Introduction：Colonel Sartoris Snopes belonged to a“poor white”family in American south。He was summoned to attest at the court where his father was chargedwith arson。Being caught between love for family and truth，he was at loss，as every teenager would。
1 The store in which the Justice of the Peace’s court was sitting smelled of cheese。The boy，crouched on his nail keg at theback of the crowded room，knew he smelled cheese，and more：from where he sat he could see the ranked shelves close-packed with the solid，squat，dynamic shapes of tin cans whose labels his stomach read，not from the lettering which meant nothing to his mind but from thescarlet devils and the silver curve of fish—this，the cheese which he knew hesmelled and the hermetic meat which his intestines believed he smelled ing in intermittent gusts momentary and brief between the other constant one，the smell and sense just a little of fear because mostly of despair and grief，the oldfierce pull of blood。He could not see the table where the Justice sat and before which his father and his father’s enemy（our enemy he thought in that despairourn！mine and his both！He’s my father！）stood，but he could hear them，thetwo of them that is，because his father had said no word yet：
評注：第1-14段描寫了庭審的過程，其中第1、7、10三段很好地挖掘了男孩的內心，淋漓盡致地表現了他被困在對家人的愛和社會道德之間的困境，涉世未深而無法選擇的無力感。
2 “But what proof have you，Mr。Harris？”
3 “I told you。The hog got into my corn。I caught it up and sent it back to him。He had no fence that would hold it。I told him so，warned him。The next timeI put the hog in my pen。When he came to get it I gave him enough wire to patchup his pen。The next time I put the hog up and kept it。I rode down to his house and saw the wire I gave him still rolled on to the spool in his yard。I told him he could have the hog when he paid me a dollar pound fee。That evening a nigger came with the dollar and got the hog。He was a strange nigger。He said，‘He say to tell you wood and hay kin burn。’I said，‘What？’‘Thatwhut he say to tellyou，’the nigger said。‘Wood and hay kin burn。’That night my barn burned。Igot the stock out but I lost the barn。”
4 “Where is the nigger？Have you got him？”
5 “He was a strange nigger，I tell you。I don’t know what became of him。”
sit the court：坐堂問案
crouch：v。蜷著，縮著
keg：n。圓木桶
squat：adj。粗胖的，矮胖的
dynamic：adj。有活力的
hermetic：adj。密封的
intestine：n。腸
intermittent：adj。斷斷續續的
gust：n。一陣風
momentary：adj。短暫的，轉瞬即逝的
hog：n。公豬
pen：n。豬圈
patch up：修補
spool：n。卷軸
hay：n。幹草。作者模仿了黑人英語的發音和語法，使之更符合角色身份，“kin”就是“can”，“whut”就是“what”
stock：n。家畜
6 “But that’s not proof。Don’t you see that’s not proof？”
7 “Get that boy up here。He knows。”For a moment the boy thought too that theman meant his older brother until Harris said，“Not him。The little one。The boy，”and，crouching，small for his age，small and wiry like his father，in patched and faded jeans even too small for him，with straight，unbed，brown hair and eyes gray and wild as storm scud，he saw the men between himself and the tablepart and bee a lane of grim faces，at the end of which he saw the Justice，ashabby，collarless，graying man in spectacles，beckoning him。He felt no floor under his bare feethe seemed to walk beneath the palpable weight of the grim turning faces。His father，stiff in his black Sunday coat donned not for the trial but for the moving，did not even look at him。He aims for me to lie，he thought，again with that frantic grief and despair。And I will have todo hit。
8 “What’s your name，boy？”the Justice said。
9 “Colonel Sartoris Snopes，”the boy whispered。
評注：Sartoris在福克納的約克納帕塔法世係裏是戰前的高貴家族，老沙托裏斯曾在南北戰爭中擔任上校一職。而Snopes則是美國南方窮白人的代表。在後文中我們也可以了解到男孩的父親曾參加過南北戰爭，據說還在沙托裏斯的手下服役。從男孩的名字以及文後的細節我們可以看出父親對於南方貴族矛盾的態度，以及戰爭無處不在的影響。
10 “Hey？”the Justice said。“Talk louder。Colonel Sartoris？I reckon anybody named for Colonel Sartoris in this country can’t help but tell the truth，can they？”The boy said nothing。Enemy！Enemy！he thoughtfor a moment he could not even see，could not see that the Justice’s face was kindly nor discern that his voice was troubled when he spoke to the man named Harris：“Do you want me to question this boy？”But he could hear，and during those subsequent long seconds while there was absolutely no sound in the crowded little room save that of quiet and intent breathing it was as if he had swung outward at the end of a grape vine，over a ravine，and at the top of the swing had been caught in aprolonged instant of mesmerized gravity，weightless in time。
wiry：adj。（人）瘦而結實的
patched：adj。打補丁的
scud：v。（雲）飄過
shabby：adj。衣著破爛的
spectacles：n。眼鏡
beckon：v。召喚
palpable：adj。可觸知的
don：v。（正式）戴上帽子，穿上衣服
frantic：adj。發狂的
Colonel：n。上校。
discern：v。辨別
subsequent：adj。隨後的
ravine：n。峽穀
prolonged：adj。拉長的，延長的
mesmerize：v。吸引，迷惑
mesmerized：adj。使著迷的
11 “No！”Harris said violently，explosively。“Damnation！Send him out of here！”Now time，the fluid world，rushed beneath him again，the voices ing to himagain through the smell of cheese and sealed meat，the fear anddespair and theold grief of blood：
12 “This case is closed。I can’t find against you，Snopes，but I can give you advice。Leave this country and don’t e back to it。”
13 His father spoke for the first time，his voice cold and harsh，level，without emphasis：“I aim to。I don’t figure to stay in a country among people who。。。”he said something unprintable and vile，addressed to no one。
14 “That’ll do，”the Justice said。“Take your wagon and get out ofthis country before dark。Case dismissed。”
評注：從15段起作者開始逐步揭示父親在戰爭中的經曆。同時還要注意的是與塵土相關的意象，它往往和死亡有關。
15 His father turned，and he followed the stiff black coat，the wiry figure walking a little stiffly from where a Confederate provost’s man’s musket ball hadtaken him in the heel on a stolen horse thirty years ago，followed the two backs now，since his older brother had appeared from somewhere in the crowd，no taller than the father but thicker，chewing tobacco steadily，between the two lines of grim-faced men and out of the store and across the worn gallery and down the sagging steps and among the dogs and half-grown boys in the mild May dust，where as he passed a voice hissed：
damnation：（過時）該死（用於表示憤怒或厭惡）
fluid：adj。不固定的，可改變的
level：adj。平靜的
unprintable：adj。（俗語）因粗俗而駭人聽聞的
vile：adj。惡毒的
Confederate：n。這裏指美國內戰中的南方盟軍
provost：n。憲兵
musket：n。毛瑟槍
sag：v。下陷，下降
May dust：塵土的意象往往和死亡相關。《聖經》中說“塵歸塵，土歸土”（Ashes to ashes，Dust to dust）
hiss：v。發出嘶嘶聲
16 “Barn burner！”
17 Again he could not see，whirlingthere was a face in a red haze，moonlike，bigger than the full moon，the owner of it half again its size，he leaping in the red haze toward the face，feeling no blow，feeling no shock when his head struck the earth，scrabbling up and leaping again，feeling no blowthis time either and tasting no blood，scrabbling up to see the other boy in full flight and himself already leaping into pursuit as his father’s hand jerked him back，the harsh，cold voice speaking above him：“Go get in the wagon。”
評注：18段中的鍾表有深刻的象征意義，而鍾的指針都停擺也有其象征意義，代表了身陷在過去不能自拔，無法麵對現實的父親以及美國南方。父親的時間停留在內戰時期，因此無法用和平的方法解決問題，所有的思維方式依舊停留在戰爭時燒殺劫掠、肆意破壞上。
18 It stood in a grove of locusts and mulberries across the road。His two hulking sisters in their Sunday dresses and his mother and her sister in calico andsunbonnets were already in it，sitting on and among the sorry residue of the dozen and more movings which even the boy could remember—the battered stove，the broken beds and chairs，the clock inlaid with mother-of-pearl，which would not run，stopped at some fourteen minutes past two o’clock of a dead and forgotten dayand time，which had been his mother’s dowry。She was crying，though when she saw him she drew her sleeve across her face and began to descend from the wagon。“Get back，”the father said。
whirl：v。暈眩
haze：n。煙霧
scrabble：v。用手指在一堆物品中快速翻找，scrabble up 在這裏指從地上掙紮著爬起
grove：n。叢林
locust：n。刺槐
mulberry：n。桑葚
hulking：adj。大而笨拙的
calico：n。印花棉布
sunbonnet：n。遮陽女帽
sorry：adj。可憐的，可悲的
residue：n。殘餘，殘留
battered：adj。破破爛爛的
inlaid：adj。鑲嵌的
mother-of-pearl：n。珍珠母，貝殼
dowry：n。嫁妝
descend：v。下降，從……下來
19 “He’s hurt。I got to get some water and wash his。。。”
20 His older brother had appeared from somewhere in the crowd，no taller than the father but thicker，chewing tobacco steadily，
21 “Get back in the wagon，”his father said。He got in too，over the tail-gate。His father mounted to the seat where the older brother already sat and struckthe gaunt mules two savage blows with the peeled willow，but without heat。It was not even sadisticit was exactly that same quality which in later years would cause his descendants to over run the engine before putting a motor car into motion，striking and reining back in the same movement。The wagon went on，the store with its quiet crowd of grimly watching men dropped behinda curve in the road hid it。Forever he thought。Maybe he’s done satisfied now，now that he has。。。stopping himself，not to say it aloud even to himself。His mother’s hand touched his shoulder。
22 “Does hit hurt？”she said。
23 “Naw，”he said。“Hit don’t hurt。Lemme be。”
24 “Can’t you wipe some of the blood off before hit dries？”
25 “I’ll wash to-night，”he said。“Lemme be，I tell you。”。
26 The wagon went on。He did not know where they were going。None of them ever did or ever asked，because it was always somewhere，always a house of sorts waiting for them a day or two days or even three days away。Likely his father had already arranged to make a crop on another farm before he。。。Again he had to stop himself。He（the father）always did。There was something about his wolf-like independence and even courage when the advantage was at least neutral which impressed strangers，as if they got from his latent ravening ferocity not so much a sense of dependability as a feeling that his ferocious conviction in the rightnessof his own actions would be of advantage to all whose interest lay with his。
評注：火是貫穿本文的一個中心意向，象征意義豐富。父親在取暖時不願意生火勢過旺的火，而報複時卻毫不吝嗇。同時，作者在形容父親時重複使用“without heat，cold”等詞語也和火這一意象密切相關。
27 That night they camped，in a grove of oaks and beeches where a spring ran。The nights were still cool and they had a fire against it，of a rail lifted froma nearby fence and cut into lengths—a small fire，neat，niggard almost，a shrewd firesuch fires were his father’s habit and custom always，even in freezingweather。Older，the boy might have remarked this and wondered why not a big onewhy should not a man who had not only seen the waste and extravagance of war，but who had in his blood an inherent voracious prodigality with material not his own，have burned everything in sight？Then he might have gone a step farther andthought that that was the reason：that niggard blaze was the living fruit of nights passed during those four years in the woods hiding from all men，blue or gray，with his strings of horses（captured horses，he called them）。And older still，he might have divined the true reason：that the element of fire spoke to somedeep mainspring of his father’s being，as the element of steelor of powder spoke to other men，as the one weapon for the preservation of integrity，else breath were not worth the breathing，and hence to be regarded with respect and used with discretion。
gaunt：adj。瘦削的
willow：n。柳條
sadistic：adj。施虐狂的
descendent：n。後代
put something into motion：發動
latent：adj。潛在的，潛伏的
ravening：adj。（動物）餓極了的
ferocity：n。凶殘，形容詞為ferocious
conviction：n。確信
beech：n。山毛櫸
niggard：adj。小氣的，吝嗇的
shrewd：adj。精明的
extravagance：n。豪華，鋪張
inherent：adj。先天的，與生俱來的
voracious：adj。貪婪的
prodigality：n。奢侈
blue or gray：藍色和灰色分別指代美國南北戰爭中北方軍隊和南方軍隊的製服顏色。
divine：v。發現，猜出
mainspring：n。主要原因，主要影響
integrity：n。正直，剛正不阿
discretion：謹慎，慎重
28 But he did not think this now and he had seen those same niggard blazes all his life。He merely ate his supper beside it and was already half asleep over his iron plate when his father called him，and once more he followed the stiff back，the stiff and ruthless limp，up the slope and on to the starlit road where，turning，he could see his father against the stars but without face or depth—ashape black，flat，and bloodless as though cut from tin in the iron folds ofthe frockcoat which had not been made for him，the voice harsh like tin and without hear like tin：
29 “You were fixing to tell them。You would have told him。”He didn’t answer。His father struck him with the flat of his hand on the side of the head，hard but without heat，exactly as he had struck the two mules at the store，exactly ashe would strike either of them with any stick in order to kill a horse fly，hisvoice still without fear or anger：“You’re getting to be a man。You got to learn。You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you。Do you think either of them，any man there this morning would？Don’t you know all they wanted was a chance to get at me because they knew Ihad them beat？Eh？”Later，twenty years later，he was to tell himself，“If I had said they wanted only truth，justice，he would have hit me again。”But now hesaid nothing。He was not crying。He just stood there。“Answer me，”his father said。
30 “Yes，”he whispered。His father turned。
31 “Get on to bed。We’ll be there tomorrow。”
32 Tomorrow they were there。In the early afternoon the wagon stopped beforea paintless two-room house identical almost with the dozen others it had stopped before even in the boy’s ten years，and again，as on the other dozen occasions，his mother and aunt got down and began to unload the wagon，although his two sisters and his father and brother had not moved。
33 “Likely hit ain’t fitten for hawgs，”one of the sisters said。
34 “Nevertheless，fit it will and you’ll hog it and like it，”his father said。“Get out of them chairs and help your Ma unload。”
35 The two sisters got down，big，bovine，in a flutter of cheap ribbonsone of them drew from the jumbled wagon bed a battered lantern，the other a worn broom。His father handed the reins to the older son and began to climb stiffly overthe wheel。“When they get unloaded，take the team to the barn and feed them。”Then he said，and at first the boy thought he was still speaking to his brother：“Come with me。”
ruthless：adj。冷酷的，無情的
frockcoat：n。男式長禮服
be fixing to do something：正準備做某事
flat：n。這裏指掌心
bovine：adj。緩慢的，遲鈍的
flutter：n。飄動，擺動
jumbled：adj。雜亂的
36 “Me？”he said。
37 “Yes，”his father said。“You。”
38 “Abner，”his mother said。His father paused and looked back—the harsh level stare beneath the shaggy，graying，irascible brows。
39 “I reckon I’ll have a word with the man that aims to begin to-morrow owning me body and soul for the next eight months。”
40 They went back up the road。A week ago—or before last night，that is—he would have asked where they were going，but not now。His father had struck himbefore last night but never before had he paused afterward to explain whyit was as if the blow and the following calm，outrageous voice stillrang，repercussed，divulging nothing to him save the terrible handicap of being young，the light weight of his few years，just heavy enough to prevent his soaring free of the world as it seemed to be ordered but not heavy enough to keep him footed solid in it，to resist it and try to change the course of its events。
41 Presently he could see the grove of oaks and cedars and the other floweringtrees and shrubs，where the house would be，though not the houseyet。They walked beside a fence massed with honeysuckle and Cherokee roses and came to a gate swinging open between two brick pillars，and now，beyond a sweep of drive，he sawthe house for the first time and at that instant he forgot his father and the terror and despair both，and even when he remembered his father again（who had not stopped）the terror and despair did not return。Because，for all the twelve movings，they had sojourned until now in a poor country，a land ofsmall farms andfields and houses，and he had never seen a house like this before。