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1、ARoseforEmilyIWhenMissEmilyGriersondied,ourwholetownwenttoherfuneral:thementhroughasortofrespectfulaffectionforafallenmonument,thewomenmostlyoutofcuriositytoseetheinsideofherhouse,whichnoonesaveanoldman-servant—acombinedgardenerandcook—hadseeninatleasttenyears.愛米麗·格利爾遜小姐走了,全鎮(zhèn)的人都去送葬:男人們是出于
2、敬慕之情,因為一座豐碑倒塌了;女人們大多出于好奇之心,都想到愛米麗屋里看個究竟。除了一個園丁兼廚師的上了年紀的男仆外,至少已經(jīng)十年都沒有人進去看過了。Itwasabig,squarishframehousethathadoncebeenwhite,decoratedwithcupolasandspiresandscrolledbalconiesintheheavilylightsomestyleoftheseventies,setonwhathadoncebeenourmostselectstreet.Butgaragesandcottonginshadencroache
3、dandobliteratedeventheaugustnamesofthatneighborhood;onlyMissEmily’shousewasleft,liftingitsstubbornandcoquettishdecayabovethecottonwagonsandthegasolinepumps—aneyesoreamongeyesores.AndnowMissEmilyhadgonetojointherepresentativesofthoseaugustnameswheretheylayinthecedar-bemusedcemeteryamongthe
4、rankedandanonymousgravesofUnionandConfederatesoldierswhofellatthebattleofJefferson.那是一幢曾經(jīng)漆成白色的方形大木屋,圓圓的頂閣,尖尖的塔頂,渦形花紋的陽臺,盡顯出濃濃的七十年代輕松愉快的風格。房屋所在的街道曾經(jīng)是全鎮(zhèn)最為繁華之地。但這里早已被附近的汽修廠和扎棉機侵占了,就連那些莊嚴的名字也被吞噬得一干二凈;巋然不動的,只有愛米麗小姐的房子,雖有破敗之勢,卻依然顯得執(zhí)拗不訓(xùn),風韻猶存,與周圍的四輪棉花車和汽油泵一樣,太過礙眼了。如今愛米麗小姐也進入了那些具有代表性的莊嚴的名字行列之中,他們長
5、眠在雪松環(huán)擁的墓地里,那是南北戰(zhàn)爭時期杰斐遜戰(zhàn)役中陣亡的軍人之墓,有的是南方軍人,有的是北方士兵;有的是高職位,有的是無名氏。Alive,MissEmilyhadbeenatradition,aduty,andacare;asortofhereditaryobligationuponthetown,datingfromthatdayin1894whenColonelSartoris,themayor—hewhofatheredtheedictthatnoNegrowomanshouldappearonthestreetswithoutanapron—remittedher
6、taxes,thedispensationdatingfromthedeathofherfatheronintoperpetuity.NotthatMissEmilywouldhaveacceptedcharity.ColonelSartorisinventedaninvolvedtaletotheeffectthatMissEmily’sfatherhadloanedmoneytothetown,whichthetown,asamatterofbusiness,preferredthiswayofrepaying.OnlyamanofColonelSartoris’ge
7、nerationandthoughtcouldhaveinventedit,andonlyawomancouldhavebelievedit.生前,愛米麗小姐代表著一個傳統(tǒng)、一種職責;她既是人們關(guān)注的目標,也是全鎮(zhèn)傳承下來對她應(yīng)盡的義務(wù),這種義務(wù)是從一八九四年開始的,當時的鎮(zhèn)長薩特里斯上?!€頒布了一道命令:嚴禁黑人婦女不系圍裙上街——豁免了她各種稅款;這種特惠政策從她父親去世之日開始,一直到她不在人世之時為止。這并不是說愛米麗愛占人們的便宜,而是薩特里斯上校編造了一套不清不楚的瞎話,說什么愛米麗的父親曾貸款給鎮(zhèn)政府,而鎮(zhèn)政