【荆棘鸟】第六章 26

 Mary Carson was going to be seventy-two years old, and she was planning the biggest party to be held on Drogheda in fifty years. Her birthday fell at the start of November, when it was hot but still bearable-at least for Gilly natives.

"Mark that, Mrs. Smith!" Minnie whispered. "Do ye mark that! November the t'urrd herself was born!"

"What are you on about now, Min?" the housekeeper¹ asked. Minnie's Celtic mysteriousness got on her own good steady English nerves. "Why, and to be sure it means herself is a Scorpio woman, does it not? A Scorpio woman, now!"

"I haven't got the slightest idea what you're talking about, Min!" "The wurrst sign a woman can find herself born into, Mrs. Smith darlin". Och, they're children of the Devil, so they are!" said Cat, round-eyed, blessing² herself.

"Honestly, Minnie, you and Cat are the dizzy limit," said Mrs. Smith, not a whit³ impressed.

But excitement was running high, and would run higher. The old spider in her wing chair at the exact center of her web issued a never-ending stream of orders; this was to be done, that was to be done, such and such was to be taken out of storage, or put into Storage. The two Irish maids ran polishing silver and washing the best Haviland china, turning the chapel⁴ back into a reception room and readying its adjacent dining rooms.

Hindered rather than helped by the little Cleary boys, Stuart and a team of rouseabouts mowed⁵ and scythed⁶ the lawn, weeded the flower beds, sprinkled damp sawdust on the verandas⁷ to clear dust from between the Spanish tiles, and dry chalk on the reception room floor to make it fit for dancing. Clarence O'Toole's band was coming all the way from Sydney, along with oysters⁸ and prawns⁹, crabs¹⁰ and lobsters¹¹; several women from Gilly were being hired as temporary helpers. The whole district from Rudna Hunish to Inishmurray to Bugela to Narrengang was in a ferment¹². As the marble hallways echoed to unaccustomed sounds of objects being moved and people shouting,

 

玛丽·卡森就要到72岁了，她正在策划着举办一个50年来基兰博最盛大的宴会。她的生日宴会定在11月初。那时候天还热，不过还受得了--至少对基里的本地人是可以忍受的。

　　"记下来，史密斯太太！"明妮悄秘秘地说道，"你记下来了吗？她是11月3号生的！"

　　"你还要说什么，明？"女管家问道。"明妮那股凯尔特人的神秘劲儿和女管家的那副沉着稳妥的英格兰人的脾气不相投。

　　

　　"哟，这就说明她是个蛇蝎心肠的女人，难道不是吗？她就是个蛇蝎心肠的女人嘛！"

　　"我还是一点儿也不明白你想说什么，明！"

　　"亲爱的史密斯太太，女人最坏的德性在她身上都能找到。哦。她是魔鬼的子孙，就是这么回事！"凯特说道，她睁圆了眼睛，在胸前划着十字。

　　"老实说吧，明妮，你和凯特愚蠢到家了，"史密斯太太说道。她一点儿也没动心。

　　可是，兴奋的情绪还在高涨，而且会更加高涨。那个高背椅中的老蜘蛛坐在她的网的正中心，不停地发出一串命令：这个要完成呀，那个要做好呀，从仓库里拿出这个或放进那个呀。两个爱尔兰女仆忙着擦亮银器，清洗上好的哈维兰瓷器，把小教堂改成会客厅，并且把隔壁的餐室收拾好。

　　

　　克利里家的男孩子们与其说是帮忙，倒不如说是路手碍脚。斯图尔特和一群牧场杂工用长柄镰在草坪上刈草，除去茶坛上的莠草，在走廊上撒上潮锯末以便扫除西班牙花砖地面上的尘土，在会客厅里撤上白圣粉使它适合于跳舞。克拉伦斯·奥图尔的乐队从悉尼远道而来。同时带来了牡蛎、虾、蟹和龙虾；他们在基里雇了几个女人作为临时助手。从鲁德纳·胡尼施到因尼斯莫瑞，从布洛拉到奈仁甘，整个这一片地区都惊动了。

1 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

2 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

3 whit   

n.一点，丝毫

参考例句：

• There's not a whit of truth in the statement.这声明里没有丝毫的真实性。
• He did not seem a whit concerned.他看来毫不在乎。

4 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

5 mowed   

v.刈，割( mow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The enemy were mowed down with machine-gun fire. 敌人被机枪的火力扫倒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Men mowed the wide lawns and seeded them. 人们割了大片草地的草，然后在上面播种。 来自辞典例句

6 scythed   

v.（长柄）大镰刀( scythe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scent of newly scythed grass 新割下的草散发的清香
• He's scythed half the orchard. 他已经将半个果园的草割除。 来自辞典例句

7 verandas   

阳台，走廊( veranda的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Women in stiff bright-colored silks strolled about long verandas, squired by men in evening clothes. 噼噼啪啪香槟酒的瓶塞的声音此起彼伏。
• They overflowed on verandas and many were sitting on benches in the dim lantern-hung yard. 他们有的拥到了走郎上，有的坐在挂着灯笼显得有点阴暗的院子里。

8 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

9 prawns   

n.对虾，明虾( prawn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mine was a picture of four translucent prawns, with two small fish swimming above them. 给我画的是四只虾，半透明的，上画有两条小鱼。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文
• Shall we get some shrimp and prawns? 我们要不要买些小虾和对虾？ 来自无师自通 校园英语会话

10 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 lobsters   

龙虾( lobster的名词复数 )； 龙虾肉

参考例句：

• I have no idea about how to prepare those cuttlefish and lobsters. 我对如何烹调那些乌贼和龙虾毫无概念。
• She sold me a couple of live lobsters. 她卖了几只活龙虾给我。

12 ferment   

vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱

参考例句：

• Fruit juices ferment if they are kept a long time.果汁若是放置很久，就会发酵。
• The sixties were a time of theological ferment.六十年代是神学上骚动的时代。