sech blue eyes, ner sech a grip, ner sech a heft. W'y, dat chile mus' weigh 'bout twenty-fo' poun's, an' he not but six mont's ole. Does dat gal7 w'at does de nussin' w'iles I'm gone ten' ter dis chile right, Mis' 'Livy?"
"She does fairly well, Mammy Jane, but I could hardly expect her to love the baby as you do. There's no one like you, Mammy Jane."
"'Deed dere ain't, honey; you is talkin' de gospel truf now! None er dese yer young folks ain' got de trainin' my ole mist'ess give me. Dese yer new-fangle' schools don' l'arn 'em nothin' ter compare wid it. I'm jes' gwine ter give dat gal a piece er my min', befo' I go, so she'll ten' ter dis chile right."
The nurse came in shortly afterwards, a neat-looking brown girl, dressed in a clean calico gown, with a nurse's cap and apron8.
"Look a-here, gal," said Mammy Jane sternly, "I wants you ter understan' dat you got ter take good keer er dis chile; fer I nussed his mammy dere, an' his gran'mammy befo' 'im, an' you is got a priv'lege dat mos' lackly you don' 'preciate. I wants you to 'member, in yo' incomin's an' outgoin's, dat I got my eye on you, an' am gwine ter see dat you does yo' wo'k right."
"Do you need me for anything, ma'am?" asked the young nurse, who had stood before Mrs. Carteret, giving Mammy Jane a mere9 passing glance, and listening impassively to her harangue10. The nurse belonged to the younger generation of colored people. She had graduated from the mission school, and had received some instruction in Dr. Miller's class for nurses. Standing11, like most young people of her race, on the border line between two irreconcilable12 states of life, she had neither the picturesqueness13 of the slave, nor the unconscious dignity of those of whom freedom has been the immemorial birthright; she was in what might be called the chip-on-the-shoulder stage, through which races as well as individuals must pass in climbing the ladder of life,—not an interesting, at least not an agreeable stage, but an inevitable14 one, and for that reason entitled to a paragraph in a story of Southern life, which, with its as yet imperfect blending of old with new, of race with race, of slavery with freedom, is like no other life under the sun.
Had this old woman, who had no authority over her, been a little more polite, or a little less offensive, the nurse might have returned her a pleasant answer. These old-time negroes, she said to herself, made her sick with their slavering over the white folks, who, she supposed, favored them and made much of them because they had once belonged to them,—much the same reason why they fondled their cats and dogs. For her own part, they gave her nothing but her wages, and small wages at that, and she owed them nothing more than equivalent service. It was purely15 a matter of business; she sold her time for their money. There was no question of love between them.
Receiving a negative answer from Mrs. Carteret, she left the room without a word, ignoring Mammy Jane completely, and leaving that venerable relic16 of ante-bellum times gasping17 in helpless astonishment19.
"Well, I nevuh!" she ejaculated, as soon as she could get her breath, "ef dat ain' de beatinis' pe'fo'mance I ever seed er heared of! Dese yer young niggers ain' got de manners dey wuz bawned wid! I don' know w'at dey're comin' to, w'en dey ain' got no mo' rispec' fer ole age—I don' know—I don' know!"
"Now what are you croaking20 about, Jane?" asked Major Carteret, who came into the room and took the child into his arms.
Mammy Jane hobbled to her feet and bobbed a curtsy. She was never lacking in respect to white people of proper quality; but Major Carteret, the quintessence of aristocracy, called out all her reserves of deference21. The major was always kind and considerate to these old family retainers, brought up in the feudal22 atmosphere now so rapidly passing away. Mammy Jane loved Mrs. Carteret; toward the major she entertained a feeling bordering upon awe23.
"Well, Jane," returned the major sadly, when the old nurse had related her grievance24, "the old times have vanished, the old ties have been ruptured25. The old relations of dependence26 and loyal obedience27 on the part of the colored people, the responsibility of protection and kindness upon that of the whites, have passed away forever. The young negroes are too self-assertive. Education is spoiling them, Jane; they have been badly taught. They are not content with their station in life. Some time they will overstep the mark. The white people are patient, but there is a limit to their endurance."
"Dat's w'at I tells dese young niggers," groaned28 Mammy Jane, with a portentous29 shake of her turbaned head, "w'en I hears 'em gwine on wid deir foolishniss; but dey don' min' me. Dey 'lows dey knows mo' d'n I does, 'ca'se dey be'n l'arnt ter look in a book. But, pshuh! my ole mist'ess showed me mo' d'n dem niggers 'll l'arn in a thousan' years! I 's fetch' my gran'son' Jerry up ter be 'umble, an' keep in 'is place. An' I tells dese other niggers dat ef dey'd do de same, an' not crowd de w'ite folks, dey'd git ernuff ter eat, an' live out deir days in peace an' comfo't. But dey don' min' me—dey don' min' me!"
"If all the colored people were like you and Jerry, Jane," rejoined the major kindly30, "there would never be any trouble. You have friends upon whom, in time of need, you can rely implicitly31 for protection and succor32. You served your mistress faithfully before the war; you remained by her when the other negroes were running hither and thither33 like sheep without a shepherd; and you have transferred your allegiance to my wife and her child. We think a great deal of you, Jane."
"Yes, indeed, Mammy Jane," assented34 Mrs. Carteret, with sincere affection, glancing with moist eyes from the child in her husband's arms to the old nurse, whose dark face was glowing with happiness at these expressions of appreciation35, "you shall never want so long as we have anything. We would share our last crust with you."
"Thank y', Mis' 'Livy," said Jane with reciprocal emotion, "I knows who my frien's is, an' I ain' gwine ter let nothin' worry me. But fer de Lawd's sake, Mars Philip, gimme dat chile, an' lemme pat 'im on de back, er he'll choke hisse'f ter death!"
The old nurse had been the first to observe that little Dodie, for some reason, was gasping for breath. Catching36 the child from the major's arms, she patted it on the back, and shook it gently. After a moment of this treatment, the child ceased to gasp18, but still breathed heavily, with a strange, whistling noise.
"Oh, my child!" exclaimed the mother, in great alarm, taking the baby in her own arms, "what can be the matter with him, Mammy Jane?"
"Fer de Lawd's sake, ma'am, I don' know, 'less he's swallered somethin'; an' he ain' had nothin' in his han's but de rattle38 Mis' Polly give 'im."
Mrs. Carteret caught up the ivory rattle, which hung suspended by a ribbon from the baby's neck.
"He has swallowed the little piece off the end of the handle," she cried, turning pale with fear, "and it has lodged39 in his throat. Telephone Dr. Price to come immediately, Philip, before my baby chokes to death! Oh, my baby, my precious baby!"
An anxious half hour passed, during which the child lay quiet, except for its labored40 breathing. The suspense41 was relieved by the arrival of Dr. Price, who examined the child carefully.
"It's a curious accident," he announced at the close of his inspection42. "So far as I can discover, the piece of ivory has been drawn43 into the trachea, or windpipe, and has lodged in the mouth of the right bronchus. I'll try to get it out without an operation, but I can't guarantee the result."
At the end of another half hour Dr. Price announced his inability to remove the obstruction44 without resorting to more serious measures.
"I do not see," he declared, "how an operation can be avoided."
"Will it be dangerous?" inquired the major anxiously, while Mrs.
Carteret shivered at the thought.
"It will be necessary to cut into his throat from the outside. All such operations are more or less dangerous, especially on small children. If this were some other child, I might undertake the operation unassisted; but I know how you value this one, major, and I should prefer to share the responsibility with a specialist."
"Is there one in town?" asked the major.
"No, but we can get one from out of town."
"Send for the best one in the country," said the major, "who can be got here in time. Spare no expense, Dr. Price. We value this child above any earthly thing."
"The best is the safest," replied Dr. Price. "I will send for Dr. Burns, of Philadelphia, the best surgeon in that line in America. If he can start at once, he can reach here in sixteen or eighteen hours, and the case can wait even longer, if inflammation does not set in."
The message was dispatched forthwith. By rare good fortune the eminent45 specialist was able to start within an hour or two after the receipt of Dr. Price's telegram. Meanwhile the baby remained restless and uneasy, the doctor spending most of his time by its side. Mrs. Carteret, who had never been quite strong since the child's birth, was a prey46 to the most agonizing47 apprehensions48.
Mammy Jane, while not presuming to question the opinion of Dr. Price, and not wishing to add to her mistress's distress49, was secretly oppressed by forebodings which she was unable to shake off. The child was born for bad luck. The mole50 under its ear, just at the point where the hangman's knot would strike, had foreshadowed dire51 misfortune. She had already observed several little things which had rendered her vaguely52 anxious.
For instance, upon one occasion, on entering the room where the baby had been left alone, asleep in his crib, she had met a strange cat hurrying from the nursery, and, upon examining closely the pillow upon which the child lay, had found a depression which had undoubtedly53 been due to the weight of the cat's body. The child was restless and uneasy, and Jane had ever since believed that the cat had been sucking little Dodie's breath, with what might have been fatal results had she not appeared just in the nick of time.
This untimely accident of the rattle, a fatality54 for which no one could be held responsible, had confirmed the unlucky omen37. Jane's duties in the nursery did not permit her to visit her friend the conjure55 woman; but she did find time to go out in the back yard at dusk, and to dig up the charm which she had planted there. It had protected the child so far; but perhaps its potency56 had become exhausted57. She picked up the bottle, shook it vigorously, and then laid it back, with the other side up. Refilling the hole, she made a cross over the top with the thumb of her left hand, and walked three times around it.
What this strange symbolism meant, or whence it derived58 its origin, Aunt Jane did not know. The cross was there, and the Trinity, though Jane was scarcely conscious of these, at this moment, as religious emblems59. But she hoped, on general principles, that this performance would strengthen the charm and restore little Dodie's luck. It certainly had its moral effect upon Jane's own mind, for she was able to sleep better, and contrived60 to impress Mrs. Carteret with her own hopefulness.
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1
qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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rheumatism
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| n.风湿病 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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7
gal
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| n.姑娘，少女 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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irreconcilable
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| adj.（指人）难和解的，势不两立的 | |
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picturesqueness
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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croaking
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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ruptured
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| v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交 | |
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dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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39
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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43
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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obstruction
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| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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47
agonizing
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| adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式) | |
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48
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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50
mole
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| n.胎块；痣；克分子 | |
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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52
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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53
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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54
fatality
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| n.不幸，灾祸，天命 | |
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conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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potency
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| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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58
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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emblems
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| n.象征，标记( emblem的名词复数 ) | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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