To Kill a Mockingbird 杀死一只知更鸟 Chapter 26(2)
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School started, and so did our daily trips past the Radley Place. Jem was in theseventh grade and went to high school, beyond the grammar-school building; I was nowin the third grade, and our routines were so different I only walked to school with Jem inthe mornings and saw him at mealtimes. He went out for football, but was too slenderand too young yet to do anything but carry the team water buckets. This he did withenthusiasm; most afternoons he was seldom home before dark.
 
The Radley Place had ceased to terrify me, but it was no less gloomy, no less chillyunder its great oaks, and no less uninviting. Mr. Nathan Radley could still be seen on aclear day, walking to and from town; we knew Boo was there, for the same old reason -- nobody'd seen him carried out yet. I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse1, when passingby the old place, at ever having taken part in what must have been sheer torment2 toArthur Radley -- what reasonable recluse3 wants children peeping through his shutters,delivering greetings on the end of a fishing-pole, wandering in his collards at night? Andyet I remembered. Two Indian-head pennies, chewing gum, soap dolls, a rusty4 medal, abroken watch and chain. Jem must have put them away somewhere. I stopped andlooked at the tree one afternoon: the trunk was swelling5 around its cement patch. Thepatch itself was turning yellow.
 
We had almost seen him a couple of times, a good enough score for anybody.
 
But I still looked for him each time I went by. Maybe someday we would see him. Iimagined how it would be: when it happened, he'd just be sitting in the swing when Icame along. "Hidy do, Mr. Arthur," I would say, as if I had said it every afternoon of mylife. "Evening, Jean Louise," he would say, as if he had said it every afternoon of my life,"right pretty spell we're having, isn't it?" "Yes sir, right pretty," I would say, and go on.
 
It was only a fantasy. We would never see him. He probably did go out when themoon was down and gaze upon Miss Stephanie Crawford. I'd have picked somebodyelse to look at, but that was his business. He would never gaze at us.
 
"You aren't starting that again, are you?" said Atticus one night, when I expressed astray desire just to have one good look at Boo Radley before I died. "If you are, I'll tellyou right now: stop it. I'm too old to go chasing you off the Radley property. Besides, it'sdangerous. You might get shot. You know Mr. Nathan shoots at every shadow he sees,even shadows that leave size-four bare footprints. You were lucky not to be killed."
 
I hushed then and there. At the same time I marveled at Atticus. This was the first hehad let us know he knew a lot more about something than we thought he knew. And ithad happened years ago. No, only last summer -- no, summer before last, when… timewas playing tricks on me. I must remember to ask Jem.
 
So many things had happened to us, Boo Radley was the least of our fears. Atticussaid he didn't see how anything else could happen, that things had a way of settlingdown, and after enough time passed people would forget that Tom Robinson'sexistence was ever brought to their attention.
 
Perhaps Atticus was right, but the events of the summer hung over us like smoke in aclosed room. The adults in Maycomb never discussed the case with Jem and me; itseemed that they discussed it with their children, and their attitude must have been thatneither of us could help having Atticus for a parent, so their children must be nice to usin spite of him. The children would never have thought that up for themselves: had ourclassmates been left to their own devices, Jem and I would have had several swift,satisfying fist-fights apiece and ended the matter for good. As it was, we were compelledto hold our heads high and be, respectively, a gentleman and a lady. In a way, it waslike the era of Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, without all her yelling. There was one oddthing, though, that I never understood: in spite of Atticus's shortcomings as a parent,people were content to re-elect him to the state legislature that year, as usual, withoutopposition. I came to the conclusion that people were just peculiar6, I withdrew fromthem, and never thought about them until I was forced to.
 
I was forced to one day in school. Once a week, we had a Current Events period.
 
Each child was supposed to clip an item from a newspaper, absorb its contents, andreveal them to the class. This practice allegedly overcame a variety of evils: standing7 infront of his fellows encouraged good posture8 and gave a child poise9; delivering a shorttalk made him word-conscious; learning his current event strengthened his memory;being singled out made him more than ever anxious to return to the Group.
 
The idea was profound, but as usual, in Maycomb it didn't work very well. In the firstplace, few rural children had access to newspapers, so the burden of Current Eventswas borne by the town children, convincing the bus children more deeply that the townchildren got all the attention anyway. The rural children who could, usually broughtclippings from what they called The Grit10 Paper, a publication spurious in the eyes ofMiss Gates, our teacher. Why she frowned when a child recited from The Grit Paper Inever knew, but in some way it was associated with liking11 fiddling12, eating syrupy biscuitsfor lunch, being a holy-roller, singing Sweetly Sings the Donkey and pronouncing itdunkey, all of which the state paid teachers to discourage.#p#分页标题#e#
 
Even so, not many of the children knew what a Current Event was. Little Chuck Little,a hundred years old in his knowledge of cows and their habits, was halfway13 through anUncle Natchell story when Miss Gates stopped him: "Charles, that is not a current event.
 
That is an advertisement."
 
Cecil Jacobs knew what one was, though. When his turn came, he went to the front ofthe room and began, "Old Hitler -- "
 
"Adolf Hitler, Cecil," said Miss Gates. "One never begins with Old anybody."
 
"Yes ma'am," he said. "Old Adolf Hitler has been prosecutin' the -- "
 
"Persecuting14 Cecil…"
 
"Nome, Miss Gates, it says here -- well anyway, old Adolf Hitler has been after theJews and he's puttin' 'em in prisons and he's taking away all their property and he won'tlet any of 'em out of the country and he's washin' all the feeble-minded and -- "
 
"Washing the feeble-minded?"
 
"Yes ma'am, Miss Gates, I reckon they don't have sense enough to wash themselves,I don't reckon an idiot could keep hisself clean. Well anyway, Hitler's started a programto round up all the half-Jews too and he wants to register 'em in case they might wantacause him any trouble and I think this is a bad thing and that's my current event."
 
"Very good, Cecil," said Miss Gates. Puffing15, Cecil returned to his seat.
 
A hand went up in the back of the room. "How can he do that?"
 
"Who do what?" asked Miss Gates patiently.
 
"I mean how can Hitler just put a lot of folks in a pen like that, looks like the govamint'dstop him," said the owner of the hand.
 
"Hitler is the government," said Miss Gates, and seizing an opportunity to makeeducation dynamic, she went to the blackboard. She printed DEMOCRACY in largeletters. "Democracy," she said. "Does anybody have a definition?"
 
"Us," somebody said.
 
I raised my hand, remembering an old campaign slogan Atticus had once told meabout.
 
"What do you think it means, Jean Louise?"
 
"'Equal rights for all, special privileges for none,'" I quoted.
 
"Very good, Jean Louise, very good," Miss Gates smiled. In front of DEMOCRACY,she printed WE ARE A. "Now class, say it all together, 'We are a democracy.'"
 
We said it. Then Miss Gates said, "That's the difference between America andGermany. We are a democracy and Germany is a dictatorship. Dictator-ship," she said.
 
"Over here we don't believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution16 comes from peoplewho are prejudiced. Prejudice," she enunciated17 carefully. "There are no better people inthe world than the Jews, and why Hitler doesn't think so is a mystery to me."
 
An inquiring soul in the middle of the room said, "Why don't they like the Jews, youreckon, Miss Gates?"
 
"I don't know, Henry. They contribute to every society they live in, and most of all, theyare a deeply religious people. Hitler's trying to do away with religion, so maybe hedoesn't like them for that reason."
 
Cecil spoke18 up. "Well I don't know for certain," he said, "they're supposed to changemoney or somethin', but that ain't no cause to persecute19 'em. They're white, ain't they?"
 
Miss Gates said, "When you get to high school, Cecil, you'll learn that the Jews havebeen persecuted20 since the beginning of history, even driven out of their own country. It'sone of the most terrible stories in history. Time for arithmetic, children."
 
As I had never liked arithmetic, I spent the period looking out the window. The onlytime I ever saw Atticus scowl21 was when Elmer Davis would give us the latest on Hitler.
 
Atticus would snap off the radio and say, "Hmp!" I asked him once why he was impatientwith Hitler and Atticus said, "Because he's a maniac22."
 
This would not do, I mused23, as the class proceeded with its sums. One maniac andmillions of German folks. Looked to me like they'd shut Hitler in a pen instead of lettinghim shut them up. There was something else wrong -- I would ask my father about it.
 
I did, and he said he could not possibly answer my question because he didn't knowthe answer.#p#分页标题#e#
 
"But it's okay to hate Hitler?"
 
"It is not," he said. "It's not okay to hate anybody."
 
"Atticus," I said, "there's somethin' I don't understand. Miss Gates said it was awful,Hitler doin' like he does, she got real red in the face about it -- "
 
"I should think she would."
 
"But -- "
 
"Yes?"
 
"Nothing, sir." I went away, not sure that I could explain to Atticus what was on mymind, not sure that I could clarify what was only a feeling. Perhaps Jem could providethe answer. Jem understood school things better than Atticus.
 
Jem was worn out from a day's water-carrying. There were at least twelve bananapeels on the floor by his bed, surrounding an empty milk bottle. "Whatcha stuffin' for?" Iasked.
 
"Coach says if I can gain twenty-five pounds by year after next I can play," he said.
 
"This is the quickest way."
 
"If you don't throw it all up. Jem," I said, "I wanta ask you somethin'."
 
"Shoot." He put down his book and stretched his legs.
 
"Miss Gates is a nice lady, ain't she?"
 
"Why sure," said Jem. "I liked her when I was in her room."
 
"She hates Hitler a lot…"
 
"What's wrong with that?"
 
"Well, she went on today about how bad it was him treatin' the Jews like that. Jem, it'snot right to persecute anybody, is it? I mean have mean thoughts about anybody, even,is it?"
 
"Gracious no, Scout24. What's eatin' you?"
 
"Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates was -- she was goin' downthe steps in front of us, you musta not seen her -- she was talking with Miss StephanieCrawford. I heard her say it's time somebody taught 'em a lesson, they were gettin' wayabove themselves, an' the next thing they think they can do is marry us. Jem, how canyou hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home -- "
 
Jem was suddenly furious. He leaped off the bed, grabbed me by the collar and shookme. "I never wanta hear about that courthouse again, ever, ever, you hear me? Youhear me? Don't you ever say one word to me about it again, you hear? Now go on!"
 
I was too surprised to cry. I crept from Jem's room and shut the door softly, lest unduenoise set him off again. Suddenly tired, I wanted Atticus. He was in the livingroom, and Iwent to him and tried to get in his lap.
 
Atticus smiled. "You're getting so big now, I'll just have to hold a part of you." He heldme close. "Scout," he said softly, "don't let Jem get you down. He's having a rough timethese days. I heard you back there."
 
Atticus said that Jem was trying hard to forget something, but what he was reallydoing was storing it away for a while, until enough time passed. Then he would be ableto think about it and sort things out. When he was able to think about it, Jem would behimself again.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 remorse lBrzo     
n.痛恨,悔恨,自责
参考例句:
  • She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
  • He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。
2 torment gJXzd     
n.折磨;令人痛苦的东西(人);vt.折磨;纠缠
参考例句:
  • He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
  • Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。
3 recluse YC4yA     
n.隐居者
参考例句:
  • The old recluse secluded himself from the outside world.这位老隐士与外面的世界隔绝了。
  • His widow became a virtual recluse for the remainder of her life.他的寡妻孤寂地度过了余生。
4 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。
5 swelling OUzzd     
n.肿胀
参考例句:
  • Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
  • There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。
6 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
7 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。
8 posture q1gzk     
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势
参考例句:
  • The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
  • He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣,摆出一副打架的架势。
9 poise ySTz9     
vt./vi. 平衡,保持平衡;n.泰然自若,自信
参考例句:
  • She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻,但很快恢复了镇静。
  • Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。
10 grit LlMyH     
n.沙粒,决心,勇气;v.下定决心,咬紧牙关
参考例句:
  • The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
  • I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。
11 liking mpXzQ5     
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢
参考例句:
  • The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
  • I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。
12 fiddling XtWzRz     
微小的
参考例句:
  • He was fiddling with his keys while he talked to me. 和我谈话时他不停地摆弄钥匙。
  • All you're going to see is a lot of fiddling around. 你今天要看到的只是大量的胡摆乱弄。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦
13 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。
14 persecuting 668e268d522d47306d7adbfe4e26738d     
(尤指宗教或政治信仰的)迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的现在分词 ); 烦扰,困扰或骚扰某人
参考例句:
  • This endurance made old Earnshaw furious, when he discovered his son persecuting the poor, fatherless child, as he called him. 当老恩萧发现他的儿子这样虐待他所谓的可怜的孤儿时,这种逆来顺受使老恩萧冒火了。
  • He is possessed with the idea that someone is persecuting him. 他老是觉得有人要害他。
15 puffing b3a737211571a681caa80669a39d25d3     
v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧
参考例句:
  • He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 persecution PAnyA     
n. 迫害,烦扰
参考例句:
  • He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
  • Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。
17 enunciated 2f41d5ea8e829724adf2361074d6f0f9     
v.(清晰地)发音( enunciate的过去式和过去分词 );确切地说明
参考例句:
  • She enunciated each word slowly and carefully. 她每个字都念得又慢又仔细。
  • His voice, cold and perfectly enunciated, switched them like a birch branch. 他的话口气冰冷,一字一板,有如给了他们劈面一鞭。 来自辞典例句
18 spoke XryyC     
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。
19 persecute gAwyA     
vt.迫害,虐待;纠缠,骚扰
参考例句:
  • They persecute those who do not conform to their ideas.他们迫害那些不信奉他们思想的人。
  • Hitler's undisguised effort to persecute the Jews met with worldwide condemnation.希特勒对犹太人的露骨迫害行为遭到世界人民的谴责。
20 persecuted 2daa49e8c0ac1d04bf9c3650a3d486f3     
(尤指宗教或政治信仰的)迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 ); 烦扰,困扰或骚扰某人
参考例句:
  • Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
  • Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。
21 scowl HDNyX     
vi.(at)生气地皱眉,沉下脸,怒视;n.怒容
参考例句:
  • I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
  • The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色,清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。
22 maniac QBexu     
n.精神癫狂的人;疯子
参考例句:
  • Be careful!That man is driving like a maniac!注意!那个人开车像个疯子一样!
  • You were acting like a maniac,and you threatened her with a bomb!你像一个疯子,你用炸弹恐吓她!
23 mused 0affe9d5c3a243690cca6d4248d41a85     
v.沉思,冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 );沉思自语说(某事)
参考例句:
  • \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们,”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道:‘我们这是在干什么?” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
24 scout oDGzi     
n.童子军,侦察员;v.侦察,搜索
参考例句:
  • He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵,受了重伤。
  • The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。
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