【荆棘鸟】第三章 17

他们跟我说，要是我们那样走的话，那比我们想想办法赶今 晚的车更受罪呢。”  “我能挺过去，帕迪，”菲又说了一遍。“有弗兰克和梅吉照顾我，不会有什 么事的。”她两眼望着弗兰克，恳求他别再说了。      “那我现在就去给玛丽打个电报，告诉她明天晚上等我们。”      中心火车站比克利里家的人所到过的任何建筑物都要大，一个巨大的圆柱形玻 璃大厅似乎在同时回响着、吸收着成千上万的人的喧声闹语。他们在横七竖八的捆 着绳子的筐子旁等着，目不转睛地望着一块巨大的指示板，它是由手拿长杆的人调 整的。在愈来愈暗的暮色中，他们挤在这群人中间，眼巴巴地望着五号站台上的铁 门；门虽然关着，但门上面有手写的几个字：“基兰博邮车”。在一号站台和二号 站台上，紧张的活动预示着开往布里斯班和墨尔本的夜班快车即将发车，旅客们正 在熙熙攘攘地通过检票口。不久，便轮到他们了。五号站台的门吱吱嘎嘎地打开了， 人们开始急不可待地挪动起来。      帕迪给他们找了一间空着的二等车厢，把大一些的男孩子安置在靠窗口的座位 上，而菲、梅吉和那些小小孩则坐在通往车厢连接处的长过道的滑门旁。

        有人抱着 找个空位的希望探进脸来，但一看见车厢里有那么多孩子，马上就被吓退了。有时 候，家人口多也有它的长处。      夜里很冷，他们解下了所有的手提箱外面捆着的花格呢大旅行毛毯；尽管车厢 里没有供暖，但地板上放着装满了热灰的钢箱却散发着热气。不管怎么样，谁也没 盼着供暖，因为在澳大利亚或新西兰，任何地方都是从不供暖。      “爸，还有多远呐？”当列车起动，车身轻摇，铿铿锵锵地向前方的目的地奔 驶时，梅吉问道。      “比我们那本地图册上看到的路程要长得多，梅吉。610英里。明天傍晚的时候 我们就到了。”      男孩子们惊得透不过气来，可是，窗外灯光初放，万家灯火所构成的仙境般的 画面使他们把这一点忘在脑后了。他们全都凑到了窗前观看着，在列车驶出的最初 几英里路程中，房子仍然不见少。随着车速的加快，灯光越来越稀少，终于完全消 失，代替它们的是不断地涌向呼号着的疾风的点点火星。

 

and they told me we'd suffer a lot more traveling that way than if we make the effort to catch tonight's express."

  "I'll manage, Paddy," Fee repeated. "I've got Frank and Meggie; I'll be all right." Her eyes were on Frank, pleading for his silence. "Then I'll send Mary a telegram now, telling her to expect us tomorrow night."

  Central Station was bigger than any building the Clearys had ever been inside, a vast glass cylinder² which seemed simultaneously³ to echo and absorb the din¹ of thousands of people waiting beside battered⁴, strapped⁵ suitcases and fixedly⁶ watching a giant indicator⁷ board which men with long poles altered by hand. In the gathering⁸ evening darkness they found themselves a part of the throng⁹, their eyes on the steel concertina gates of platform five; though shut, they bore a large hand- painted sign saying GILLANBONE MAIL. On platform one and platform two a terrific activity heralded¹⁰ the imminent¹¹ departure of the Brisbane and Melbourne night expresses, passengers crowding through the barriers. Soon it was their turn, as the gates of platform five squashed themselves open and the people began eagerly to move.

  Paddy found them an empty second-class compartment¹², put the older boys by the windows and Fee, Meggie and the baby by the sliding doors which led into the long corridor connecting compartments¹³. Faces would peer in hopefully in sight of a spare seat, to vanish horrified¹⁴ at the sight of so many young children. Sometimes being a large family was an advantage. The night was cold enough to warrant unstrapping of the big tartan traveling rugs all the suitcases bore on their outsides; though the carnage was not heated, steel boxes full of hot ashes lay along the floor radiating warmth, and no one had expected heating anyway because nothing in Australia or New Zealand was ever heated.

  "How far is it, Daddy?" Meggie asked as the train drew out, clanking and rocking gently across an eternity¹⁵ of points.

  "A long way further than it looked on our atlas¹⁶, Meggie. Six hundred and ten miles. We'll be there late tomorrow afternoon."

  The boys gasped¹⁷, but forgot it at the blossoming of a fairyland of lights outside; everyone clustered at the windows and watched while the first miles flew by and still the houses did not diminish. The speed increased, the lights grew scattered¹⁸ and finally went out, replaced by a constant flurry of sparks streaming past in a howling wind. 

1 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

2 cylinder   

n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸

参考例句：

• What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？
• The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。

3 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

4 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

5 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 fixedly   

adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地

参考例句：

• He stared fixedly at the woman in white. 他一直凝视着那穿白衣裳的女人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The great majority were silent and still, looking fixedly at the ground. 绝大部分的人都不闹不动，呆呆地望着地面。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

7 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 throng   

n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集

参考例句：

• A patient throng was waiting in silence.一大群耐心的人在静静地等着。
• The crowds thronged into the mall.人群涌进大厅。

10 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

12 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

13 compartments   

n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层

参考例句：

• Your pencil box has several compartments. 你的铅笔盒有好几个格。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The first-class compartments are in front. 头等车室在前头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

15 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

16 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

17 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。