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SCARLETT O&HARA was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were. In her face were too sharply blended the delicate features of her mother, a Coast aristocrat of French descent, and the heavy ones of her florid Irish father. But it was an arresting face, pointed of chin, square of jaw. Her eyes were pale green without a touch of hazel, starred with bristly black lashes and slightly tilted at the ends. Above them, her thick black brows slanted upward, cutting a startling oblique line in her magnolia-white skin&that skin so prized by Southern women and so carefully guarded with bonnets, veils and mittens against hot Georgia suns.
思嘉&奥哈拉长得并不漂亮，但是男人们像塔尔顿家那对孪生兄弟为她的魅力所迷住时，就不会这样想了。她脸上有着两种特征，一种是她母亲的娇柔，来自法兰西血统的海滨贵族;一种是她父亲的粗犷，来自浮华俗气的爱尔兰人，这两种特征混在一起显得不太协调，但这张脸上尖尖的下巴和四方的牙床骨，是很引人注意的，她那双淡绿色的眼睛纯净得没有一丝褐色，配上乌黑的睫毛和翘起的眼角，显得韵味十足，上面是两条墨黑的浓眉斜在那里，给她木兰花般白皙的肌肤划上十分分明的斜线，这样白皙的皮肤对南方妇女是极其珍贵的。她们常常用帽子、面纱和手套把皮肤保护起来，以防受到佐治亚炎热太阳的暴晒。
Seated with Stuart and Brent Tarleton in the cool shade of the porch of Tara, her father&s plantation, that bright April afternoon of 1861, she made a pretty picture. Her new green flowered-muslin dress spread its twelve yards of billowing material over her hoops and exactly matched the flat-heeled green morocco slippers her father had recently brought her from Atlanta. The dress set off to perfection the seventeen-inch waist, the smallest in three counties, and the tightly fitting basque showed breasts well matured for her sixteen years. But for all the modesty of her spreading skirts, the demureness of hair netted smoothly into a chignon and the quietness of small white hands folded in her lap, her true self was poorly concealed. The green eyes in the carefully sweet face were turbulent, willful, lusty with life, distinctly at variance with her decorous demeanor. Her manners had been imposed upon her by her mother&s gentle admonitions and the sterner dis her eyes were her own.
1861年四月一个晴朗的下午，思嘉同塔尔顿家的孪生兄弟斯图尔特和布伦特坐在她父亲的塔拉农场阴凉的走廊里，她的美貌显得更明媚如画了。她穿一件新绿花布衣裳，长长的裙子在裙箍上舒展着，配上她父亲从亚特兰大给她带来的新绿羊皮便鞋，显得很相称。她的腰围不过17英寸，是附近三个县里最细小的了，而这身衣裳更把腰肢衬托得更完整，加上里面那件绷得紧紧的小马甲，使她的只有16岁但已发育得很好的乳房便跃然显露了。不过，无论她散开的长裙显得多么老实，发髻梳在后面显得多么端庄，那双交叠在膝头上的小手显得多么文静，她的本来面目终归是藏不住的。那双绿色的眼睛生在一张甜美的脸上，却仍然是任性的，充满活力的，与她的装束仪表很不相同。她的举止是由她母亲和嬷嬷的严厉管教强加给她的，但她的眼睛属于她自己。
On either side of her, the twins lounged easily in their chairs, squinting at the sunlight through tall mint-garnished glasses as they laughed and talked, their long legs, booted to the knee and thick with saddle muscles, crossed negligently. Nineteen years old, six feet two inches tall, long of bone and hard of muscle, with sunburned faces and deep auburn hair, their eyes merry and arrogant, their bodies clothed in identical blue coats and mustard-colored breeches, they were as much alike as two bolls of cotton.
Outside, the late afternoon sun slanted down in the yard, throwing into gleaming brightness the dogwood trees that were solid masses of white blossoms against the background of new green. The twins& horses were hitched in the driveway, big animals, red as their masters& and around the horses& legs quarreled the pack of lean, nervous possum hounds that accompanied Stuart and Brent wherever they went. A little aloof, as became an aristocrat, lay a black-spotted carriage dog, muzzle on paws, patiently waiting for the boys to go home to supper.
她的两旁，孪生兄弟懒懒地斜靠在椅子上，斜望着从新装的玻璃窗透过来的阳光谈笑着，四条穿着高统靴和因经常骑马而鼓胀的长腿交叠在那里。他们现有19岁，身高六英尺二英寸，长长骨骼，肌肉坚实，晒得黑黑的脸膛，深褐色的头发，眼睛里闪着快乐的神色。他们穿着同样的蓝上衣和深黄色裤子，长相也像两个棉桃似的。
外面，阳光斜照到场地上，映照着一簇簇的白色花朵在绿色的背景中显得分外鲜艳。孪生兄弟起来的马就拴在车道上，那是两匹高头大马，毛色红得象主人的头发;马腿旁边有一群吵吵嚷嚷一直跟随着主人的猎犬。稍稍远一点的地方躺着一条白色带有黑花斑的随车大狗，它把鼻子贴在前爪上，耐心等待着两个小伙子回家去吃晚饭。
Between the hounds and the horses and the twins there was a kinship deeper than that of their constant companionship. They were all healthy, thoughtless young animals, sleek, graceful, high-spirited, the boys as mettlesome as the horses they rode, mettlesome and dangerous but, withal, sweet-tempered to those who knew how to handle them.
Although born to the ease of plantation life, waited on hand and foot since infancy, the faces of the three on the porch were neither slack nor soft. They had the vigor and alertness of country people who have spent all their lives in the open and troubled their heads very little with dull things in books. Life in the north Georgia county of Clayton was still new and, according to the standards of Augusta, Savannah and Charleston, a little crude. The more sedate and older sections of the South looked down their noses at the up-country Georgians, but here in north Georgia, a lack of the niceties of classical education carried no shame, provided a man was smart in the things that mattered. And raising good cotton, riding well, shooting straight, dancing lightly, squiring the ladies with elegance and carrying one&s liquor like a gentleman were the things that mattered.
在这些猎犬、马匹和两个孪生兄弟之间，有着一种比通常更亲密的关系。他们都是年轻、健康而毫无思想的动物，也同样圆滑、优雅，两个小伙子和他们所骑的马一样精神，但都带有危险性，可同时对于那些知道怎样驾驭他们的人又是可爱的。
虽然坐在走廊里的人，都同生在优裕的庄园主家庭，从小由仆人细心服侍着，但他们的脸显得并不懒散。他们像一辈子生活在野外、很少在书本上的乡巴佬一样，显得强壮而畗有活力。生活在北佐治亚的克莱顿县，与奥古斯塔、萨凡纳和查尔斯顿比较起来还有一点粗犷风味。南部开化得较早的文静居民不逊内地佐治亚人，可在北佐亚这儿，人们并不以缺乏高雅的传统文化教育为耻，只要在那些在他们认为重要的事情上学得精明就行了。他们心目中所关注的事，就是种好棉花，骑马匹得好，打枪打得准，跳舞跳得轻快，善于体面地追逐女人，像个温文尔雅的绅士喝酒。
In these accomplishments the twins excelled, and they were equally outstanding in their notorious inability to learn anything contained between the covers of books. Their family had more money, more horses, more slaves than any one else in the County, but the boys had less grammar than most of their poor Cracker neighbors.
It was for this precise reason that Stuart and Brent were idling on the porch of Tara this April afternoon. They had just been expelled from the University of Georgia, the fourth university that had thrown t and their older brothers, Tom and Boyd, had come home with them, because they refused to remain at an institution where the twins were not welcome. Stuart and Brent considered their latest expulsion a fine joke, and Scarlett, who had not willingly opened a book since leaving the Fayetteville Female Academy the year before, thought it just as amusing as they did.
这对孪生兄弟在这些方面都很精通，但他们学习书本知识的无能也是出众的。他们家拥有比全县其他人家更多的钱、更多的马和更多的奴隶，可是两兄弟同他们的大多数穷邻居比起来，胸中的文墨更少得多。
正是这个缘故，斯图尔特和布伦特在塔拉农场走廊里聊天，消磨这四月傍晚的大好时光。他们刚被佐治亚大学开除，而这是过去两年中把他们撵走的第四所大学了。于是他们的两个哥哥，汤姆和博伊德，也同他们一起回到了家里，因为在这所学校既然不欢迎那些孪生兄弟，两位做哥哥的也就不高兴在那里待下去了。斯图尔特和布伦特把他们最近一次的除名当做一个有趣的玩笑;而思嘉呢，她自从去年离开费耶特维尔女子学校以后就一直懒得去摸书本，所以也像他们那样觉得这是令人高兴的事。
&I know you two don&t care about being expelled, or Tom either,& she said.
&But what about Boyd? He&s kind of set on getting an education, and you two have pulled him out of the University of Virginia and Alabama and South Carolina and now Georgia. He&ll never get finished at this rate.&
&Oh, he can read law in Judge Parmalee&s office over in Fayetteville,& answered Brent carelessly. &Besides, it don&t matter much. We&d have had to come home before the term was out anyway.&
&我认为你们俩一点也不在乎被学校除名，汤姆也是这样，&她说。
&可是博伊德怎么办?他一心想受教育，而你们俩接连把他从弗吉尼亚大学、亚拉巴马大学、南卡罗来纳大学拖了出来，如今又从佐治亚大学回来了。这样下去，他永远也将完不成他的学业!&
&唔，他可以到费耶特维尔那边的帕马利法官事务所去学法律嘛，&布伦特漫不经心地答道。&并且，这没有什么关系。
反正在学习结束之前我们不得不回家的。&
&The war, goose! The war&s going to start any day, and you don&t suppose any of us would stay in college with a war going on, do you?&
&You know there isn&t going to be any war,& said Scarlett, bored.
&It&s all just talk. Why, Ashley Wilkes and his father told Pa just last week that our commissioners in Washington would come to&to&an&amicable agreement with Mr. Lincoln about the Confederacy. And anyway, the Yankees are too scared of us to fight. There won&t be any war, and I&m tired of hearing about it.&
&Not going to be any war!& cried the twins indignantly, as though they had been defrauded.
&战争嘛!傻瓜!战争随时可能开始，战争打响之后难道你认为我们还会留在学校里吗?&
&你明明知道不会有什么战争的，&思嘉生气地说。
&那只是嘴上谈谈罢了。就在上个星期，艾希礼&威尔克斯和他父亲还对我爸说，咱们派驻华盛顿的专员将要同林肯先生达成--达成一个关于南部联盟的协议呢。况且不管怎样，北方佬从小害怕我们，根本不会有什么战争，谈它干什么，我讨厌听到关于战争的事情。&
&不会有什么战争!&孪生兄弟如同他们被欺负了似的地喊起来。
&Why, honey, of course there&s going to be a war,& said Stuart. &The Yankees may be scared of us, but after the way General Beauregard shelled them out of Fort Sumter day before yesterday, they&ll have to fight or stand branded as cowards before the whole world. Why, the Confederacy&&
Scarlett made a mouth of bored impatience.
&If you say &war& just once more, I&ll go in the house and shut the door. &
I&ve never gotten so tired of any one word in my life as &war,& unless it&s &secession.& Pa talks war morning, noon and night, and all the gentlemen who come to see him shout about Fort Sumter and States& Rights and Abe Lincoln till I get so bored I could scream! And that&s all the boys talk about, too, that and their old Troop. There hasn&t been any fun at any party this spring because the boys can&t talk about anything else. I&m mighty glad Georgia waited till after Christmas before it seceded or it would have ruined the Christmas parties, too.
&亲爱的，战争当然会打起来的啊!&斯图尔特说。&北方佬可能害怕咱们，可是自从前天波尔格将军把他们赶出萨姆特要塞以后，他们只好打起来了，要不就会作为胆小鬼在全世界面前丢脸。什么，南部联盟--&
听到这里，思嘉很不耐烦地嘟起嘴来。
&只要你再说一声&战争&，我就进屋去，把门关上。&
我这辈子还从来没有像对&战争&这个词感到讨厌，除非那个词意味着&脱离联邦&。爸爸总是从早到晚谈论战争，战争，所有来看他的绅士们也叫嚷着什么萨姆特要塞、州权、亚伯&林肯，简直烦得我要大喊大叫!而且所有的男孩子也都在谈这些，还有他们的军队。今年春天，任何晚会上也没有听到这什么快乐的事情，因为男孩子再不谈别的了。我最高兴的是佐治亚要等到过了圣诞节以后才宣布脱离联邦，要不然会把圣诞晚会也糟蹋了。
She meant what she said, for she could never long endure any conversation of which she was not the chief subject. But she smiled when she spoke, consciously deepening her dimple and fluttering her bristly black lashes as swiftly as butterflies& wings. The boys were enchanted, as she had intended them to be, and they hastened to apologize for boring her. They thought none the less of her for her lack of interest. Indeed, they thought more. War was men&s business, not ladies&, and they took her attitude as evidence of her femininity.
Having maneuvered them away from the boring subject of war, she went back with interest to their immediate situation.
她说到做到，因为她从来就忍受不了不以她为主题的谈话。不过她说话时总是面带微笑，刻意加深脸的酒窝，同时把像蝴蝶翅膀似的两圈又硬又黑的睫毛迅速地扇动起来。小伙子们给迷住了，这正中她的心意，于是他们向她道歉，他们并不因为她对战争不感兴趣而丝毫轻视她。相反，他们更敬重她了。战争原来是男人的事，与女人无关，因此他们便把她的态度当成是女人味十足的特征。
把他们从讨厌战争的话题支使开以后，她便饶有兴趣地回到他们当前的环境上来。
&What did your mother say about you two being expelled again?&
The boys looked uncomfortable, recalling their mother&s conduct three months ago when they had come home, by request, from the University of Virginia.
&Well,& said Stuart, &she hasn&t had a chance to say anything yet. Tom and us left home early this morning before she got up, and Tom&s laying out over at the Fontaines& while we came over here.&
&Didn&t she say anything when you got home last night?&
&对于你俩再一次开除的事你母亲说了些什么呀?&小伙子显得有点不自在，想起三个月前他们从弗吉尼亚大学被请回家时母亲的那番表现。
&唔，她还没有机会说呢，&斯图尔特答道。
&今天一清早她还没起床，汤姆和我俩便出门了。汤姆半路上去方丹家了，我们便径直到这儿来了。&
&昨天晚上你们到家时难道她什么话也没说吗?&
&We were in luck last night. Just before we got home that new stallion Ma got in Kentucky last month was brought in, and the place was in a stew. The big brute&he&s a grand horse, S you must tell your pa to come over and see him right away&he&d already bitten a hunk out of his groom on the way down here and he&d trampled two of Ma&s darkies who met the train at Jonesboro. And just before we got home, he&d about kicked the stable down and half-killed Strawberry, Ma&s old stallion. When we got home, Ma was out in the stable with a sackful of sugar smoothing him down and doing it mighty well, too. The darkies were hanging from the rafters, popeyed, they were so scared, but Ma was talking to the horse like he was folks and he was eating out of her hand. There ain&t nobody like Ma with a horse. And when she saw us she said: &In Heaven&s name, what are you four doing home again? You&re worse than the plagues of Egypt!& And then the horse began snorting and rearing and she said: &Get out of here! Can&t you see he&s nervous, the big darling? I&ll tend to you four in the morning!& So we went to bed, and this morning we got away before she could catch us. and left Boyd to handle her.&
&昨晚我们可有运气了。在我们快要到家的时候，上个月我妈在肯塔基买下的那匹公马给送来了，家里正热闹着呢。原来那畜生--它长得可真威武，思嘉，你一定得告诉你爸，叫他赶快去看看，那畜生一路上已经把马夫咬了两大口，而且踏坏了我妈的两个黑小子，他们是在琼斯博罗遇上的。而且，就在我们刚要到家的时候，它差点儿把我们的马棚给踢倒了，还捎带把我妈的那匹老公马草莓也踢了个半死。我们到家时，妈正在妈棚里拿着一口袋糖哄它，让它慢慢平静下来，还真起作用了。黑奴们躲得远远的，瞪着眼睛简直给吓坏了，可妈还在跟那畜生亲切说话，仿佛跟它是一家人似的，它正在吃她手里的东西呢。世界上谁也比不上我妈那样会跟马打交道，那时她看见了我们，便说：&天哪，你们四个又回来干什么呀?你们简直比埃及的瘟疫还让人讨厌!&这时那匹公马开始喷鼻子直立起来，她赶紧说：&从这里滚开罢，难道你们没看见这个大宝贝在生气了吗?等明天早晨我再来服侍你们四个!&于是，我们便上床睡觉了。今天一早，趁她还来不及抓住我们，我们便溜了出来，只留下博伊德一个人去对付她。&
&Do you suppose she&ll hit Boyd?& Scarlett, like the rest of the County, could never get used to the way small Mrs. Tarleton bullied her grown sons and laid her riding crop on their backs if the occasion seemed to warrant it.
Beatrice Tarleton was a busy woman, having on her hands not only a large cotton plantation, a hundred negroes and eight children, but the largest horse-breeding farm in the state as well. She was hot-tempered and easily plagued by the frequent scrapes of her four sons, and while no one was permitted to whip a horse or a slave, she felt that a lick now and then didn&t do the boys any harm.
&你们认为她会打博伊德吗?&思嘉知道，瘦小的塔尔顿太太对她那几个已长大成人的儿子还是很粗暴的，她认为必要的时候还会用鞭子抽他们的脊背，对于这种情形，思嘉和县里的其他人都有点不大习惯。
比阿特里斯&塔尔顿是个忙人，她经营一大片棉花地，一百个黑奴和八个孩子，而且还有个养马常她生性暴躁，非常容易就四个儿子经常吵架而大发雷霆。她一方面不许任何人打她的一骑马或一个黑奴，另一方面却认为偶尔打打她的孩子们，对他们并没有什么坏处。
&Of course she won&t hit Boyd. She never did beat Boyd much because he&s the oldest and besides he&s the runt of the litter,& said Stuart, proud of his six feet two.
&That&s why we left him at home to explain things to her. God&lmighty, Ma ought to stop licking us! We&re nineteen and Tom&s twenty-one, and she acts like we&re six years old.&
&Will your mother ride the new horse to the Wilkes barbecue tomorrow?&
&她从来没有打过博伊德。这不仅因为他年龄最大，还是因为他是个矮子，&斯图尔特这样说，对自己那六英尺的个头儿自豪。
&这是我们为什么把他留在家里去向妈交代一切的原因。老天爷明白，我们都19了，汤姆21了，可她还把我们当六岁孩子看待。妈应当不再打我们!&
&你母亲明天会骑那匹新买来的马去参加威尔克斯家的野宴?&
&She wants to, but Pa says he&s too dangerous. And, anyway, the girls won&t let her. They said they were going to have her go to one party at least like a lady, riding in the carriage.&
&I hope it doesn&t rain tomorrow,& said Scarlett.
&It&s rained nearly every day for a week. There&s nothing worse than a barbecue turned into an indoor picnic.&
&Oh, it&ll be clear tomorrow and hot as June,& said Stuart. &Look at Oat sunset I never saw one redder. You can always tell weather by sunsets.&
&她想骑的，但是爷说骑那匹太危险了。而且，无论如何，姑娘不会同意她骑。她们说，要让她至少像个贵妇人那样乘坐马车去参加宴会。&
&希望明天别下雨，&思嘉说。
&一星期几乎天天下雨。要是把野宴改成家餐，那才是扫兴不过的事呢。&
&唔，明天准晴，还会像六月天那样炎热，&斯图尔特说。
&你看那落日，我还从没过比这更红的太阳呢。用落日来判断天气，往往是不会错的。&
They looked out across the&endless acres of Gerald O&Hara&s newly plowed cotton fields toward the red horizon. Now that the sun was setting in a welter of crimson behind tin lulls across the Flint River, the warmth of the April day was ebbing into a faint but balmy chill.
Spring had come early that year, with warm quick rains and sudden frothing of pink peach blossoms and dogwood dappling with white stars the dark river swamp and far-off hills. Already the plowing was nearly finished, and the bloody glory of the sunset colored the fresh-cut furrows of red Georgia clay to even redder hues. The moist hungry earth, waiting upturned for the cotton seeds, showed pinkish on the sandy tops of furrows, vermilion and scarlet and maroon where shadows lay along the sides of the trenches. The whitewashed brick plantation house seemed an island set in a wild red sea, a sea of spiraling, curving, crescent billows petrified suddenly at the moment when the pink-tipped waves were breaking into surf. For here were no long, straight furrows, such as could be seen in the yellow clay fields of the flat middle Georgia country or in the lush black earth of the coastal plantations. The rolling foothill country of north Georgia was plowed in a million curves to keep the rich earth from washing down into the river bottoms.
他们都朝远方望去，越过奥哈拉家无边无际的新翻耕的棉花地，直到红红的地平线上。如今太阳在弗林特河对岸的群山后面一起汹涌的红霞中缓缓降落，四月白天的温暖也渐渐消退，隐隐透出丝丝的凉意。
春天来得很早，伴随来的是几场温暖的春雨，这时粉红的桃花突然纷纷绽放，山茱萸雪白也似的繁花将河边湿地和山冈装点起来。春耕已快要结束，湿润的土地饥饿似的等待着人们把它翻开并撒上棉籽，它在犁沟的顶上显出是淡红色，在沟道两旁的地方则呈现出猩红和栗色来。农场那座粉刷白了的砖房如同落在茫茫红海中的一个岛屿，那是一起由新月形巨浪组成的大海，但是当那些带粉红红尖顶的水波分裂为浪花时，它立即僵化了。因为这里没有像佐治亚中部的黄土地或海滨种植场滋润的黑土地那样的长长的笔直的犁沟。北佐治亚连绵起伏的山麓地带被犁成了无数弯弯曲曲地垅沟，这样说，对自己那使肥沃的土壤不致被冲洗到河床里去。
It was a savagely red land, blood-colored after rains, brick dust in droughts, the best cotton land in the world. It was a pleasant land of white houses, peaceful plowed fields and sluggish yellow rivers, but a land of contrasts, of brightest sun glare and densest shade. The plantation clearings and miles of cotton fields smiled up to a warm sun, placid, complacent. At their edges rose the virgin forests, dark and cool even in the hottest noons, mysterious, a little sinister, the soughing pines seeming to wait with an age-old patience, to threaten with soft sighs: &Be careful! Be careful! We had you once. We can take you back again.&
这一片土地红得耀眼，雨后更红得像鲜血一般，干旱时便成了满地的红砖粉，这是世界上最好的产棉地。这里有洁白的房屋，翻耕过的田地，缓缓流过的黄泥河水，但同时也是一个由阳光灿烂和阴翳深浓形成对比的地方。尚待种植的空地和绵延数英里的棉花田微笑着袒露在阳光之中。在这些田地的边缘上有着一片处女林，即使在最炎热的中午它们也是幽暗而清凉的，而且显得有点神秘，有点不那么和善，其中那些飕飕作响的松树好像怀着老年人的耐心在等待着，好像轻轻的叹息：&当心呀!你们原先是我们的。我们能够把你们要回来。&
To the ears of the three on the porch came the sounds of hooves, the jingling of harness chains and the shrill careless laughter of negro voices, as the field hands and mules came in from the fields. From within the house floated the soft voice of Scarlett&s mother, Ellen O&Hara, as she called to the little black girl who carried her basket of keys. The high-pitched, childish voice answered &Yas&m,& and there were sounds of footsteps going out the back way toward the smokehouse where Ellen would ration out the food to the home-coming hands. There was the click of china and the rattle of silver as Pork, the valet-butler of Tara, laid the table for supper.
At these last sounds, the twins realized it was time they were starting home. But they were loath to face their mother and they lingered on the porch of Tara, momentarily expecting Scarlett to give them an invitation to supper.
坐在走廊里的三个年轻人听到得得的马蹄声，马具链环的丁当声和黑奴们的欢笑声;那些干农活的人和骡马从地里回来了。这时从屋子里传来思嘉的母亲爱伦&奥哈拉温和的声音，她在呼唤提着钥匙、篮子的黑女孩，后者用尖脆的声调答道：&太太，来啦，&于是便传来从后面过道里走向薰腊室的脚步声，爱伦要到那里去给回家的田间劳动者分配食物。接着便听到瓷器当当和银餐具丁丁的响声，这时管衣着和膳事的男仆波克已经在摆桌子开晚饭了。
听到这些声响，这对孪生兄弟知道他们该动身回家了。但是他们不想回去见母亲的面，便在塔拉农场的走廊里徘徊，盼望着思嘉邀请他们留下来吃晚饭。
&Look, Scarlett. About tomorrow,& said Brent.
&Just because we&ve been away and didn&t know about the barbecue and the ball, that&s no reason why we shouldn&t get plenty of dances tomorrow night. You haven&t promised them all, have you?&
&Well, I have! How did I know you all would be home? I couldn&t risk being a wallflower just waiting on you two.&
&You a wallflower!& The boys laughed uproariously.
&思嘉，我们谈谈明天的事吧，&布伦特说。
&不能因为我们不在，不了解野宴和舞会的事，就凭这理由不让咱们明儿晚上多多地跳舞。你没有答应他们大家吧，是不是?&
&唔，我答应了!我怎么知道你们都会回来呢?我哪能冒险在一边等着，等着专门伺候你们两位呀?&
&你在一边等着?&两个小伙子放声大笑。
&Look, honey. You&ve got to give me the first waltz and Stu the last one and you&ve got to eat supper with us. We&ll sit on the stair landing like we did at the last ball and get Mammy Jincy to come tell our fortunes again.&
&I don&t like Mammy Jincy&s fortunes. You know she said I was going to marry a gentleman with jet-black hair and a long black mustache, and I don&t like black-haired gentlemen.&
&You like &em red-headed, don&t you, honey?& grinned Brent
&Now, come on, promise us all the waltzes and the supper.&
&亲爱的，你得跟我跳第一个华尔兹，末了跟斯图跳最后一个，然后我们一起吃晚饭。像上次舞会那样坐在楼梯平台上，让金西嬷嬷再来给咱们算命。&
&我不可喜欢听金西嬷嬷算命。你知道她说过我会嫁给一个头发鸟亮、黑胡子很长的男人，但我是不喜欢黑头发男人的。&
&亲爱的，你喜欢红头发的吗?&布伦特傻笑着说。
&现在，快说吧，答应跟我们跳所有的华尔兹，跟我们一道吃晚饭。&
&If you&ll promise, we&ll tell you a secret,& said Stuart.
&What?& cried Scarlett, alert as a child at the word.
&Is it what we heard yesterday in Atlanta, Stu? If it is, you know we promised not to tell.&
&Well, Miss Pitty told us.&
&你要是肯答应，我们便告诉你一个秘密。&斯图尔特说。
&什么?&思嘉叫着，一听到&秘密&这个词便像个孩子似地活跃起来。
&斯图，是不是我们昨天在亚特兰大听到的那个消息?如果是，那你知道，我们答应过不告诉别人的。&
&嗯，那是皮蒂小姐告诉我们的。&
&Miss Who?&
&You know, Ashley Wilkes& cousin who lives in Atlanta, Miss Pittypat Hamilton&Charles and Melanie Hamilton&s aunt.&
&I do, and a sillier old lady I never met in all my life.&
&Well, when we were in Atlanta yesterday, waiting for the home train, her carriage went by the depot and she stopped and talked to us, and she told us there was going to be an engagement announced tomorrow night at the Wilkes ball.&
&什么小姐?&
&就是艾希礼&威尔克斯的表姐。你知道，皮蒂帕特&波密尔顿的小姐，查尔斯和媚兰的姑妈，她住在亚特兰大。&
&这我知道，一个傻老太婆，我一辈子也没见过比她更傻的了。&
&对，我们昨天在亚特兰大等着搭火车回家时，她的马车正好从车站经过，她停下来跟我们说话，告诉我们明天晚上的威尔克斯家的舞会上要宣布一门亲事。&
&Oh, I know about that,& said Scarlett in disappointment.
&That silly nephew of hers, Charlie Hamilton, and Honey Wilkes. Everybody&s known for years that they&d get married some time, even if he did seem kind of lukewarm about it.&
&Do you think he&s silly?& questioned Brent. &Last Christmas you sure let him buzz round you plenty.&
&I couldn&t help him buzzing,& Scarlett shrugged negligently.
&I think he&s an awful sissy.&
&唔，我也听说过，&思嘉失望地说。
&她的那位傻侄儿查理&汉密尔顿和霍妮&威尔克斯。这几年谁都在说他们快要结婚了，虽然他本人对这件事似乎有点不冷不热似的。&
&你认为他傻吗?&布伦特问。&去年圣诞节你可让他在你身边转了个够呢。&
&我没法不让他转呀，&思嘉毫不在意地耸了耸肩膀。
&我觉得他这个人太娘娘腔了。&
&Besides, it isn&t his engagement that&s going to be announced,& said Stuart triumphantly.
&It&s Ashley&s to Charlie&s sister, Miss Melanie!&
Scarlett&s face did not change but her lips went white&like a person who has received a stunning blow without warning and who, in the first moments of shock, does not realize what has happened. So still was her face as she stared at Stuart that he, never analytic, took it for granted that she was merely surprised and very interested.
&但是，明晚要宣布的并不是他的亲事，&斯图尔特得意地说。
&那是艾希礼和查理的妹妹媚兰小姐订婚的事哩!&
虽然她脸色没有变，可是嘴唇发白了。就像冷不防受到当头一击。思嘉在震动的最初几秒钟还不明白那是怎么回事。注视斯图尔特时思嘉的脸色还那么平静，以致这位毫无分析头脑的人还以为她仅仅感到惊讶和很有兴趣。
&Miss Pitty told us they hadn&t intended announcing it till next year, because Miss Melly hasn& but with all the war talk going around, everybody in both families thought it would be better to get married soon. So it&s to be announced tomorrow night at the supper intermission. Now, Scarlett, we&ve told you the secret, so you&ve got to promise to eat supper with us.&
&Of course I will,& Scarlett said automatically.
&And all the waltzes?&
&皮蒂小姐告诉我们，他们原准备明年才宣布订婚，因为媚兰小姐近来身体不怎么好;可周围都在谈论战争，两家人都觉腹不如赶快成婚的好。所以决定明天晚上在宴会上宣布。
我们把秘密告诉你了，你看，思嘉，你也得答应跟我们一起吃晚饭呀。&&当然，我会的。&思嘉下意识地说。
&并且跳所有的华尔兹吗?&
&所有的。&
&You&re sweet! I&ll bet the other boys will be hopping mad.&
&Let &em be mad,& said Brent. &We two can handle &em. Look, Scarlett. Sit with us at the barbecue in the morning.&
&What?&Stuart repeated his request.
&Of course.&
&你真好!我敢打赌，别的小伙子们准要疯了。&
&让他们去发疯好了，&布伦特说。 &我们俩能对付他们的。瞧瞧吧，思嘉。明天上午的野宴也跟我们坐在一起好吗?&
&什么?&斯图尔特将请求重复了一遍。
The twins looked at each other jubilantly but with some surprise. Although they considered themselves Scarlett&s favored suitors, they had never before gained tokens of this favor so easily. Usually she made them beg and plead, while she put them off, refusing to give a Yes or No answer, laughing if they sulked, growing cool if they became angry. And here she had practically promised them the whole of tomorrow&seats by her at the barbecue, all the waltzes (and they&d see to it that the dances were all waltzes!) and the supper intermission. This was worth getting expelled from the university.
Filled with new enthusiasm by their success, they lingered on, talking about the barbecue and the ball and Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton, interrupting each other, making jokes and laughing at them, hinting broadly for invitations to supper. Some time had passed before they realized that Scarlett was having very little to say. The atmosphere had somehow changed. Just how, the twins did not know, but the fine glow had gone out of the afternoon. Scarlett seemed to be paying little attention to what they said, although she made the correct answers. Sensing something they could not understand, baffled and annoyed by it, the twins struggled along for a while, and then rose reluctantly, looking at their watches.
哥儿俩心里美滋滋的但也有些惊异。尽管他们把自己看做思喜所嘉许的追求者，但以前他们从没这么轻易得到过这一嘉许的表示。她经常只让他们倾诉、乞求，敷衍他们，不明确表示可否，他们烦恼时便报以笑颜，他们发怒时则略显冷淡。但现在她实际上已经把明天全部的活动都许给了他们--答应野宴时跟他们坐在一起，跟他们跳所有的华尔兹(而且他们决意要使每一个舞都是华尔兹!)，并且一道吃晚饭。就为这些，被大学开除也是值得的。
成功给他们带来了满腔热情。使他们愈加留连忘返，谈论着明天的野宴，舞会和艾希礼&威克斯与汉&媚兰，抢着说话，开着玩笑，然后大笑不已，看来是在多方暗示要人家挽留他们吃晚饭。他们闹了好一会儿，才发现思嘉已没有什么要说的，这时气氛有点变了。哥儿俩并不知道是怎么变的，只觉得那番高兴的光景已经在眼前消失。思嘉好像并不注意他们在说些什么，尽管她的一些回答也还得体。他们意识到某种难以理解的事，为此感到沮丧和不安，末了又赖着待了一会儿才看看手表，勉强站起身来。
The sun was low across the new-plowed fields and the tall woods across the river were looming blackly in silhouette. Chimney swallows were darting swiftly across the yard, and chickens, ducks and turkeys were waddling and strutting and straggling in from the fields.
Stuart bellowed: &Jeems!& And after an interval a tall black boy of their own age ran breathlessly around the house and out toward the tethered horses. Jeems was their body servant and, like the dogs, accompanied them everywhere. He had been their childhood playmate and had been given to the twins for their own on their tenth birthday. At the sight of him, the Tarleton hounds rose up out of the red dust and stood waiting expectantly for their masters. The boys bowed, shook hands and told Scarlett they&d be over at the Wilkeses& early in the morning, waiting for her. Then they were off down the walk at a rush, mounted their horses and, followed by Jeems, went down the avenue of cedars at a gallop, waving their hats and yelling back to her.
在新翻耕过的田地那边，太阳已经西下，河对岸高高的树林已经在幽暗的暮色中渐渐模糊。家燕轻快地在院场上空飞来飞去，小鸡、鸭子和火鸡都纷纷从田地里回家来了。
斯图尔特大喊一声：&吉姆斯!&不一会一个和他们年龄相仿的高个儿黑孩子气喘吁吁地从房子附近跑出来，向两匹拴着的马走去，吉姆斯是贴身佣人，像那些狗一样到哪里都伴随着主人。他曾是他们儿时的玩伴，到他们十岁生日那一天便归他们自己所有了。塔尔顿家的猎犬一见他便从红灰土中跳起来，站在那里恭敬主子们驾到。两个小伙子同思嘉握手告别，告诉她明早他们将赶到威尔克斯家去等候她。然后他们走下人行道，骑上马，由吉姆斯跟随着一口气跑上柏树夹道，一面回过头来，挥着帽子向思嘉高声叫喊。
When they had rounded the curve of the dusty road that hid them from Tara, Brent drew his horse to a stop under a clump of dogwood. Stuart halted, too, and the darky boy pulled up a few paces behind them. The horses, feeling slack reins, stretched down their necks to crop the tender spring grass, and the patient hounds lay down again in the soft red dust and looked up longingly at the chimney swallows circling in the gathering dusk. Brent&s wide ingenuous face was puzzled and mildly indignant.
他们在尘土飞扬的大道上拐过那个看不见塔拉农场的弯以后，布伦特勒住马，在一丛山茱萸下站住了。斯图尔特跟着停下来，黑小子也紧跑几步跟上了他们。两骑马觉得缰绳松了，便伸长脖子去啃柔嫩的春草，猎犬们重新在灰土中躺下，贪馋地仰望着在愈来愈浓的暮色中回旋飞舞的燕子。布伦特那张老实巴交的宽脸上呈现迷惑神情。
&Look,& he said. &Don&t it look to you like she would of asked us to stay for supper?&
&I thought she would,& said Stuart. I kept waiting for her to do it, but she didn&t. What do you make of it?&
&I don&t make anything of it But it just looks to me like she might of. After all, it&s our first day home and she hasn&t seen us in quite a spell. And we had lots more things to tell her.&
&It looked to me like she was mighty glad to see us when we came.&
&I thought so, too.&
&听我说，&他说，&你不觉得她好像要请我们留下吃饭吗?&
&我本来以为她会的，&斯图尔特答道。&我一直等着她说出来，但是她没有说。你想这是为什么?&
&我一点也不明白。不过据我看，她应当留我们的。毕竟这是我们回家后的第一天，她跟我们又好久没见面。何况我们还有许许多多的事情没跟她说呢。&
&据我看，我们刚来时她好像很高兴见到我们。&
&本来我也这样想。&
&And then, about a half-hour ago, she got kind of quiet, like she had a headache.&
&I noticed that but I didn&t pay it any mind then. What do you suppose ailed her?&
&I dunno. Do you suppose we said something that made her mad?&
They both thought for a minute.
&可后来，大约半个钟头以前吧，她就不怎么说话了，好像有点头痛。&
&我看到这一点了，可我当时并不在意。你想她是哪儿不舒服了呢?&
&我不知道。你认为我们说了什么让她生气的话吗?&
他们两人思量了一会儿。
&I can&t think of anything. Besides, when Scarlett gets mad, everybody knows it. She don&t hold herself in like some girls do.&
&Yes, that&s what I like about her. She don&t go around being cold and hateful when she&s mad&she tells you about it. But it was something we did or said that made her shut up talking and look sort of sick. I could swear she was glad to see us when we came and was aiming to ask us to supper.&
&You don&t suppose it&s because we got expelled?&
&Hell, no! Don&t be a fool. She laughed like everything when we told her about it. And besides Scarlett don&t set any more store by book learning than we do.&
&我什么也想不起来。况且，思嘉一生气，谁都看得出来。她可从不像那样一声不响的女孩子。&
&对，这就是我喜欢她的地方。她生气时那么冷冷的抑制着性子走来走去，她会痛痛快快告诉你。不过，一定是我们说了或做了什么事，使得她默不作声，并装出不舒服的样子。我敢担保，我们刚来时她是很高兴并且有意要留我们吃晚饭的。&
&你不认那是因为我们被开除了吗?&
&决不会的!见鬼，别那么傻。我们告诉她这消息时，她还若无其事地笑呢。再说，思嘉对读书的事也不比我们重视呀。&
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