〈接續〉

　　她哄得他們不再談論戰爭這個煩人的話題後，便興致勃勃回到他們目前處境的話題上。

　　“你們倆又讓人家開除回家，這事你們的母親怎麽說?”

　　弟兄倆立刻顯得很不自在，回想起了三個月前被弗吉尼亞大學勒令退學回家後，母親對他們的態度。

　　“哼，”斯圖爾特說，“她倒還沒有說什麽，今天一早，湯姆和我們就出門了，湯姆到方丹家去了，我倆就上這兒來了。”

　　“你倆昨晚回家後，她說什麽了嗎?”

　　“我倆昨天晚上真是吉星高照。剛好到家前，媽媽上個月在肯塔基買的那匹種馬送到了，家裡一下亂成了一鍋粥。那畜生又高又大——這馬真棒，斯佳麗，你該叫你爸爸快去瞧瞧。送來的路上它居然就把馬夫的肉咬了一塊下來，還把我媽派去瓊斯博羅火車站接站的兩個黑小子給踢翻了。就在我們到家前，它正打算把馬廄踢倒，我媽原來那匹叫草莓的老種馬，也險些被它踢死。我們到家後，見媽媽正在馬廄拿著一袋糖哄它吃，想讓它安靜下來，我媽真了不起。黑小子們躲在馬廄欄杆外遠遠瞧著，眼睛瞪得像牛眼，提心吊膽怕得要命，可我媽卻心平氣和，對那匹馬說話，好像它是個人一樣，媽媽還讓它從自己手裡吃東西，媽媽馴馬的辦法真是誰都比不了。她一見我們就說:‘天哪，你們四個怎麽又回家來了?你們真比埃及的禍水還要壞！’這時，那馬又是噴鼻子又是抬起前腿，她便說:‘快滾吧！難道你們看不出這大寶貝不開心嗎?明天早上我再跟你們四個算帳！’於是我們就去睡覺了，今天一早她還沒來得及抓住我們，我們便溜之大吉，隻留下博伊德一個人對付她。”

　　“你覺得她會打博伊德嗎?”斯佳麗像縣裡其他人一樣，怎麽也看不慣又瘦又小的塔爾頓太太對她早已長大成人的兒子們的教訓方式，她甚至有時候還用馬鞭抽打他們。

　　 Having maneuvered them away from the boring subject of war， she went back with interest to their immediate

　　“What did your mother say about you two being expelled again?”

　　The boys looked ， recalling their mother’s conduct three months ago when they had come home， by request， from the University of Virginia.

　　“Well，” said Stuart，“she hasn’t had a chance to say anything yet. Tom and us left home early this morning before she got up， and Tom’s laying out over at the Fontaines’ while we came over here.”

　　“Didn’t she say anything when you got home last night?”

　　“We were in luck last night. Just before we got home that new Ma got in Kentucky last month was brought in，

and the was in a stew. The big brute—he’s a grand horse， Scarlett; you must tell your pa to come over and see him right away—he’d already bitten a hunk out of his groom on the way down here and he’d trampled two of Ma’s darkies who met the train at Jonesboro. And just before we got home， he’d about kicked the stable down and half-killed Strawberry， Ma’s old When we got home， Ma was out in the stable with a sackful of sugar smoothing him down and doing it mighty well， too. The darkies were hanging from the rafters， popeyed， they were so scared， but Ma was talking to the horse like he was folks and he was eating out of her hand. There ain’t nobody like Ma with a horse. And when she saw us she said:‘In Heaven’s name， what are you four doing home again? You’re worse than the of Egypt！’ And then the horse began snorting and rearing and she said:‘Get out of here！ Can’t you see he’s nervous， the big darling? I’ll tend to you four in the morning！’ So we went to bed， and this morning we got away before she could catch us and left Boyd to handle her.”　　“Do you suppose she’ll hit Boyd?” Scarlett， like the rest of the County， could never get used to the way small Mrs. Tarleton bullied her grown sons and laid her riding crop on their backs if the seemed to warrant it.

　　以上摘自美國小說《飄》

　　SCARLETT不願意談論戰爭， 願意談論雙胞胎兄弟家中發生的瑣事，瑣事一般隻發生於和平年代，也說明了SCARLETT骨子裡特喜愛和平。

　　關於這雙胞胎兄弟因不學無術而被學校不止一次開除，SCARLETT對此持完全地站隊雙胞胎兄弟的立場，對於雙胎胎兄弟的母親對於他們的管教，卻持完全否定態度。這也說明，SCARLETT也是不學無術之類，但原著後文中SCARLETT表現出的睿智、勇敢、忠誠、骨子裡的誠信和幹啥象啥的特質，說明學習的含義不僅限於書本，另一方面也說明，聰明是天定的。

　　這一節還提到了雙胞胎兄弟的母親對於烈馬的馴服手段。人與動物的關系，征服與被征服，方法技巧豐富。但雙胞胎母親征服不了她的寶貝兒子們，即使用馬鞭抽打也無效。

　　雙胞胎兄弟遭遇其母親因恨鐵不鋼的抽打而並不還手，而是躲著其母親，其母親夠威嚴，這是人世間人與人關系的愛恨複雜性。

　　SCARLETT的不滿意可以讓雙胞胎兄弟閉嘴談論戰爭，這也是一種馴服，也是人與人複雜關系的形態之一。

　　〈待續〉