CHAPTER XXI

 "And another time, on the morning just before the ball," said Aline, returning to the story, "they had seen each other again. That was at the slave-auction¹. That night, before the ball was over, she and grandpère understood--knew, each, from the other, why the other was at that auction; and he had promised her to find Mingo.

 

"Well, after weeks, Ovide helping², all at once there was Mingo, in the gang, by the block, waiting his turn to go on it. Picture that! Any time I want to shut my eyes I can see it, and I think you can do the same, h'm?"

 

Blessed h'm; 'twas the flower--of the Chapdelaines--humming back to the bee. Said the bee, "We'll try it there together some day, h'm?" and Cupid mutely³ sparkled⁴:

 

"Oh, by all means! the three of us!"

 

The flower ignored them both. "There was the auctioneer," she said; "there were the slaves, there the crowd of bidders⁵; between them the block, above them the beautiful dome⁶. Very soon Mingo was on the block, and the first bid was from Sidney. She was the only one in a hurry except Mingo. He was trying to see her, but she was hiding from him behind grandpère; yet not from the auctioneer. The auctioneer stopped.

 

"'Who authorized⁷ you to bid here?' he asked her.

 

"'Nobody, sir; I's free.' She held up her paper.

 

"Grandpère nodded to the auctioneer.

 

"'Will Mr. Chapdelaine please read it out?'

 

"He read it out, signature and all.

 

"'Anybody know any one of that name?' the auctioneer asked, and grand'mère said:

 

"'That's my aunt. This free girl is my maid."

 

"'Oh, bidding for you?' he said; and grand'mere said no, the girl was bidding on her own account, with her own money.

 

"'What kind of money? We can't take shinplasters.' For 'twas then 'sixty-one--year of secession, you know.

 

"'Gold!' Sidney called out, and held it up in a black stocking, so high that every one laughed."

 

"Not Mingo, I fancy."

 

"Ah, no, nor the keeper of the gang."

 

"--Wonder how Mingo was behaving."

 

"He? he was shaking and weeping, and begging this and that of the man who held and threatened him, to keep him quiet. So then the auctioneer began to call Sidney's bid. You know how that would be: 'Gentlemen, I'm offered five hundred dollars. Cinq cent piastres, messieurs! Only five hundred for this likely boy worth all of nine! Who'll say six? Going at five hundred, what do I hear?' But he heard nothing till--'third and last call!' Then the owner of the gang nodded and the auctioneer called out, 'six hundred!"'

 

"And did Sidney raise it?"

 

"No, she wept aloud. 'Oh, my brotheh!' she cried, 'Lawd save my po' brotheh! I's los' him ag'in! I done bid my las' dollah at de fust call!'"

 

"And Mingo knew her voice, spied her out?"

 

"Yes, and holloed, 'Sidney! sisteh!' till grand-mère wept too and a man called out, 'No one bid that six hundred!' But grandpère said: 'I bid six-fifty and will tell all about this unlikely boy if his owner bids again.'

 

"So Mingo was sold to grandpère. 'And now,' grandpère whispered to grand-mère and her friends, 'go pack trunks for the ship as fast as you can.'"

 

"And they parted like that? But of course not!"

 

"No, only expected to. In the Gulf⁸, at the mouth of the river, a Confederate privateer"--the narrator's voice faded out. She began to rise. Her aunts were returning.

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 mutely   

无言地，不发音地

参考例句：

• She could not speak but just nodded mutely. 她一句话也说不出，只能默默地点头。
• Chueh-hui, quickly mollified, mutely nodded his head. 觉慧听见哥哥的这些话，他的怒气马上消失了，他只是默默地点着头。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

4 sparkled   

v.发火花，闪耀( sparkle的过去式和过去分词 )；（饮料）发泡；生气勃勃，热情奔放，神采飞扬

参考例句：

• Her jewellery sparkled in the candlelight. 烛光下，她的首饰光彩熠熠。
• Her eyes sparkled with excitement. 她的眼睛由于兴奋而发亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 bidders   

n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bidders should proceed only if they intend on using a PayPal account to complete payment. Bidders的唯一形式，应继续只当他们在使用贝宝帐户，以完成付款打算。 来自互联网
• The other bidders for the contract complained that it had not been a fair contest. 其他竞标人抱怨说该合同的竞标不公平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

7 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

8 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。