The front door was slightly ajar and she trotted, breathless, into the hall and paused for a moment under the rainbow prisms of the chandelier. —
前门微微敞开着，她急匆匆地跑进大厅，停在了一个短暂的瞬间，站在吊灯的彩虹棱镜下，喘不过气来。 —

For all its brightness the house was very still, not with the serene stillness of sleep but with a watchful, tired silence that was faintly ominous. —
尽管房子里光线明亮，却非常寂静，不像平静的睡眠那般宁静，而是带着一种警觉而疲倦的寂静，隐约透着一丝不祥的感觉。 —

She saw at a glance that Rhett was not in the parlor or the library and her heart sank. —
她一眼就看出了雷特不在客厅或书房，心情顿时沉重起来。 —

Suppose he should be out—out with Belle or wherever it was he spent the many evenings when he did not appear at the supper table? —
万一他不在——不在贝尔那里或者在其他地方度过他没有出现在晚餐桌上的众多晚上时，怎么办呢？ —

She had not bargained on this.
她没有预料到会发生这种情况。

She had started up the steps in search of him when she saw that the door of the dining room was closed. —
她上了台阶，想要找他，这时她看到了餐厅的门关着。 —

Her heart contracted a little with shame at the sight of that closed door, remembering the many nights of this last summer when Rhett had sat there alone, drinking until he was sodden and Pork came to urge him to bed. —
她的心有点感到羞愧，看到那扇关着的门，回想起上个夏天，雷特独自坐在那里，一直喝酒直到醉倒，直到猪肉来催促他上床睡觉。 —

That had been her fault but she’d change it all. —
那都是她的错，但她会改变一切的。 —

Everything was to be different from now on—but, please God, don’t let him be too drunk tonight. —
从现在开始一切都将不同了——但愿上帝，今晚不要让他喝得太醉。 —

If he’s too drunk he won’t believe me and he’ll laugh at me and that will break my heart.
如果他喝得太醉，他不会相信我，他会嘲笑我，那会让我心碎。

She quietly opened the dining-room door a crack and peered in. —
她轻轻地把餐厅的门缝打开一条缝隙往里面看。 —

He was seated before the table, slumped in his chair, and a full decanter stood before him with the stopper in place, the glass unused. —
他坐在桌前，身子垂落在椅子上，放在他面前的酒坛里插着塞子，杯子却没有被使用。 —

Thank God, he was sober! She pulled open the door, holding herself back from running to him. —
谢天谢地，他没喝醉！她拉开了门，忍住了冲上去的冲动。 —

But when he looked up at her, something in his gaze stopped her dead on the threshold, stilled the words on her lips.
但当他抬起头看着她时，他眼中的某种表情让她止步在门槛上，让她嘴唇上停滞了话。

He looked at her steadily with dark eyes that were heavy with fatigue and there was no leaping light in them. —
他用疲倦的黑眼睛稳定地看着她，眼中没有跳动的亮光。 —

Though her hair was tumbling about her shoulders, her bosom heaving breathlessly and her skirts mud splattered to the knees, his face did not change with surprise or question or his lips twist with mockery. —
尽管她的头发凌乱地散落在肩上，胸口急促地起伏着，裙子还溅满了泥污到膝盖，他的脸上没有流露出惊讶或质问的神色，也没有嘴角扭曲出嘲笑。 —

He was sunken in his chair, his suit wrinkling untidily against his thickening waist, every line of him proclaiming the ruin of a fine body and the coarsening of a strong face. —
他陷入椅子里，西装皱皱巴巴地贴在他的腰际，他的每一寸线条都在宣告着他曾经健美的身材的毁灭和坚毅面容的粗鲁化。 —

Drink and dissipation had done their work on the coin-clean profile and now it was no longer the head of a young pagan prince on new-minted gold but a decadent, tired Caesar on copper debased by long usage. —
酒精和放荡已经在这个像金币一样干净的侧影上留下了痕迹，现在它不再是一个年轻异教王子的头像，象征着新铸金币，而是一个疲惫堕落的凯撒，被长时间使用而贬值的铜像。 —

He looked up at her as she stood there, hand on heart, looked quietly, almost in a kindly way, that frightened her.
当她站在那里，手放在心口上时，他抬头看着她，安静地、几乎友善地看着她，这使她感到害怕。

“Come and sit down,” he said. “She is dead?”
“过来坐下，”他说。“她去世了吗？”

She nodded and advanced hesitantly toward him, uncertainty taking form in her mind at this new expression on his face. —
她点了点头，迟疑地向他走近，内心对他脸上这种新的表情感到不确定。 —

Without rising, he pushed back a chair with his foot and she sank into it. —
他不站起身，用脚后跟挪动了一把椅子，她便沉了下去。 —

She wished he had not spoken of Melanie so soon. —
她希望他没那么快就提起梅兰妮。 —

She did not want to talk of her now, to re-live the agony of the last hour. —
她现在不想谈论她，不想再重温过去一个小时的痛苦。 —

There was all the rest of her life in which to speak of Melanie. —
她还有一生的时间可以谈论梅兰妮。 —

But it seemed to her now, driven by a fierce desire to cry: —
但现在她感觉到内心涌动的激烈欲望，在这里告诉瑞特：“我爱你。” —

“I love you,” that there was only this night, this hour, in which to tell Rhett what was in her mind. —
只有这个夜晚，这个时刻，她告诉瑞特她内心的想法。 —

But there was something in his face that stopped her and she was suddenly ashamed to speak of love when Melanie was hardly cold.
但是他脸上的表情使她停下来，她突然感到在梅兰妮刚刚去世时谈论爱情是多么可耻。

“Well, God rest her,” he said heavily. “She was the only completely kind person I ever knew.”
“好吧，愿上帝安息她的灵魂。”他沉重地说道，“她是我认识的唯一一个完全善良的人。”

“Oh, Rhett!” she cried miserably, for his words brought up too vividly all the kind things Melanie had ever done for her. —
“噢，瑞特！”她痛苦地叫道，他的话太鲜活地勾起了梅兰妮为她所做的一切善良之事。 —

“Why didn’t you come in with me? It was dreadful—and I needed you so!”
“你为什么不和我一起进去？那真是太可怕了，我如此需要你！”

“I couldn’t have borne it,” he said simply and for a moment he was silent. —
“我不能承受那样的事情，”他简单地说道，沉默了一会儿。 —

Then he spoke with an effort and said, softly: “A very great lady.”
然后他费力地说道：”一个非常伟大的女人。”

His somber gaze went past her and in his eyes was the same look she had seen in the light of the flames the night Atlanta fell, when he told her he was going off with the retreating army—the surprise of a man who knows himself utterly, yet discovers in himself unexpected loyalties and emotions and feels a faint self-ridicule at the discovery.
他阴沉的目光穿过她，他的眼中充满了她在亚特兰大沦陷时看到的那种表情，当时他告诉她他将随着撤退的军队离开——这是一个对自己彻底了解的人发现自己意想不到的忠诚和情感，对此他有些自嘲。

His moody eyes went over her shoulder as though he saw Melanie silently passing through the room to the door. —
他忧郁的眼睛从她肩膀上掠过，仿佛看到了梅兰妮悄悄穿过房间走向门口。 —

In the look of farewell on his face there was no sorrow, no pain, only a speculative wonder at himself, only a poignant stirring of emotions dead since boyhood, as he said again: —
告别时他脸上没有悲伤，没有痛苦，只有对自己的好奇，只有一种自少年时以来一直沉寂的情感轻微的激动，他再次说道： —

“A very great lady.”
“一个极伟大的女人。”

Scarlett shivered and the glow went from her heart, the fine warmth, the splendor which had sent her home on winged feet. —
斯嘉丽颤抖着，心中的光芒消失了，那种激动人心的温暖、辉煌的感觉已经让她飞回家了。 —

She half-grasped what was in Rhett’s mind as he said farewell to the only person in the world he respected and she was desolate again with a terrible sense of loss that was no longer personal. —
当他向世界上唯一一个他尊重的人告别时，她对他心里的想法有些模糊，她再次感到了一种可怕的失落感，这种失落感已经不再是个人的了。 —

She could not wholly understand or analyze what he was feeling, but it seemed almost as if she too had been brushed by whispering skirts, touching her softly in a last caress. —
她无法完全理解或分析他的感受，但似乎她也曾被低语般的裙摆轻轻触碰，最后以柔情的拥抱告别。 —

She was seeing through Rhett’s eyes the passing, not of a woman but of a legend—the gentle, self-effacing but steel-spined women on whom the South had builded its house in war and to whose proud and loving arms it had returned in defeat.
她透过瑞特的眼睛看到了一个传奇的过去，不只是一个女人的消逝，而是南方建立在战争中的温柔、谦逊但坚韧的女人们，以及她们自豪而温暖的怀抱，南方败北后回归的怀抱。

His eyes came back to her and his voice changed. Now it was light and cool.
他的目光回到她身上，声音也变得轻快而冷静。

“So she’s dead. That makes it nice for you, doesn’t it?”
“她死了。这对你来说应该好吧，不是吗？”

“Oh, how can you say such things,” she cried, stung, the quick tears coming to her eyes. —
“哦，你怎么能说出这样的话”，她被刺伤了，快速地流下了眼泪。 —

“You know how I loved her!”
“你知道我是多么爱她！”

“No, I can’t say I did. Most unexpected and it’s to your credit, considering your passion for white trash, that you could appreciate her at last.”
“不，我不能说我知道。这非常出人意料，考虑到你对白人渣的热情，你竟然能在最后欣赏她。”

“How can you talk so? Of course I appreciated her! You didn’t. —
“你怎么能这样说？我当然欣赏她！而你却没有。” —

You didn’t know her like I did! It isn’t in you to understand her— how good she was—”
“你不像我那样了解她！你无法理解她有多好——”

“Indeed? Perhaps not.”
“是吗？也许不行。”

“She thought of everybody except herself—why, her last words were about you.”
“她总是为了别人，只顾及他人而忽略了自己——连她临终时也是为了你说的话。”

There was a flash of genuine feeling in his eyes as he turned to her.
当他转身看着她时，他的眼中闪现出真情实感。

“What did she say?”
“她说了什么？”

“Oh, not now, Rhett.”
“哦，现在不要问了，Rhett。”

“Tell me.”
“告诉我吧。”

His voice was cool but the hand he put on her wrist hurt. —
他的声音很冷漠，但他用手抓住她的手腕让她疼痛不已。 —

She did not want to tell, this was not the way she had intended to lead up to the subject of her love but his hand was urgent.
她不想说，这不是她打算介绍她的爱情话题的方式，但他的手迫切地压在她的手腕上。

“She said—she said— ‘Be kind to Captain Butler. He loves you so much.’”
“她说——她说——‘对巴特勒上尉要好一点，他对你非常爱’。”

He stared at her and dropped her wrist. His eyelids went down, leaving his face dark and blank. —
他盯着她看着，然后松开了她的手腕。他的眼皮垂下，脸色变得黑暗而空虚。 —

Suddenly he rose and going to the window, he drew the curtains and looked out intently as if there were something to see outside except blinding mist.
突然间，他站起来，走到窗前，拉上窗帘，专注地望着外面，仿佛除了刺眼的雾气还有什么可看的。

“Did she say anything else?” he questioned, not turning his head.
“她还说了什么吗？” 他问道，没有转过头来。

“She asked me to take care of little Beau and I said I would, like he was my own boy.”
“她叫我照顾小贝和我答应了，像他是我亲生的孩子一样照顾他。”

“What else?”
“还有其他的吗？”

“She said—Ashley—she asked me to look after Ashley, too.”
“她说——阿什利——她叫我照顾阿什利，我也答应了。”

He was silent for a moment and then he laughed softly. —
他静默了一会儿，然后轻笑了起来。 —

“It’s convenient to have the first wife’s permission, isn’t it?”
“得到第一任妻子的许可是很方便的，不是吗？”

“What do you mean?”
“你是什么意思？”

He turned and even in her confusion she was surprised that there was no mockery in his face. —
他转过身来，即使在她的困惑中，她也吃惊地发现他的脸上没有嘲笑之情。 —

Nor was there any more interest in it than in the face of a man watching the last act of a none-too- amusing comedy.
他的脸上没有丝毫的兴趣，就像是一个人看着一场并不太有趣的喜剧的最后一幕一样。

“I think my meaning’s plain enough. Miss Melly is dead. —
“我想我的意思很明显。梅丽小姐已经去世了。” —

You certainly have all the evidence you want to divorce me and you haven’t enough reputation left for a divorce to hurt you. —
“你肯定有足够的证据来离婚了，而离婚对你来说已经无所谓了。” —

And you haven’t any religion left, so the Church won’t matter. —
“你已经没有任何信仰了，所以教会对你来说也无关紧要。” —

Then— Ashley and dreams come true with the blessings of Miss Melly.”
“然后——阿什利和梦想成真，得到梅丽小姐的祝福。”

“Divorce?” she cried. “No! No!” Incoherent for a moment she leaped to her feet and running to him caught his arm. —
“离婚？”她喊道，“不！不！”她一时语无伦次地站了起来，跑过去抓住他的胳膊。 —

“Oh, you’re all wrong! Terribly wrong. I don’t want a divorce—I—” She stopped for she could find no other words.
“哦，你完全错了！非常错了。我不想离婚——我——”她停住了，因为她找不到其他的话。

He put his hand under her chin, quietly turned her face up to the light and looked for an intent moment into her eyes. —
他抬起她的下巴，安静地把她的脸转向光线，凝视着她的眼睛，目不转睛。 —

She looked up at him, her heart in her eyes, her lips quivering as she tried to speak. —
她抬头看着他，心中的心跳凝结在她的眼中，她的嘴唇颤抖着，试图开口说话。 —

But she could marshal no words because she was trying to find in his face some answering emotions, some leaping light of hope, of joy. —
但她无法言语，因为她试图在他的脸上寻找一些回应的情感，一些希望的闪光，喜悦的征兆。 —

Surely he must know, now! But the smooth dark blankness which had baffled her so often was all that her frantic, searching eyes could find. —
他一定知道了，现在！然而，曾经使她困惑的光滑黑暗空白仍然是她焦急、搜寻的眼睛所能找到的全部。 —

He dropped her chin and, turning, walked back to his chair and sprawled tiredly again, his chin on his breast, his eyes looking up at her from under black brows in an impersonal speculative way.
他放开她的下巴，转身走回椅子上，再次懒散地躺下，下巴贴在胸前，他的眼睛从黑眉下面以一种客观的思考方式望着她。

She followed him back to his chair, her hands twisting, and stood before him.
她跟着他走回椅子前，手指扭动，站在他面前。

“You are wrong,” she began again, finding words. —
“你错了，”她重新开始说话，找到了词语。 —

“Rhett, tonight, when I knew, I ran every step of the way home to tell you. Oh, darling, I—”
“Rhett，在今晚，当我知道的时候，我每一步都狂奔回家告诉你。哦，亲爱的，我—”

“You are tired,” he said, still watching her. “You’d better go to bed.”
“你累了，”他沉重地说着，仍然观察着她。”你最好去休息一下。”

“But I must tell you!”
“但我必须告诉你！”

“Scarlett,” he said heavily, “I don’t want to hear—anything.”
“Scarlett，”他沉重地说道，”我不想听——任何东西。”

“But you don’t know what I’m going to say!”
“但你不知道我要说什么！”

“My pet, it’s written plainly on your face. —
“我的宠物，它清晰地写在你的脸上。” —

Something, someone has made you realize that the unfortunate Mr. Wilkes is too large a mouthful of Dead Sea fruit for even you to chew. —
“某个人，某个事物让你意识到，即使对你来说，不幸的威尔克斯先生也是你无法嚼动的死海果实。” —

And that same something has suddenly set my charms before you in a new and attractive light,” he sighed slightly. —
“并且，同样的某个事物让你在新的有吸引力的光芒下看到了我的魅力。”他轻轻叹了口气。 —

“And it’s no use to talk about it.”
“但是这是没用的谈论。”

She drew a sharp surprised breath. Of course, he had always read her easily. —
她吸了一口惊讶的气。当然，他总是很容易读懂她。 —

Heretofore she had resented it but now, after the first shock at her own transparency, her heart rose with gladness and relief. —
迄今为止，她对此感到愤怒，但现在，在第一次被自己的透明度震惊后，她的心情变得欢喜和宽慰。 —

He knew, he understood and her task was miraculously made easy. No use to talk about it! —
他知道，他理解，并且奇迹般地使她的任务变得容易。没必要谈论！ —

Of course he was bitter at her long neglect, of course he was mistrustful of her sudden turnabout. —
当然，他对她长久的忽视感到痛苦，当然，他对她突然的变化持怀疑态度。 —

She would have to woo him with kindness, convince him with a rich outpouring of love, and what a pleasure it would be to do it!
她将不得不用善意来追求他，用丰富的爱来说服他，而这将是多么愉快的事情！

“Darling, I’m going to tell you everything,” she said, putting her hands on the arm of his chair and leaning down to him. —
“亲爱的，我要告诉你一切。”她说着，把手放在他椅子的扶手上，俯身对他说。 —

“I’ve been so wrong, such a stupid fool—”
“我错得太离谱了，太愚蠢了——”

“Scarlett, don’t go on with this. Don’t be humble before me. I can’t bear it. —
“斯嘉丽，别再说这些了。别在我面前谦虚。我受不了。” —

Leave us some dignity, some reticence to remember out of our marriage. —
“给我们一些尊严，一些回忆婚姻的保留。” —

Spare us this last.”
“放过我们这最后一次吧。”

She straightened up abruptly. Spare us this last? —
她突然挺直了身子。放过我们这最后一次？ —

What did he mean by “this last”? Last? This was their first, their beginning.
他说的“这最后一次”是什么意思？最后一次？这才是他们的开始，他们的第一次。

“But I will tell you,” she began rapidly, as if fearing his hand upon her mouth, silencing her. —
“但是我要告诉你，”她急忙说道，好像害怕他的手捂住她的嘴。 —

“Oh, Rhett, I love you so, darling! I must have loved you for years and I was such a fool I didn’t know it. —
“哦，瑞特，我如此爱你，亲爱的！我一定爱你已经好多年了，只是我太愚蠢，不曾察觉。” —

Rhett, you must believe me!”
“瑞特，你必须相信我！”

He looked at her, standing before him, for a moment, a long look that went to the back of her mind. —
他用一种长时间的目光看着她，看得她心神一震。 —

She saw there was belief in his eyes but little interest. —
她看到他的眼里有信任，但几乎没有兴趣。 —

Oh, was he going to be mean, at this of all times? —
噢，他会刻意刁难她，在这个时候吗？ —

To torment her, pay her back in her own coin?
折磨她，以牙还牙？

“Oh, I believe you,” he said at last. “But what of Ashley Wilkes?”
“哦，我相信你，”他最后说道。“但是，亚什利·威尔克斯呢？”

“Ashley!” she said, and made an impatient gesture. —
“亚什利！”她说道，并做了一个不耐烦的手势。 —

“I—I don’t believe I’ve cared anything about him for ages. —
“我——我已经很久不关心他了。” —

It was—well, a sort of habit I hung onto from when I was a little girl. —
嗯，这是我从小女孩时期保持的一种习惯。 —

Rhett, I’d never even thought I cared about him if I’d ever known what he was really like. —
雷特，我从来没有想过他值得我关心，如果我早就知道他真实的样子的话。 —

He’s such a helpless, poor-spirited creature, for all his prattle about truth and honor and—”
尽管他叽叽喳喳地谈着真理和荣誉，但他是一个如此无助、无精打采的家伙。

“No,” said Rhett. “If you must see him as he really is, see him straight. —
“不”，雷特说。“如果你一定要看清他的真面目，就要直截了当地看清他。 —

He’s only a gentleman caught in a world he doesn’t belong in, trying to make a poor best of it by the rules of the world that’s gone.”
他只是一个陷入一个他并不属于的世界中的绅士，试图按照已经过去的世界的规则尽量过好他的生活。”

“Oh, Rhett, don’t let’s talk of him! What does he matter now? —
“哦，雷特，我们别再谈论他了！他现在还有什么意义吗？ —

Aren’t you glad to know— I mean, now that I—”
你难道不为知道这个事实而高兴吗——我是说，现在我是——”

As his tired eyes met hers, she broke off in embarrassment, shy as a girl with her first beau. —
当他疲倦的眼睛遇到她的时候，她尴尬地中断了，像一个初次约会的女孩一样害羞。 —

If he’d only make it easier for her! If only he would hold out his arms, so she could crawl thankfully into his lap and lay her head on his chest. —
如果他只能给她一点方便！如果他能伸出双臂，这样她就可以感激地爬进他的腿上，把头靠在他的胸前。 —

Her lips on his could tell him better than all her stumbling words. —
她的嘴唇贴在他的嘴上能比她所有结巴的话更好地告诉他她的心意。 —

But as she looked at him, she realized that he was not holding her off just to be mean. —
但当她看着他时，她意识到他不是故意拒绝她。 —

He looked drained and as though nothing she had said was of any moment.
他看上去非常疲惫，好像她说的任何事情都不重要。

“Glad?” he said. “Once I would have thanked God, fasting, to hear you say all this. —
“高兴？”他说。“以前我会禁食祈祷，为了听到你说这些。 —

But, now, it doesn’t matter.”
但是，现在，这已经无关紧要了。”

“Doesn’t matter? What are you talking about? Of course, it matters! —
“无关紧要？你在说什么？当然关系重大！ —

Rhett, you do care, don’t you? You must care. Melly said you did.”
雷特，你在乎的，对吧？你一定在乎。梅莉说你在乎。”

“Well, she was right, as far as she knew. —
“嗯，就她所知，她是对的。 —

But, Scarlett, did it ever occur to you that even the most deathless love could wear out?”
但是，斯嘉丽，你有没有想过，即使是最坚定的爱也会消磨殆尽？”

She looked at him speechless, her mouth a round O.
她怔怔地看着他，嘴巴成了一个圆形的O。

“Mine wore out,” he went on, “against Ashley Wilkes and your insane obstinacy that makes you hold on like a bulldog to anything you think you want…Mine wore out.”
“我的爱消磨殆尽了，”他继续说，“因为阿什利·威尔克斯和你那让你像一只斗牛犬一样坚持着你认为自己想要的事物的疯狂固执……我的爱消磨殆尽了。”

“But love can’t wear out!”
“但是爱不会消磨殆尽！”

“Yours for Ashley did.”
“对阿什利的你的爱消磨殆尽了。”

“But I never really loved Ashley!”
“但我从来没有真正爱过阿什利！”

“Then, you certainly gave a good imitation of it—up till tonight. —
“那你肯定很好地伪装了起来 - 直到今晚。” —

Scarlett, I’m not upbraiding you, accusing you, reproaching you. That time has passed. —
斯嘉丽，我不再指责你、指控你、责备你。那个时候已经过去了。 —

So spare me your defenses and your explanations. —
所以请你别为自己辩解、解释。 —

If you can manage to listen to me for a few minutes without interrupting, I can explain what I mean. —
如果你能在几分钟内听我说完而不打扰我，我可以解释我的意思。 —

Though God knows, I see no need for explanations. —
尽管上帝知道，我不需要任何解释。 —

The truth’s so plain.”
事实如此明显。

She sat down, the harsh gas light falling on her white bewildered face. —
她坐下来，刺眼的煤气灯照在她那张苍白而困惑的脸上。 —

She looked into the eyes she knew so well—and knew so little—listened to his quiet voice saying words which at first meant nothing. —
她凝视着那双熟悉而又陌生的眼睛，倾听着他轻声说着那些起初毫无意义的话。 —

This was the first time he had ever talked to her in this manner, as one human being to another, talked as other people talked, without flippancy, mockery or riddles.
这是他第一次以这样的方式和她交谈，像其他人那样以一个人对另一个人的方式交谈，没有嘲弄、嘲讽或谜语。

“Did it ever occur to you that I loved you as much as a man can love a woman? —
你曾想过我爱你的程度能达到一个人对另一个人的最大爱吗？ —

Loved you for years before I finally got you? —
在我最终得到你之前，我已经爱你多年了。 —

During the war I’d go away and try to forget you, but I couldn’t and I always had to come back. —
战争期间，我曾试图离开并忘记你，但我无法做到，我总是不得不回来。 —

After the war I risked arrest, just to come back and find you. —
战后，我冒着被捕的风险，只是为了回来找到你。 —

I cared so much I believe I would have killed Frank Kennedy if he hadn’t died when he did. —
我关心得如此深，以至于我相信如果弗兰克·肯尼迪没有在那时去世，我可能会杀了他。 —

I loved you but I couldn’t let you know it. —
我爱你，但我不能让你知道。 —

You’re so brutal to those who love you, Scarlett. —
你对那些爱你的人太残酷了，斯嘉丽。 —

You take their love and hold it over their heads like a whip.”
你把他们的爱拿来当作鞭子来威胁他们。

Out of it all only the fact that he loved her meant anything. —
在所有的事情中，只有他爱她这个事实才有意义。 —

At the faint echo of passion in his voice, pleasure and excitement crept back into her. —
在他的声音中稍纵即逝的激情，带给她愉悦和兴奋。 —

She sat, hardly breathing, listening, waiting.
她坐着，几乎停止呼吸，倾听，等待。

“I knew you didn’t love me when I married you. I knew about Ashley, you see. —
我知道当我嫁给你时你并不爱我。我知道阿什利的事情，你明白吗？ —

But, fool that I was, I thought I could make you care. —
可是，我是个傻瓜，我以为我可以让你在乎。 —

Laugh, if you like, but I wanted to take care of you, to pet you, to give you everything you wanted. I wanted to marry you and protect you and give you a free rein in anything that would make you happy—just as I did Bonnie. —
笑吧，如果你愿意，但是我想照顾你，宠着你，给你你想要的一切。我想娶你，保护你，在任何让你开心的事情上给你充分的自由，就像我对邦妮所做的一样。 —

You’d had such a struggle, Scarlett. No one knew better than I what you’d gone through and I wanted you to stop fighting and let me fight for you. —
你经历了这么大的斗争，斯嘉丽。没有人比我更了解你所经历的，我想让你停止战斗，让我来为你战斗。 —

I wanted you to play, like a child—for you were a child, a brave, frightened, bullheaded child. —
我希望你像一个孩子一样玩耍 - 因为你就是一个孩子，一个勇敢、害怕和固执的孩子。 —

I think you are still a child. No one but a child could be so headstrong and so insensitive.”
我认为你还是一个孩子。只有孩子才会如此执着和不敏感。

His voice was calm and tired but there was something in the quality of it that raised a ghost of memory in Scarlett. —
他的声音平静而疲惫，但其中的质感唤起了斯嘉丽模糊的回忆。 —

She had heard a voice like this once before and at some other crisis of her life. —
她曾经听过这样的声音，也是在她生活的另一次危机时。 —

Where had it been? The voice of a man facing himself and his world without feeling, without flinching, without hope.
它在哪里出现过呢?一个人面对自己和世界，毫无感觉、毫不退缩、毫无希望的声音。

Why—why—it had been Ashley in the wintry, windswept orchard at Tara, talking of life and shadow shows with a tired calmness that had more finality in its timbre than any desperate bitterness could have revealed. —
为什么 - 为什么 - 在冬天、被风吹乱的塔拉果园里，那是阿什利的声音，他以疲惫的冷静谈论生活和幻影表演，这种声音的品质比任何绝望的苦涩更能彰显出绝对的最后。 —

Even as Ashley’s voice then had turned her cold with dread of things she could not understand, so now Rhett’s voice made her heart sink. —
正如当时阿什利的声音让她无法理解的事物充满了恐惧一样，现在雷特的声音让她心沉入谷底。 —

His voice, his manner, more than the content of his words, disturbed her, made her realize that her pleasurable excitement of a few moments ago had been untimely. —
他的声音，他的举止，不是他说的话内容，而是让她感到不安，让她意识到她刚刚的愉快兴奋来得太早了。 —

Something was wrong, badly wrong. What it was she did not know but she listened desperately, her eyes on his brown face, hoping to hear words that would dissipate her fears.
有什么地方不对劲，非常不对劲。她不知道是什么，但她绝望地听着，眼睛盯着他的褐色脸，希望听到可以消除她恐惧的话语。

“It was so obvious that we were meant for each other. —
“我们注定要在一起，这是如此明显。 —

So obvious that I was the only man of your acquaintance who could love you after knowing you as you really are—hard and greedy and unscrupulous, like me. —
如此明显，我是你唯一的熟人，在了解你本真的样子后还能爱你——像我这样坚强、贪婪和无原则的人。 —

I loved you and I took the chance. I thought Ashley would fade out of your mind. —
我爱你，我冒险了。我以为阿什利会从你的记忆中消失。 —

But,” he shrugged, “I tried everything I knew and nothing worked. And I loved you so, Scarlett. —
但是，”他耸了耸肩膀，”我尽我所能，但什么都不管用。而且，我如此爱你，斯嘉丽。 —

If you had only let me, I could have loved you as gently and as tenderly as ever a man loved a woman. —
如果你只让我，我本可以像一个男人深深而温柔地爱着一个女人那样爱你。 —

But I couldn’t let you know, for I knew you’d think me weak and try to use my love against me. —
但我不能让你知道，因为我知道你会认为我软弱，并试图利用我的爱来对付我。 —

And always—always there was Ashley. It drove me crazy. —
而且，也总是有阿什利。这真让我疯狂。 —

I couldn’t sit across the table from you every night, knowing you wished Ashley was sitting there in my place. —
每天晚上，我坐在你对面的桌子旁，知道你希望阿什利能坐在我的位置上，这让我无法接受。 —

And I couldn’t hold you in my arms at night and know that—well, it doesn’t matter now. —
我不能在晚上将你拥入怀中，而且知道——嗯，现在也无所谓了。 —

I wonder, now, why it hurt. That’s what drove me to Belle. There is a certain swinish comfort in being with a woman who loves you utterly and respects you for being a fine gentleman—even if she is an illiterate whore. —
我现在想知道为什么会这么痛苦。这也是我去找贝尔的原因。和一个完全爱你并尊重你作为绅士的女人在一起，即使她是个不识字的妓女，也能带来某种猪一般的慰藉。 —

It soothed my vanity. You’ve never been very soothing, my dear.”
这安慰了我的虚荣心。亲爱的，你从来没有给我太多的安慰。

“Oh, Rhett…” she began, miserable at the very mention of Belle’s name, but he waved her to silence and went on.
“噢，瑞特……”她开始说，一提到贝尔的名字就心情糟糕，但他挥了挥手示意她保持沉默，继续说道。

“And then, that night when I carried you upstairs—I thought—I hoped—I hoped so much I was afraid to face you the next morning, for fear I’d been mistaken and you didn’t love me. —
“还有，那个晚上我背你上楼——我想——我希望——我非常希望，害怕第二天面对你，生怕自己弄错了，你并不爱我。 —

I was so afraid you’d laugh at me I went off and got drunk. —
我非常害怕你会嘲笑我，所以我去喝醉了。 —

And when I came back, I was shaking in my boots and if you had come even halfway to meet me, had given me some sign, I think I’d have kissed your feet. But you didn’t.”
当我回来的时候，我的腿都在发抖，如果你愿意出来迎接我一半的路程，给我一个标志，我想我会亲吻你的脚。但是你没有。

“Oh, but Rhett, I did want you then but you were so nasty! I did want you! —
哦，但是，雷特，那时候我是想要你的，但是你太无理取闹了！我真的想要你！ —

I think—yes, that must have been when I first knew I cared about you. —
我想——是的，那可能是我第一次意识到我在乎你。 —

Ashley—I never was happy about Ashley after that, but you were so nasty that I—”
阿什利——之后我对阿什利从来就不开心了，但你太过分了，我——

“Oh, well,” he said. “It seems we’ve been at cross purposes, doesn’t it? But it doesn’t matter now. —
哦，嗯，他说。“看起来我们一直都误解了彼此，不是吗？但现在已经无所谓了。 —

I’m only telling you, so you won’t ever wonder about it all. —
我只是告诉你这些，这样你就不会再疑惑一切。 —

When you were sick and it was all my fault, I stood outside your door, hoping you’d call for me, but you didn’t, and then I knew what a fool I’d been and that it was all over.”
当你生病的时候，那全是我的错，我站在你的门外，希望你会叫我进去，但是你没有，然后我明白了我是多么的愚蠢，一切都结束了。

He stopped and looked through her and beyond her, even as Ashley had often done, seeing something she could not see. —
他停下来，透过她，不仅仅是阿什利经常做的那样，看到了她看不见的东西。 —

And she could only stare speechless at his brooding face.
她只能目瞪口呆地看着他苦思冥想的脸庞。

“But then, there was Bonnie and I saw that everything wasn’t over, after all. —
但是，那时候有了伯尼，我看到一切并没有结束。 —

I liked to think that Bonnie was you, a little girl again, before the war and poverty had done things to you. —
我喜欢把伯尼当做你，一个小女孩，还没有经历战争和贫困的折磨。 —

She was so like you, so willful, so brave and gay and full of high spirits, and I could pet her and spoil her—just as I wanted to pet you. —
她与你非常相似，固执、勇敢、快乐而充满活力，我可以宠她，溺爱她，就像我想宠爱你一样。 —

But she wasn’t like you—she loved me. It was a blessing that I could take the love you didn’t want and give it to her. —
但是她不像你，她爱我。能够接受你不要的爱并给予她是一种幸福。 —

..When she went, she took everything.”
..当她离去时，她带走了一切。

Suddenly she was sorry for him, sorry with a completeness that wiped out her own grief and her fear of what his words might mean. —
突然间，她为他感到遗憾，完全忘记了自己的悲伤和对他话语可能意味着的恐惧。 —

It was the first time in her life she had been sorry for anyone without feeling contemptuous as well, because it was the first time she had ever approached understanding any other human being. —
这是她一生中第一次为别人感到遗憾，而不带着轻视，因为这是她第一次试图理解其他人。 —

And she could understand his shrewd caginess, so like her own, his obstinate pride that kept him from admitting his love for fear of a rebuff.
她能够理解他那狡诈的谨慎，和她自己的非常相似，他固执的自尊心使他不敢承认自己的爱，因为害怕被拒绝。

“Ah, darling,” she said coming forward, hoping he would put out his arms and draw her to his knees. —
“亲爱的，”她走过来说道，希望他会伸出双臂把她抱到膝盖上。 —

“Darling, I’m so sorry but I’ll make it all up to you! —
“亲爱的，对不起，我会补偿你一切的！ —

We can be so happy, now that we know the truth and—Rhett—look at me, Rhett! —
现在我们知道真相了，我们可以很幸福，不是吗，雷特？看着我，雷特！ —

There—there can be other babies—not like Bonnie but—”
“还有……还可以有其他的孩子，虽然不像邦妮那样——”

“Thank you, no,” said Rhett, as if he were refusing a piece of bread. —
“谢谢，不用了，”雷特说，就像是拒绝了一块面包。 —

“I’ll not risk my heart a third time.”
“我不会再冒险第三次了。”

“Rhett, don’t say such things! Oh, what can I say to make you understand? —
“雷特，不要说这样的话！哦，我该说什么才能让你明白？ —

I’ve told you how sorry I am—”
我已经告诉你我多么后悔了——”

“My darling, you’re such a child. You think that by saying, ‘I’m sorry,’ all the errors and hurts of years past can be remedied, obliterated from the mind, all the poison drawn from old wounds. —
“亲爱的，你还真是个孩子。你以为只要说‘对不起’，过去多年的错误和伤痛就能得到补救，从记忆中抹去，从旧伤口中排除所有毒素。 —

… Take my handkerchief, Scarlett. Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief.”
“…拿我的手绢，斯嘉丽。在你生活的任何关键时刻，我从未见过你拿着手绢。”

She took the handkerchief, blew her nose and sat down. —
她接过手绢，擤了擤鼻子，坐了下来。 —

It was obvious that he was not going to take her in his arms. —
显然，他不打算将她搂在怀里。 —

It was beginning to be obvious that all his talk about loving her meant nothing. —
很明显，他对于爱她的说辞一无所指。 —

It was a tale of a time long past, and he was looking at it as though it had never happened to him. —
这是一个很久以前的故事，他却仿佛从未经历过一样看待。 —

And that was frightening. He looked at her in an almost kindly way, speculation in his eyes.
而这使人感到害怕。他以一种近乎友善的眼神看着她，眼中闪烁着思索。

“How old are you, my dear? You never would tell me.”
“亲爱的，你多大了？你从来没告诉过我。”

“Twenty-eight,” she answered dully, muffled in the handkerchief.
“二十八岁”，她低沉地回答着，声音被手绢遮掩着。

“That’s not a vast age. It’s a young age to have gained the whole world and lost your own soul, isn’t it? —
“这可不是个大的年龄。用这么年轻的岁数得到了整个世界，却失去了自己的灵魂，是吗？” —

Don’t look frightened. I’m not referring to hell fire to come for your affair with Ashley. —
“别害怕。我不是在谈论你与阿什利之间的罪孽将来会有地狱之火。” —

I’m merely speaking metaphorically. Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve wanted two things. —
“我只是形容得比喻而已。自从认识你以来，你一直想要两样东西。” —

Ashley and to be rich enough to tell the world to go to hell. —
“阿什利和足够富裕，能对这个世界说去死。” —

Well, you are rich enough and you’ve spoken sharply to the world and you’ve got Ashley, if you want him. —
“嗯，你已经富裕了，你已经尖刻地对待过这个世界，如果你想要，你得到了阿什利。” —

But all that doesn’t seem to be enough now.”
“但是，所有这些似乎都不再足够。”

She was frightened but not at the thought of hell fire. She was thinking: —
她很害怕，但害怕的不是地狱之火。她在想着： —

“But Rhett is my soul and I’m losing him. And if I lose him, nothing else matters! —
“但是雷特是我的灵魂，我正在失去他。如果我失去他，其他什么都无关紧要！ —

No, not friends or money or—or anything. If only I had him I wouldn’t even mind being poor again. —
“不，不是朋友或金钱或任何东西。如果我只有他，我甚至不介意再次贫穷。 —

No, I wouldn’t mind being cold again or even hungry. —
“不，我不介意再次感到寒冷，甚至饥饿。 —

But he can’t mean— Oh, he can’t!”
“但他不可能是这个意思——哦，他不可能！”

She wiped her eyes and said desperately:
她擦干眼泪，绝望地说：“雷特，如果你曾经如此爱我，肯定还剩下一点点给我的东西。”

“Rhett, if you once loved me so much, there must be something left for me.”
“在这一切中，我只发现了两样仍然存在的事物，它们恰好是你最讨厌的两样东西——同情和一种奇怪的善良感。”

“Out of it all I find only two things that remain and they are the two things you hate the most—pity and an odd feeling of kindness.”
同情！善良！“哦，天哪，”她绝望地想。除了同情和善良，没有什么比这更糟糕的了。

Pity! Kindness! “Oh, my God,” she thought despairingly. Anything but pity and kindness. —
每当她对某人产生这两种情感时，它们都伴随着蔑视。 —

Whenever she felt these two emotions for anyone, they went hand in hand with contempt. —
他对她也蔑视吗？任何事情都比那更好。 —

Was he contemptuous of her too? Anything would be preferable to that. —
它能被看作是轻蔑吗？任何事情都比那更好。” —

Even the cynical coolness of the war days, the drunken madness that drove him the night he carried her up the stairs, his hard fingers bruising her body, or the barbed drawling words that she now realized had covered a bitter love. —
即使在那些战争的日子里，他的冷漠和愤怒，在那个他抱着她上楼的夜晚酒醉如疯，他的手指硬硬地压在她的身上，或者那些她现在才意识到是掩盖了痛苦爱情的尖刻言辞。 —

Anything except this impersonal kindness that was written so plainly in his face.
除了这种明显写在他脸上的冷漠的善意，其他任何都可以。

“Then—then you mean I’ve ruined it all—that you don’t love me any more?”
“那么——你的意思是，我毁了一切——你不再爱我了？”

“That’s right.”
“没错。”

“But,” she said stubbornly, like a child who still feels that to state a desire is to gain that desire, “but I love you!”
“可是，”她顽固地说道，像一个还觉得只要说出愿望就能实现愿望的孩子，“可是我爱你！”

“That’s your misfortune.”
“那是你的不幸。”

She looked up quickly to see if there was a jeer behind those words but there was none. —
她迅速抬起头来，看看这些话里是否含有讥讽，但却没有。 —

He was simply stating a fact. But it was a fact she still would not believe—could not believe. —
他只是简单陈述一个事实。但这个事实她仍然不相信——也无法相信。 —

She looked at him with slanting eyes that burned with a desperate obstinacy and the sudden hard line of jaw that sprang out through her soft cheek was Gerald’s jaw.
她斜眼看着他，眼中燃烧着绝望的顽固，柔软的脸颊上硬硬地露出了杰拉德的下颌。

“Don’t be a fool, Rhett! I can make—”
“别傻了，瑞特！我可以做到——”

He flung up a hand in mock horror and his black brows went up in the old sardonic crescents.
他一只手戏谑地抬起，黑眉成了老样子的讥讽弧度。

“Don’t look so determined, Scarlett! You frighten me. —
“别看起来那么坚决，斯嘉丽！你吓到我了。 —

I see you are contemplating the transfer of your tempestuous affections from Ashley to me and I fear for my liberty and my peace of mind. —
我看得出你在考虑将你那汹涌的情感从阿什利转移到我身上，我很担心自己的自由和内心的宁静。 —

No, Scarlett, I will not be pursued as the luckless Ashley was pursued. —
不，斯嘉丽，我可不想像倒霉的阿什利那样被追求。 —

Besides, I am going away.”
再说，我要走了。

Her jaw trembled before she clenched her teeth to steady it. Go away? No, anything but that! —
她撅着嘴颤抖了一下，然后咬紧牙关稳住了。走了？不，除了这个以外她什么都能接受！ —

How could life go on without him? Everyone had gone from her, everyone who mattered except Rhett. He couldn’t go. —
没有他，生活怎么能继续下去？她所有重要的人都离开了，除了瑞德。他不能离开。 —

But how could she stop him? She was powerless against his cool mind, his disinterested words.
但她怎么能阻止他呢？对于他淡漠的思维、不感兴趣的话语，她无能为力。

“I am going away. I intended to tell you when you came home from Marietta.”
“我要走了。我本来打算你从马里埃塔回来后告诉你的。

“You are deserting me?”
“你要抛弃我吗？

“Don’t be the neglected, dramatic wife, Scarlett. The role isn’t becoming. —
“别做那个被忽视的、戏剧性的妻子，斯嘉丽。这种角色不漂亮。 —

I take it, then, you do not want a divorce or even a separation? —
那么，我可以理解你并不想要离婚，甚至不想要分居？ —

Well, then, I’ll come back often enough to keep gossip down.”
那好，我会经常回来，以保持八卦的减少。

“Damn gossip!” she said fiercely. “It’s you I want. Take me with you!”
“该死的流言蜚语！”她愤怒地说道。“是你，我想要的是你。带我走！”

“No,” he said, and there was finality in his voice. —
“不。”他说道，声音里充满了决绝。 —

For a moment she was on the verge of an outburst of childish wild tears. —
她瞬间感到自己忍不住要溢出一股孩子般的泪水。 —

She could have thrown herself on the floor, cursed and screamed and drummed her heels. —
她本可以跪在地上，咒骂、尖叫、用脚踢地。 —

But some remnant of pride, of common sense stiffened her. —
但是她身上存留的一点自尊和常识让她坚强起来。 —

She thought, if I did, he’d only laugh, or just look at me. I mustn’t bawl; I mustn’t beg. —
她想，如果我这样做了，他只会笑，或者只是看着我。我不能号啕大哭，我不能乞求。 —

I mustn’t do anything to risk his contempt. —
我不能做任何事冒险招致他的轻蔑。 —

He must respect me even—even if he doesn’t love me.
他必须尊重我，即使他不爱我。

She lifted her chin and managed to ask quietly:
她抬起下巴，试图平静地问道：

“Where will you go?”
“你会去哪里？”

There was a faint gleam of admiration in his eyes as he answered.
他的眼中闪过一丝赞赏的光芒，他回答说。

“Perhaps to England—or to Paris. Perhaps to Charleston to try to make peace with my people.”
“也许去英国，或者巴黎。也许去查尔斯顿，试着与我的人民和解。”

“But you hate them! I’ve heard you laugh at them so often and—”
“可是你讨厌他们！我经常听你嘲笑他们，而且——”

He shrugged.
他耸了耸肩。

“I still laugh—but I’ve reached the end of roaming, Scarlett. —
“我仍然嘲笑，但是我已经到了流浪的尽头了，斯嘉丽。 —

I’m forty-five—the age when a man begins to value some of the things he’s thrown away so lightly in youth, the clannishness of families, honor and security, roots that go deep— Oh, no! —
我已经四十五岁了——这个年纪的男人开始珍视他年轻时轻易抛弃的一些东西，家庭的凝聚力，荣誉和安全感，深深植根的根基——哦，不！ —

I’m not recanting, I’m not regretting anything I’ve ever done. —
我没有反悔，我没有后悔过我所做的任何事情。 —

I’ve had a hell of a good time—such a hell of a good time that it’s begun to pall and now I want something different. —
我度过了一段非常美妙的时光——如此美妙的时光已经开始厌倦了，现在我想要一些不同的东西。 —

No, I never intend to change more than my spots. —
不，我从来没有打算改变自己，至少不多过我的斑点。 —

But I want the outer semblance of the things I used to know, the utter boredom of respectability—other people’s respectability, my pet, not my own—the calm dignity life can have when it’s lived by gentle folks, the genial grace of days that are gone. —
但我渴望我曾经所了解的那些外在表象，那种完全的无聊尊严——别人的尊严，亲爱的，不是我自己的——当温和的人过上生活时所能拥有的平静尊严，过去日子的亲和力。 —

When I lived those days I didn’t realize the slow charm of them—”
当我生活在那些日子里时，我没有意识到它们的慢慢魅力——”

Again Scarlett was back in the windy orchard of Tara and there was the same look in Rhett’s eyes that had been in Ashley’s eyes that day. —
斯嘉丽再次回到塔拉的多风的果园，里特的眼里有着与那一天阿什利眼中相同的神情。 —

Ashley’s words were as clear in her ears as though he and not Rhett were speaking. —
阿什利的话清晰地在她耳边响起，就像他自己在说话，而不是里特。 —

Fragments of words came back to her and she quoted parrot-like: —
看到这些断片的文字回到她脑海中，她就像鹦鹉一样引用了以下的话： 1, Fragments of words came back to her and she quoted parrot-like: —

“A glamor to it—a perfection, a symmetry like Grecian art.”
“它有一种魅力——完美无缺，对称如希腊艺术般。”

Rhett said sharply: “Why did you say that? That’s what I meant.”
瑞德尖声说道：“你为什么这么说？那正是我想说的。”

“It was something that—that Ashley said once, about the old days.”
“这是阿什利曾经说过的话，关于过去的岁月。”

He shrugged and the light went out of his eyes.
他耸了耸肩，眼中的光芒消失了。

“Always Ashley,” he said and was silent for a moment.
“总是阿什利，”他说了一会儿，又沉默了。

“Scarlett, when you are forty-five, perhaps you will know what I’m talking about and then perhaps you, too, will be tired of imitation gentry and shoddy manners and cheap emotions. —
“斯嘉丽，也许你到了四十五岁的时候，就会明白我在说什么，也许你也会厌倦模仿上层阶级的假绅士和低俗的礼仪和廉价的情感。 —

But I doubt it. I think you’ll always be more attracted by glister than by gold. —
但我怀疑你做不到。我觉得你总是更被炫耀所吸引，而不是金子。 —

Anyway, I can’t wait that long to see. And I have no desire to wait. It just doesn’t interest me. —
无论如何，我不能等那么久去看。我也没有那个愿望去等待。这对我没有兴趣。 —

I’m going to hunt in old towns and old countries where some of the old times must still linger. —
我打算在一些古老的小镇和古老的国度里打猎，那里一定还残留着一些从前的时光。 —

I’m that sentimental. Atlanta’s too raw for me, too new.”
我就是这么多愁善感。亚特兰大对我来说太原始了，太新了。”

“Stop,” she said suddenly. She had hardly heard anything he had said. —
“停下来，”她突然说道。她几乎没有听到他说的任何话。 —

Certainly her mind had not taken it in. But she knew she could no longer endure with any fortitude the sound of his voice when there was no love in it.
她当时的思维无法理解。但她知道，当他的声音中没有爱意时，她再也无法忍受了。

He paused and looked at her quizzically.
他停顿了一下，疑惑地看着她。

“Well, you get my meaning, don’t you?” he questioned, rising to his feet.
“好吧，你明白我的意思，对吗？”他问道，站了起来。

She threw out her hands to him, palms up, in the age-old gesture of appeal and her heart, again, was in her face.
她向他伸出双手，掌心朝上，这是古老的恳求姿势，她的心再次显露在脸上。

“No,” she cried. “All I know is that you do not love me and you are going away! —
“不，”她喊道。 “我只知道你不爱我，你要离开！ —

Oh, my darling, if you go, what shall I do?”
哦，我的宝贝，如果你离开了，我该怎么办？”

For a moment he hesitated as if debating whether a kind lie were kinder in the long run than the truth. Then he shrugged.
他迟疑了片刻，仿佛在权衡着是否说一个善意的谎言在长期看来比直言不讳更善良。然后他耸了耸肩。

“Scarlett, I was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them together and tell myself that the mended whole was as good as new. —
“斯嘉丽，我从不愿意耐心地把破碎的碎片拾起来粘在一起，并告诉自己修复后的整体和全新一样好。 —

What is broken is broken—and I’d rather remember it as it was at its best than mend it and see the broken places as long as I lived. —
破碎了就破碎了，我宁愿记住它在最好的时候，也不愿修补它并一辈子看着那些破损的地方。 —

Perhaps, if I were younger—” he sighed. —
也许，如果我年轻些…”他叹了口气。 —

“But I’m too old to believe in such sentimentalities as clean slates and starting all over. —
“但我年纪太大了，不再相信所谓的重新开始和从零开始的幻想情节了。” —

I’m too old to shoulder the burden of constant lies that go with living in polite disillusionment. —
“我年纪太大了，无法负担起与维持礼貌幻灭生活相关的持续谎言的负担。” —

I couldn’t live with you and lie to you and I certainly couldn’t lie to myself. —
“我不能和你在一起并对你撒谎，当然也不能对自己说谎。” —

I can’t even lie to you now. I wish I could care what you do or where you go, but I can’t.”
“现在我甚至不能对你撒谎。我希望我能关心你做什么或去哪里，但我不能。”

He drew a short breath and said lightly but softly:
他短吸了一口气，轻轻地说道：

“My dear, I don’t give a damn.”
“亲爱的，我一点也不在乎。”

* * * * *

She silently watched him go up the stairs, feeling that she would strangle at the pain in her throat. With the sound of his feet dying away in the upper hall was dying the last thing in the world that mattered. —
她默默地看着他上楼，感觉喉咙里的痛苦仿佛要窒息她。随着他的脚步声逐渐消失在楼上的走廊里，世界上最重要的事情也消失了。 —

She knew now that there was no appeal of emotion or reason which would turn that cool brain from its verdict. —
她现在明白，没有任何情感或理性的呼吁能够使那颗冷静的头脑改变它的裁决。 —

She knew now that he had meant every word he said, lightly though some of them had been spoken. —
她现在明白，他说的每一句话都是真心实意的，尽管某些话语听起来轻描淡写。 —

She knew because she sensed in him something strong, unyielding, implacable—all the qualities she had looked for in Ashley and never found.
她知道，因为她在他身上感受到了一种强大、坚定、不可动摇的东西，这些都是她在阿什利身上一直寻找却从未找到的品质。

She had never understood either of the men she had loved and so she had lost them both. —
她从未真正理解过她爱过的这两个男人，所以她失去了他们两个。 —

Now, she had a fumbling knowledge that, had she ever understood Ashley, she would never have loved him; —
现在，她有一点模糊的认识，如果她曾经真正了解过阿什利，她就永远不会爱他； —

had she ever understood Rhett, she would never have lost him. —
如果她曾经真正了解过瑞特，她就永远不会失去他。 —

She wondered forlornly if she had ever really understood anyone in the world.
她悲伤地想，自己是否真的从未真正理解过世界上的任何人。

There was a merciful dullness in her mind now, a dullness that she knew from long experience would soon give way to sharp pain, even as severed tissues, shocked by the surgeon’s knife, have a brief instant of insensibility before their agony begins.
她现在心中有一种仁慈的麻木感，这种麻木感她很熟悉，她知道麻木感很快就会变成剧痛，就像被外科医生的手术刀割开的组织，在开始痛苦之前有一个短暂的失去感受的瞬间。

“I won’t think of it now,” she thought grimly, summoning up her old charm. —
“我现在不想那个。”她冷酷地想着，唤起她以往的魅力。 —

“I’ll go crazy if I think about losing him now. —
“如果我现在想到失去他，我会疯掉的。 —

I’ll think of it tomorrow.”
我明天再想。”

“But,” cried her heart, casting aside the charm and beginning to ache, “I can’t let him go! —
但是，她的心喊道，抛开魅力开始疼痛，“我不能让他走！” —

There must be some way!”
必有某种方法！

“I won’t think of it now,” she said again, aloud, trying to push her misery to the back of her mind, trying to find some bulwark against the rising tide of pain. —
“我现在不想去想它，”她再次大声说道，试图把痛苦推到脑后，试图找到一种对抗痛苦不断涌起的堡垒。 —

“I’ll—why, I’ll go home to Tara tomorrow,” and her spirits lifted faintly.
“我，我明天会回到塔拉的，”她微微振奋了精神。

She had gone back to Tara once in fear and defeat and she had emerged from its sheltering walls strong and armed for victory. —
她曾一次在恐惧和失败中回到塔拉，但她从那遮蔽的墙内走出时，变得坚强而准备迎接胜利。 —

What she had done once, somehow—please God, she could do again! How, she did not know. —
她曾经做过一次，不知怎么，求上帝，她能再次做到！怎么做，她不知道。 —

She did not want to think of that now. All she wanted was a breathing space in which to hurt, a quiet place to lick her wounds, a haven in which to plan her campaign. —
她现在不想去想那些。她所想要的只是一个喘息的空间来痛苦，一个安静的地方来舔舐她的伤口，一个避难所来计划她的战役。 —

She thought of Tara and it was as if a gentle cool hand were stealing over her heart. —
她想起了塔拉，仿佛一只温柔凉爽的手正在轻轻抚过她的心灵。 —

She could see the white house gleaming welcome to her through the reddening autumn leaves, feel the quiet hush of the country twilight coming down over her like a benediction, feel the dews falling on the acres of green bushes starred with fleecy white, see the raw color of the red earth and the dismal dark beauty of the pines on the rolling hills.
她能透过红叶透视到白房子在她面前闪闪发光，感受到田园黄昏静谧的沉淀，如同一种祝福，感受到露水落在满是蓬松白色星芒的绿灌木丛上，看到红土的原始色彩和山上阴郁而美丽的松树。

She felt vaguely comforted, strengthened by the picture, and some of her hurt and frantic regret was pushed from the top of her mind. —
她感到稍稍安慰，被这个画面所鼓舞，一部分伤害和狂热的懊悔从她脑海的顶端被推开。 —

She stood for a moment remembering small things, the avenue of dark cedars leading to Tara, the banks of cape jessamine bushes, vivid green against the white walls, the fluttering white curtains. —
她站了一会儿，回忆起一些琐碎的事情，黑色雪松林荫道通向塔拉，白墙衬托下鲜绿的焙香丛青摇曳的白色窗帘。 —

And Mammy would be there. Suddenly she wanted Mammy desperately, as she had wanted her when she was a little girl, wanted the broad bosom on which to lay her head, the gnarled black hand on her hair. —
而大妈也会在那里。她突然十分渴望大妈，就像她小时候渴望大妈一样，渴望依靠宽阔的胸怀，头颅倚在那黑木纹的手上。 —

Mammy, the last link with the old days.
大妈，与旧时光的最后一根纽带。

With the spirit of her people who would not know defeat, even when it stared them in the face, she raised her chin. —
带着她人民不知道失败的精神，即使它直视着他们，她仰起了下巴。 —

She could get Rhett back. She knew she could. —
她可以让雷特回来。她知道她可以。 —

There had never been a man she couldn’t get, once she set her mind upon him.
只要她决心追求，没有一个男人可以抗拒她。

“I’ll think of it all tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. —
“我会明天在塔拉上想这一切的。到那时，我可以忍受。” —

Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. —
明天，我会想出办法把他弄回来。 —

After all, tomorrow is another day.”
毕竟，明天又是新的一天。