【荆棘鸟】第三章 16

Meggie never forgot the sound of foghorns¹, her first introduction to Australia.

  Paddy carried Fee off the Wahine in his arms, Frank following with the baby, Meggie with a case, each of the boys stumbling wearily under some kind of burden. They had come into Pyrmont, a meaningless name, on a foggy winter morning at the end of August, 1921. An enormous line of taxis waited outside the iron shed on the wharf²; Meggie gaped³ round-eyed, for she had never seen so many cars in one place at one time. Somehow Paddy packed them all into a single cab, its driver volunteering to take them to the People's Palace. "That's the place for youse, mate," he told Paddy. "It's a hotel for the workingman run by the Sallies."

  The streets were thronged⁴ with cars seeming to rush in all directions; there were very few horses. They stared raptly out of the taxi windows at the tall brick buildings, the narrow winding⁵ streets, the rapidity with which crowds of people seemed to merge⁶ and dissolve in some strange urban ritual. Wellington had awed⁷ them, but Sydney made Wellington look like a small country town.

  While Fee rested in one of the myriad⁸ rooms of the warren the Salvation⁹ Army fondly called the People's Palace, Paddy went off to Central Railway Station to see when they could get a train for Gillanbone. Quite recovered, the boys clamored to go with him, for they had been told it was not very far, and that the way was  all shops, including one which sold squill candy. Envying their youth, Paddy yielded, for he wasn't sure how strong his own legs were after three days of seasickness¹⁰. Frank and Meggie stayed with Fee and the baby, longing¹¹ to go, too, but more concerned that their mother be better. Indeed, she seemed to gain strength rapidly once off the ship, and had drunk a bowl of soup and nibbled¹² a slice of toast brought to her by one of the workingman's bonneted¹³ angels.

  "If we don't go tonight, Fee, it's a week until the next through train," Paddy said when he returned. "Do you think you could manage the journey tonight?"

  Fee sat up, shivering. "I can manage."

  "I think we ought to wait," Frank said hardily¹⁴. "I don't think Mum's well enough to travel."

  "What you don't seem to understand, Frank, is that if we miss tonight's train we have to wait a whole week, and I just don't have the price of a week's stay in Sydney in my pocket. This is a big country, and where we're going isn't served by a daily train. We could get as far as Dubbo on any one of three trains tomorrow, but then we'd have to wait for a local connection, 

 

梅吉永远也忘不了那雾号声，这是她第一次踏上澳大利亚的序曲。

　　

　　帕迪抱着菲走下了"韦汉"号，弗兰克抱着小娃娃跟在后面，梅吉提着一只箱子，每个男孩都打着一些行李，疲惫不堪地、磕磕绊绊地走着。1921年8月底的一个大雾弥漫的冬晨。他们进入了皮尔蒙特。这是一个没有任何含义的地名。码头的铁货棚外面，出租汽车排成了一排长龙，等在那里。梅吉目瞪口呆地四万张望着，她还从来没见过在一个地方一次停这么多小汽车呢。不知怎么的，帕迪把他们全都塞进了一辆汽车，那司机主动提出把他们送到"人民宫"。

　　"伙计，那是适合你们这样的人的地方。"他告诉帕迪。"那是萨利夫妇为劳苦大众开的旅店。"

　　街道上挤满了似乎是从四面八方拥来的汽车，马却极少。他们从出租汽车里的全神贯注地望着窗外高耸的砖楼，狭窄迂回的街道，拥挤的行人过往匆匆，仿佛是在参加某种稀奇古怪的都市仪礼。惠灵顿使他们感到敬畏不已，而与悉尼相比，惠灵顿却显得像个农村市镇了。

　　当菲在救世军称之为"人民宫"的许多鸟笼似的小屋中歇憩时，帕迪出门到中心火车站去，看看他们什么时候能搭乘火车到基兰博去。已经差不多缓过劲儿来的男孩子们吵嚷着要跟他一起去，因为他们听说车站高得不太远，而且一路全是商店，其中还有一家卖棒棒糖的呢。帕迪真羡慕他们的青春活力，便答应了他们的要求。经过三天晕船之后，他对自己的两条腿是否顶得下来，心里依然没把握。弗兰克和梅吉也想去，但他们更关心妈妈的身体，希望她好起来，于是就留下来陪菲和小孩了。确实，一下船，她似乎很快恢复了，她已经喝了一碗汤，慢慢地吃了一片烤面包，这是一位劳苦大众中的一个头戴帽子的天使给她送来的。

　　

　　"菲，要是今天晚上咱们不走的话，那下一次直达车就在一周以后了。"帕迪回来以后说道。"你觉得你今天晚上走能挺得下来吗？"

　　菲坐了起来，身上发着抖。"我能挺过去。"

　　"我觉得咱们应该等一等，"弗兰克壮着胆子说道。"我想妈的身体还没缓过来，不能赶路。"

　　"弗兰克，你好像不明白，要是我们误了今晚的火车，就得整整等上一个星期，我口袋里的钱可付不起在悉尼呆一个星期的帐。这个国家大着哩，咱们要去的那地方可不是每天有火车。明天有三趟车，我们坐哪一趟车都只能到达博。这样，我们就得在那里等着转车，

1 foghorns   

n.（大雾时发出响亮而低沉的声音以警告其他船只的）雾角，雾喇叭( foghorn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

2 wharf   

n.码头，停泊处

参考例句：

• We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
• We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。

3 gaped   

v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• A huge chasm gaped before them. 他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front door was missing. A hole gaped in the roof. 前门不翼而飞，屋顶豁开了一个洞。 来自辞典例句

4 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

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 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

7 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

9 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

10 seasickness   

n.晕船

参考例句：

• Europeans take melons for a preventive against seasickness. 欧洲人吃瓜作为预防晕船的方法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was very prone to seasickness and already felt queasy. 他快晕船了，已经感到恶心了。 来自辞典例句

11 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

12 nibbled   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• She nibbled daintily at her cake. 她优雅地一点一点地吃着自己的蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several companies have nibbled at our offer. 若干公司表示对我们的出价有兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 bonneted   

发动机前置的

参考例句：

14 hardily   

耐劳地，大胆地，蛮勇地

参考例句：

• Anyway, we should seriously study the tradition and hardily develop the future. 我们要扎实的学习传统又要大胆地开拓未来。
• He can hardily hold on after working all night for several days. 他成宿地工作，身体都快顶不住了。