Chapter 39

    While Stamp Paid was making up his mind to visit 124 for Baby Suggs' sake, Sethe was trying totake her advice: to lay it all down, sword and shield. Not just to acknowledge the advice BabySuggs gave her, but actually to take it. Four days after Paul D reminded her of how many feet shehad, Sethe rummaged¹ among the shoes of strangers to find the ice skates she was sure were there.

　　Digging in the heap she despised herself for having been so trusting, so quick to surrender at thestove while Paul D kissed her back. She should have known that he would behave like everybodyelse in town once he knew. The twenty-eight days of having women friends, a mother in-law, andall her children together; of being part of a neighborhood; of, in fact, having neighbors at all to callher own — all that was long gone and would never come back. No more dancing in the Clearing orhappy feeds. No more discussions, stormy or quiet, about the true meaning of the Fugitive² Bill, theSettlement Fee, God's Ways and Negro pews; antislavery, manumission, skin voting, Republicans, Dred Scott, book learning, Sojourner's high-wheeled buggy, the Colored Ladies of Delaware,Ohio, and the other weighty issues that held them in chairs, scraping the floorboards or pacingthem in agony or exhilaration. No anxious wait for the North Star or news of a beat-off. No sighingat a new betrayal or handclapping at a small victory.

　　Those twenty-eight happy days were followed by eighteen years of disapproval³ and a solitary⁴ life.

　　Then a few months of the sun splashed life that the shadows holding hands on the road promisedher; tentative greetings from other coloredpeople in Paul D's company; a bed life for herself.

　　Except for Denver's friend, every bit of it had disappeared. Was that the pattern? she wondered.

　　Every eighteen or twenty years her unlivable life would be interrupted by a short-lived glory?

　　Well, if that's the way it was — that's the way it was. She had been on her knees, scrubbing thefloor, Denver trailing her with the drying rags, when Beloved appeared saying, "What these do?"On her knees, scrub brush in hand, she looked at the girl and the skates she held up. Sethe couldn'tskate a lick but then and there she decided⁵ to take Baby Suggs' advice: lay it all down. She left thebucket where it was. Told Denver to get out the shawls and started searching for the other skatesshe was certain were in that heap somewhere. Anybody feeling sorry for her, anybody wanderingby to peep in and see how she was getting on (including Paul D) would discover that the womanjunkheaped for the third time because she loved her children — that woman was sailing happily ona frozen creek⁶.

　　Hurriedly, carelessly she threw the shoes about. She found one blade — a man's.

　　"Well," she said. "We'll take turns. Two skates on one; one skate on one; and shoe slide for theother."Nobody saw them falling.

　　Holding hands, bracing⁷ each other, they swirled⁸ over the ice. Beloved wore the pair; Denver woreone, step-gliding over the treacherous⁹ ice. Sethe thought her two shoes would hold and anchor her.

　　She was wrong. Two paces onto the creek, she lost her balance and landed on her behind. Thegirls, screaming with laughter, joined her on the ice. Sethe struggled to stand and discovered notonly that she could do a split, but that it hurt. Her bones surfaced in unexpected places and so didlaughter. Making a circle or a line, the three of them could not stay upright for one whole minute,but nobody saw them falling.

　　Each seemed to be helping¹⁰ the other two stay upright, yet every tumble doubled their delight. Thelive oak and soughing pine on the banks enclosed them and absorbed their laughter while theyfought gravity for each other's hands. Their skirts flew like wings and their skin turned pewter inthe cold and dying light.

　　Nobody saw them falling.

1 rummaged   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查

参考例句：

• I rummaged through all the boxes but still could not find it. 几个箱子都翻腾遍了也没有找到。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods. 海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。

2 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

3 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

4 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

7 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

8 swirled   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。

9 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

10 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。