〈接續〉

　　“瞧，”他說，“你覺得她難道不該留咱們吃飯嗎?”

　　“我覺得她應該，”斯圖爾特說，“我一直等她這句話，可她到底沒說。你說這是怎麽回事?”

　　“我猜不透。可我覺得照理她應該留咱吃飯。咱畢竟離開有些日子，頭一天回來和她見面。咱要跟她說的話還多著呢。”

　　“我覺得她剛見咱們的時候倒是十分高興哩。”

　　“我覺得也是。”

　　“我不知道。你覺得是不是咱哪句話得罪了她?”

　　兩人都想了一想。

　　“我想不出說了什麽得罪她的話。再說斯佳麗只要一生氣，哪個人都會看得出來。她可不像別的女孩兒那樣會掩飾。”

　　“不錯，我就喜歡她這一點。她生了氣就會告訴你——不會拐彎抹角憋在心裡。可她就是看我們做了什麽，要不就是聽我們說了什麽才變得默不作聲、悶悶不樂了。我敢打賭她剛看見我們的時候很高興，打算請我們吃飯來著。”

　　“你覺得不是我們被開除的緣故嗎?”

　　“見鬼，絕不是！別傻了，沒見我們告訴她的時候，她高興得什麽似的嗎?再說她比咱倆還煩念書。”

　　布倫特在馬鞍上轉過身來招呼他的黑仆人。

　　“吉姆斯！”

　　“少爺?”

　　“你聽見我們跟斯佳麗小姐說話沒有?”

　　“沒聽見，布倫特少爺！你怎麽就懷疑我敢偷聽白人說話啦?”

　　“偷聽，我們的上帝！你們黑人對每件事都知道得一清二楚。哼，你撒謊，我親眼看見你在門廊邊鬼鬼祟祟地轉悠，還蹲在牆邊的茉莉花叢裡。聽著，你聽見我們說了什麽，讓斯佳麗小姐生了氣——要不就是傷了她的心?”

　　這一下，吉姆斯不好意思再假裝沒有聽見他們說的話了，把黑黑的眉毛緊緊皺了起來。

　　“沒有啦，少爺，我倒沒聽見哪句話讓她生了氣。好像她見了你們挺高興的，她挺想你們哩，高興得像隻小鳥呢，不過你們跟她一提起阿希禮先生要跟玫荔·漢密爾頓小姐成親，她可就一下子不吭氣啦，好像小鳥看見老鷹在頭頂上飛哩。”

　　“Look，” he said.“Don’t it look to you like she would of asked us to stay for supper?”

　　“I thought she would，” said Stuart.“I kept waiting for her to do it， but she didn’t. What do you make of it?”

　　“I don’t make anything of it. But it just looks to me like she might of. After all， it’s our first day home and she hasn’t seen us in quite a spell. And we had lots more things to tell her.”

　　“It looked to me like she was mighty to see us when we came.”

　　“I thought so， too.”

　　“And then，

about a half-hour ago， she got kind of quiet， like she had a headache.”　　“I noticed that but I didn’t pay it any mind then. What do you suppose ailed her?”

　　“I dunno. Do you suppose we said something that made her mad?”

　　They both thought for a minute.

　　“I can’t think of anything. Besides， when Scarlett gets mad， everybody knows it. She don’t hold herself in like some girls do.”

　　“Yes， that’s what I like about her. She don’t go around being cold and hateful when she’s mad—she tells you about it. But it was something we did or said that made her shut up talking and look sort of sick. I could swear she was to see us when we came and was aiming to ask us to supper.”

　　“You don’t suppose it’s because we got expelled?”

　　“Hell， no！ Don’t be a fool. She laughed like everything when we told her about it. And besides Scarlett don’t set any more store by book learning than we do.”

　　Brent turned in the saddle and called to the negro groom.

　　“Jeems！”

　　“Suh?”

　　“You heard what we were talking to Miss Scarlett about?”

　　“Nawsuh， Mist’ Brent！ you think Ah be spyin’ on w’ite folks?”

　　“Spying， my God！ You darkies know everything that goes on. Why， you liar， I saw you with my own eyes sidle round the corner of the porch and squat in the cape jessamine bush by the wall. Now， did you hear us say anything that might have made Miss Scarlett mad—or hurt her feelings?”

　　Thus appealed to， Jeems gave up further pretense of not having overheard the and furrowed his brow.

　　“Nawsuh， Ah din’ notice y’all say anything ter mek her mad. Look ter me lak she sho ter see you an’ sho had missed you， an’ she cheep along happy as a bird， tell’bout de time y’all got ter talkin’’bout Mist’ Ashley an’ Miss Melly Hamilton gittin’ mah’ied. Den she quiet down lak a bird w’en de hawk fly ober.”

　　以上摘自美國小說《飄》

　　以上摘錄段很形象地描述了一個具體人文氛圍下的不同生命體之間的想法差異及溝通隔閡及各生命體間交流互動溝通的互相猜測、互相理解模式， 這是人與人之間交流溝通的標準模式。每一個具體生命體，都是一個獨立的靈魂，從最最底層的層面觀之，其最緊密狀情形是隻屬於其自己。

　　那對雙胞胎兄弟的黑人傭人，其作為物質本身體言，他與Scarlett及雙胞胎兄弟同屬人類，他們其生物學上的級別相同，雙胞胎兄弟與Scarlett的對話，人與人的對話，作為同屬人類的黑人傭人，他是完全聽得懂的，但他假裝沒聽到或假裝聽不懂，因為作傭人有作傭人的規矩，主人和別人的對話內容他是不該聽的。但出於好奇或其他原因，他還是聽了，一件可大可小的事，既然被識破假裝沒聽到，索性就承認聽到了。主人進一步要他說說對於所聽到事情的看法，他也就說了。作為黑人傭人，與主人不同地位，主人卻要聽聽他對於事情的看法，說明社會的整體價值語境對於他們而言，這方面主人和傭人是相同的，有基於相同判斷標準的溝通和交流。

　　〈待續〉