Memory—ol’ sawbones, nag and crowbait, ol’ gluepot—aren’t you ready for the knackers yet? The horses of Black Sunday on the Edmund Pettus, iron shoes striking the macadam. Hard sometimes to tell a screaming horse from a child screaming, a horse’s hooves from a baton striking a black boy’s back. Horses bite one another to determine their pecking order: nations also. Once, I clung to the neck of a spooked mare as she charged breakneck down a steep slope. Fear tore the reins from my hands. The horse would not be halted or swayed. What lay ahead of us—girl and mare—I did not want to drink: dark bitter water. But I held on. And where is the horse you’ve led, unaware, all these years? Stubborn horse! Is it the water that terrifies? Is it the reflection of a mule when you thought yourself mostly human? Memory’s horse follows me. It refuses saddle, rein, my spurred heel, the tongue’s crop. I have seen horses wearing the faces of women. They come in the night with swollen bellies. They lower their muzzles against my mouth to drink. They draw my breath into their nostrils, my wordless breath that tells them everything.

中文翻译：

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你可以把马牵到水边，但你不能让它喝水，和：他的第一堂艺术课，和：没有答案

记忆——锯骨、唠叨和乌鸦饵、胶罐——你还没准备好迎接这些小家伙吗？Edmund Pettus 上黑色星期天的马匹，铁鞋踩在碎石上。有时很难区分尖叫的马和孩子的尖叫，马蹄和警棍撞击黑人男孩的背部。马匹互相咬以确定它们的啄食顺序：国家也是。有一次，我紧紧抓住一匹受惊的母马的脖子，她冲下陡峭的斜坡。恐惧从我手中夺走了缰绳。马不会停下或摇晃。摆在我们面前的东西——女孩和母马——我不想喝：黑色的苦水。但我坚持了下来。这么多年你牵着的马，不知不觉到哪里去了？倔强的马！可怕的是水吗？当您认为自己主要是人类时，这是骡子的反映吗？记忆的马跟着我。它拒绝马鞍，缰绳，我的脚后跟，舌头的作物。我曾见过马匹披着女人的脸。他们在晚上带着肿胀的肚子进来。他们把枪口贴在我的嘴边喝水。他们把我的呼吸吸入他们的鼻孔，我无言的呼吸告诉他们一切。