〈接續〉

　　“噢，不會是真的！”她心想，“可他為什麽還不回來?”

　　她望著彎曲的大路，上午下了雨，這時路面全衝刷成了猩紅色。她的思緒已沿路而下，來到了水流平緩的富林河，穿過雜草叢生的泥沼河床，躍上對面山坡，來到了阿希禮住的十二橡樹莊園。現在，這條路的意義就在於此——通向阿希禮他那漂亮的白柱房子，仿佛希臘神廟，儼然坐落在小山頂上。

　　“噢，阿希禮！阿希禮！”她心裡呼喊著，心跳陡然加快了。

　　自從塔爾頓家的兩兄弟向她透露了那個小道兒消息後，一種茫然無措、大難臨頭的感覺一直壓迫著她。此刻她把那種感覺置之腦後，欣然重溫兩年來一直在她心裡燃燒著的愛火。

　　這事想來還真有點兒怪，她從小到大，從來沒覺得阿希禮對她有什麽吸引力。小時候看著他來來去去，也沒對他有過任何心思。但就在兩年前的一天，阿希禮在歐洲漫遊了三年後返回家裡，到她家禮節性地拜訪了一回，她就愛上了他。事情就這麽簡單。

　　當時她正在門廊上，見他騎馬從長長的車道上走來，穿一身灰毛呢禮服，打著寬大黑色領結，和皺領襯衫搭配得十分完美。至今她還能清楚地回憶起他那天衣著的每一個細節，靴子那麽光亮，領結卡子上雕刻著一個美杜莎頭像，一看見她，他便摘下了頭上戴著的寬邊巴拿馬帽子，拿在手裡。他滾鞍下馬，把韁繩丟給黑人仆從，站在那裡仰望著她，面帶微笑，一雙懶散的灰眼睛睜得大大的，明亮的陽光照在他黃頭髮上，仿佛戴了一頂銀光閃閃的帽子。他說:“喲，你都長這麽大了，斯佳麗。”說罷，腳步輕快地上了台階，拿起她的手吻了一下。還有他那嗓音！她永遠忘不了聽他說話時自己那劇烈的心跳，好像頭一次聽到他說話似的，那聲音平緩渾厚，有如音樂。

　　“Oh， it can’t be true！” she thought.“Why doesn’t he come?”

　　Her eyes followed the winding road， blood-red now after the morning rain. In her thought she traced its course as it ran down the hill to the sluggish Flint River， through the tangled swampy bottoms and up the next hill to Twelve Oaks where Ashley lived. That was all the road meant now—a road to Ashley and the beautiful white-columned house that crowned the hill like a Greek temple.

　　“Oh， Ashley！ Ashley！” she thought， and her heart beat faster.

　　Some of the cold sense of bewilderment and disaster that had weighted her down since the Tarleton boys told her their gossip was pushed into the background of her mind，

and in its crept the fever that had possessed her for two years.　　It seemed strange now that when she was growing up Ashley had never seemed so very attractive to her. In childhood days， she had seen him come and go and never given him a thought. But since that day two years ago when Ashley， newly home from his three years’ Grand Tour in Europe， had called to pay his respects， she had loved him. It was as simple as that.

　　She had been on the front porch and he had ridden up the long avenue， dressed in gray broadcloth with a wide cravat setting off his frilled shirt to Even now， she could recall each detail of his dress， how brightly his boots shone， the head of a Medusa in cameo on his cravat pin， the wide Panama hat that was instantly in his hand when he saw her. He had alighted and tossed his bridle reins to a pickaninny and stood looking up at her， his drowsy gray eyes wide with a smile and the sun so bright on his blond hair that it seemed like a cap of shining silver. And he said，“So you’ve grown up， Scarlett.” And， coming lightly up the steps， he had kissed her hand. And his voice！ She would never the leap of her heart as she heard it， as if for the first time， drawling， resonant， musical.

　　以上摘自美國小說《飄》

　　這段文字，相當真實地描寫了Scarlett是如何突然愛上Ashley的。這裡的Scarlett幾乎是全世界從古到今、從外到中所有人類小女孩的一個縮影，愛上一個人，少女懷春，就那麽某個場景下的一瞬間，就會愛上一個人。Scarlett是其中的集中代表和極端情況，愛得死去活來……

　　〈待續〉