Home Categories foreign novel tree in brooklyn

Chapter 29 Part Two Chapter Six Saturday Night (2)

tree in brooklyn 贝蒂·史密斯 1314Words 2018-03-21
After the frannies, potatoes, mince pies, and coffee, Neeley went out to meet friends in the street.After dinner, these boys always gathered on the corner of the street, with their hands in their trouser pockets and their backs arched forward, arguing, laughing, pushing, whistling, and dancing together. Moody Donovan came to confess with Francie.Modi is an orphan living with two unmarried aunts who work at home.The two women make a living making shrouds, which are sold by the dozen to coffin shops.They made shrouds with satin fringes: white shrouds for the virgin dead, lilac ones for the young dead just married, purple ones for the middle-aged dead, black ones for the old dead.Modi sometimes brings pieces of cloth.She thought Francie might make something with it.Francie pretended to be happy, but when she put these pieces of cloth away, she was always horrified.

The chapel is filled with cigarettes and candles dripping with wax.The nuns have already placed flowers on the altar.The flowers on the altar of Our Lady are the best.Among the nuns, the Virgin is more popular than Jesus and Joseph.Outside the confessional, people lined up.Girls and guys just want to get this over with as soon as possible so they can get on with the relationship.Father O'Flynn's confessional had the longest line.He is young, friendly, and tolerant, and the hurdle of repentance is easy for him. When Francie arrived, she pushed back the heavy curtain and knelt in the confessional.The priest opened the little door that separated him from the sinner, and crossed himself behind the latticed window, and the ancient mystery shrouded it again.The priest closed his eyes and said something in a low voice in monotonous Latin.Francie smelled incense, candle wax, flowers mixed with the priest's black robe and shaving cream.

"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned..." She was quick to speak out about her sin, and was quick to be forgiven.When she came out, her head was still bowed, next to her crossed hands.She reached the altar and made a curtsy, then knelt by the railing and began to say a prayer of penitence.She counted her prayers by counting the mother-of-pearl rosary in her hand.Modi's life is less complicated and there are fewer sins to confess, so he came out earlier.When Francie came out, she was sitting on the steps waiting. Like other girls in Brooklyn, they walked up and down the street together with their arms around each other's waists.Modi has a penny.She bought an ice cream sandwich and offered Francie a bite.It won't be long before Modi is heading home.Her aunt forbade her to be out on the street after eight o'clock.The two promised to come to confession together next Saturday, and then broke up.

"Don't forget," Moody called to Francie, walking backwards, "this time I'm coming for you, next time it's your turn to call me." "I can't forget it," replied Francie. Francie came home to find a visitor in the front room.The visitors were Aunt Ivy and her husband, Uncle Willie Freetman.Francie likes Aunt Ivy.She looks a lot like her mother.She's also funny, always makes people laugh when she talks, like someone in a show, and she can impersonate anyone in the world. Uncle Freetman brought his guitar.He was playing and everyone was singing.Freetman was thin and dark, with black, smooth hair and a smooth, silky mustache.He doesn't have a middle finger on his right hand, and considering that, he plays the guitar fairly well.When he needed to use his middle finger, he slammed his thumb on the guitar strings instead of his middle finger.So the rhythm of his songs is very strange.When Francie came in, he had just finished playing all the songs at the meeting.Francie came in just in time to hear the last one.

When he was done, he went out and got a mug of beer.Mom gave Aunt Ivy a loaf of semolina and Limburger cheese for a dime.And so they ate sandwiches and drank beer.Once the beer was down, Uncle Freetman began to talk. "Look at me, Kate," he said to his mother, "you see a failure." Aunt Ivy rolled her eyes, sighed, and pursed her lower lip. "The kids look down on me," he said, "and my wife says I'm useless, and even the horse that pulls the milk cart, the drummer, bullies me. Do you know what it did to me one day?"
Press "Left Key ←" to return to the previous chapter; Press "Right Key →" to enter the next chapter; Press "Space Bar" to scroll down.
Chapters
Chapters
Setting
Setting
Add
Return
Book