The-Pearl.doc

(完整版)The PearlThe PearlJohn SteinbeckChapter 1 Kino awakened in the near dark。 The stars still shone and the day haddrawn only a pale wash of light in the lower sky to the east。 Theroosters had been crowing for some time, and the early pigs werealready beginning their ceaseless turning of twigs and bits of wood tosee whether anything to eat had been overlooked。 Outside the brushhouse in the tuna clump， a covey of little birds chittered and flurriedwith their wings。 Kinos eyes opened, and he looked first at the lightening square whichwas the door and then he looked at the hanging box where Coyotitoslept. And last he turned his head to Juana, his wife, who lay besidehim on the mat， her blue head shawl over her nose and over her breastsand around the small of her back. Juanas eyes were open too。 Kinocould never remember seeing them closed when he awakened. Her dark eyesmade little reflected stars. She was looking at him as she was alwayslooking at him when he awakened。 Kino heard the little splash of morning waves on the beach. It was verygood Kino closed his eyes again to listen to his music. Perhaps healone did this and perhaps all of his people did it。 His people hadonce been great makers of songs so that everything they saw or thoughtor did or heard became a song。 That was very long ago。 The songsremained； Kino knew them, but no new songs were added。 That does notmean that there were no personal songs. In Kinos head there was a songnow， clear and soft， and if he had been able to speak of it， he wouldhave called it the Song of the Family. His blanket was over his nose to protect him from the dank air. Hiseyes flicked to a rustle beside him. It was Juana arising, almostsoundlessly. On her hard bare feet she went to the hanging box whereCoyotito slept, and she leaned over and said a little reassuring word。Coyotito looked up for a moment and closed his eyes and slept again。Juana went to the fire pit and uncovered a coal and fanned it alivewhile she broke little piesh over it. Now Kino got up and wrapped his blanket about his head and nose andshoulders。 He slipped his feet into his sandals and went outside towatch the dawn。 Outside the door he squatted down and gathered the blanket ends abouthis knees。 He saw the specks of Gulf clouds flame high in the air。 Anda goat came near and sniffed at him and stared with its cold yelloweyes. Behind him Juanas fire leaped into flame and threw spears oflight through the chinks of the brushhouse wall and threw a waveringsquare of light out the door。 A late moth blustered in to find thefire。 The Song of the Family came now from behind Kino. And the rhythmof the family song was the grinding stone where Juana worked the cornfor the morning cakes。 The dawn came quickly now, a wash， a glow， a lightness, and then anexplosion of fire as the sun arose out of the Gulf。 Kino looked down tocover his eyes from the glare。 He could hear the pat of the corncakesin the house and the rich smell of them on the cooking plate。 The antswere busy on the ground， big black ones with shiny bodies， and littledusty quick ants. Kino watched with the detachment of God while a dustyant frantically tried to escape the sand trap an ant lion had dug forhim。 A thin, timid dog came close and， at a soft word from Kino, curledup, arranged its tail neatly over its feet, and laid its chindelicately on the pile. It was a black dog with yellowgold spots whereits eyebrows should have been。 It was a morning like other mornings andyet perfect among mornings. Kino heard the creak of the rope when Juana took Coyotito out of hishanging box and cleaned him and hammocked him in her shawl in a loopthat placed him close to her breast. Kino could see these thingswithout looking at them. Juana sang softly an ancient song that hadonly three notes and yet endless variety of interval. And this was partof the family song too. It was all part。 Sometimes it rose to an achingchord that caught the throat， saying this is safety， this is warmth,this is the Whole. Across the brush fence were other brush houses， and the smoke came fromthem too， and the sound of breakfast, but those were other songs, theirpigs were other pigs, their wives were not Juana. Kino was young andstrong and his black hair hung over his brown forehead. His eyes werewarm and fierce and bright and his mustache was thin and coarse. Helowered his blanket from his nose now, for the dark poisonous air wasgone and the yellow sunlight fell on the house. Near the brush fencetwo roosters bowed and feinted at each other with squared wings andneck feathers ruffed out. It would be a clumsy fight。 They were notgame chickens。 Kino watched them for a moment, and then his eyes wentup to a flight of wild doves twinkling inland to the hills. The worldwas awake now， and Kino arose and went into his brush house。 As he came through the door Juana stood up from the glowing fire pit。She put Coyotito back in his hanging box and then she combed her blackhair and braided it in two braids and tied the ends with thin greenribbon。 Kino squatted by the fire pit and rolled a hot corncake anddipped it in sauce and ate it。 And he drank a little pulque and thatwas breakfast. That was the only breakfast he had ever known outside offeast days and one incredible fiesta on cookies that had nearly killedhim。 When Kino had finished, Juana came back to the fire and ate herbreakfast. They had spoken once, but there is not need for speech if itis only a habit anyway。 Kino sighed with satisfaction and that wasconversation。 The sun was warming the brush house, breaking through its crevices inlong streaks。 And one of the streaks fell on the hanging box whereCoyotito lay， and on the ropes that held it。 It was a tiny movementthat drew their eyes to the hanging box. Kino and Juana froze in theirpositions. Down the rope that hung the babys box from the roof supporta scorpion moved slowly。 His stinging tail was straight out behind him，but he could whip it up in a flash of time。 Kinos breath whistled in his nostrils and he opened his mouth to stopit. And then the startled look was gone from him and the rigidity fromhis body。 In his mind a new song had come， the Song of Evil, the musicof the enemy, of any foe of the family， a savage， secret， dangerousmelody， and underneath， the Song of the Family cried plaintively.The scorpion moved delicately down the rope toward the box. Under herbreath Juana repeated an ancient magic to guard against such evil， andon top of that she muttered a Hail Mary between clenched teeth. ButKino was in motion. His body glided quietly across the room,noiselessly and smoothly。 His hands were in front of him, palms down，and his eyes were on the scorpion。 Beneath it in the hanging boxCoyotito laughed and reached up his hand toward it. It sensed dangerwhen Kino was almost within reach of it. It stopped， and its tail roseup over its back in little jerks and the curved thorn on the tails endglistened。 Kino stood perfectly still. He could hear Juana whispering the oldmagic again, and he could hear the evil music of the enemy. He couldnot move until the scorpion moved, and it felt for the source of thedeath that was coming to it。 Kinos hand went forward very slowly, verysmoothly。 The thorned tail jerked upright. And at that moment thelaughing Coyotito shook the rope and the scorpion fell。 Kinos hand leaped to catch it, but it fell past his fingers, fell onthe babys shoulder, landed and struck. Then， snarling, Kino had it,had it in his fingers, rubbing it to a paste in his hands. He threw itdown and beat it into the earth floor with his fist， and Coyotitoscreamed with pain in his box。 But Kino beat and stamped the enemyuntil it was only a fragment and a moist place in the dirt. His teethwere bared and fury flared in his eyes and the Song of the Enemy roaredin his ears. But Juana had the baby in her arms now。 She found the puncture withredness starting from it already。 She put her lips down over thepuncture and sucked hard and spat and sucked again while Coyotitoscreamed. Kino hovered; he was helpless， he was in the way。 The screams of the baby brought the neighbors. Out of their brushhouses they poured- Kinos brother Juan Tomas and his fat wife Apoloniaand their four children crowded in the door and blocked the entrance,while behind them others tried to look in, and one small boy crawledamong legs to have a look. And those in front passed the word back tothose behind- ”Scorpion. The baby has been stung.” Juana stopped sucking the puncture for a moment. The little hole wasslightly enlarged and its edges whitened from the sucking， but the redswelling extended farther around it in a hard lymphatic mound。 And allof these people knew about the scorpion. An adult might be very illfrom the sting, but a baby could easily die from the poison. First,they knew, would come swelling and fever and tightened throat, and thencramps in the stomach, and then Coyotito might die if enough of thepoison had gone in. But the stinging pain of the bite was going away。Coyotitos screams turned to moans. Kino had wondered often at the iron in his patient， fragile wife。 She，who was obedient and respectful and cheerful and patient, she couldarch her back in child pain with hardly a cry。 She could stand fatigueand hunger almost better than Kino himself. In the canoe she was like astrong man。 And now she did a most surprising thing。 ”The doctor， she said。 ”Go to get the doctor。 The word was passed out among the neighbors where they stood closepacked in the little yard behind the brush fence。 And they repeatedamong themselves， Juana wants the doctor。 A wonderful thing, amemorable thing， to want the doctor. To get him would be a remarkablething。 The doctor never came to the cluster of brush houses。 Why shouldhe， when he had more than he could do to take care of the rich peoplewho lived in the stone and plaster houses of the town. ”He would not come, the people in the yard said。 He would not come, the people in the door said， and the thought gotinto Kino. The doctor would not come,” Kino said to Juana. She looked up at him, her eyes as cold as the eyes of a lioness. Thiswas Juanas first baby this was nearly everything there was in Juanasworld. And Kino saw her determination and the music of the familysounded in his head with a steely tone. Then we will go to him，” Juana said, and with one hand she arrangedher dark blue shawl over her head and made of one end of it a sling tohold the moaning baby and made of the other end of it a shade over hiseyes to protect him from the light. The people in the door pushedagainst those behind to let her through。 Kino followed her. They wentout of the gate to the rutted path and the neighbors followed them。 The thing had become a neighborhood affair. They made a quick softfooted procession into the center of the town， first Juana and Kino,and behind them Juan Tomas and Apolonia, her big stomach jiggling withthe strenuous pace, then all the neighbors with the children trottingon the flanks。 And the yellow sun threw their black shadows ahead ofthem so that they walked on their own shadows。 They came to the place where the brush houses stopped and the city ofstone and plaster began, the city of harsh outer walls and inner coolgardens where a little water played and the bougainvillaea crusted thewalls with purple and brickred and white. They heard from the secretgardens the singing of caged birds and heard the splash of coolingwater on hot flagstones. The procession crossed the blinding plaza andpassed in front of the church。 It had grown now， and on the outskirtsthe hurrying newcomers were being softly informed how the baby had beenstung by a scorpion， how the father and mother were taking it to thedoctor。 And the newcomers， particularly the beggars from the front of thechurch who were great experts in financial analysis, looked quickly atJuanas old blue skirt, saw the tears in her shawl， appraised the greenribbon on her braids， read the age of Kinos blanket and the thousandwashings of his clothes, and set them down as poverty people and wentalong to see what kind of drama might develop。 The four beggars infront of the church knew everything in the town。 They were students ofthe expressions of young women as they went in to confession, and theysaw them as they came out and read the nature of the sin。 They knewevery little scandal and some very big crimes. They slept at theirposts in the shadow of the church so that no one crept in forconsolation without their knowledge. And they knew the doctor。 Theyknew his ignorance， his cruelty, his avarice, his appetites， his sins. They knew his clumsy abortions and the little brown pennies he gavesparingly for alms。 They had seen his corpses go into the church。 And，since early Mass was over and business was slow， they followed theprocession， these endless searchers after perfect knowledge of theirfellow men， to see what the fat lazy doctor would do about an indigentbaby with a scorpion bite. The scurrying procession came at last to the big gate in the wall ofthe doctors house. They could hear the splashing water and the singingof caged birds and the sweep of the long brooms on the flagstones. Andthey could smell the frying of good bacon from the doctors house. Kino hesitated a moment。 This doctor was not of his people。 This doctorwas of a race which for nearly four hundred years had beaten andstarved and robbed and despised Kinos race， and frightened it too, sothat the indigene came humbly to the door。 And as always when he camenear to one of this race， Kino felt weak and afraid and angry at thesame time. Rage and terror went together. He could kill the doctor moreeasily than he could talk to him， for all of the doctors race spoke toall of Kinos race as though they were simple animals. And as Kinoraised his right hand to the iron ring knocker in the gate, rageswelled in him, and the pounding music of the enemy beat in his ears,and his lips drew tight against his teeth- but with his left hand hereached to take off his hat. The iron ring pounded against the gate. Kino took off his hat and stood waiting。 Coyotito moaned a little inJuanas arms， and she spoke softly to him。 The procession crowded closethe better to see and hear。 After a moment the big gate opened a few inches. Kino could see thegreen coolness of the garden and little splashing fountain through theopening. The man who looked out at him was one of his own race. Kinospoke to him in the old lan