Chapter 63

    "They got me out of jail," Sethe once told Baby Suggs.

　　"They also put you in it," she answered.

　　"They drove you 'cross the river.""On my son's back.""They gave you this house.""Nobody gave me nothing.""I got a job from them.""He got a cook from them, girl.""Oh, some of them do all right by us.""And every time it's a surprise, ain't it?""You didn't used to talk this way.""Don't box with me. There's more of us they drowned than there is all of them ever lived from thestart of time. Lay down your sword. This ain't a battle; it's a rout¹."Remembering those conversations and her grandmother's last and final words, Denver stood on theporch in the sun and couldn't leave it. Her throat itched²; her heart kicked — and then Baby Suggslaughed, clear as anything. "You mean I never told you nothing about Carolina? About yourdaddy? You don't remember nothing about how come I walk the way I do and about your mother'sfeet, not to speak of her back? I never told you all that? Is that why you can't walk down the steps?

　　My Jesus my."But you said there was no defense³.

　　"There ain't."Then what do I do?

　　"Know it, and go on out the yard. Go on."* * *It came back. A dozen years had passed and the way came back. Four houses on the right, sittingclose together in a line like wrens⁴. The first house had two steps and a rocking chair on the porch;the second had three steps, a broom propped⁵ on the porch beam, two broken chairs and a clump⁶ offorsythia at the side. No window at the front. A little boy sat on the ground chewing a stick. Thethird house had yellow shutters⁷ on its two front windows and pot after pot of green leaves withwhite hearts or red. Denver could hear chickens and the knock of a badly hinged gate. At thefourth house the buds of a sycamore tree had rained down on the roof and made the yard look asthough grass grew there. A woman, standing⁸ at the open door, lifted her hand halfway⁹ in greeting,then froze it near her shoulder as she leaned forward to see whom she waved to. Denver loweredher head. Next was a tiny fenced plot with a cow in it. She remembered the plot but not the cow.

　　Under her headcloth her scalp was wet with tension. Beyond her, voices, male voices, floated,coming closer with each step she took. Denver kept her eyes on the road in case they werewhitemen; in case she was walking where they wanted to; in case they said something and shewould have to answer them. Suppose they flung out at her, grabbed her, tied her. They weregetting closer. Maybe she should cross the road — now. Was the woman who half waved at herstill there in the open door? Would she come to her rescue, or, angry at Denver for not wavingback, would she withhold¹⁰ her help? Maybe she should turn around, get closer to the wavingwoman's house. Before she could make up her mind, it was too late — they were right in front ofher. Two men, Negro. Denver breathed. Both men touched their caps and murmured, "Morning.

　　Morning." Denver believed her eyes spoke¹¹ gratitude¹² but she never got her mouth open in time toreply. They moved left of her and passed on.

1 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

2 itched   

v.发痒( itch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Seeing the children playing ping-pong, he itched to have a go. 他看到孩子们打乒乓，不觉技痒。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He could hardly sIt'still and itched to have a go. 他再也坐不住了，心里跃跃欲试。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 wrens   

n.鹪鹩( wren的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Other songbirds, such as wrens, have hundreds of songs. 有的鸣鸟，例如鹪鹩，会唱几百只歌。 来自辞典例句

5 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

6 clump   

n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走

参考例句：

• A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
• It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。

7 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

10 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

11 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。