【荆棘鸟】第一章 06

His nose was magnificent, a true Roman nose which must have puzzled his Irish confreres, but Ireland has ever been a shipwreck¹ coast. He still spoke² with the soft quick slur³ of the Gal- way Irish, pronouncing his final t's as this's, but almost twenty years in the Antipodes had forced a quaint⁴ overlay upon it, so that hisa's came out as i's and the speed of his speech had run down a little, like anold clock in need of a good winding⁵. A happy man, he had managed to weather his hard and drudging existence better than most, and though he was a rigid⁶ disciplinarian with a heavy swing to his boot, all but one of his children adored him. If there was not enough bread to go around, he went without; if it was a choice between new clothes for him or new clothes for one of his offspring, he went without. In its way, that was more reliable evidence of love than a million easy kisses. His temper was very fiery⁷, and he had killed a man once. Luck had been with him; the man was english, and there was a ship in DunLaoghaire harbor bound for New Zealand on the tide.

  Fiona went to the back door and shouted,"Tea!" The boys trailed in gradually, Frank bringing up the rear withan arm load of wood, which he dumped in the big box beside the stove. Padraic put Meggie down and walked to the head of the non-company dining table at the far end of the kitchen, while the boys seated themselves around its sides and Meggie scrambled⁸ up on top of the wooden box her father put on the chair nearest to him.

  Fee served the food directly onto dinner plates at her worktable, more quickly and efficiently⁹ than a waiter; she carried them two at a time to her family, Paddy first, then Frank, and so on down to Meggie, with herself last. 

 

"Erckle! Stew¹⁰!" said Stuart,pulling faces as he picked up his knife and fork. "Why did you have to name me after stew?" "Eat it," his father growled¹¹.

  The plates were big ones, and they were literally¹² heaped with food: boiled potatoes, lamb stew and beans cut that day from the garden, ladled in huge portions. 

  In spite of the muted groans¹³ and sounds of disgust, everyone including Stu polished his plate clean with bread, and ate several slices more spread thickly with butter and native gooseberry jam. Fee sat down and bolted her meal, then got up at once to hurry to her worktable again, where into big soup plates she doled¹⁴ out great quantities of biscuit made with plenty of sugar and laced all through with jam. A river of steaming hot custard sauce was poured over each, and again she plodded¹⁵ to the dining table with the plates, two at a time. Finally she sat down with a sigh; this she could eat at her leisure.

  "Oh, goodie! Jam roly-poly!" Meggie exclaimed, slopping her spoon up and down in the custard until the jam seeped¹⁶ through to make pink streaks¹⁷ in the yellow.

  "Well, Meggie girl, it's your birthday, so Mum made your favorite pudding," her father said, smiling.

  There were no complaints this time; no matter what the pudding was, it was consumed with gusto. The Clearys all had a sweet tooth. No one carried a pound of superfluous¹⁸ flesh, in spite of the vast quantities of starchy food. They expended¹⁹ every ounce they ate in work or play. Vegetables and fruit were eaten because they were good for you, but it was the bread, potatoes, meat and hot floury puddings which staved off exhaustion²⁰.

 

他的鼻子很有气派，是一个地道的罗马人的鼻子，这一定叫他那些爱尔兰同行感到困惑不解，不过爱尔兰的海岸是有船只失事的地方。他说话的时候仍然带着柔和、快捷而含糊不清的高永韦①爱尔兰腔，把结尾处的“痴”音念成“咝”音。不过，在地球的另一面的近20年的生活经历，已经使他的口音变得有些南腔北调了。因此“氨音成了“唉”音，讲话的速度也稍微慢了些，就好像一台用旧的钟表需要好好上一上弦了。他是一个，乐观的人，他设法使自己比大多数人更愉快地来度过他那艰难沉闷的岁月，尽管他是一个动不动就用大皮靴踢人的严厉的循规蹈矩的人，但在他的孩子中除了一个孩子以外，都对他敬慕备至。如果面包分不过来，他自己就饿着不吃；如果可以在给自己添置就衣和给某个孩子做新衣之间进行选择的话，他自己就不要了。这比无数次廉价的亲吻更能可靠地表明他对他们的爱。他的脾气极为暴躁，曾经杀过一个人。那时他还算幸运；那人是个英国人，敦·劳海尔港泊着一条准备顺海潮开往新西兰的船。高尔韦，爱尔兰一地名。菲走到后门口，喊了一声：“吃茶点啦！”

 

    孩子们鱼贯而入。弗兰克走在最后，抱着一捆木柴，扔进了炉子边上的一只大箱子里。帕德里克放下梅吉，走到了放在厨房最里面的那张独一无二的餐桌的上首，孩子们围着两边坐了下来，梅吉爬到爸爸放在最靠近他的椅子上的木箱上面。

    菲奥娜直接把食物分到了那些放在圆桌上的餐盘里，她那股敏捷和利索劲儿比侍者有过之而无不及。她一次给他们端来两盘，第一盘给帕迪，接着是弗兰克，再往下是梅吉，最后才是她自己。

    “厄克尔！斯杜！”斯图尔特说道，他一面拿起刀叉，一面沉下脸来。“你干嘛非得叫我斯杜①？”①英语中斯杜（stew）有炖和煨的意思，与斯尔特的爱称斯图谐音。——译注“吃你的饭。”爸爸吼了一声。

    盘子都是大号的，里面着着实实地装满了食物。煮土豆、炖羊肉和当天从菜园里摘来的扁豆，都是满满的一大勺。所有的人，连斯图尔特在内。都无心去顾及那没有说出来的斥责和表示厌恶说话声，而是用面包把自己的盘子蹭了个一干二净，接着又吃了几张涂着厚厚的黄油和土产酷栗果酱的面包片。菲奥娜坐了下来，匆匆地吃完了饭，然后立刻站起身，又向厨桌奔去，往大汤盘里放了许多加糖饼干，上面涂满了果酱。每个盘子里都倒进了大量的、热气腾腾的牛奶蛋糊汁，又一次两盘地把它们慢慢地端到餐桌上。

    最后，她叹了口气坐下来，这一盘她可以安安稳稳地吃了。

    “啊，太好了！卷果酱布丁！”梅吉大声嚷着，用匙子在牛奶蛋糊里东舀西捅，直到黄色的蛋汁里涌出一条条的粉红色的果酱。

    “喂，梅吉姑娘，今天是你的生日，所以妈妈给你做了你喜欢吃的布叮”她爸爸微笑着说道。

    这次没有人埋怨：不管布丁做得如何，大家都吃得津津有味。克利里家的人都喜欢吃甜食。

    尽管他们淀粉类吃得很多很多，但是没有一个人身上多长一磅肉。在干活和玩耍中他们耗尽了吃进去的每一盎司食物。人们吃蔬菜和水果，因为它们是吃的东西而排除疲劳的却是面包、土豆、肉类和热面布叮。

1 shipwreck   

n.船舶失事，海难

参考例句：

• He walked away from the shipwreck.他船难中平安地脱险了。
• The shipwreck was a harrowing experience.那次船难是一个惨痛的经历。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 slur   

v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音

参考例句：

• He took the remarks as a slur on his reputation.他把这些话当作是对他的名誉的中伤。
• The drug made her speak with a slur.药物使她口齿不清。

4 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

5 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

6 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

7 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

8 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

10 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

11 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 groans   

n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• There were loud groans when he started to sing. 他刚开始歌唱时有人发出了很大的嘘声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was a weird old house, full of creaks and groans. 这是所神秘而可怕的旧宅，到处嘎吱嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 doled   

救济物( dole的过去式和过去分词 )； 失业救济金

参考例句：

• The food was doled out to the poor. 食品分发给了穷人。
• Sisco briskly doled out the United States positions on the key issues. 西斯科轻快地把美国在重大问题上的立场放了出去。

15 plodded   

v.沉重缓慢地走（路）( plod的过去式和过去分词 )；努力从事；沉闷地苦干；缓慢进行（尤指艰难枯燥的工作）

参考例句：

• Our horses plodded down the muddy track. 我们的马沿着泥泞小路蹒跚而行。
• He plodded away all night at his project to get it finished. 他通宵埋头苦干以便做完专题研究。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 seeped   

v.（液体）渗( seep的过去式和过去分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• The rain seeped through the roof. 雨水透过房顶渗透。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Icy air seeped in through the paper and the room became cold. 寒气透过了糊窗纸。屋里骤然冷起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

17 streaks   

n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
• Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

18 superfluous   

adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的

参考例句：

• She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
• That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。

19 expended   

v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽

参考例句：

• She expended all her efforts on the care of home and children. 她把所有精力都花在料理家务和照顾孩子上。
• The enemy had expended all their ammunition. 敌人已耗尽所有的弹药。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。