諾貝爾文學經典:《寵兒》第2章Part 10
And, for some reason she could not immediately account for, the moment she got close enough tosee the face, Sethe's bladder filled to capacity. She said, "Oh, excuse me," and ran around to theback of 124. Not since she was a baby girl, being cared for by the eight year-old girl who pointedout her mother to her, had she had an emergency that unmanageable. She never made the outhouse. Right in front of its door she had to lift her skirts, and the water she voided was endless. Like ahorse, she thought, but as it went on and on she thought, No, more like flooding the boat whenDenver was born.
So much water Amy said, "Hold on, Lu. You going to sink us you keep that up."But there was no stopping water breaking from a breaking womb and there was no stopping now.
She hoped Paul D wouldn't take it upon himself to come looking for her and be obliged to see hersquatting in front of her own privy making a mudhole too deep to be witnessed without shame. Just about the time she started wondering if the carnivAl would accept another freak, it tidied herself and ran around to the porch.
No one was there. All three were insidePaul D andDenver standing before the stranger, watching her drink cup after cup of water.
"She said she was thirsty," said Paul D. He took off his cap.
"Mighty thirsty look like."
The woman gulped water from a speckled tin cup and held it out for more. Four times Denverfilled it, and four times the woman drank as though she had crossed a desert. When she wasfinished a little water was on her chin, but she did not wipe it away. Instead she gazed at Sethewith sleepy eyes. Poorly fed, thought Sethe, and younger than her clothes suggested — good laceat the throat, and a rich woman's hat. Her skin was flawless except for three vertical scratches onher forehead so fine and thin they seemed at first like hair, baby hair before it bloomed and ropedinto the masses of black yarn under her hat.
"You from around here?" Sethe asked her.
這時，由於某種一時說不清的緣由，塞絲剛剛走近得能看到那張臉，膀胱就漲滿了。她說了句，“噢，請原諒”，便小跑着繞到124號的後面。自打她還是個小女孩、由那個指出她母親的八歲女孩照看的時候起，她還從來沒出過這麼難以控制的緊急事故。她沒有能夠趕到廁所，只好在廁所門前就撩起裙子，沒完沒了地尿了起來。跟匹馬似的，她心想，可是尿着尿着她又想，不對，更像生丹芙時在那隻小船上的羊水氾濫。
那麼多水，急得愛彌說道：“憋住，露。你要是沒完沒了，我們會沉船的。”可是從一個開了口的子宮裏涌出的羊水不可能止住，現在的尿也不可能止住。
她希望保羅?D不會那麼體貼地來找她，以免讓他看見她蹲在自己家的廁所門前，滋出一個深得讓人不好意思看的泥坑。她正納悶狂歡節能否添上一個新怪物呢，停了。她整好衣服跑回門廊。
人不見了。三個人都進了屋———保羅?D和丹芙站在那個陌生人面前，看着她一杯接一杯地喝水。
“她說她渴了，”保羅?D說。他摘下帽子。
“看來是真渴了。”
那個女人端着一隻帶斑紋的錫杯大口吞水，吞完了就遞過來再要。丹芙一共給她滿了四回，這個女人也一飲而盡了四回，彷彿剛剛穿過了沙漠。她喝完之後下巴上沾了點水，但她沒有抹去，而是用惺忪的眼睛盯着塞絲。餵養得很糟，塞絲想，而且比衣着顯得更年輕———脖子上的花邊挺不錯，還戴了頂貴婦人的帽子。她的皮膚上沒什麼瑕疵，只在腦門上有三豎道精緻而纖細的劃痕，乍看上去就像頭髮，嬰兒的頭髮，還沒有長濃，沒有搓成她帽子底下大團的黑毛線。
“你是從這兒附近來的嗎？”塞絲問她。
