【荆棘鸟】第一章 05（在线收听） |
he picked up a curland pulled it out straight, then let it go, just to see it jiggle and bounce as it settled back into place. Picking the child up, he went to sit in the only comfortable chair the kitchen possessed, a Windsor chair with a cushion tied toits seat, drawn close to the fire. Sighing softly, he sat down in it and pulled out his pipe, carelessly tapping out the spent dottle of to bacco in itsbowl onto the floor. Meggie cuddled down on his lap and wound her arms about his neck, her cool little face turned up to his as she played her nightly gameof watching the light filter through his short stubble of golden beard.
"How are you, Fee?" Padraic Clearyasked his wife. "All right, Paddy. Did you get the lower paddock donetoday?" "Yes, all done. I can start on the upper first thing in the morning. Lord, but I'm tired!"
"I'll bet. Did MacPherson give you the crotchety old mare again?" "Too right. You don't think he'd take theanimal himself to let me have the roan, do you? My arms feel as if they've beenpulled out of their sockets. I swear that mare has the hardest mouth in EnZed."
"Never mind. Old Robertson's horses are all good, and you'll be there soon enough."
"Can't be soon enough." He packed his pipe with coarse tobacco and pulled a taper from the big jar that stood near the stove. A quick flick inside the firebox door and it caught; he leaned back in his chair and sucked so deeply the pipe made bubbling noises."How's it feel to be four, Meggie?" he asked his daughter.
"Pretty good, Daddy."
"Did Mum give you your present?"
"Oh, Daddy, how did you and Mum guess I wanted Agnes?"
"Agnes?" He looked swiftly toward Fee, smiling and quizzing her with his eyebrows. "Is that her name, Agnes?"
"Yes. She's beautiful, Daddy. I want to look at her all day." "She's lucky to have anything to look at,"Fee said grimly. "Jack and Hughie got hold of the doll before poor Meggiehad a chance to see it properly."
"Well, boys will be boys. Is the damage bad?" "Nothing that can't be mended. Frank caught them before it went too far." "Frank? What was he doing down here? He was supposed to beat the forge all day. Hunter wants his gates."
"He was at the forge all day. He just came down for a tool of some sort," Fee answered quickly; Padraic was too hard on Frank. "Oh, Daddy, Frank is the best brother! He saved my Agnes from being killed, and he's going to glue her hair on again for me after tea."
"That's good," her father said drowsily, leaning his head back in the chair and closing his eyes.
It was hot in front of the stove, but he didn't seem to notice; beads of sweat gathered on his forehead, glistening. He put his arms behind his head and fell into a doze.
It was from Padraic Cleary that his children got their various shades of thick, waving red hair, though none had inherited quite such an aggressively red head as his. He was a small man, all steel and springs in build, legs bowed from a life time among horses, arms elongated from years shearing sheep; his chest and arms were covered in a matted golden fuzz which would have been ugly had he been dark.His eyes were bright blue, crinkled up into a permanent squint like a sailor's from gazing into the far distance, and his face was a pleasant one, with awhimsical smiling quality about it that made other men like him at a glance.
他轻轻捋起她的一缕卷发，把它拉直，然后又松开，为的是看看那发卷缩回原位时卷跳的样子。他一把抱起她来，向厨房里那把唯一舒适的椅子走去。这是一把温莎椅，座位上系着一个靠热。他把椅子拉近炉火，轻轻地叹了口气，在椅子上坐了下来，然后，抽出烟斗，漫不经心地把吸乏了的烟丝从烟斗锅里轻轻地叩到地板上。梅吉蜷缩在他的膝头，两手勾着他的脖子；她凝视着亮光透过他那修剪得短短的、金色的络腮胡——这是她每晚一成不变的乐事——她那张冰冷的小脸向他凑了过去。
“你好吗？菲？”帕德里克·克利里问他的妻子。
“很好，帕迪①。今天下牧场里的活儿都干完了吗？”①帕德里克的爱称。——译注“干完了。全干完了。明天一早就可以开始干上牧场的活儿了。天啊，我真累啦！”
“保准是这样。是不是麦克弗森又把那匹脾气古怪的母马交给你了？”
“太对了。你不认为他会自个儿去摆弄那特门，而让我去驾那花毛马吧？我觉得我的胳膊像是被扯脱下来了似的。我敢说他妈的那母马是安·扎隆最难对付的母马。”
“没关系。老罗伯逊的马可都是好马，你用不了多久就会到那儿去了。”
“没那么快。”他装了一锅劣等烟草，从火炉边的罐子里抽出一根点烟用的蜡芯，飞快地往火门里一撩，点着了。他靠回椅子上，深深地抽了一口烟，烟斗发出了“啪啪”的响声。
“到了四岁觉得怎么样呀，梅吉？”他问他的女儿。
“啊不错，爸。”
“妈给你礼物了吗？”
“噢，爸，你和妈怎么知道我想要艾格尼丝？”
“艾格尼丝？”他马上把头转向菲，微笑着，挤着眉和她升起了玩笑：“她的名字叫艾格尼丝吗？”
“是的，她很美，爸，我一天到晚都想看着她。”
“她有东西好看可真算幸运了，”菲苦笑着说道。“可怜的梅吉还没来得及好好看看那娃娃，就叫杰克和休吉抢去了。”
“哦，秃小子总是秃小子嘛，损坏得厉害吗？”
“都能修好。没到太严重的地步，弗兰克就把他们给制止住了。”
“弗兰克？他在这儿干什么？他得整天打铁才对。亨特等着要门呢。”
“他一天都在铺子里来着。他回来是来拿什么工具的吧。”菲很快地答道。帕德里克对弗兰克太严厉了。
“哦，爸，弗兰克是天下最好的哥哥！我的艾格尼丝没死，就是他救的。喝完茶以后，他还要把她的头发粘上呢。”
“那好，”她爸爸懒洋洋地说道，把头靠在椅子上，闭上了眼睛。
火炉前面很热，但他似乎并没感觉到，前额冒出的汗珠在闪闪发光。他把两只胳膊枕在后脑勺下，打起盹来了。
正是从帕德里克·克利里的身上，孩子们继承下来了深浅不同的发红的卷发，尽管他们中间谁的头发也不像他的头发那样红得刺人眼目。他是个矮小而又结实的人，长着一身铁骨钢筋，一辈子和马打交道使他的腿罗圈了，多年的剪羊毛生涯使他的手臂变得很长；他的胸前和臂膀上布满了浓密的金色茸毛，倘若他是黑皮肤的话，那一定是很难看的。他的眼睛是浅蓝色的·总是眯缝着，象一个注视着远方的水手；他的脸色的是愉快的，挂着一种古怪的微笑，使别人一看就喜欢他。
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