Chapter 66

    At least once a week, she visited Lady Jones, who perked¹ up enough to do a raisin² loaf especiallyfor her, since Denver was set on sweet things. She gave her a book of Bible verse and listenedwhile she mumbled³ words or fairly shouted them. By June Denver had read and memorized allfifty-two pages — one for each week of the year. As Denver's outside life improved, her home lifedeteriorated. If the whitepeople of Cincinnati had allowed Negroes into their lunatic asylum⁴ theycould have found candidates in 124. Strengthened by the gifts of food, the source of which neitherSethe nor Beloved questioned, the women had arrived at a doomsday truce⁵ designed by the devil.

　　Beloved sat around, ate, went from bed to bed. Sometimes she screamed, "Rain! Rain!" andclawed her throat until rubies⁶ of blood opened there, made brighter by her midnight skin. ThenSethe shouted, "No!" and knocked over chairs to get to her and wipe the jewels away. Other timesBeloved curled up on the floor, her wrists between her knees, and stayed there for hours. Or she would go to the creek⁷, stick her feet in the water and whoosh⁸ it up her legs. Afrerward she wouldgo to Sethe, run her fingers over the woman's teeth while tears slid from her wide black eyes. Thenit seemed to Denver the thing was done: Beloved bending over Sethe looked the mother, Sethe theteething child, for other than those times when Beloved needed her, Sethe confined herself to acorner chair. The bigger Beloved got, the smaller Sethe became; the brighter Beloved's eyes, themore those eyes that used never to look away became slits⁹ of sleeplessness¹⁰. Sethe no longercombed her hair or splashed her face with water. She sat in the chair licking her lips like achastised child while Beloved ate up her life, took it, swelled¹¹ up with it, grew taller on it. And theolder woman yielded it up without a murmur¹². Denver served them both. Washing, cooking,forcing, cajoling her mother to eat a little now and then, providing sweet things for Beloved asoften as she could to calm her down. It was hard to know what she would do from minute tominute. When the heat got hot, she might walk around the house naked or wrapped in a sheet, herbelly protruding¹³ like a winning watermelon.

　　Denver thought she understood the connection between her mother and Beloved: Sethe was tryingto make up for the handsaw; Beloved was making her pay for it. But there would never be an endto that, and seeing her mother diminished shamed and infuriated her. Yet she knew Sethe's greatestfear was the same one Denver had in the beginning — that Beloved might leave. That before Sethecould make her understand what it meant — what it took to drag the teeth of that saw under thelittle chin; to feel the baby blood pump like oil in her hands; to hold her face so her head wouldstay on; to squeeze her so she could absorb, still, the death spasms¹⁴ that shot through that adoredbody, plump and sweet with life — Beloved might leave. Leave before Sethe could make herrealize that worse than that — far worse — was what Baby Suggs died of, what Ella knew, whatStamp saw and what made Paul D tremble. That anybody white could take your whole self foranything that came to mind. Not just work, kill, or maim¹⁵ you, but dirty you. Dirty you so bad youcouldn't like yourself anymore. Dirty you so bad you forgot who you were and couldn't think it up.

　　And though she and others lived through and got over it, she could never let it happen to her own.

　　The best thing she was, was her children. Whites might dirty bet all right, but not her best thing,her beautiful, magical best thing — the part of her that was cl ean. No undreamable dreams aboutwhether the headless, feetless torso hanging in the tree with a sign on it was her husband or PaulA; whether the bubbling-hot girls in the colored-school fire set by patriots¹⁶ included her daughter;whether a gang of whites invaded her daughter's private parts, soiled her daughter's thighs¹⁷ andthrew her daughter out of the wagon¹⁸. She might have to work the slaughterhouse yard, but not herdaughter.

　　And no one, nobody on this earth, would list her daughter's characteristics on the animal side ofthe paper. No. Oh no. Maybe Baby Suggs could worry about it, live with the likelihood of it; Sethehad refused — and refused still. This and much more Denver heard her say from her corner chair,trying to persuade Beloved, the one and only person she felt she had to convince, that what she haddone was right because it came from true love.

　　Beloved, her fat new feet propped¹⁹ on the seat of a chair in front of the one she sat in, her unlinedhands resting on her stomach, looked at her. Uncomprehending everything except that Sethe wasthe woman who took her face away, leaving her crouching²⁰ in a dark, dark place, forgetting to smile.

　　Her father's daughter after all, Denver decided²¹ to do the necessary. Decided to stop relying onkindness to leave something on the stump²². She would hire herself out somewhere, and althoughshe was afraid to leave Sethe and Beloved alone all day not knowing what calamity²³ either one ofthem would create, she came to realize that her presence in that house had no influence on whateither woman did. She kept them alive and they ignored her. Growled²⁴ when they chose; sulked,explained, demanded, strutted²⁵, cowered²⁶, cried and provoked each other to the edge of violence,then over. She had begun to notice that even when Beloved was quiet, dreamy, minding her ownbusiness, Sethe got her going again. Whispering, muttering justification²⁷, some bit ofclarifyinginformationtoBelovedtoexplainwhatithadbeenlike,and(some) why, and how come. It wasas though Sethe didn't really want forgiveness given; she wanted it refused. And Beloved helpedher out.

1 perked   

（使）活跃( perk的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）增值； 使更有趣

参考例句：

• The recent demand for houses has perked up the prices. 最近对住房的需求使房价上涨了。
• You've perked up since this morning. 你今天上午精神就好多了。

2 raisin   

n.葡萄干

参考例句：

• They baked us raisin bread.他们给我们烤葡萄干面包。
• You can also make raisin scones.你也可以做葡萄干烤饼。

3 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

4 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

5 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

6 rubies   

红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。

7 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。

8 whoosh   

v.飞快地移动，呼

参考例句：

• It goes whoosh up and whoosh down.它呼一下上来了，呼一下又下去了。
• Whoosh!The straw house falls down.呼！稻草房子倒了。

9 slits   

n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子

参考例句：

• He appears to have two slits for eyes. 他眯着两眼。
• "You go to--Halifax,'she said tensely, her green eyes slits of rage. "你给我滚----滚到远远的地方去！" 她恶狠狠地说，那双绿眼睛冒出了怒火。

10 sleeplessness   

n.失眠，警觉

参考例句：

• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness. 现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The doctors were puzzled by this strange continuous sleeplessness. 医生们对他的奇异的不眠感到疑惑。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

11 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

12 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

13 protruding   

v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸

参考例句：

• He hung his coat on a nail protruding from the wall. 他把上衣挂在凸出墙面的一根钉子上。
• There is a protruding shelf over a fireplace. 壁炉上方有个突出的架子。 来自辞典例句

14 spasms   

n.痉挛( spasm的名词复数 )；抽搐；（能量、行为等的）突发；发作

参考例句：

• After the patient received acupuncture treatment,his spasms eased off somewhat. 病人接受针刺治疗后，痉挛稍微减轻了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The smile died, squeezed out by spasms of anticipation and anxiety. 一阵阵预测和焦虑把她脸上的微笑挤掉了。 来自辞典例句

15 maim   

v.使残废，使不能工作，使伤残

参考例句：

• Automobile accidents maim many people each year. 汽车车祸每年使许多人残废。
• These people kill and maim innocent civilians.这些人杀死和残害无辜平民。

16 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

17 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

19 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。

20 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

21 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。

22 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

23 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

24 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 strutted   

趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The players strutted and posed for the cameras. 运动员昂首阔步，摆好姿势让记者拍照。
• Peacocks strutted on the lawn. 孔雀在草坪上神气活现地走来走去。

26 cowered   

v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 )

参考例句：

• A gun went off and people cowered behind walls and under tables. 一声枪响，人们缩到墙后或桌子底下躲起来。
• He cowered in the corner, gibbering with terror. 他蜷缩在角落里，吓得语无伦次。

27 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。