〈接续〉

她想说“如果你得不到你想要的男人”。对待他奉送的礼物，斯佳丽显出轻蔑的态度，这可把杰拉尔德惹恼了。因为除了埃伦，这是他在世上最热爱的东西，于是他忍不住吼叫起来。

“你在这儿，斯佳丽·奥哈拉，就是要告诉我，塔拉——这土地——值不了什么吗？”

斯佳丽倔强地点了点头。她心里过于痛苦，已经不在乎会不会惹爸爸生气了。

“难道我为此感到过羞耻吗？没有，我为此感到骄傲。别忘了，你是半个爱尔兰人，小姐！每一个有一丝爱尔兰血统的人，都会把供养他生活的土地看作他的母亲。我现在真替你害臊。我拿世上最美的土地给你——除了老家米斯郡的土地——可你怎么着？居然不屑一顾！”

“这世上就数土地有价值。”他喊道，气得把两条又粗又短的胳膊在空中乱摆，“只有土地能长久，你要记住！只有土地值得人为它努力、为它奋斗——为它献身。”

“哦，爸爸，”她反感地说，“你这话说得真像个爱尔兰人。”

杰拉尔德越说越来气，骂得来了劲，可是见斯佳丽愁眉苦脸，他觉察出了什么，便停了下来。www.medabc.com.cn 江南文学网

“不过，你还年轻，会慢慢爱上这块土地的。一旦爱上就摆不脱了，爱尔兰人都是这样的。你还是个孩子，就知道为那些小伙子伤脑筋。等你年纪大些了，就会明白这是……现在就看你能不能拿定主意，是凯德，还是那对孪生兄弟，还是埃文·芒罗家的子弟。要是这几个里头选中了的话，你就瞧着吧，我要让你嫁得风风光光！”

“噢，爸！”

到这会儿，杰拉尔德已经烦透了，不想再谈下去了。这事落到了自己肩膀上，让他好伤脑筋。另外，他列举了全县最出色的年轻人，还提出要把塔拉送她，她还是那么一脸忧伤，这也叫他伤心。杰拉尔德总希望自己送了礼物，人家会高兴得拍手、亲吻他。

“好了，别再噘嘴了，小姐。要紧的不是跟谁结婚，而是对方要和你情投意合，是个绅士，是南方人，是体面人。对女人来说，结了婚以后才有爱情。”

“噢，爸，那是过时的爱尔兰老观念！”

“可这是好观念！美国这些为爱情结婚的玩意儿，简直像仆人，像北佬！最好的婚姻就是父母给女儿包办的婚姻。因为像你这样的傻丫头怎么会分得清哪个是好人，哪个是坏蛋呢？你瞧瞧韦尔克斯家的人吧。都这么多代了，人家还是那么强盛，这是为什么呢？瞧，就是因为总跟他们那同一类人结婚，总按家里人的意愿跟表亲结婚。”

She was going to say“when you haven’t the man you want，” but Gerald， incensed by the cavalier way in which she treated his proffered gift， the thing which， next to Ellen， he loved best in the whole world， uttered a roar.

“Do you stand there， Scarlett O’Hara， and tell me that Tara—that land—doesn’t amount to anything?”

Scarlett nodde heart was too sore to care whether or not she put her father in a temper.

“Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything，” he shouted， his thick， short arms making wide gestures of indignation，“for’tis the only thing in this world that lasts， and don’t you be forgetting it!’Tis the only thing worth working for， worth fighting for—worth dying for.”

“Oh， Pa，” she said disgustedly，“you talk like an Irishman!”

“Have I ever been ashamed of it? No，’tis proud I am. And don’t be forgetting that you are half Irish， Miss! And to anyone with a drop of Irish blood in them the land they live on is like their mother.’Tis ashamed of you I am thi you the most beautiful land in the world—saving unty Meath in the Old untry—and what do you do? You sniff!”

Gerald had begun to work himself up into a pleasurable shouting rage when something in Scarlett’s woebegone face stopped him.

“But there， you’re young.’Twill e to you， this love o’s no getting away from it， if you’r’re just a child and bothered about you you’re older， you’ll be seeing how’tis… Now， do you be making up your mind about Cade or the twins or one of Evan Munroe’s young bucks， and see how fine I turn you out!”

“Oh， Pa!”

By this time， Gerald was thoroughly tired of the nversation and thoroughly annoyed that the problem should be upon hi felt aggrieved， moreover， that Scarlett should still look desolate after being offered the best of the unty boys and Tara， too. Gerald liked his gifts to be received with clapping of hands and kisses.

“Now， none of your pouts，doesn’t matter who you ma

y， as long as he thinks like you and is a gentleman and a Southerner an a woman， love es after ma

iage.”

“Oh， Pa， that’s such an Old untry notion!”

“And a good notion it is! All this American business of running around ma

ying for love， like servants， like Yankees! The best ma

iages are when the parents choose for th how can a silly piece like yourself tell a good man from a sundrel? Now， look at th’s kept them prideful and strong all these generations? Why， ma

ying the likes of themselves， ma

ying the usins their family always expects them to ma

y.”

以上摘自美国《飘》

Scarlett父亲的婚姻观：父母包办。女人结了婚才有爱情。

Scarlett的婚姻观：爱情。

Scarlett的父亲：土地是最重要的。土地实际就是事业。小女孩子家竟为要嫁给某个特定小伙子而烦恼。

Scarlett：对土地毫无感觉，爱情才刻骨铭心。

〈待续〉