〈接續〉

　　“好啦，你不能責怪她。別忘了你當年開槍打傷了凱德的腿。”

　　“這個嗎，當時我是喝醉了，要不然我絕對不會乾那事。”斯圖爾特說，“凱德從來沒有為這事耿耿於懷，卡爾弗特先生、凱瑟琳和雷福特都沒有。就是她那個北佬後媽衝我號叫，管我叫野蠻人，還說什麽正經人跟南蠻子在一塊兒就是不安全。”

　　“好啦，你不能責怪她。她是個北佬，不那麽講究禮貌。再說啦，你畢竟打傷了人家的繼子。”

　　“哼，該死！那也不能憑這個就侮辱我！你是媽媽的親生兒子，可是托尼·方丹那次開槍打傷了你的腿，媽媽跟他過不去了嗎?沒有啊，她也不過就是叫人去找老方丹大夫，包扎傷口罷了，還問醫生托尼怎麽就把搶打偏了。她還說大概是喝醉了，才影響了他的槍法。還記得吧，托尼聽了氣成什麽樣兒了?”

　　兄弟倆爆笑了一陣。

　　“媽媽可真是不一般！”布倫特用充滿感情的讚許口吻說，“她絕不會讓你失望，事情總能做對，絕不會在別人面前出你的醜。”

　　“不錯，可是今晚我們回到家裡，她當著父親和那幾個丫頭的面，十有八九會說些讓人尷尬的話。”斯圖爾特愁眉苦臉地說，“瞧，布倫特，這一來我們怕是去不成歐洲了。你知道媽媽說過，要是我們再被另一所大學開除的話，我們的遍遊歐洲之旅就泡湯了。”

　　“哼，活見鬼！咱不稀罕，對吧?歐洲有個什麽看頭?我敢打賭，那些外國人能讓咱看到的東西，咱佐治亞這兒全都有。我敢打賭，他們的馬不如我們的跑得快，姑娘也不如我們的漂亮，而且我清楚地知道，他們的黑麥威士忌酒不能跟爸爸的比。”

　　“Well， you can’t her. You did shoot Cade in the leg.”

　　“Well， I was lickered up or I wouldn’t have done it，” said Stuart.“And Cade never had any hard feelings. Neither did Cathleen or Raiford or Mr. Calvert. It was just that Yankee stepmother who squalled and said I was a wild barbarian and decent people weren’t safe around uncivilized Southerners.”

　　“Well， you can’t her. She’s a Yankee and ain’t got very good manners; and， after all， you did shoot him and he is her stepson.”

　　“Well， hell！ That’s no excuse for insulting me！ You are Ma’s own blood son， but did she take on that time Tony Fontaine shot you in the leg? No， she just sent for old Doc Fontaine to dress it and asked the doctor what ailed Tony’s aim. Said she guessed licker was spoiling his marksmanship. Remember how mad that made Tony?”

　　Both boys yelled with laughter.

　　“Ma’s a card！” said Brent with loving approval.“You can always count on her to do the right thing and not embarrass you in front of folks.”

　　“Yes，

but she’s mighty liable to talk embarrassing in front of Father and the girls when we get home tonight，” said Stuart gloomily.“Look， Brent. I guess this means we don’t go to Europe. You know Mother said if we got expelled from another college we couldn’t have our Grand Tour.”　　“Well， hell！ We don’t care， do we? What is there to see in Europe? I’ll bet those foreigners can’t show us a thing we haven’t got right here in I’ll bet their horses aren’t as fast or their girls as pretty， and I know damn well they haven’t got any rye whisky that can touch Father’s.”

　　以上摘自美國小說《飄》

　　從以上摘錄章節可知，美國南北戰爭爆發前的南北雙方，民間社會輿論已形成實際對峙，南北雙方的民間情緒互相對立。就南方言，南方的人們很自負，看不起北方。就北方言，北方的人們也很自負，也看不起南方。這種實際存在於當時美國南方和北方民間的對立情緒，是終於發生美國南北內戰的群眾基礎。

　　人類社會人和人之間發生大規模戰爭，因為利益衝突而戰，其間是有許多規律可循的。

　　〈待續〉