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Chapter 70
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    Bare feet and chamomile sap.

  Took off my shoes; took off my hat.

  Bare feet and chamomile sap,Gimme back my shoes; gimme back my hat.

  Lay my head on a potato sack,Devil sneak1 up behind my back.

  Steam engine got a lonesome whine;Love that woman till you go stone blind.

  Stone blind; stone blind.

  Sweet Home gal2 make you lose your mind.

  HIS COMING is the reverse route of his going. First the cold house,the storeroom, then thekitchen before he tackles the beds. Here Boy, feeble and shedding his coat in patches, is asleep bythe pump, so Paul D knows Beloved is truly gone. Disappeared, some say, exploded right before their eyes. Ella is not so sure. "Maybe," she says, "maybe not. Could be hiding in the trees waitingfor another chance." But when Paul D sees the ancient dog, eighteen years if a day, he is certain124 is clear of her. But he opens the door to the cold house halfway3 expecting to hear her. "Touchme. Touch me. On the inside part and call me my name."There is the pallet spread with old newspapers gnawed4 at the edges by mice. The lard can. Thepotato sacks too, but empty now, they lie on the dirt floor in heaps. In daylight he can't imagine itin darkness with moonlight seeping5 through the cracks. Nor the desire that drowned him there andforced him to struggle up, up into that girl like she was the clear air at the top of the sea. Couplingwith her wasn't even fun. It was more like a brainless urge to stay alive.

  Each time she came, pulled up her skirts, a life hunger overwhelmed him and he had no morecontrol over it than over his lungs. And afterward6, beached and gobbling air, in the midst ofrepulsion and personal shame, he was thankful too for having been escorted to some ocean-deepplace he once belonged to.

  Sifting daylight dissolves the memory, turns it into dust motes7 floating in light. Paul D shuts thedoor. He looks toward the house and, surprisingly, it does not look back at him. Unloaded, 124 isjust another weathered house needing repair. Quiet, just as Stamp Paid said.

  "Used to be voices all round that place. Quiet, now," Stamp said.

  "I been past it a few times and I can't hear a thing. Chastened, I reckon, 'cause Mr. Bodwin say heselling it soon's he can.""That the name of the one she tried to stab? That one?""Yep. His sister say it's full of trouble. Told Janey she was going to get rid of it.""And him?" asked Paul D.

  "Janey say he against it but won't stop it.""Who they think want a house out there? Anybody got the money don't want to live out there.""Beats me," Stamp answered. "It'll be a spell, I guess, before it get took off his hands.""He don't plan on taking her to the law?""Don't seem like it. Janey say all he wants to know is who was the naked blackwoman standing8 onthe porch. He was looking at her so hard he didn't notice what Sethe was up to. All he saw wassome coloredwomen fighting. He thought Sethe was after one of them, Janey say.""Janey tell him any different?""No. She say she so glad her boss ain't dead. If Ella hadn't clipped her, she say she would have.

  Scared her to death have that woman kill her boss. She and Denver be looking for a job.""Who Janey tell him the naked woman was?""Told him she didn't see none.""You believe they saw it?""Well, they saw something. I trust Ella anyway, and she say she looked it in the eye. It wasstanding right next to Sethe. But from the way they describe it, don't seem like it was the girl I sawin there.

  The girl I saw was narrow. This one was big. She say they was holding hands and Sethe lookedlike a little girl beside it.""Little girl with a ice pick. How close she get to him?""Right up on him, they say. Before Denver and them grabbed her and Ella put her fist in her jaw9.""He got to know Sethe was after him. He got to.""Maybe. I don't know. If he did think it, I reckon he decided10 not to. That be just like him, too. He'ssomebody never turned us down.

  Steady as a rock. I tell you something, if she had got to him, it'd be the worst thing in the world forus. You know, don't you, he's the main one kept Sethe from the gallows11 in the first place.""Yeah. Damn. That woman is crazy. Crazy.""Yeah, well, ain't we all?"They laughed then. A rusty12 chuckle13 at first and then more, louder and louder until Stamp took outhis pocket handkerchief and wiped his eyes while Paul D pressed the heel of his hand in his own.

  As the neither one had witnessed took shape before them, its seriousness and itsembarrassment (scene) made them shake with laughter.

  "Every time a whiteman come to the door she got to kill somebody?""For all she know, the man could be coming for the rent.""Good thing they don't deliver mail out that way.""Wouldn't nobody get no letter.""Except the postman.""Be a mighty14 hard message.""And his last."When their laughter was spent, they took deep breaths and shook their heads.

  "And he still going to let Denver spend the night in his house?

  Ha!""Aw no. Hey. Lay off Denver, Paul D. That's my heart. I'm proud of that girl. She was the first onewrestle her mother down. Before anybody knew what the devil was going on.""She saved his life then, you could say.""You could. You could," said Stamp, thinking suddenly of the leap, the wide swing and snatch ofhis arm as he rescued the little curly-headed baby from within inches of a split skull15. "I'm proud ofher. She turning out fine. Fine."It was true. Paul D saw her the next morning when he was on his way to work and she was leavinghers. Thinner, steady in the eyes, she looked more like Halle than ever.

  She was the first to smile. "Good morning, Mr. D.""Well, it is now." Her smile, no longer the sneer16 he remembered, had welcome in it and strongtraces of Sethe's mouth. Paul D touchedhis cap. "How you getting along?""Don't pay to complain.""You on your way home?"She said no. She had heard about an afternoon job at the shirt factory. She hoped that with hernight work at the Bodwins' and another one, she could put away something and help her mothertoo.

  When he asked her if they treated her all right over there, she said more than all right. MissBodwin taught her stuff. He asked her what stuff and she laughed and said book stuff. "She says Imight go to Oberlin. She's experimenting on me." And he didn't say, "Watch out. Watch out.

  Nothing in the world more dangerous than a white schoolteacher." Instead he nodded and asked the question he wanted to.

  "Your mother all right?""No," said Denver. "No. No, not a bit all right.""You think I should stop by? Would she welcome it?""I don't know," said Denver. "I think I've lost my mother, Paul D."They were both silent for a moment and then he said, "Uh, that girl. You know. Beloved?""Yes?""You think she sure 'nough your sister?"Denver looked at her shoes. "At times. At times I think she was — more." She fiddled17 with hershirtwaist, rubbing a spot of something.


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1 sneak vr2yk     
vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝);偷偷摸摸做;n.潜行;adj.暗中进行
参考例句:
  • He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
  • I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。
2 gal 56Zy9     
n.姑娘,少女
参考例句:
  • We decided to go with the gal from Merrill.我们决定和那个从梅里尔来的女孩合作。
  • What's the name of the gal? 这个妞叫什么?
3 halfway Xrvzdq     
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。
4 gnawed 85643b5b73cc74a08138f4534f41cef1     
咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 ); (长时间) 折磨某人; (使)苦恼; (长时间)危害某事物
参考例句:
  • His attitude towards her gnawed away at her confidence. 他对她的态度一直在削弱她的自尊心。
  • The root of this dead tree has been gnawed away by ants. 这棵死树根被蚂蚁唼了。
5 seeping 8181ac52fbc576574e83aa4f98c40445     
v.(液体)渗( seep的现在分词 );渗透;渗出;漏出
参考例句:
  • Water had been slowly seeping away from the pond. 池塘里的水一直在慢慢渗漏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Chueh-hui could feel the cold seeping into his bones. 觉慧开始觉得寒气透过衣服浸到身上来了。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
6 afterward fK6y3     
adv.后来;以后
参考例句:
  • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
  • Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。
7 motes 59ede84d433fdd291d419b00863cfab5     
n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 );斑点
参考例句:
  • In those warm beams the motes kept dancing up and down. 只见温暖的光芒里面,微细的灰尘在上下飞扬。 来自辞典例句
  • So I decided to take lots of grammar motes in every class. 因此我决定每堂课多做些语法笔记。 来自互联网
8 standing 2hCzgo     
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 jaw 5xgy9     
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训
参考例句:
  • He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
  • A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。
10 decided lvqzZd     
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。
11 gallows UfLzE     
n.绞刑架,绞台
参考例句:
  • The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
  • Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。
12 rusty hYlxq     
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的
参考例句:
  • The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
  • I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用,我的法语又荒疏了。
13 chuckle Tr1zZ     
vi./n.轻声笑,咯咯笑
参考例句:
  • He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
  • I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个,我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。
14 mighty YDWxl     
adj.强有力的;巨大的
参考例句:
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
15 skull CETyO     
n.头骨;颅骨
参考例句:
  • The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
  • He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去,跌裂了颅骨。
16 sneer YFdzu     
v.轻蔑;嘲笑;n.嘲笑,讥讽的言语
参考例句:
  • He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
  • You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻,但很多人喜欢这种音乐。
17 fiddled 3b8aadb28aaea237f1028f5d7f64c9ea     
v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 );篡改;骗取;修理或稍作改动
参考例句:
  • He fiddled the company's accounts. 他篡改了公司的账目。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He began with Palestrina, and fiddled all the way through Bartok. 他从帕勒斯春纳的作品一直演奏到巴塔克的作品。 来自辞典例句


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