Chapter 9: Mrs. Pillai, Mrs. Eapen, Mrs. Rajagopalan

Event: Esthappen, Rahel, and Sophie Mol met Velutha before the Terror happened.

"But anger wasn't available to them and there was no face to put on this Other Thing that they held in their sticky Other Hands, like an imaginary orange. There was nowhere to lay it down. It wasn't theirs to give away. It would have to be held. Carefully and forever" (182).

「但他們無法表現憤怒，也無法擺出表情面對他們握在另一隻黏黏的手裡，像是幻想橘子的其他物。找不到地方將它放下，也不能給別人，他們必須握著，小心翼翼且直到永遠。」

"Esthappen and Rahel both knew that there were several perpetrators (besides themselves) that day. But only one victim. And he had blood-red nails and a brown leaf on his back that made the monsoons come on time" (182).

「艾斯沙本和瑞海兒都知道，除了他們以外，當天還有其他犯罪者。但只有一個人受害。他有血紅色的指甲，背上有一片棕色葉子，好讓雨季準時到來。」

"He left behind a Hole in the Universe through which darkness poured like liquid tar. Through which their mother followed without even turning to wave good-bye. She left them behind, spinning in the dark, with no moorings, in a place with no foundation" (182).

「他在宇宙留下一個洞，黑暗傾瀉而下如流動的焦油。他們的母親藉此跟著他，甚至沒有揮手道別。她在一個沒有根基的地方拋下他們，在黑暗中旋轉，沒有停泊處。」