Chapter 9 Chapter nine

"Take it back, kid!" I yelled that order at Cecil Jacobs, and Jem and I had a rough time after that.I clenched my fist tightly, ready to swing it out.Atticus once warned me that if I hear of me getting into a fight again, it's going to get me down the drain.He said that I had grown up and grown taller, and I shouldn't do such childish things anymore, and the sooner I learned to restrain myself, the better life would be for everyone.I quickly fell on deaf ears. It's all Cecil Jacobs' fault.He was blaspheming on campus the day before yesterday about Scout's dad defending niggers.I denied it, but told Jem about it.

"What does he mean by that?" I asked. "Nothing," said Jem, "ask Atticus and he'll tell you." "Atticus, are you defending niggers?" I asked him that evening. "Of course. Scout, don't call him 'nigger,' it's a slur." "At school, everyone calls it that." "From now on, just subtract one from everyone..." "Why did you send me to school if you didn't want me to grow up talking like that?" My father looked at me gently, with interest shining in his eyes.Although we had reached a compromise, from the first day of school, I played truant in different ways, determined to fight to the end.At the beginning of September last year, I felt uncomfortable, dizzy, and my stomach was a little uncomfortable.The worst part was that I gave Miss Rachel's cook's son a nickel, and rubbed my forehead on his head a few times--because he had a big ringworm there, and it turned out I am not infected.

But at the moment I had other things on my mind. "Atticus, do all lawyers defend niggers—niggers?" "Of course it will, Scout." "Then why did Cecil just say you defended niggers? Listen to him like you're bootlegging." Atticus sighed. "I was just defending a black person—his name was Tom Robinson, and he lived in a small residential area behind the dump in town. He and Calpurnia were in a church, and Calpurnia and their family She said that Tom's family is well-behaved and clean. Scout, you are still young, and there are some things you don't understand, but I want to tell you that people in the town are talking about They all said I shouldn't have tried so hard to defend Tom. This case is special--it won't be in court until the summer. Judge John Taylor was very kind enough to allow us to adjourn..."

"If you're not supposed to defend him, why would you?" "There are several reasons," Atticus said, "most of all, if I don't do this, I won't be able to hold my head up in town, represent the county in council, or even teach you and Jem How to behave." "You mean, if you don't defend the man, Jem and I won't take anything you say seriously?" "That's pretty much what it means." "why?" "Because in that case, I will no longer be able to tell you to obey me. Scooter, in terms of the nature of the work alone, every lawyer will encounter at least one case in his life, which will have a great impact on him. I guess this case is for me. You may hear some people say bad things about it in school, but please do me one thing, if you will - it is high Go ahead, put your fists down. Don't get angry no matter what people say to you. Try to fight with your mind...you have a good mind, although it always resists learning."

"Atticus, are we going to win?" "No play, baby." "Then—why do you still..." "We can't give up trying to win just because we've failed so badly in the past 100 years," Atticus said. "You sound like Uncle Ike," I said.Uncle Ike Finch was the only surviving Confederate veteran in Maycomb County.He sported a General Hood beard and was proud of it.Atticus would take me and Jem to visit him at least once a year, and I'd have to kiss him, and it was a horrible sight.Jem and I listened reverently to Atticus reliving the history of the war with him. "I tell you, Atticus," Uncle Ike would say every time, "The Missouri Compromise beat us, but if I had to go through it all over again, I'd go the same way again, but this time we Gonna give 'em a smack... Time forward to 1864 and 'Stonewall' Jackson is back in the fray - young man, what y'all ask? Oh, 'Old Blue', he's on by then Heaven, may God bless his saintly countenance..."

"Scout, come to me," Atticus called.I climbed onto his lap and put my head against his chin as he wrapped his arms around me and rocked gently back and forth. "It's different this time," he said, "this time we're not fighting the Yankees, we're fighting our friends. But you have to remember, no matter what the bloody enmity is, they're still our friends." , this is still our home.” These words are firmly in my heart.On campus the next day, I said to Cecil Jacobs straight up, "Boy, are you going to take that back?" "See how you make me take it back!" he yelled. "My family says your father is a disgrace and that nigger should be dragged to a water tower and hanged!"

I aimed my fist at him, but then I got another flash of what Atticus had said to me, and dropped my fist and walked away. "Scout is a coward!" the presumptuous cry echoed in my ears.This is the first time I have chosen to walk away from a fight without a big fight. After all, Atticus would be disappointed if I got into a fight with Cecil.Atticus rarely asked Jem or me to do anything for him, and I'd rather be called a coward for his sake.I took Atticus's words to heart this time, and it aroused in me a noble feeling which lasted three weeks.Then, Christmas came, and a disaster struck.

Jem and I have mixed feelings about Christmas.It's like a coin with a Christmas tree and Uncle Jack on one side to look forward to.Every Christmas Eve we met Uncle Jack at the Maycomb train station, and he would stay with us for a week. Flipping the coin the other side reveals the tough, stubborn faces of Aunt Alexandra and Frances. In my opinion, Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Alexandra's husband, should be added, however, he almost never said a word to me, except once asked me to "get off the fence", so I I always thought he could be regarded as air.Aunt Alexandra didn't take him seriously either.In a long-ago outburst of intimacy, the aunt and uncle produced a son named Henry.As soon as Henry was able to live on his own, he left home, married, and produced Francis.Henry and his wife leave Francis at Grandma's house every Christmas and go out to have fun by themselves.

No matter how much we moaned, Atticus couldn't be moved to let us spend Christmas in our own house instead.As far as I can remember, we spent every Christmas at Finch Manor.Luckily my aunt was an excellent cook, which more or less made up for the pain we were forced to spend religious festivals with Francis.He was a year older than me, and I had to avoid him all the time, because he liked everything I hated and had no interest in my innocent games. Aunt Alexandra is Atticus' sister, but since Jem told me stories about babies being smuggled and siblings, I've assumed she was swapped at birth, grandparents It is not the flesh and blood of the Finch family that is brought home, but it is very likely that the surname should be Crawford.Lawyers and judges seem to be obsessed with all kinds of mountain myths, and if I were, I would compare Aunt Alexandra to Mount Everest: she stood there coldly all my childhood .

On Christmas Eve, Uncle Jack jumped off the train, and everyone waited for the porter to bring him two long pieces of luggage.Uncle Jack "pecked" Atticus on the cheek, which Jem and I always thought was hilarious--they were the only men we ever met who kissed each other when they met.Uncle Jack shook Jem's hand, and he hung me high, but not high enough, because he was a good head shorter than Atticus.Uncle Jack was younger than Aunt Alexandra, the youngest child in the family.They look alike, but Uncle Jack plays and uses his face better: we've never been afraid of his pointy nose and chin.

He is an exception to the few men who do science without fear, probably because he is not at all like a doctor.Every time he did minor surgery on me and Jem, like pulling a thorn out of a foot or something, he would tell us exactly how he would do it, how much it would hurt, and explain the various pincers and tweezers he used What are they for.I remember one Christmas, I huddled in a corner, cared for a barbed foot, and refused to let anyone approach me.After Uncle Jack caught me, he started telling stories so hard that I laughed out loud.He was talking about a pastor who hated going to church so much that he simply stood at the door of his house every day, wearing a nightgown, smoking a hookah, and preaching for five minutes to every passer-by who longed for spiritual comfort.I interrupted his joke and asked him to remind me when he pulled out the thorn. He showed me a bloody thorn with tweezers, and said that he had pulled it out while I was overjoyed. He also said that this is the famous theory of relativity. . "What's in this?" I asked, pointing to the two long, flat packages the porter handed him. "None of your business," he replied. Jem asked, "Is Rose Elmer all right?" Rose Elmer was Uncle Jack's cat—a beautiful yellow she-cat who, Uncle Jack said, was one of the very few women he could endure forever.He took a few photographs out of his coat pocket and shared them with us. "She's put on weight," I said. "I think so too. She ate all the fingers and ears thrown away in the hospital." "Gee, that's a damn story," I said. "What did you say?" Atticus put in: "Don't talk to her, Jack. She's testing you. Calpurnia says she's been cursing like this for a week." Uncle Jack raised his eyebrows and said nothing.In addition to my swearing because of the appeal of the words themselves, I was promoting the hopeless theory that if Atticus found out that I learned to be dirty in school, he wouldn't. Will force me to go to school. However, at the dinner table that day, when I asked Uncle Jack to pass me the damned ham, he immediately pointed at me and said, "Come and see me after dinner, miss!" After dinner, Uncle Jack sat down in the living room, patted his thigh, and motioned for me to sit on his lap.I like to smell him, like a bottle of fine wine, with a pleasant aroma.He lifted my bangs up and looked at me seriously. "You're less like your mother and more like Atticus," he said. "You've grown taller and your pants are a little shorter." "I think it's just right." "You're very fond of saying 'damn' and 'damn' these days, don't you?" I say it feels like this. "I don't like it," he said. "Never use those words except in extreme anger. I'm going to live here for a week, and during those few days I don't want to hear them again. Scout, you'll get in trouble if you swear outside. You want to be a lady when you grow up, don't you?" I said I didn't particularly think about it. "Of course you do. Now, let's decorate the tree." We worked till bedtime, and that night I dreamed of the two long parcels he had prepared for Jem and me.The next morning Jem and I rushed to the two packages: it was from Atticus--he had written to Uncle Jack for the present we asked for. "Don't gesticulate in the house." Atticus stopped Jem when he saw Jem aim his gun at a picture on the wall. "You've got to teach them how to shoot," said Uncle Jack. "That's your job," Atticus answered. "I bought them out of sheer compulsion." It was Atticus' courtroom tone that forced us away from the Christmas tree.We asked to go to Finch Manor with our air guns (I was already imagining shooting Francis) and he refused, saying that if we behaved the least bit he would take the guns away and we would never Want to get it again. There is a high steep slope in the Finch Manor, and there is a small pier down three hundred and sixty-six steps.Downriver, further down the steep slope, are the remains of a cotton loading dock where Finch slaves once shipped bales of cotton and produce, unloading ice, flour, sugar, implements, and all manner of things. A wide range of women's clothing.A car-wide road led away from the river and disappeared into the dark woods.At the end of the road is a two-story white house with corridors around the upper and lower floors.This house was built by our ancestor Simon Finch in his later years to please his nagging wife.It was these porches that made the house so different from the average residence of its time.The interior design of the house fully demonstrates Simon's frankness and absolute trust in future generations. Upstairs are six bedrooms, four for his eight daughters, one for his only son, Wellcome Finch, and one for visiting family and friends.It sounds simple enough, but he also managed to have the daughters' bedroom connected by only one staircase, and Wellcome's bedroom and guest room connected by another staircase.The stairs used by the daughters lead down to the parents' bedrooms downstairs, so Simon has a good idea of ​​their comings and goings at night. The kitchen was separated from the rest of the house and connected by a narrow wooden walkway; a rusty clock hung on a post in the backyard, used to call the farm workers or signal for help; "Widow's Terrace", but no widow has ever actually gone up—Simon can stand on it to spy on his foreman, watch the riverboats coming and going, and peep into the lives of other manor owners around him. There was also a legend often told about the house, connected with the Yankees: that one of the Finch daughters, who had just been betrothed, wore all of her wedding dress, fearing it would be snatched away by robbers nearby.As a result, she got stuck at the door leading to the "daughter's stairs" and couldn't move, and finally got soaked with water before breaking free. When we got to Vinci Manor, Aunt Alexandra kissed Uncle Jack, Francis kissed Uncle Jack, and Uncle Jimmy shook hands with Uncle Jack without saying a word.Jem and I gave the present to Francis, who also gave us a present.Jem thought he was grown up, and joined the grown-ups of his own accord, leaving me to play with our nephew.Eight-year-old Francis has his shiny back combed. "What did you get for Christmas?" I asked very politely. "That's what I want," he said.Francis asked for a pair of trousers, a red leather satchel, five shirts, and a loose bow tie. "That's nice," I said insincerely. "Jem and I got an air gun each, and Jem got a chemistry kit..." "A toy gun, I guess." "No, the real one. He's going to make me some invisible ink that I'm going to write to Dill in." Francis asked me what was the use of that. "Oh, how should I put it, imagine the expression on his face when he receives my letter and finds that there is nothing on it? He will definitely go crazy." Talking to Francis made me feel like I was slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean.He's the most boring kid I've ever seen.He lived in Mobile and couldn't go to the school to sue me, so he told Aunt Alexandra everything he knew, and Aunt Alexandra poured out all the stories she had heard. Atticus.Depending on what mood he was in, Atticus either forgot about it or gave me a slap in the face.Only once, however, did I hear Atticus speak to anyone in a harsh tone, and he said, "I've got a hard time with them both, sister." It's about running around outside. Aunt Alexandra was obsessed with what I dressed to the point of fanaticism.In her opinion, if I wear breeches, I don't want to be a lady, there is absolutely no possibility; What the pants do.In Aunt Alexandra's opinion, I should behave gracefully, tinker with the little stove and tea set, and wear the pearl necklace she gave me when I was born, with a bead added to it every year; I realized that I should be a ray of sunshine in my father's lonely life.I expressed my point of view, saying that a person can become sunshine even if he wears pants, but my aunt said that this person’s every move must be like sunshine, and that I was fine when I was born, but it has become more and more year by year outrageous.Her evaluation irritated me greatly, and thinking about her made my teeth itch with hatred.However, I asked Atticus what he thought, and he said we had enough sun in our house and I just minded my own business and didn't have to worry about it.He never paid much attention to my behavior. Christmas dinner started, and I sat at a small table in the dining room, while Jem and Francis joined the grown-ups at the big table—they'd already escalated, and my aunt continued to keep me segregated.I often wondered to myself: What is she worried about me doing something out of the ordinary—getting up and throwing things?Sometimes I would like to ask her if she would give me a chance to sit at the big table with everyone and show her how educated I am; anyway, I eat at my own table every day and never No major accidents occurred.I begged Atticus to use his influence to intercede for me, and he said he had no influence in the matter at all—we were guests, and we sat where she asked us to sit.He also said that Aunt Alexandra didn't know much about girls because she had no daughters. But my aunt's culinary skills more than made up for it: she prepared three different meat dishes, plus her stock of summer vegetables, pickled peaches, two types of cakes and a fruit dessert for a low-key Christmas meal .After dinner the grown-ups went into the living room and sat around wearily; Jem lay on the floor; and I went into the backyard. "Put on your coat," Atticus called to me in a dazed voice, but I pretended not to hear. Francis sat with me on the back steps. "This meal couldn't have been better," I complimented. "Grandma is a great cook," Francis said, "and she's going to teach me." "Boys never cook." I couldn't help giggling as I pictured Jem putting on his apron. "Grandma said that all men should learn to cook, and that men should take good care of their wives, and that they should stand by and serve them when they are unwell," said my nephew. "I don't want Dill serving me," I said, "I'd rather serve him." "Dill?" "Yeah. Don't talk about it yet, but we're going to get married when we're older. He proposed to me this summer." Francis snorted disdainfully. "What's the matter with him?" I asked. "There's nothing wrong with him?" "Is that the little guy you mean? The one Grandma said lived at Miss Rachel's every summer?" "I'm talking about him." "I know everything about him." "What about him?" "Grandma said that he has no home..." "He has a family. He lives in Meridian." "...he was just adopted by relatives in turn, and Miss Rachel took care of him every summer vacation." "Francis, that's not the case!" Francis grinned at me. "Jean Louise, you can be a real fool sometimes. But I guess you can't tell the good from the bad." "What do you mean by that?" "If Uncle Atticus lets you run around with stray dogs, that's his fault, like Granny says, it's not your fault. And if Uncle Atticus sympathizes with niggers , I guess that's not your fault, but I want to tell you that this incident really embarrasses the rest of the family..." "Francis, what the hell do you mean?" "That's what I meant. Granny said he's embarrassing enough for letting you run around outside, and now he's a nigga talker, and we don't have the face to walk down the streets of Maycomb anymore He's ruining the family's reputation bit by bit, that's what he's doing!" Francis stood up and fled along the aisle to the old kitchen at a speed of sprinting 100 meters.After pulling a safe distance away, he yelled again: "He's just a nigger sympathizer and nothing else!" "Bullshit!" I yelled. "I don't know what bullshit you're talking about, but you better shut up, now! Now!" I jumped down the steps, rushed to the aisle, and grabbed Francis by the collar without any effort.I told him to take it back quickly. Francis jerked himself free of me and sprinted into the kitchen, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Nigger sympathizers!" When people are tracking their prey, the most important thing is to be calm and wait for the opportunity.Needless to say, he can't help being curious, and it will come out sooner or later.Francis emerged at the kitchen door. "Jean Louise, are you still mad?" he tentatively asked. "It's a trivial matter, don't mention it," I said. Francis walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway. "Francis, can you take back your words?" I shot too early, Francis scurried into the kitchen again, and I had to retreat to the steps.I have enough patience to wait for him to come out.But I had only been sitting there for about five minutes when I heard Aunt Alexandra ask, "Where did Francis go?" "There he is, in the kitchen." "He knew he shouldn't be playing there." Francis appeared at the door, shouting, "Grandma, she kicked me in, and she won't let me out!" "Jean Louise, what's the matter?" I looked up at Aunt Alexandra. "I didn't drive him in, Auntie, nor did I keep him out." "No, it's her," Frances yelled, "she won't let me out!" "Are you guys messing around?" "Jean Louise is throwing a tantrum at me, Granny," Frances yelled. "Francis, come out now! Jean Louise, if you say one more word, I'll tell your father. And I thought I heard you say 'Damn' just now, didn't I?" "No." "I knew I heard it right, and it's best not to let me hear it again." Aunt Alexandra was a master at eavesdropping.No sooner had she left than Francis poked his head out of the kitchen and said with a grin, "You don't want to play me." He jumped into the yard and kept a certain distance from me. While kicking the tufts of grass with his feet, he turned his head from time to time and looked at me with a smile.Jem appeared on the porch, looked at us both, and walked away again.Francis climbed up the acacia tree, climbed down again, and walked up and down the yard with his hands in his pockets. "Ha!" he suddenly yelled.I asked him who he thought he was, Uncle Jack?Francis said it seemed to him that I had just been reprimanded and that I should just sit there and not make trouble for him. "I'm not messing with you," I said. Francis looked me over carefully, convinced I was giving in, and hummed under his breath, "Nigger sympathizers..." This time I was not soft, I punched his front teeth, and my knuckles were hurt to the bone.My left hand was injured, and I swung my right hand again, but it didn't last long.Uncle Jack clamped my arms to my sides and said sharply, "Don't move!" Aunt Alexandra ran to protect Francis, wiped his tears with a handkerchief, stroked his hair, and patted his cheek.No sooner had Atticus, Jem, and Uncle Jimmy arrived on the back porch than Francis began howling. "Who did it first?" asked Uncle Jack. Francis and I immediately pointed our fingers at each other. "Grandma," he cried bitterly, "she called me a whore and jumped on me and beat me." "Is that true, Scout?" Uncle Jack asked. "I suppose so." Uncle Jack leaned over me, looking exactly like Aunt Alexandra at this moment. "You remember I told you you'd get in trouble if you used those swear words. Didn't I tell you?" "Yes, sir, but..." "Okay, you're in trouble now. Stand still." I was thinking about whether to stand still or slip away. I was indecisive for too long. When I turned around to run away, Uncle Jack moved faster than me. As a result, I was pinned to the ground and there was a little ant in front of me. , struggling to carry bread crumbs in the grass. "I will never talk to you again in my life! I hate you! I despise you! I hope you die tomorrow!" My declaration seemed to anger Uncle Jack even more.I ran to Atticus for some comfort, but he said I did it to myself and we should have gone home long ago.I climbed into the back of the car, didn't say goodbye to anyone, and ran into my room as soon as I got home, slamming the door.Jem tried to comfort me, but I didn't let him speak at all. I checked my injuries and found only seven or eight red marks.I was thinking about the theory of relativity when I heard a knock on the door.I asked who it was, and Uncle Jack answered. "Go away!" Uncle Jack said he'd beat me up if I talked like that again, so I just kept quiet.As soon as he entered the house, I hid in a corner with my back to him. "Scout," he said, "do you still hate me?" "Go on, please, sir." "How should I put it? I didn't expect you to hold a grudge against me," he said. "I'm very disappointed in you—you're getting what you want, and you know it." "Not at all." "Baby, you can't go out and say that other people are..." "You're not fair," I said angrily, "You're not fair." Uncle Jack raised his eyebrows. "Unfair? How is it unfair?" “杰克叔叔，你是个大好人，虽然你揍了我，我还是很爱你，但是你并不怎么理解小孩子。” Uncle Jack looked down at me with his hands on his hips. "Miss Jean Louise, why do you say I don't understand children? You don't need much understanding in your behavior. Noisy, unruly, and swearing..." "Did you give me a chance to explain things clearly? I didn't intend to talk back to you, I just wanted to tell you the whole thing." Uncle Jack sat down on the edge of the bed, his brows furrowed, and a pair of staring eyes peeped out from below. "Speak." He spat out two words. I took a deep breath. "Well, first of all, you never stopped to give me a chance to give my reasons--you scolded me right out of the gate. Whenever Jem and I had an argument, Atticus never just took his word for it. , always listen to what I have to say. Second, you told me that swear words should only be used in extreme anger, and Francis made me so angry that I wanted to punch his head off... ..." Uncle Jack scratched his head. "Scout, what's your reason?" "Francis speaks badly of Atticus, and I can't stand him talking like that." "What did Francis say?" "Called him a nigger sympathizer. I don't really know what that means, but the way Francis talks—I'll say that to your face, Uncle Jack, I'll—I swear to God, I Wouldn't sit here and let him yell at Atticus." "That's what he said about Atticus?" "Yes, sir, he did, and he said a lot of nasty things. Said Atticus was discrediting the family, and letting Jem and me run around..." Judging by the look on Uncle Jack's face, I thought I was going to be unlucky again. "We can't just leave this matter alone." As soon as he said that, I knew that Francis would not be able to eat and leave. "I really want to go tonight." "Please, sir, let this go. Please." "I don't want to let him off the hook," he said. "Alexandra should know about it. When you think of it—wait and see what I do with that boy..." "Uncle Jack, promise me one thing, please, sir, don't tell Atticus all this. He--he asked me not to do anything stupid, no matter what was said about him. I I'd rather let him think we were fighting for another reason. Please..." "But I don't want to take advantage of Francis, he actually said something like that..." "He's got nothing. Can you bandage my hand? It's bleeding a little." "Of course, honey. I'd love to be of service to you. Come with me here, will you?" Uncle Jack bowed and led me into the bathroom in a chivalrous manner.While he cleaned and bandaged my knuckles, he told me a joke to keep me entertained.The story is about a funny, short-sighted old gentleman who has a cat named "Farmer".The old gentleman counted the cracks in the sidewalks every time he came into town. "Well," he said at last, "you will have a very unladylike scar on the finger where you will wear your wedding ring." "Thank you, sir. Uncle Jack?" "What's the matter?" "What's a 'bitch'?" Uncle Jack told me a long, long story about an old Prime Minister: He sat in the House of Commons and blew feathers to the sky every day, trying his best to keep the feathers from falling, but the people around him Been dropping heads all the time.I figured he was trying to answer my question, but the whole bunch of things he said didn't matter at all. That night, when it was time for me to go to bed, I went down the hall to get a drink of water and heard Atticus and Uncle Jack talking in the living room. "Atticus, I never want to get married." "why?" "When you get married, you may have children." Atticus said, "Jack, you have a lot to learn." "I know. Your daughter gave me my first lesson this afternoon. She said I didn't understand children and told me why. She was right. Atticus, she made me understand." What to do with her—oh, my God, I'm so sorry I gave her a hard time." Atticus chuckled. "She asked for it. You don't have to blame yourself." I waited with trepidation for Uncle Jack to tell Atticus what I said to him, but he didn't.He just murmured: "It's a real eye-opener for her swearing, but she doesn't even understand half of it - and she asks me what a 'bitch' is..." "Did you tell her?" "No. I told her a story about the Prime Minister of Melbourne." "Jack! For God's sake, when a child asks you a question, you have to answer it straight, don't gossip, talk about him. Children are only children after all, but they will You are more keenly aware than adults that you are avoiding questions, and avoidance will only confuse them." The father said with a deep thought, "Your response this afternoon is correct, but your reasons are biased. All children will Going through a stage where as they get older, they realize that swearing doesn't make them a star, and they'll get over that. But being short-tempered isn't easy. Scooter has to learn to keep his cool.接下来的几个月里她还会经历很多事情，所以她必须尽快学会冷静面对。当然，她也在成长。杰姆长大了，她现在也能跟着学学样子。她只是在某些时候需要有人推一把。” “阿迪克斯，你从来没有打过她吧。” “我承认。到目前为止，我还能用口头威胁镇住她。杰克，她已经尽力按我说的做了。虽然有一半时间都做不到，但她确实努力了。” “这不是答案。”杰克叔叔说。 “没错。真正的答案是，她心里明白，我知道她在努力。这是至关重要的。我现在烦恼的是，她和杰姆马上就会面对一些丑恶的事情。我不担心杰姆能不能保持冷静，可是斯库特，一旦她的自尊心受挫，她会一看到人家就扑上去打架……” 我还在等着杰克叔叔不信守承诺，把我的话说出来，但他仍然只字未提。 “阿迪克斯，事情会糟糕到什么程度？你还没来得及跟我说说呢。” “糟透了，杰克。我们所掌握的只是一个黑人的证词，跟尤厄尔家的指控截然相反。所谓的证据可以归结为'是你干的'——'不是我干的'。我们不可能指望陪审团相信汤姆· 鲁宾逊指控尤厄尔家的证词——你认识尤厄尔家的人吗？” 杰克叔叔说认识，他还记得这家人。他向阿迪克斯描述了一下他的印象，阿迪克斯说： “你说的那是他们家的上一代。不过，当下这代人也没什么不一样。” “既然如此，你准备怎么办？” “在结案之前，我打算让陪审团的意志产生一点动摇——当然，我们上诉的时候还有机会。在目前阶段，我真的说不好。你知道，我希望自己一辈子都别碰上这种案子，可是泰勒法官指着我说：'就你了。'” “你想躲过这一劫？” “对啊。可是，如果我不站出来，你觉得我还能面对自己的孩子吗？杰克，你跟我一样清楚地知道将要发生什么，我希望，我祈祷，但愿我能带着杰姆和斯库特渡过这道难关，不会经受太多的痛苦，最重要的是，别让他们染上梅科姆的通病。为什么原本通情达理的人，一遇上跟黑人扯上关系的事情，就完全丧失了理智？这种荒谬我无论如何也不能假装理解……我只是希望杰姆和斯库特来向我寻求答案，而不是听镇上的人议论纷纷。我希望他们对我有足够的信任……琼· 露易丝？” 我头皮一紧，乖乖地从角落里探出头来。 "gentlemen?" “快去睡觉。” 我一溜小跑回到自己的房间里，爬上了床。杰克叔叔真是个响当当的君子，没让我失望。可我一直都想不明白，阿迪克斯怎么知道我在偷听？许多年过后我才恍然大悟：他其实想让我听见他说的每一个字。