sprinkle sth。with sth。：撒某物於某物的表麵上
contemptuous：adj。傲慢的
awestruck：adj。敬畏的
pant：v。喘著氣
particle：n。微粒
slant：vi。傾斜
bale：n。草垛
interfere：v。妨礙
fretting：n。煩惱114 She looked away from him off into the hollow sky and then down at ablack ridge and then down farther into what appeared to be two green swelling lakes。She didn’t realize he had taken her glasses but this landscape could not seem exceptional to her for she seldom paid any close attention to her surroundings。
115 “You got to say it，”he repeated。“You got to say you love me。”
116 She was always careful how she committed herself。“In a sense，”she began，“if you use the word loosely，you might say that。But it’s not a word I use。I don’t have illusions。I’m one of those people who see through to nothing。”
117 The boy was frowning。“You got to say it。I said it and you got tosay it，”he said。
118 The girl looked at him almost tenderly。“You poor baby，”she murmured。“It’s just as well you don’t understand，”and she pulled him by the neck，face-down，against her。“We are all damned，”she said，“but some of us have takenoff our blindfolds and see that there’s nothing to see。It’s a kind of salvation。”
119 The boy’s astonished eyes looked blankly through the ends of her hair。“Okay，”he almost whined，“but do you love me or don’tcher？”
120 “Yes，”she said and added，“in a sense。But I must tell you something。There mustn’t be anything dishonest between us。”She lifted his head and looked him in the eye。“I am thirty years old，”she said。“I have a number of degrees。”
121 The boy’s look was irritated but dogged。“I don’t care，”he said。“I don’t care a thing about what all you done。I just want to know if you love me or don’tcher？”and he caught her to him and wildly planted her face with kissesuntil she said，“Yes，yes。”
122 “Okay then，”he said，letting her go。“Prove it。”
123 She smiled，looking dreamily out on the shifty landscape。She had seduced him without even making up her mind to try。“How？”she asked，feeling that he should be delayed a little。
124 He leaned over and put his lips to her ear。“Show me where your wooden leg joins on，”he whispered。
125 The girl uttered a sharp little cry and her face instantly drained of color。The obscenity of the suggestion was not what shocked her。As achild she had sometimes been subject to feelings of shame but education had removed the last traces of that as a good surgeon scrapes for cancershe would no more have felt it over what he was asking than she would have believed in his Bible。But she wasas sensitive about the artificial leg as a peacock about his tail。No one ever touched it but her。She took care of it as someone else would his soul，in private and almost with her own eyes turned away。“No，”she said。
126 “I known it，”he muttered，sitting up。“You’re just playing me for a sucker。”
127 “Oh no no！”she cried。“It joins on at the knee。Only at the knee。Why do you want to see it？”
128 The boy gave her a long penetrating look。“Because，”he said，“it’s what makes you different。You ain’t like anybody else。”
129 She sat staring at him。There was nothing about her face or her round freezing-blue eyes to indicate that this had moved herbut she felt as if her hearthad stopped and left her mind to pump her blood。She decided that for the first time in her life she was face to face with real innocence。This boy，with an instinct that came from beyond wisdom，had touched the truth about her。When after a minute，she said in a hoarse high voice，“All right，”it was like surrendering to him completely。It was like losing her own life and finding it again，miraculously，in his。
130 Very gently，he began to roll the slack leg up。The artificial limb，in a white sock and brown flat shoe，was bound in a heavy material like canvas and ended in an ugly jointure where it was attached to the stump。The boy’s face and his voice were entirely reverent as he uncovered it and said，“Now show me how totake it off and on。”
blindfold：n。眼罩
salvation：n。拯救
whine：v。哀號，哀哭
don’tcherdon’t you？
dogged：adj。頑強的，固執的
obscenity：n。猥褻
scrape：v。刮擦
sucker：n。小孩
reverent：adj。恭敬的131 She took it off for him and put it back on again and then he took it offhimself，handling it as tenderly as if it were a real one。“See！”he said with adelighted child’s face。“Now I can do it myself！”
132 “Put it back on，”she said。She was thinking that she would run away withhim and that every night he would take the leg off and every morning put it back on again。“Put it back on，”she said。
133 “Not yet，”he murmured，setting it on its foot out of her reach。“Leave it off for awhile。You got me instead。”
134 She gave a little cry of alarm but he pushed her down and began to kiss heragain。Without the leg she felt entirely dependent on him。Her brain seemed to have stopped thinking altogether and to be about some other function that it wasnot very good at。Different expressions raced back and forth over her face。Every now and then the boy，his eyes like two steel spikes，would glance behind himwhere the leg stood。Finally she pushed him off and said，“Put it back on me now。”
135 “Wait，”he said。He leaned the other way and pulled the valise toward himand opened it。It had a pale blue spotted lining and there wereonly two Biblesin it。He took one of these out and opened the cover of it。It was hollow and contained a pocket flask of whiskey，a pack of cards，and a smallblue box with printing on it。He laid these out in front of her one at a time in an evenly-spaced row，like one presenting offerings at the shrine of a goddess。He put the blue box in her hand。THIS PRODUCT TO BE USED ONLY FOR THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE，she read，and dropped it。The boy was unscrewing the top of the flask。He stoppedand pointed，with a smile，to the deck of cards。It was not an ordinary deck but one with an obscene picture on the back of each card。“Take aswig，”he said，offering her the bottle first。He held it in front of her，but like one mesmerized，she did not move。
136 Her voice when she spoke had an almost pleading sound。“Aren’t you，”she murmured，“aren’t you just good country people？”
137 The boy cocked his head。He looked as if he were just beginning to understand that she might be trying to insult him。“Yeah，”he said，curling his lip slightly，“but it ain’t held me back none。I’m as good as you any day in the week。”
138 “Give me my leg，”she said。
139 He pushed it farther away with his foot。“Come on now，let’s begin tohave us a good time，”he said coaxingly。“We ain’t got to know one another goodyet。”
140 “Give me my leg！”she screamed and tried to lunge for it but he pushedher down easily。
141 “What’s the matter with you all of a sudden？”
lining：n。（衣服裏的）襯裏
flask：n。瓶
shrine：n。神殿
obscene：adj。淫穢的
mesmerized：adj。被施了催眠術的
insult：vt。侮辱
coaxingly：adv。以巧言哄騙
lunge for：向前去夠he asked，frowningas he screwed the top on the flask and put it quickly back inside the Bible。“You justa while ago said you didn’t believe in nothing。I thought you was somegirl！”
142 Her face was almost purple。“You’re a Christian！”she hissed。“You’re a fine Christian！You’re just like them all—say one thing and do another。You’re a perfect Christian，you’re……”
評注：在142段中，喬伊本是個無神論者，小夥子靠計謀奪去她的假腿時，在恐慌中她卻希望他是一個真正的基督徒，作者諷刺的喜劇手法達到了高峰。
143 The boy’s mouth was set angrily。“I hope you don’t think，”he said in alofty indignant tone，“that I believe in that crap！I may sell Bibles but I know which end is up and I wasn’t born yesterday and I know where I’m going！”
144 “Give me my leg！”she screeched。He jumped up so quickly that shebarely saw him sweep the cards and the blue box back into the Bible and throw the Bibleinto the valise。She saw him grab the leg and then she saw it for an instant slanted forlornly across the inside of the suitcase with a Bible at either side ofits opposite ends。He slammed the lid shut and snatched up the valise and swungit down the hole and then stepped through himself。
145 When all of him had passed but his head，he turned and regarded herwith alook that no longer had any admiration in it。“I’ve gotten a lot of interesting things，”he said。“One time I got a woman’s glass eye this way。And you needn’t to think you’ll catch me because Pointer ain’t really my name。I use a different name at every house I call at and don’t stay nowhere long。And I’ll tell you another thing，Hulga，”he said，using the name as if he didn’t think much of it，“you ain’t so smart。I been believing in nothing ever since I was born！”and then the toast-colored hat disappeared down the hole and the girl was left，sitting on the straw in the dusty sunlight。When she turned her churningface toward the opening，she saw his blue figure struggling successfully over the green speckled lake。
146 Mrs。Hopewell and Mrs。Freeman，who were in the back pasture，digging uponions，saw him emerge a little later from the woods and head across the meadow toward the highway。“Why，that looks like that nice dull young man that tried to sell me a Bible yesterday，”Mrs。Hopewell said，squinting。“Hemust have been selling them to the Negroes back in there。He was so simple，”she said，“but Iguess the world would be better off if we were all that simple。”
I thought you was some girl I thought you were some girl。在這裏some 是很不錯的、了不起的意思。
indignant：adj。憤慨的
crap：n。（俚）笨話，蠢行
forlornly：adv。孤獨而淒涼地
churning：adj。扭曲的
squint：vi。眯著眼看147 Mrs。Freeman’s gaze drove forward and just touched him before he disappeared under the hill。Then she returned her attention to the evil-smelling onion shoot she was lifting from the ground。“Some can’t be that simple，”she said。“I know I never could。”
評注：本文的寫作特點是反諷（irony），作者在喜劇性的情節中采用了反諷結構手法，使起初處於高高在上、自認為學問高深的喬伊，企圖改變樸恩特的信仰並帶領他找到更強大的力量，結果卻被偽稱是基督徒的樸恩特騙取了假腿，丟棄在倉庫中。這種從高處跌到低處的轉折，展示了作者高超的寫作技巧。
Comprehension Exercises
1.Why does Joy feel that changing her name to Hulga is“her highest creative act”？
2.What is the irony of the story？What does the title“Good Country People”signify？
3.How does Hulga form her cynical philosophy of“nothing”？And how isthis cynical philosophy of hers borne out by her experience with Manley Pointer？
弗蘭納裏·奧康納（1925—1964）：當代美國南方作家。她是一位勤奮的身有殘疾的作家，大半生在美國南方佐治亞州度過，因此她的小說均以南方為背景，描寫的都是生活中非常熟悉的環境和人物，具有比較強的真實性。她的作品被看成是美國南方哥特式小說的典範，是因為她作品的“南方性”不僅僅在於她描寫的是南方社會、南方青年一代以及他們的墮落、絕望和苦惱，主要還在於她小說中特有的南方文學的傳統手法，如南方人的方言口語、黑色幽默等。她小說中的角色多為社會底層人物：心理變態者、智力遲鈍者、行為怪僻的人、盲人、跛子、啞巴等，刻畫了南方的暴力和病態，揭示了人物心靈深處的醜惡，剖析了人的本性及其道德墮落的社會和文化心理根源，暗示了人們精神上的殘疾比身體上的殘疾更嚴重。