【荆棘鸟】第三章 21

 她是他有生以来所见到的最甜美、最可爱的小姑娘了。她头发的颜色令人难以描绘，既不是红色的，又不是金色的，而是集两种色彩之大成。她那双仰望着他的银灰色的眼睛象熔融的宝石，摇曳闪烁着柔和的光，明亮而纯洁。他耸了耸肩。把烟蒂丢进火中，站了起来。自己年龄已经不小了，居然还想入非非，熔融的宝石，真是的！可能是自己的双眼被这片漫漫黄沙之地蒙住了。

 

    早晨，他开车送在他那里过夜的客人们去德罗海达，现在，他们对这里的景色

已经习惯了；他们的评论使他觉得有意思极了。最近的山峦坐落在东边200英里的地方；这儿嘛，他解释说，是黑土平原。这是一片长着稀疏的森林的草原，极目望去，简直是一马平川。今天白天的天气和昨天一样炎热，可是坐着戴姆勒小汽车赶路要比坐火车舒服得多了。今天是斋日，他们很早就动身了，拉尔夫神父的法衣和圣餐面包仔细地装在一只黑筐子里。

 

    “这些绵羊真脏啊！”梅吉注视着那数百头用鼻子在草地上拱来拱去的红褐色

的绵羊，非常难过的说道。

 

    “啊，我明白了，我该选择去新西兰才对，”神父说道。“那里一定跟爱尔兰

一样，有乳白色的绵羊。”

 

    “是的，好多地方都像爱尔兰；有和爱尔兰一样美丽的绿草。不过，比爱尔兰

荒僻一些，开垦的程度也远远不如爱尔兰。”帕迪答道。他非常喜欢拉尔夫神父。

 

    正在这时，一群鸸鹋突然晃动了一下站立起来，开始奔跑；它们快如疾风，那

姿态不雅的腿隐隐约约地看不真切，而脖子却伸得老长。孩子们喘着气，爆发出一阵大笑，如痴如迷地望着好以迅跑代疾飞为巨鸟。

 

    “要是用不着下车去开那些破门该多好啊。”当最后一道门在他们身后关上，替拉尔夫神父下车去开门的鲍勃爬回汽车里的时候，拉尔夫神父说道。

 

    当澳大利亚这片国土以令人措手不及的神速接二连三地使他们感到惊骇不已以

后，德罗海达宅院那雅致的乔治王朝时代的门面，蓓蕾初绽的紫藤花和成千上万的玫瑰花丛，似乎给他们某种到了家乡的感受。

 

    “我们要住在这里吗？”梅吉尖声问道。

 

    “也对也不对。”神父很快地说道。“你们要住的房子大约离这儿有一英里，在小河的下游。”

 

    玛丽·卡森正坐在那间宽敞的客厅里等着接待他们，她并没站起来去迎接她的弟弟，而是坐在她的高背椅中，非要他到她身边去不可。

 

The sweetest, the most adorable little girl he had ever seen; hair of a color which defied description, not red and not gold, a perfect fusion¹ of both. And looking up at him with silver-grey eyes of such a lambent purity, like melted jewels. Shrugging, he threw the cigarette stub into the fire and got to his feet. He was getting fanciful in his old age; melted jewels, indeed! More likely his own eyes were coming down with the sandy blight².

 

  In the morning he drove his overnight guests to Drogheda, so inured³ by now to the landscape that he derived⁴ great amusement from their comments. The last hill lay two hundred miles to the east; this was the land of the black soil plains, he explained. Just sweeping⁵, lightly timbered grasslands⁶ as flat as a board. The day was as hot as the previous one, but the Daimler was a great deal more comfortable to travel in than the train had been. And they had started out early, fasting, Father Ralph's vestments and the Blessed Sacrament packed carefully in a black case.

 

  "The sheep are dirty!" said Meggie dolefully, gazing at the many hundreds of rusty-red bundles with their questing noses down into the grass. "Ah, I can see I ought to have chosen New Zealand," the priest said. "It must be like Ireland, then, and have nice cream sheep."

 "Yes, it is like Ireland in many ways; it has the same beautiful green grass. But it's wilder, a lot less tamed," Paddy answered. He liked Father Ralph very much.

 

  Just then a group of emus lurched to their feet and commenced to run, fleet as the wind, their ungainly legs a blur⁷, their long necks stretched out. The children gasped⁸ and burst out laughing, enchanted⁹ at seeing giant birds which ran instead of flying.

 

  "What a pleasure it is not to have to get out and open these' wretched gates," Father Ralph said as the last one was shut behind them and Bob, who had done gate duty for him, scrambled¹⁰ back into the car. After the shocks Australia had administered to them in bewildering rapidity, Drogheda homestead seemed like a touch of home, with its gracious Georgian facade¹¹ and its budding wistaria vines, its thousands of rosebushes. "Are we going to live here?" Meggie squeaked¹². "Not exactly," the priest said quickly. "The house you're going to live in is about a mile further on, down by the creek¹³."

 

  Mary Carson was waiting to receive them in the vast drawing room and did not rise to greet her brother, but forced him to come to her as she sat in her wing chair.

1 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

2 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

3 inured   

adj.坚强的，习惯的

参考例句：

• The prisoners quickly became inured to the harsh conditions.囚犯们很快就适应了苛刻的条件。
• He has inured himself to accept misfortune.他锻练了自己，使自己能承受不幸。

4 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

6 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

8 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》

9 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

10 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》

11 facade   

n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表

参考例句：

• The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
• If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。

12 squeaked   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• The radio squeaked five. 收音机里嘟嘟地发出五点钟报时讯号。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor. 埃米走过走廊时，鞋子踩在地砖上嘎吱作响。 来自辞典例句

13 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。