Still screaming, Pecola reached for Junior's hand. She heard her dress rip under her arm. Junior tried to push her away, but she grabbed the arm which was swinging the cat. They both fell, and in falling, Junior let go the cat, which, having been released in mid-motion, was thrown full force against the window. It slithered down and fell on the radiator behind the sofa. Except for a few shudders, it was still. There was onlythe slightest smell of singed fur.
佩科拉尖叫着去抓裘尼尔的手，她听见自己的裙子从腋下部位撕裂的声音。裘尼尔企图把她推开。可她抓住了挥舞猫咪的手，两人一起摔倒在地上。摔倒之时，裘尼尔松开了手。因是中途松手，惯性把猫咪摔在窗上。它摇晃着掉在沙发后面的电暖炉上，抽搐了几下之后就没动静了。一阵猫毛的焦味散发了出来。
Geraldine opened the door.
杰萝丹开门进来。
What is this? Her voice was mild, as though asking a perfectly reasonable question. "Who is this girl?"
“怎么回事？”她的嗓音柔和，好像在问一个极其平常的问题，“这个女孩是谁？”
She killed our cat, said Junior. "Look." He pointed to the radiator, where the cat lay, its blue eyes closed, leaving only an empty, black, and helpless face.
“她把我们家的猫给弄死了。”裘尼尔说，“看。”他指了指电暖炉上躺着的猫，蓝色的双眼紧闭着，只剩一张毫无生气的黑脸。
Geraldine went to the radiator and picked up the cat. He was limp in her arms, but she rubbed her face in his fur. She looked at Pecola. Saw the dirty torn dress, the plaits sticking out on her head, hair matted where the plaits had come undone, the muddy shoes with the wad of gum peeping out from between the cheap soles, the soiled socks, one of which had been walked down into the heel of the shoe. She saw the safety pin holding the hem of the dress up. Up over the hump of the cat's back she looked at her. She had seen this little girl all of her life. Hanging out of windows over saloons in Mobile, crawling over the porches of shotgun houses on the edge of town, sitting in bus stations holding paper bags and crying to mothers who kept saying "Shet up!" Hair uncombed, dresses falling apart, shoes untied and caked with dirt. They had stared at her with great uncomprehending eyes. Eyes that questioned nothing and asked everything. Unblinking and unabashed, they stared up at her. The end of the world lay in their eyes, and the beginning, and all the waste in between.
杰萝丹走到电暖炉前将猫抱起来，它全身瘫软地躺在她双臂里，但她仍把脸贴在猫毛上。她朝佩科拉望去，看见的是撕破的脏裙子，头顶上的翘辫子，辫子散了的地方头发乱糟糟的一团，带泥的廉价鞋底露出中间的鞋衬，袜子脏兮兮的，其中一只已脱落到脚后跟。她看见裙子边开线的部位用别针别着。她从弓着的猫背上朝她望去。她这一辈子见的都是这类女孩儿。在莫比尔的沙龙窗前，在镇子边缘地带的简易房前。在汽车站里她们会手拿牛皮纸袋，不停地哭泣，而妈妈们则会不停地说“住嘴”。她们的头发从不梳理整齐，裙子总是破破烂烂，带泥的鞋子总是不系鞋带。她们总是用不可理解、蠢钝愚昧的目光瞧着她，既不眨眼，也不害臊。在她们的眼睛里可以看到世界末日，世界起源，以及末日与起源之间的荒芜。