通译双语文库:像爱丽丝的小镇第十章|Chapter 10

1

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越野车慢慢在帐篷前停了下来，布尔内维尔骑着马跟在旁边。她挂了停车挡，把车停下来，大大松了一口气。她坐在驾驶室里，乔走向她。“戴夫呢？”他问，“他没回来吗？”

1

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Jean drove the utility slowly up to the tent with Bourneville riding beside her; she took out the gear and stopped it with a sigh of relief. Joe came to her as she sat there.“What’s happened to Dave?”he asked.“Didn’t he come back?”

2

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她把情况告诉他。“我想我最好试着自己开车来。”她说，“我之前只开过大概三次车。我肯定把它开坏了，乔。”

2

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She told him what had happened.“I thought I’d better have a go at driving it up myself,”she said.“I’ve only driven a car about three times before. I don’t think I’ve done it any good, Joe.”

3

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他后撤几步。“看起来没问题。”他说，“你撞到什么了吗？”

3

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He stepped back.“Looks all right,”he said.“Did you hit anything?”

4

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“什么都没撞到。但有时候我挂不上挡，它就发出可怕的声音。”

4

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“I didn’t hit anything. I couldn’t get the gears in sometimes and it made an awful noise.”

5

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“它还走得动吗？”

5

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“Do they still work?”

6

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“哦，我想可以。”

6

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“Oh, I think so.”

7

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“那就没问题。小河怎么样？”

7

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“That’s all right, then. What were the creeks like?”

8

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“水挺深的，”她说，“都漫过驾驶室的地板了。”

8

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“Pretty high,”she said.“It came over the floor of the cab.”

9

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他嘟囔了一声。“赶紧回去。希望这该死的雨快点停。”

9

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He grunted.“Get along back as soon as we can. I wish this bloody rain ’ld stop.”

10

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她问：“柯蒂斯先生在这里吗，乔？”

10

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She asked,“Is Mr Curtis here, Joe?”

11

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他点点头。“在帐篷里。”

11

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He nodded.“In the tent.”

12

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“他怎么了？”

12

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“What’s wrong?”

13

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“腿断了，”他说，“有创骨折——你们把断骨刺穿皮肤的骨折叫作有创骨折吧？我想他的脚踝也断了。”

13

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“Got his leg bust,”he said.“Compound fracture—that’s what you call it when the bone’s sticking out, isn’t it? I think he’s got a broken ankle, too.”

14

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她惊讶地噘起嘴唇。“我把你那个装着夹板和绷带的箱子带来了。”

14

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She pursed her lips.“I brought up that trunk with your splints and things.”

15

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他问：“你知道怎样处理骨折吗？从前有没有当过护士什么的？”

15

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He asked,“Do you know about breaks? Ever been a nurse or anything like that?”

16

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她摇摇头。“没当过。”

16

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She shook her head.“I’ve not.”

17

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“我看了一眼并清洗了伤口。”他说，“我已经尽力了，但它实在是太糟糕了。我今早做了一块长条形的夹板，把它绑在伤腿上。我们要把他送去医院，越快越好。已经两天了。”

17

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“I’ve had a look at it and washed it,”he said.“I set it well as I could, but it’s a mess. I made a sort of long splint this morning and tied it all down on that. We’ll get him down to hospital, soon as we can. It’s been done two days.”

18

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他们开始撤营，把帐篷从伤员上方移开。唐第一次见到琴。“你好，佩吉特小姐，”他说，“你不记得我了吧？我在威尔斯镇见过你，在你抵达那天。”

18

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They set to work to strike camp. They removed the tent from over the injured man and he saw Jean for the first time.“Hullo, Miss Paget,”he said.“You don’t remember me. I saw you in Willstown, day you arrived.”

19

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她向他微笑。“你很快就会回到威尔斯镇。我们要把你送进医院。”

19

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She smiled at him.“You’ll be back there in a little while. In the hospital.”

20

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她忙活的时候，突然满脸困惑地转向乔。“我们这是在谁的土地上，乔？”

20

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Once as she worked she turned to Joe with a puzzled expression.“Whose land are we on, Joe?”

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“米德赫斯特啊，”他说，“为什么这么问？”

21

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“Midhurst,”he said.“Why?”

22

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她扫了一眼畜栏。“那是用来做什么的？”

22

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She glanced at the corral.“What’s that for?”

23

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“那个东西？”他说，“哦，没什么特别用途，我们偶尔会把牛赶进去打烙印什么的。”

23

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“That?”he said.“Oh, that’s just a place we put the cattle in sometimes, for branding and that.”

24

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她没有再说话，继续低头干活。她的嘴唇几度漾起一丝微笑。他们把唐放在地上，在灌木床底下放了一条毯子，再放下越野车的车尾板。然后，他们用尽力气，小心万分地把他搬到床上，再把床搬到越野车的车身上。躺在车身上的男人脸色煞白，汗流如注。他把嘴唇都咬破了，但他们没有办法舒缓他的疼痛。

24

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She said no more, but went on with her work; once or twice a little smile played round her lips. They worked a blanket underneath the brushwood bed as the man lay upon the ground, and lowered the tailboard of the utility; then, with infinite care and great labour they lifted him on his bed into the body of the truck. The man was white and sweating when they had done and a little blood was showing on his lip where he had bitten it, but there was nothing else that they could do to ease his pain.

25

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大约九点钟，他们开车返回。乔负责开越野车，琴在后面陪伴伤员，布尔内维尔骑马跟在车后，牵着两匹马。他们路过钻头，往前走了大约五英里，来到第一条小河的岸边。跟琴几小时前经过的时候相比，水位上涨了很多。

25

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They started off at about nine o’clock, Joe driving the utility, Jean riding in the back with the injured man, and Bourneville following behind, riding and leading the two horses. They passed the bore and went on for about five miles till they came to the creeks. The water was considerably higher than when Jean had crossed a couple of hours earlier.

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他们顺利涉过了这条河，不过河水已经漫进了越野车的驾驶室，差一点就漫上车身的底板，而伤员就躺在底板上。过了河之后，他们继续往前走。第二条河的水位更高。乔停在河边，向琴和布尔内维尔咨询他们之前过河的情况。琴当时经过的地方似乎比现在浅五十码，那应该是水位比较低的地方了。乔让布尔内维尔骑马走进水里，听人和马在水里行走时发出的声音。看来没什么问题，于是他把越野车开进河里。

26

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They crossed the first without difficulty, though the water was in the cab of the utility and only just below the floor of the truck body on which the sick man lay. They came through that one and went on. At the second creek the water was higher. Joe stopped on the edge and consulted with Jean and Bourneville about the crossing they had made before. It seemed shallower fifty yards above the point where Jean had crossed; Joe sent Bourneville into the water on his horse to sound the crossing. It looked good enough, so he drove the utility into the water.

27

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河水很快就变深了，他加速保持前行。黄色的洪水快速旋流，水底下的河床非常崎岖。巨大的汽车在河床的大石头上颠簸着前进。突然间，车子重重地撞到某个东西上，发出一阵金属的嘎吱声，一动不动。

27

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It grew deep quickly, and he accelerated to keep her going. The bottom, under the swirling yellow flood, was very rough; the big car went forward leaping from boulder to boulder under the water. Then she came down heavily on something with a crunch of metal, and stopped dead.

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乔说：“天啊。”他使劲儿摁发动键，但引擎毫无反应。油迹开始渗上水面，顺着旋流的黄色河水流走，拖出黄黑色的尾巴。他盯着这些油，大惊失色。

28

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Joe said,“Jesus,”and pressed the starter, but the engine was immovable. Oil began to appear on the eddying yellow surface of the water, and slide away downstream in black and yellow tails. He stared at it in consternation.

29

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琴说：“怎么了，乔？”

29

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Jean said,“What’s happened, Joe?”

30

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“我把该死的机油箱撞破了。”他简短地说。

30

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“I’ve cracked the bloody sump,”he said shortly.

31

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他从驾驶室上下来，在河水里小心翼翼地探路。水已经漫过他的膝盖，差不多深及腰部了。他喊来布尔内维尔，并让琴从卡车背后递给他一卷绳子。越野车只离岸十码远。他们制作了一个串联式的套索，把一头套在三匹马的前鞍上，另一头系在越野车的后轴上。这一切都在水底下摸索着进行，两人一边干活一边气急败坏地向对方喊话。十分钟后，汽车已经被拉上了岸，其效率之高，令琴惊叹不已。

31

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He got down into the water from the cab, feeling his way gingerly; it was well above his knees, close on waist deep. He called Bourneville and made Jean pass him a coil of rope from the back of the truck. The utility was only about ten yards from the bank. They made a sort of tandem harness for the three horses with lariats that they carried at the pommel of the riding saddles, and harnessed this team to the back axle of the utility, groping and spluttering under the water to do so. In ten minutes the vehicle was on dry land; a performance that left Jean awed by its efficiency.

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她从车身上下来，走向躺在前轴下的乔。她俯下身去，和他一起查看情况，发现用生铁制成的汽油箱被撞碎了。“情况严重吗，乔？”她轻声说。

32

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She got down from the back and went to Joe, who was lying on his back under the front axle. She stooped down with him to look; the cast iron sump was crushed and splintered.“Say it, Joe,”she said quietly.

33

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他向她咧嘴笑道：“这下惨了。”他从破洞里把生铁碎片掏出来，从车底下抽出身来，从驾驶室里找来启动曲柄，小心地转动引擎。他松了一口气。“曲轴轴承没问题，”他说，“只是机油箱坏了。”

33

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He grinned at her, and said,“It’s a fair mugger.”He picked the broken pieces of cast iron from the hole, and got out from underneath. He went and got the starting-handle from the cab and turned the engine carefully. He sighed with relief.“Crank-shaft’s all right,”he said.“It’s only just the sump.”

34

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他手里拿着启动曲柄，站着深思了一会儿。倾盆大雨扑在他们身上。她问道：“我们现在去哪里？”

34

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He stood in deep thought for a minute, starting-handle in his hand; the rain poured down upon them steadily. She asked,“Where do we go from here, Joe?”

35

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“我能补好它，”他说，“开回家没问题。但现在也没油了。以河流现在的上涨速度，去把卡车叫来也没用。”他站着观察了几分钟河水。“卡车到这儿的时候也过不了河。”他最后说，“现在只有一个办法。用飞机把他送走。”

35

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“I could patch that,”he said,“good enough to get her home. But then we haven’t got any oil. It’s no good going down to fetch the truck the way these creeks are rising.”He stood watching the water for a minute or two.“Never get the truck through by the time it got here,”he said finally.“There’s only one thing for it now. He’ll have to be flown out.”

36

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周围满是岩石和茂密的树林。“这里有给飞机降落的地方吗？”她问。

36

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The country round about was covered with rocks and trees.“Is there anywhere an aeroplane can land here?”she asked.

37

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“我知道一个可以降落的地方，”他说，“飞机需要一条五百码长的平整跑道。”

37

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“I know one place it might,”he said.“Five hundred yards, they want, and then a good approach.”

38

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他骑马去南边。琴和布尔内维尔在河边打开帐篷，支起来遮住唐·柯蒂斯，给他挡雨。伤员一度虚弱地说：“乔·哈曼的驾驶技术真差，开着车肯定偷不到牛。不过他的偷牛技术还真不赖。”琴笑道：“你们这对穷凶极恶的罪犯。我要跟柯蒂斯太太好好谈谈。”

38

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He took his horse and went off to the south; by the river they unpacked the tent and arranged it over Don Curtis to keep the rain off him. The wounded man said faintly once,“Joe Harman’s a clumsy mugger with a car. He’s a good poddy dodger, though.”Jean laughed.“Pair of criminals, the two of you,”she said.“I’m going to have a word with Mrs Curtis.”

39

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“千万别，”他说，“她对此一无所知。”

39

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“Don’t do it,”he said.“She don’t know nothing about this.”

40

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她说：“好好躺着，别说话。乔出去找一个能给飞机降落的地方，让飞机来接你走。”

40

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She said,“Lie still, and don’t talk. Joe’s gone off to find a place where the aeroplane can land to fly you out.”

41

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“希望他这次的表现比开那辆破车时好一些。”柯蒂斯先生说。

41

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“Hope he makes a better job of it than he did driving this bloody truck,”said Mr Curtis.

42

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三刻钟后乔回来了。“我想我们可以清理出一条跑道。”他说，“离这儿只有一英里。”他和布尔内维尔一起，用套索把由三匹马组成的马队套在卡车的前轴上，启程穿越树林。琴负责控制方向盘，马队拉着越野车在绿树之间迂回行进。

42

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Joe came back in a quarter of an hour.“Think we can make something of it,”he said.“It’s only about a mile away.”With Bourneville he harnessed up the tandem team of three horses to the front axle of the truck, and with Jean at the wheel they set off through the bush, steering and manoeuvring between the trees.

43

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不久他们来到一块空地上，那儿有一块狭长的草地，上面稀疏地长着一些矮灌木。这块草地超过五百码长，但两头都有树木。他们可以把它清理成一条跑道。“把这些灌木砍掉，”乔说，“再砍掉两头的树。我见过他们在比这儿糟糕得多的地方降落。”

43

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They came presently to an open space, a long grassy sward with low bushes dotted about on it. It was more than five hundred yards long, but there were trees at each end. It would be possible to make an airstrip there.“Clear off some of those bushes,”Joe said,“and fell some of those trees. I’ve seen them use a lot worse places than this.”

44

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斧头和铲子是越野车的常规装备。他们不缺工具，但以两人的力气无法完成这项体力劳动。“我们必须把米德赫斯特的牧工都叫来，”他说，“并派人去威尔斯镇请求他们派一辆飞机过来。”

44

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An axe and a spade were part of the equipment of the utility; they had tools enough. Their labour was quite inadequate for the work.“We’ll have to get the boys up from Midhurst,”he said.“Everyone that’s there. And get a message down to Willstown about the aeroplane.”

45

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她说：“让我和布尔内维尔一起骑马回牧场住宅吧，乔。他可以把牧工都带回来，我继续骑马去威尔斯镇。”

45

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She said,“I’ll ride down with Bourneville to the homestead, Joe. Then he can bring the boys back, and I’ll go on to Willstown.”

46

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他盯着她：“你骑不了那么远。”

46

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He stared at her.“You can’t ride that far.”

47

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“有多远？”

47

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“How far is it?”

48

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“从这儿到威尔斯镇有四十英里。”

48

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“Forty miles, to Willstown.”

49

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“至少我可以骑回米德赫斯特。”她说，“如果我到时骑不动了，就派月光捎一张便条给海恩斯中士。我们最好找中士，是不是？”

49

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“I can get to Midhurst, anyway,”she said.“If I can’t go on I’ll send Moonshine in with a note to Sergeant Haines. He’s the best man to tell, isn’t he?”

50

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“没错。这样的话，你就不必自己一个人骑马上路了。如果你要继续从米德赫斯特骑到威尔斯镇，一定要带上月光或者其他牧工。我不允许你自己一个人骑马过河。”

50

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“That’s right. If you do this, there’s to be no riding alone. If you go on from Midhurst to town, you’ve got to take Moonshine or one of the other boys with you. I won’t have you trying to cross them creeks alone, on a horse.”

51

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她把手放在他的手臂上。“没问题，乔。我会带人和我一起去。”她顿了顿，“我可以从威尔斯镇发送广播消息，”她说，“那样就可以从温德米尔找人来帮你了，是不是？”

51

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She touched his arm.“All right, Joe. I’ll take someone with me.”She paused.“We could get on the radio from Willstown,”she said.“We could get some people over from Windermere to help you then, couldn’t we?”

52

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“没错。”他说，“要是米德赫斯特有无线电收发机就好多了。”他顿了顿，“他们肯定想知道一件事情，”他说，“就是这个地方的准确位置。我们距离新钻头大约六英里，西—南—西方向。记住了吗？”

52

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“That’s right,”he said.“It would be better if we had a radio at Midhurst.”He paused.“There’s one thing that they’ll all want to know,”he said,“and that’s where this place is. We’re about six miles west-south-west of the new bore. Can you remember that?”

53

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“记住了，乔，”她说，“距离新钻头大约六英里，西—南—西方向。”她顿了顿，“你接下来打算怎么做？”她问。

53

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“I’ve got that, Joe,”she said.“Six miles west-south-west of the new bore.”She paused.“What are you going to do?”she asked.

54

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“我会在这儿扎营。”他环视四周，“搭起帐篷来挡住越野车的车身，”他说，“在找到担架之前，尽量不要再次移动他。搭好帐篷后，我就开始砍树，给飞机开道。”

54

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“I’ll make a camp here.”He looked around.“I’ll pitch the tent over the back of the utility,”he said.“We don’t want to shift him again if we can help it, not until we get a stretcher. After that I’ll start and fell some of those trees for the approach.”

55

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“你的后背行吗？”她问。

55

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“What about your back?”she asked.

56

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“没问题。”

56

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“That’ll be all right.”

57

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她想象双手挥舞斧子砍树的动作。“你之前砍过树吗，乔？”

57

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She thought of swinging a two-handed axe to fell a tree.“Have you done that, Joe?”

58

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“没有，但没问题的。”

58

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“No, but it’ll be all right.”

59

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她说：“如果你要砍树，我就要收回我的话。我要自己骑马去威尔斯镇，让月光和其他牧工一起来这里帮你。”

59

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She said,“If you’re going to cut down trees I’ll take back what I said about not riding alone. I’ll send Moonshine up with the other boongs to help you here.”

60

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“你别这样，”他说，“你一个人过河不安全。”

60

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“You’re not to do that,”he said.“It’s not safe for you crossing them creeks.”

61

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“你挥斧头砍树也不安全。”她说，“如果你在这里把后背弄坏了，对谁都没有好处，乔。”她又把手放在他的手臂上，“我们都要理智一点，”她说，“你那点活儿，土著们来了以后一个小时就干完了。没必要冒险，乔。”

61

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“It’s not safe for you to swing an axe,”she said.“It won’t help if you go and ruin your back up here, Joe.”She touched his arm again.“Let’s both be sensible,”she said.“The work you’ll do in cutting down those trees alone is only what the boongs will do in an hour when they get here. Don’t take risks, Joe.”

62

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他向她微笑。“好吧。但你不能自己一个人骑马。”

62

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He smiled at her.“All right. But you’re not to ride alone.”

63

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“我保证不。”她说。

63

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“I’ll promise that,”she said.

64

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大约十点半的时候，他们扶她骑上乔的马罗宾。罗宾的个头比她之前骑过的马都要大得多，她非常害怕它。跨上罗宾并不比跨上其他马困难多少。乔的马鞍比她之前所用的休闲马鞍大得多，又软又破，因为长期使用而变得柔顺服帖，但仍然很好用，维护得也很好。他们替她调整好马镫后，她发现坐在上面非常舒服。

64

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It was about half past ten when they put her up on Joe’s horse, Robin. Robin was a much bigger horse than she had ridden before, and she was rather afraid of him. He was little, if any, wider for her to straddle than the horses she was used to, and Joe’s saddle was much better than the casual saddles she had been using up till then; it was soft and worn and supple with much use and yet efficient and in very good repair. When they got the stirrups adjusted for her legs she found herself fairly comfortable.

65

-

她和布尔内维尔一起出发，小跑着穿过树丛。一个艰苦卓绝的壮举就这样开始了。此后许多年里，她每次想起此事都心有余悸。罗宾脾气温顺，反应迅速，精力充沛，小跑起来的时候，步履矫健从容。不过，不能否认的是，此前她只骑过六次马，每次不超过一个半小时。

65

-

She started off with Bourneville at a slow trot through the trees, and so began a feat of endurance which she was to look back upon with awe for years to come. She found the horse docile, responsive, and energetic; moreover, he had a very easy gait when trotting. At the same time, the bald fact remained that she had only been on a horse six times before, and never for more than an hour and a half at a time.

66

-

他们来到河边时雨停了。他们涉过翻腾不已的黄色河水，布尔内维尔从旁保护。过河后，他们继续前行，一会儿慢走，一会儿小跑。一个小时后，他们来到第二条河的岸边。这条河很宽，布尔内维尔帮助她把脚从马镫里抽出来，作好抓住鬃毛游泳过河的准备。但实际上并不需要游泳，他们从容不迫地过了河。再也没有小河阻碍余下的行程了。

66

-

The rain had stopped for the moment, and they came to the creek and waded through the tumbling yellow water, Bourneville beside her. They came through that one and went on, walking and trotting alternately. After an hour they came to the second creek and found it very deep; Bourneville made her take her feet out of the stirrups and be prepared to swim, holding to the horse’s mane. That was not necessary and they came through to the other side in good order, and then the creeks were over.

67

-

“这两条河太深了，越野车肯定开不过去。”她说。

67

-

“Too deep for the utility,”she said.

68

-

“是的，小姐。它太深了，现在。”

68

-

“Yes, Missy. Him too deep now.”

69

-

他们和米德赫斯特之间已经没有河流的阻隔了。雨又开始下，雨水混进涌流而出的汗水，使她浑身湿透。她的臀部和大腿不断和马鞍摩擦，很快开始蹭伤，她感到越来越痛苦，但一筹莫展。她拍过胸脯保证自己会骑马的，所以必须咬牙坚持。

69

-

No creeks now lay between them and Midhurst; it remained only for them to ride. The rain began again and soaked her to the skin, mingling with the sweat streaming off her. Very soon the wet strides began to chafe her legs and thighs; she could feel the soreness growing, but there was nothing to be done about that. She had said that she would ride, and ride she would.

70

-

她发现，当道路通畅时，她能骑得比布尔内维尔还要快。她骑乘的马精神充足，也更加强壮，而他的马已经跟着越野车跑了一程，疲惫不堪。在罗宾可以小跑前进的时候，她不得不频频放慢速度，边走边等他。这有助于缓解她的疲劳。

70

-

She found, on the good going that was before them now, that she could get along faster than Bourneville. She was on a much better horse, and a horse that was fresh whereas he had ridden his from Midhurst with the utility. Frequently she had to slow to a walk for him when Robin would have trotted on, and these walks helped her, easing her fatigue.

71

-

他们大约两点半回到米德赫斯特的牧场住宅。她口渴难耐，疲劳不堪。月光和另外几个牧工跑出来，拿过她的缰绳，帮助她下马。她的腿伸展不开了，无法自己从马镫上下来。她说：“布尔内维尔，请让月光备好鞍，准备和我一起去威尔斯镇。我喝完茶和吃完东西就出发。你带上全部牧工回去找哈曼先生，好吗？”

71

-

They came to Midhurst homestead at about half past two. By that time she had a raging thirst, and she was getting very tired. Moonshine and one or two of the other boys ran out and took her bridle and helped her down from Robin; she could not manage the stretch from the stirrup to the ground. She said,“Bourneville, tell Moonshine to saddle up and come with me to Willstown. I’m going to have a cup of tea and some tucker, and then we’ll start. You take all the boys back to Mr Harman. That okay?”

72

-

他说：“好的，小姐。”她猛然意识到，如果连她都觉得劳累不堪，那他肯定已经精疲力竭。他一直坐在马鞍上，马不停蹄地赶了二十四小时的路。她看着那张皱纹密布的黑脸，说：“布尔内维尔，你能行吗？累坏了吧？”

72

-

He said,“Yes, Missy.”It struck her that if she was tired he must be exhausted; he had been in the saddle continuously for twenty-four hours. She looked at the seamed black face and said,“Can you make it, Bourneville? Are you very tired?”

73

-

他露齿而笑。“我不累，小姐。吃完东西后和牧工们一起回去哈曼先生那里。”他边走开边喊道：“棕榄，棕榄。你去厨房，给小姐泡茶和做饭。你去厨房，快。”

73

-

He grinned.“Me not tired, Missy. Go back to Missa Harman with the boys after tucker.”He went away shouting,“Palmolive, Palmolive. You go longa kitchen, make tea and tucker for Missy. You go longa kitchen quick.”

74

-

她疲倦地瘫坐在门廊的椅子上，棕榄很快就给她端来了一壶茶和一块盖着两个鸡蛋的牛排。那块牛排简直无从下口。她吃了鸡蛋，在牛排边上啃了一口，喝下去六大杯茶。她不敢换衣服或者检查疼痛的地方，因为她知道，一旦开始做那种事情，就会彻底打消继续上路的念头。吃完东西后，她把月光唤来，下去院子里。那些深色皮肤的牧工正在那里给自己的马备鞍，在雨中扎好包裹，绑在驮马背上。他们扶她上马，她再次启程，在月光的陪伴下朝威尔斯镇前进。

74

-

She sat down wearily upon the chair in the veranda, and in a very short time Palmolive appeared with a pot of tea and two fried eggs upon a steak that was almost uneatable. She ate the eggs and a corner of the steak and drank six huge cups of tea. She did not dare to change her clothes or examine her sores; once started on that sort of thing, she knew, she would never get going again. She finished eating and called out for Moonshine and went down into the yard. The black stockmen, saddling their own horses and making up the bundles for the packhorses in the rain, put her up into the saddle and she was off again for Willstown with Moonshine by her side.

75

-

短暂的休息使她浑身僵硬，她鼓起所有的勇气才敢面对前头的二十英里。她身上每一块肌肉都拉伤了，疼痛不已。她几乎无法靠自己的双腿稳坐在马鞍上，但位于大腿上下方的角状物开始起作用，把她牢牢地固定住。

75

-

The short rest had stiffened her, and it needed all her courage to face the twenty miles that lay ahead. Every muscle in her body was stretched and aching. Her legs ceased to function much to hold her in the saddle, but the big horns above and below her thighs came into play and held her in place.

76

-

他们涉过现在对于汽车而言太深的小河，继续前行。他们沿着车道骑行，一路通畅。她现在成为落后的一方，因为月光的马很精神，而罗宾已经累了。最后十英里，她眼冒金星，骑着罗宾疲倦地慢走或者小跑。最后五英里，皮肤棕黑的牧工紧挨着她前进，好让自己能在她掉下来的时候接住她。但她挺住了。大约七点钟，她骑着马踏进了夜色茫茫的威尔斯镇。那时的她，是一个疲劳困顿的姑娘，骑着一匹同样疲劳困顿的马，旁边跟着一个棕色皮肤的牧工。她骑过旅馆和渗着彩光的冰室，来到海恩斯中士的警察局和住所外面，在一个小摊前停下。她已经连续在马背上度过了大约八个小时。

76

-

They crossed the creeks, now too deep for a car, and rode on. They were following the car track, and the going was good. She was the laggard now, because Moonshine’s horse was fresh and Robin was tiring. She rode the last ten miles in a daze, walking and trotting wearily; for the last five miles the black stockman rode close by her side to try and catch her if she fell. But she didn’t fall. She rode into Willstown in the darkness at about seven o’clock, a very tired girl on a very tired horse with a black ringer beside her. She rode past the hotel and past the ice-cream parlour with its lights streaming out into the street, and came to a stand outside Sergeant Haines’ police station and house. She had been about eight hours in the saddle.

77

-

月光下了马，抓住罗宾的头。她鼓起最后一丝力量，抬起右脚，跨过马鞍，滑到地上。刚下马的时候，她连站都站不稳，只好扶着罗宾的马鞍。海恩斯中士已经出来了。

77

-

Moonshine dismounted and held Robin’s head. She summoned a last effort and got her right leg back over the saddle, and slithered down to the ground. She could not stand at first without holding on to something, and she held on to Robin’s saddle. Then Sergeant Haines was there.

78

-

“你怎么来了，佩吉特小姐？”他拖着慢悠悠的昆士兰腔调说，“从哪儿来的？”

78

-

“Why, Miss Paget,”he said in the slow Queensland way,“where have you come from?”

79

-

“从乔·哈曼那儿。”她说，“他在米德赫斯特的北部边界找到唐·柯蒂斯了，唐断了一条腿。中士，请告诉月光怎样处置这两匹马，然后扶我进去详细说。”

79

-

“From Joe Harman,”she said.“He’s got Don Curtis up at the top end of Midhurst with a broken leg. Look, tell Moonshine what he can do with these horses, and then help me inside, and I’ll tell you.”

80

-

他让月光把马牵进警察局的畜栏，晚上和负责跟踪脚印的警察一起住在宿舍里，然后转向琴。“进屋吧。”他说，“这儿，扶着我的手臂。你骑了多远？”

80

-

He told Moonshine to take the horses round to the police corral and to bed down for the night with the police trackers in the bunkhouse; then he turned to Jean.“Come on in the house,”he said.“Here, take my arm. How far have you ridden?”

81

-

“四十英里。”她说。终于走完了这么长的路，尽管累得虚脱，她还是感到一丝自豪。“乔·哈曼留下来陪伴柯蒂斯先生。米德赫斯特的其他牧工都去那里了，他们要清理出一条跑道来。乔说只能用飞机把他接走。越野车过不了河。”

81

-

“Forty miles,”she said, and even in her fatigue there was a touch of pride in the achievement.“Joe Harman’s up there now with Mr Curtis. All the Midhurst stockmen have gone up there to make an airstrip. It’s the only way to get him out, Joe says. You can’t get through the creeks with a utility.”

82

-

他扶她在安有防蚊网的门廊上坐下，海恩斯太太端来一杯茶。他扫了一眼挂钟，不紧不慢地坐下来听她讲。他错过了凯恩斯救护站七点钟的值班守听时间，现在必须要等三刻钟才能采取下一步行动。“距离新钻头大约六英里，西—南—西方向。”他思考着说，“我知道了，那附近有一块开阔的空地。我一会儿在广播上发送消息，吩咐飞机明早出发。”

82

-

He took her in and sat her down in his mosquito-wired veranda, and Mrs Haines brought out a cup of tea. He glanced at the clock and settled down to listen to her in slow time; he had missed the listening watch of seven o’clock on the Cairns Ambulance radio, and now there was three quarters of an hour to wait before he could take any action.“Six miles west-south-west of the new bore,”he said thoughtfully.“I know, there’s open country round about that part. I’ll get on to the radio presently, and get the plane out in the morning.”

83

-

“乔在想，如果你在广播上发送消息，是否可以请一些温德米尔的牧工过去帮他清理跑道？”她说，“让他们去帮他砍树。我不许他亲自上阵，因为他后背有伤。”

83

-

“Joe thought if you got on the radio some ringers might go out from Windermere and help him make the strip,”she said.“He’s talking about cutting down some trees. I don’t want him to do that, because of his back.”

84

-

他点点头。“我会同时通知温德米尔。”然后他说，“我从不知道你是个骑手，佩吉特小姐。”

84

-

He nodded.“I’ll be getting Windermere at the same time.”And then he said,“I never knew you were a rider, Miss Paget.”

85

-

“我不是的，”她说，“我之前只骑过六次马。”

85

-

“I’m not,”she said.“I’ve been on a horse six times before.”

86

-

他微微一笑，然后说：“哦，老天，你觉得疼吗？”

86

-

He smiled, and then said,“Oh my word. Are you sore?”

87

-

她疲惫地站起身来。“我要回家睡觉。”她扶着椅背说，“如果我继续留在这里，这双腿就该残废了。”

87

-

She got up wearily.“I’m going home to bed,”she said, and caught hold of the back of the chair.“If I stay here any longer I won’t be able to walk at all.”

88

-

“坐着别动，”他说，“我去开越野车把你送到医院。”

88

-

“Stay where you are,”he said.“I’ll get out the utility and run you to the hospital.”

89

-

“我不想去医院。”

89

-

“I don’t want to go to the hospital.”

90

-

“我不管你想不想去，”他说，“但你必须去。你最好在那儿过夜，道格拉斯护士会把你照顾得好好的。”

90

-

“I don’t care if you want to go or not,”he said,“but that’s where you’re going. You’ll be better off there for tonight, and Sister Douglas, she’s got everything you’ll want.”

91

-

半个小时后，她被清洗得干干净净，乖乖地躺在病床上，身上涂满了青霉素药膏，感觉自己像个幼童。海恩斯中士回到办公室，在无线电收发机前坐下来。

91

-

Half an hour later she was bathed and in a hospital bed with penicillin ointment on various parts of her anatomy, feeling like a very small child. Back in his office Sergeant Haines sat down before his transmitter.

92

-

“第八区查理女王，第八区查理女王，”他说，“这是第八区爱麦克呼叫第八区查理女王。第八区查理女王，如果你听到第八区爱麦克的呼叫，请回话。报文完，请回复！”

92

-

“Eight Queen Charlie, Eight Queen Charlie,”he said,“this is Eight Love Mike calling Eight Queen Charlie. Eight Queen Charlie, if you are receiving Eight Love Mike will you please come in. Over to you. Over.”

93

-

他转动旋钮，机器上方的扬声器传来一个姑娘的声音：“第八区爱麦克，这是第八区查理女王，我能听见你说话，音量为三。请告诉我你的消息。完毕。”

93

-

He turned his switch, and the speaker on top of the set said in a girl’s voice,“Eight Love Mike this is Eight Queen Charlie answering, receiving you strength three. Pass your message. Over.”

94

-

他说：“第八区查理女王，我们发现唐·柯蒂斯了。乔·哈曼在米德赫斯特北部边界找到了他。他的伤情是有创骨折，左腿，两天半，很可能左脚踝也骨折了。扎营地点距离哈曼的新钻头大约六英里，西—南—西方向。收信悉否？完毕。”

94

-

He said,“Eight Queen Charlie, we’ve got Don Curtis. Joe Harman found him at the top end of Midhurst. His injuries are compound fracture of the left leg two and a half days old, probably left ankle broken in addition. Position of the camp is six miles west-south-west of Harman’s new bore. Tell me now if this is Roger. Over.”

95

-

扬声器里的女声说：“哦——我真是太高兴了，我们这边都担心死了。收信悉，但我会重复一遍。”她重复了一遍。“报文完，请回复！”

95

-

The girl’s voice from the speaker said,“Oh, I am glad—we’ve all been so worried this end. That is Roger, but I will repeat.”She repeated.“Over to you. Over.”

96

-

他说：“好的，杰姬。现在请向巴尔内斯先生转达一条信息。内容是：请求救护飞机从威尔斯镇尽快准备丛林降落。请复述一遍。完毕。”

96

-

He said,“Okay, Jackie. Now take a message for Mr Barnes. Message reads. Request ambulance aircraft at Willstown soon as possible prepared for bush landing. Just read that back to me. Over.”

97

-

她向他复述了一遍。

97

-

She read it back to him.

98

-

“好的，杰姬，”他说，“现在请替我呼叫温德米尔，我要跟他们说话。完毕。”

98

-

“Okay, Jackie,”he said.“Now call Windermere for me and let me speak to them. Over.”

99

-

她说：“第八区能人乔治，第八区能人乔治，第八区查理女王呼叫第八区能人乔治。如果你能听见我的呼叫，第八区能人乔治，请回话。报文完，请回复！”

99

-

She said,“Eight Able George, Eight Able George, this is Eight Queen Charlie calling Eight Able George. If you are receiving me, Eight Able George, please come in. Over to you. Over.”

100

-

从三十个牧场住宅的三十个扬声器中传出一个战栗的女声。“第八区查理女王，这是第八区能人乔治。我都听到了，杰姬。上帝回答祈祷者的方式真是奇妙啊！哦，我的天啊，我高兴得不知道说什么好。我确定我们今晚都应该下跪，感谢上帝的仁慈。我确定我们都应该那样做。哦——完毕。”

100

-

A tremulous woman’s voice said in thirty speakers in thirty homesteads,“Eight Queen Charlie, this is Eight Able George. I’ve heard all that, Jackie. Isn’t it marvellous the way prayer gets answered? Oh my dear, I’m that relieved I don’t know what to say. I’m sure we all ought to go down on our bended knees tonight and thank God for His mercy. I’m sure we all ought to do that. Oh—over.”

101

-

培根小姐转动她的旋钮。“我确定大家今晚都会感谢上帝，海伦。现在海恩斯中士正等着跟你说话呢。请注意守听，把开关旋到‘接收’上，海伦。第八区爱麦克，请回话，完毕。”

101

-

Miss Bacon turned her switch.“I’m sure we’ll all thank God tonight, Helen. Now Sergeant Haines is waiting to speak to you. You stay listening with your switch on to Receive, Helen. Eight Love Mike, will you come in now? Over.”

102

-

在威尔斯镇，海恩斯中士说：“第八区爱麦克呼叫第八区能人乔治。柯蒂斯太太，你已经听说了乔·哈曼目前在米德赫斯特北部边界陪伴你丈夫。他必须清理出一条能让救护飞机降落的跑道，并已经命令米德赫斯特的全体牧工都去帮忙。你能把目前留在温德米尔的所有人员派去帮忙吗？我会把位置告诉你，请用铅笔和纸记下来。”他顿了顿，“跑道距离他的新钻头六英里，西—南—西方向。距离他的新钻头六英里，西—南—西方向。我希望你能派目前留在温德米尔的所有人员去帮助他，并把该信息传达给邓肯警员，如果他在你身边。柯蒂斯太太，收文悉否？完毕。”

102

-

In Willstown Sergeant Haines said,“Eight Love Mike calling Eight Able George. Mrs Curtis, you’ve heard Joe Harman’s with your husband up at the top end of Midhurst. He’s got to make an airstrip for the ambulance to land on, and he’s taken all his stockmen up there. Will you send everyone you have upon your station to help make this airstrip? I’ll give you the position. If you have a pencil and a bit of paper write this down.”He paused.“The place where Joe Harman is making the strip is six miles west-south-west of his new bore. Six miles west-south-west of his new bore. I want you to send every man you’ve got there to help him, and pass that message to Constable Duncan if he’s with you. Is that Roger, Mrs Curtis? Over.”

103

-

那个震颤着的声音说：“收文悉，中士。距离乔的新钻头六英里，西—南—西方向。我写下来了。埃迪·佩吉在这里，我想菲尔·邓肯今晚就能回来。我会把所有的人都派去那儿。上帝能给予我们的帮助实在是太神奇了。每当我想到上帝对我们这些受苦受难的罪人是多么仁慈，我就会双膝跪地并哭泣。”她顿了顿，然后说，“哦，我又忘了。完毕。”

103

-

The tremulous voice said,“That’s Roger, Sergeant. Six miles west-south-west of Joe’s new bore. I’ve got that written down. Eddie Page is here, and I’m expecting Phil Duncan to come back tonight. I’ll send everybody up there. Isn’t it marvellous what God can do for us? When I think of all His mercies to us suffering sinners I could go down on my bended knees and cry.”There was a pause, and then she said,“Oh, I keep on forgetting. Over.”

104

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他转动旋钮，说：“你要感谢的不仅仅是上帝，柯蒂斯太太。”他非常清楚，海湾地区方圆十万英尺以内的几乎所有家庭主妇都在收听广播，而且他也相信好人应该有好报。“佩吉特小姐骑马赶了四十英里路，从米德赫斯特北部边界赶到威尔斯镇，带来了唐的消息。你认识琴·佩吉特吗？她就是那个开办了工厂和冰室的英国姑娘。我们听说唐失踪的那天，她正好在米德赫斯特，她骑了四十英里来告诉我跑道的位置。她之前只骑过六次马，可怜的姑娘浑身疼得连站都站不起来。道格拉斯护士正在医院照顾她，让她安心休息。她过几天就会好起来。完毕。”

104

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He turned his switch and said,“It’s not only God you’ve got to thank, Mrs Curtis.”He was very well aware that most of the housewives in a hundred thousand square miles of the Gulf country would be listening in to this conversation, and one good turn deserves another.“Miss Paget rode forty miles down from the top end of Midhurst to bring this message about Don. You know Jean Paget, the English girl that’s started the shoe workshop and the ice-cream shop? She was out at Midhurst spending the day when we heard Don was missing, and she rode forty miles to tell me where this airstrip was to be. She’s only been astride a horse six times before, and the poor girl’s so sore she can’t stand. Sister Douglas has her in the hospital for a good rest. She’ll be all right in a day or two. Over.”

105

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她说：“哦，老天。我不知道说什么来感谢她。请向她转达我最深的爱，希望她尽快康复。”她顿了顿，然后说，“她开的那间冰室让我很纠结。在威尔斯镇开一个那样的店铺似乎不太合适，而且它连周日和圣诞节都开门，从不消停。我在《圣经》里找不到任何支持或者反对它的内容，但我一直深感困惑。不过，现在那似乎也是上帝的安排，就像其他一切一样。我真的觉得那间冰室很棒。完毕。”

105

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She said,“Oh my word. I don’t know what to say to thank her. Give her my very dearest love, and I do hope she’ll be better soon.”There was a pause, and then she said,“I’ve been so troubled in my mind about that ice-cream parlour. It didn’t seem right to have a thing like that in Willstown, and opening it on Sundays and Christmas Day and all. I couldn’t find nothing in the Bible either for or against it, and I’ve been that perplexed. But now it seems God had that under His hand like everything else. I do think it’s wonderful. Over.”

106

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“没错。”海恩斯中士态度暧昧地说。他自己也一直对于冰室的关门时间心存疑虑，并曾写信到总部请求指导。他已经很久没有萌生勒令一间店铺关门停业的想法了。“我现在必须结束通话，柯蒂斯太太。第八区查理女王，这是第八区爱麦克。我的事情已经处理完毕，你今晚不必再值班了，杰姬。请你从明天七点开始保持日间守听。收文悉否？完毕。”

106

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“That’s right,”said Sergeant Haines non-committally. He had been uncertain about the shop closing hours himself and had written to his head office for guidance; it was a good long time since he had been in a district where there was a shop to close.“Now I must sign off, Mrs Curtis. Eight Queen Charlie, this is Eight Love Mike. It’s okay here if you want to close down your listening watch for tonight, Jackie. I’d like to have a listening watch in daylight hours tomorrow, from seven o’clock on. Is this Roger? Over.”

107

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培根小姐说：“收文悉，中士。我会告诉巴尔内斯先生。如果你没别的事情要跟我说，我就结束广播。完毕。”

107

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Miss Bacon said,“That is Roger, sergeant. I’ll tell Mr Barnes. If you have nothing more for me, I shall close down. Over.”

108

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“没有了，杰姬。晚安。通话结束。”

108

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“Nothing more, Jackie. Goodnight. Out.”

109

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“晚安，中士。通话结束。”

109

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“Goodnight, Sergeant. Out.”

110

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培根小姐满心感激地关掉了她的机器。凯恩斯救护中心并没有要求员工保持二十四小时守听，但现在情况如此紧急，人人都应该尽己所能伸出援手。她前一天就从早晨八点守听到午夜，今天早上又从八点守听到现在。巴尔内斯先生昨晚守夜，并已经准备好今晚再守一夜。她懊恼地想，她错过了亨弗莱·鲍嘉和劳伦·巴考尔，电影已经演了一半了。不过明天晚上还有一场，如果这件事情到那时已经了结，她还能幸运地赶上。她去打电话给巴尔内斯先生。

110

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Miss Bacon switched off her sets thankfully. There was no proper organization for a twenty-four hour listening watch at the Cairns Ambulance; in an emergency such as this everybody had to muscle in and lend a hand. She had been on duty the previous day from eight in the morning till midnight, and from eight o’clock that morning till then; Mr Barnes had taken the night watch and was preparing to do so again. She thought, ruefully, that she had missed Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall; the show would be half over. But there was still one more night, and with any luck this flap would be over and she could see it tomorrow. She went to telephone to Mr Barnes.

111

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巴尔内斯先生打电话给澳洲国家航空公司的斯迈思先生，斯迈思先生打电话给他的预备飞行员吉米·科普。科普先生说：“见鬼，希望明早的天气变得好一些，今天飞机绝对飞不过阿瑟顿高原。我看最好六点出发，我会准时抵达飞机库。”

111

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Mr Barnes telephoned to Mr Smythe of Australian National Airways, and Mr Smythe telephoned to his reserve pilot, Captain Jimmie Cope. Mr Cope said,“Hell, I hope it’s better in the morning than it was today. We’d never have got over the Tableland today. Better say take off at six, I suppose. I’ll be along at the hangar then.”

112

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他第二天一大早抵达机场的时候，老飞龙号的两个引擎都已经开动了。它无疑是内地有史以来制作最精良的急救飞机。此时细雨潇潇，云层低压，大约五百英尺高，把机场后面的大山遮盖得严严实实。威尔斯镇大约距离乔所在地点西—北—西方向四百英里。这次飞行的头七十英里要飞越阿瑟顿高原，那里的山脉高达三千五百英尺。没有广播导航的帮助，他将不得不一直用肉眼探路，尽他所能在云层和树顶之间勉强飞行。

112

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When he got to the aerodrome at dawn the old Dragon, surely the best aircraft ever built for ambulance work in the outback, was running up both engines. The clouds hung low at about five hundred feet, shrouding the hill immediately behind the aerodrome; it was raining a little. Willstown lay about four hundred miles to the west-north-west; the first seventy miles of this course lay over the Atherton Tableland with mountains up to three thousand five hundred feet in height With no radio navigational aids he would have to fly visually all the way, scraping along between the clouds and the treetops as best he could.

113

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他向机场的控制官员说了几句晦气话，便沿跑道起飞。同去的还有一个救护员。一飞上天，他就发现情况糟糕透顶。他在三百英尺的高度飞行，沿着贝伦河北上，向着大山飞去，希望能在低云中找到一个缺口，使他可以在库兰达峡谷内爬升，飞越阿瑟顿高原。灰色的蒸汽紧紧包围着他，机翼擦过覆满森林的峡谷边缘。前面没有任何缺口的迹象，他向右舷方向侧移，在峡谷里勉强拐了一个很危险的弯，最近的时候离峡谷的峭壁只有一百英尺。他随后飞回海边，抬起麦克风说：“凯恩斯发射塔，这是胜利者超能麦克面包师。我无法从库兰达飞往目的地。我将往北飞往海边的库克镇，尝试从那儿飞往目的地。请告诉库克镇，我将在大约一个小时之后在那儿降落，并需要加二十加仑的七十三号汽油。”

113

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He said a sour word or two to the control officer and took off down the runway with an ambulance orderly on board. Once in the air it was worse than ever. He flew at three hundred feet up the Barron River towards the mountains, hoping to find a break in the low cloud that would enable him to get up on to the Tableland through the Kuranda Gap. The grey vapour closed around him and the sides of the jungle-covered gorge drew very near his wings. There was no sign of a break ahead. He edged over to the starboard side and made a tight, dicey turn round in the gorge with about a hundred feet to spare, and headed back for the coast. He lifted his microphone and said,“Cairns Tower, this is Victor How Able Mike Baker. I can’t make it by Kuranda. I’m going up to Cooktown by the coast, and try it from there. Tell Cooktown I’ll be landing there in about an hour, and I’ll want twenty gallons of seventy-three octane.”

114

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他往北飞过昆士兰的热带海岸，飞行高度大约为三百英尺，一个小时后飞抵库克镇。库克镇很小，人口大约三百，但他抵达时，小镇笼罩在乌云中，雨横风狂。他在机场降落并加了油。“我要尝试从这儿飞去威尔斯镇，”他说，“路上不会有太高的障碍。如果状况太糟糕，我就飞回来。我会从这儿直线飞往威尔斯镇。”他这么说，是为了万一他遭遇意外，救援队能找到他。

114

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He flew on up the tropical Queensland coast at about three hundred feet, and came to Cooktown an hour later. Cooktown is a pretty little town of about three hundred people, but it was grey and rainswept when he got there. He landed on the aerodrome and refuelled.“I’m going to try and make Willstown from here,”he said.“There’s not much high stuff on the way. If it gets too bad I shall come back. I’ll be on a direct course from here to Willstown.”He said that in case a search party should be necessary.

115

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加完油后，他马上启程，依照罗盘指示方向往内陆飞去。在整个飞行过程中，他从未飞离树顶超过两百英尺。他勉强飞越了大分水岭，离山顶只有五十英尺的距离，总是眼看就要回头了，就看见前面有一个模糊的缺口，迫使他往前飞，逐渐进入北部地区。护理员坐在他身后，紧紧抓住座位，被吓得魂飞魄散，却什么都做不了。他们就这样一直飞了三个小时。靠近卡奔塔利亚湾的时候，飞行员开始发现他认识的地标：一个河湾，一片被烧毁的树林，一弯形似香蕉的沙荒。他飞抵威尔斯镇，在零零落落的房屋上空一百英尺处盘旋，通知他们自己已经抵达，然后在机场降落。他滑行至等候他的卡车前，精神紧张，筋疲力尽。雨仍在下。

115

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He took off again immediately the refuelling was finished and flew inland on a compass course. In the whole of that flight he was never more than two hundred feet above the treetops. He scraped over the Great Dividing Range, petering out up in this northern latitude, with about fifty feet to spare, always on the point of turning back, always seeing a faint break ahead that made it necessary to go on. Behind him the orderly sat gripping his seat, only too well aware of danger in the flight and impotent to do anything about it. For three hours they flew like that, and then as they neared the Gulf of Carpentaria the pilot started picking up the landmarks that he knew, a river bend, a burnt patch of the bush, a curving sandy waste like a banana. He came to Willstown and flew round the few houses at a hundred feet to tell them he was there, and landed on the airstrip. He taxied in to where the truck was standing waiting for him; he was strained and tired. It was still raining.

116

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在卡车旁边，他、海恩斯中士、道格拉斯护士和阿尔·伯恩斯一起开了一个小会。“我会尝试把他接回来。”他说，“如果下午情况没有好转，他就只能在这儿的医院过夜。在这种天气里我无法把他送到凯恩斯去。明儿的天气很可能会好一些。”他们给他一幅徒手画的铅笔地图，是中士给他准备的，上面标示着小河和米德赫斯特牧场住宅的位置，还有新钻头和跑道的大概位置。大约十一点，他再度启程。

116

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He held a little conference with sergeant Haines and Sister Douglas and Al Burns beside the truck.“I’ll have a crack at flying him back here,”he said.“If it’s no better this afternoon he’ll have to spend the night in hospital here. I can’t fly him to Cairns in this weather. It’ll probably be better by tomorrow.”They gave him a freehand pencil map which the sergeant had prepared for him, showing him the creeks and Midhurst homestead, and the new bore, and the probable position of the airstrip, and he took off again. That was at about eleven o’clock.

117

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按照地图，他没费多大工夫就找到了目的地。降落地点很明显，因为他们把一块狭长地带清理了出来，还把一小块草地上的灌木都砍光了。他能看到十个人，有的在埋头工作，有的抬起头来望着飞机。他看见一辆越野车停在那儿，上面有一个帐篷。他在低云下盘旋，计算风险。他们清理出来的跑道即使对于一架飞龙号飞机而言也短得可怜。然而，事态紧急，那个男人已经受伤三天了，脓毒病、坏疽或一切其他疾病都可能降临。他咬紧牙关，将飞龙号对准跑道，尝试降落。

117

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Following this map he found the place without much difficulty. It was clear where they meant him to land, because trees had been felled upon a line he was to come in on, and bushes had been cleared for a short distance on what seemed to be a grassy meadow. He could see about ten men working or standing looking up at him; he could see a utility parked with a tent over it. He circled round under the low cloud, considering the risks. The runway that they had prepared was pitifully short, even for a Dragon. Time was also short, however; the man had had his compound fracture three days now. Sepsis and gangrene and all sorts of things would be setting in; he must not delay. He bit his lip and lined the Dragon up with the runway for a trial approach.

118

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他用尽全部勇气，慢慢越过树顶下降，离它们仅有五英尺，小心翼翼地调整速度。他在被砍掉的树木上方减速，向草地俯冲，希望草地是光滑的。眼看就要成功了……不行，他绝对无法及时把飞机停住。轮子离地面不到两英尺的时候，他加大油门，保持高度飞行了片刻，重又攀升离开。

118

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He came in as slowly as he dared over the trees, missing them by no more than five feet, motoring in with careful graduations of the throttles. Over the cut trees he throttled back and stuffed her down towards the grass, hoping it was smooth. He could... he couldn’t, he could never stop her in time. With wheels no more than two feet from the ground he jammed the throttles forward, held her level for a moment, and climbed away.

119

-

他让飞机在低云下盘旋，使跑道保持在视线范围之内，然后转向身后的护理员。“有铅笔和纸吗？我说你写。”他想了一会儿，“抱歉我无法降落。你们必须把跑道延长一百码，如果可以的话一百五十码。我下午四点再回来。”他们把纸条放进带有彩色饰带的邮袋里，从跑道上空飞过，把邮袋扔到跑道中央。

119

-

He turned to the orderly behind him as he circled low under the clouds, keeping the airstrip in sight.“Got a pencil and paper? Write this.”He thought for a moment.“Sorry I can’t make it. Strip must be about a hundred yards longer, or a hundred and fifty if you can manage it. I will come back at four o’clock this afternoon.”They put this in a message bag with coloured streamers flying from it, and flew over, and dropped it on the middle of the strip.

120

-

回到威尔斯镇后，他向他们讲述了事情经过。“他们时间不够，”中士说，“下午应该就没问题了。”中士开车送他去旅馆，阿尔·伯恩斯带他去酒吧，但他除了柠檬水之外什么都不肯喝，因为下午还有一趟困难重重的飞行。

120

-

Back at Willstown airfield he told them what had happened.“They’ve not had time to make it long enough,”the sergeant said.“You’ll find it’ll be all right this afternoon.”He drove the pilot in to the hotel and Al Burns took him to the bar, but the pilot would drink nothing but lemonade till the difficult flying of the afternoon was over.

121

-

他在旅馆吃完午饭，闲步走进冰室。他上次来威尔斯镇时这间冰室还没开张。他既兴奋又好奇地东看看西瞧瞧，点了一份冰淇淋。露丝·索耶催他赶快吃掉它，因为马上就要打烊了。他问她是不是每天下午都关门，她说她要去医院看望佩吉特小姐。然后，顺理成章地，他听闻了她的英勇举动。

121

-

He lunched at the hotel and strolled into the ice-cream parlour after lunch. It was new since he had last been in Willstown, and he stared around him with amused wonder. He ordered an ice; Rose Sawyer told him briskly to be quick and eat it, because she was shutting up. He asked if she closed every afternoon and was told that she was going up to see Miss Paget at the hospital. Then, of course, he heard all about her ride.

122

-

四点钟，他回到米德赫斯特北部边界。雨已经停了，他能够以八百英尺的高度接近跑道。他在上方盘旋了一会儿，仔细观察地面情况。他们把跑道延长了许多，这次的降落很顺利。飞机向下俯冲，在近端降落，在不平整的跑道上蹦蹦跳跳地落了地，颠簸着滑行，渐渐停了下来。

122

-

At four o’clock he was back over the airstrip at the top end of Midhurst; the rain had stopped and he was able to approach at about eight hundred feet. He circled once and had a good look; they had made the strip much longer and he would have no difficulty now. He came in and touched down at the near end; the Dragon bounced on the uneven ground and landed again, and rolled bumping and swaying to a standstill.

123

-

他熄灭引擎并爬出机舱。他们把担架从机舱里抬出来，护理员把唐·柯蒂斯抬上担架，在牧工的帮助下把担架搬上机舱。飞行员点起一根烟，递给哈曼一根。

123

-

He stopped the engines and got out; they took a stretcher from the cabin and the orderly began the business of getting Don Curtis on to the stretcher and into the cabin, helped by the ringers. The pilot lit a cigarette and gave one to Joe Harman.

124

-

乔问：“你在威尔斯镇听到任何关于佩吉特小姐的消息了吗？”

124

-

Joe asked,“Did you hear anything about Miss Paget, down in Willstown?”

125

-

飞行员说：“她在医院里。他们说没什么大碍，只是又累又疼。她肯定是个了不起的女孩儿。”

125

-

The pilot said,“She’s in the hospital. Nothing much wrong, they say, just tired and sore. She must be quite a girl.”

126

-

乔说：“太对了。如果你看见任何从医院来的人，请帮我给佩吉特小姐捎个信儿，好吗？请告诉她我明天下午进镇。”

126

-

Joe said,“Too right. If you see anyone from the hospital, leave a message for Miss Paget, will you? Tell her I’ll be in town tomorrow afternoon.”

127

-

“我会的，”飞行员说，“我今晚会在那儿过夜。现在去凯恩斯太晚了。我无法在这种天气里进行夜间飞行，这架飞机不行。”

127

-

“I’ll do that,”said the pilot.“I’ll be staying there tonight. It’s too late now to get to Cairns; I can’t do night flying in this weather, not in this thing.”

128

-

护理员和牧工已经把唐搬上了飞机。科普先生回到驾驶座上，护理员转起螺旋桨，他们滑行回跑道的远端。跑道很短，但他能起飞。他发动引擎，沿跑道起飞，以十五英尺的距离呼啸着擦过远端的树顶。半小时后，他在威尔斯镇落地，帮忙把担架搬上卡车，卡车将唐·柯蒂斯送到医院。

128

-

The loading was completed now. He got into his seat; the orderly swung the propellers and they taxied back to the far end of the track. It was short, but he could make it. He opened out and took off down the runway, and cleared the trees at the far end with about fifteen feet to spare. Half an hour later he was on the ground at Willstown, helping to transfer the stretcher to the truck that was to take Don Curtis to the hospital.

129

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当天下午，琴·佩吉特在医院里给露丝·索耶看她的伤口。有些地方皮都蹭掉了，伤口长达六英寸。“多么光荣的伤疤啊，”露丝说，“可惜你不能把它们露出来给别人看。”

129

-

In hospital that afternoon Jean Paget showed Rose Sawyer the more accessible of her wounds, great chafed raw places six inches long.“Honourable scars,”Rose said.“Pity you can’t show them.”

130

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“那是因为所有东西都太湿了。”琴说，“但我想我不可能找到一条完全合身的骑马裤。骑马裤是专门针对牧工的皮肤而设计的。”

130

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“It’s because everything was so wet,”Jean said.“But I’m going to have a proper pair of riding breeches made, I think. Ringers’ strides are for ringers’ skins.”

131

-

“换了是我，就再也不想骑马了。”

131

-

“I’d never want to get up on a horse again if it’d done that to me.”

132

-

“短期内我都无法再骑了。”琴说。

132

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“It’s going to be some time before I can,”said Jean.

133

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过了一会儿，露丝说：“请告诉我，琴，你认为承包商能在这里揽到工程吗？”

133

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Presently Rose said,“Tell me, Jean. Do you think there’d be any work up here for a contractor?”

134

-

琴盯着她。“做什么工程的承包商？”

134

-

Jean stared at her.“What sort of a contractor?”

135

-

“修路之类的。建房子也行。”

135

-

“Making roads and things like that. Buildings, too.”

136

-

“你是给爱丽丝的比利·韦克林问的吗？”

136

-

“Is this Billy Wakeling, from Alice?”

137

-

露丝点点头。“他给我写信。”她淡淡地道。琴觉得，她如此描述每周三由空中列车送来的七封信，实在是太过于轻描淡写。“他父亲是纽卡斯尔的承包商——有平路机、推土机、蒸汽挖土机和所有那一类的东西。战后他让比利在爱丽丝创业，因为他说爱丽丝正在发展扩大，而那意味着承包商有许多工程可做。但比利说他已经受够了爱丽丝。

137

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Rose nodded.“He wrote me,”she said carelessly. For the bunch of seven letters that arrived by the Dakota regularly every Wednesday, this seemed to Jean to be an understatement.“You know, his father’s a contractor in Newcastle—he’s got graders and bulldozers and steam shovels and all sorts of things like that. He started Billy off in Alice after the war because he said Alice was expanding and expanding places meant work for contractors. But Billy says he’s fed up with Alice.

138

-

“雨季一结束，他就会来威尔斯镇一趟。”她就事论事地添上一句。

138

-

“He’s coming up here for a visit as soon as the wet’s over,”she added artlessly.

139

-

“他在这里揽不到任何修路或者建房工程，”琴说，“没人会愿意出钱。不过我知道这里有什么工程可做。乔·哈曼想在米德赫斯特修建一些小水坝。我不知道那是不是在比利的经营范围内。”

139

-

“He won’t get any roads or buildings to contract for here,”Jean observed.“There’s nobody to pay for them. I know what does want doing though. Joe Harman wants some little dams built up on Midhurst. I don’t know if that’s in his line.”

140

-

“我想应该是吧，”露丝慢慢地说，“反正比利干的就是这种脏活累活。旱季的时候用推土机就能修起来吧，是不是？”

140

-

“I should think it might be,”said Rose slowly.“After all, it’s shifting muck, and that’s what Billy does. He’d do it with a bulldozer in the dry, wouldn’t he?”

141

-

“我对此一窍不通。”琴说，“他能找到推土机吗？”

141

-

“I haven’t the least idea,”said Jean.“Can he get hold of a bulldozer?”

142

-

“他的老爷子在纽卡斯尔有大概四十台呢，”露丝说，“我想应该能腾出一台来给比利吧。”

142

-

“His old man’s got about forty down at Newcastle,”Rose said.“I should think he could spare one for Billy.”

143

-

“不过只是修小型水坝。”琴说。

143

-

“They’re only little dams,”said Jean.

144

-

“嗯，做什么生意都总要有个开头嘛。我想比利也不会期望一个像悉尼海港大桥那样的合同，这才第一年。”

144

-

“Well, everything’s got to start. I don’t think Billy expects a contract like the Sydney Harbour Bridge, not in the first year.”

145

-

琴问：“能不能用推土机挖一个坑来修游泳池呢？”

145

-

Jean asked,“Could you scoop out a hole for a swimming-pool with a bulldozer?”

146

-

“我想可以吧。哦，我想起来了，肯定可以。我有一次和他出去约会，我们去看推土机是怎么工作的。他让我试着开了一下，实在是好玩极了。可以先用推土机把土挖出来，在坑里铺上木头，他们把那叫作构模，然后用混凝土做池壁。”

146

-

“I should think so. Yes, I’m sure you could. I went out with him once and watched one working. He let me drive it; it was awful fun. You’d scoop it out first with a bulldozer and then you’d put up wooden stuff that they call shuttering and make the concrete sides.”

147

-

“这些比利都能做吗？”

147

-

“Could he do all that, too?”

148

-

“哦，比利都能做。为什么这么问呢，你想修一个游泳池吗？”

148

-

“Oh, Billy can do that. Why, do you want a swimming-pool?”

149

-

琴盯着漆成白色的墙壁。“那只是一个想法。就在钻孔旁边修一个漂亮的大泳池，池边有跳水板和其他一切，大得足够让所有人都跳进去嬉戏。主街道上就水源充足。我们要先修一个木制的东西，好像是叫冷却塔吧，让水流进去冷却后再流进游泳池。还要在旁边修一个草坪，让人们躺在上面晒日光浴。请一个老人家在门口收钱，游一次泳收一先令……”

149

-

Jean stared at the white painted wall.“It was just an idea. A nice, big pool just by the bore, with diving-boards and everything, big enough for everybody to get into and have fun. You see, you’ve got the water there, right in the main street. You’d have a wooden thing they call a cooling tower and run the water through that to cool it off before it went into the pool. Have a lawn of grass by it, where people could lie and sunbathe if they want to. An old man taking the cash at the gate, a bob a bathe...”

150

-

露丝盯着她。“你都计划好了。你真的要这么做吗，琴？”

150

-

Rose stared at her.“You’ve got it all worked out. Are you thinking of doing that, Jean?”

151

-

“不知道。一个游泳池能增添很多欢乐，而且我相信它就像其他生意一样能挣钱。当然了，我说的是混合游泳池。”

151

-

“I don’t know. It would be fun to have it, and I believe it’ld pay like anything. Mixed bathing, of course.”

152

-

露丝笑道：“老古板们都会站在围栏后面偷看的。”

152

-

Rose laughed.“Have all the wowsers in the place looking over the rails to see what was going on.”

153

-

“那要收他们六便士。”琴说。她转向露丝。“请让比利准备好工程计划和工具，”她说，“雨季结束后把价钱告诉我们。我相信整个海湾地区连一个游泳池也没有。开一个肯定很有趣。”

153

-

“Charge them sixpence for that,”said Jean. She turned to Rose.“Ask Billy to get hold of plans and things,”she said,“and tell us what it would cost when he comes up after the wet. I don’t believe that there’s a swimming-pool in the whole Gulf country. It would be fun to have one.”

154

-

“我问问他。还有别的吗？”

154

-

“I’ll ask him. Anything else?”

155

-

琴在床上舒展身体。“一个漂亮的美发沙龙兼美容院。”她说，“我要请一个漂亮的法国黑发姑娘来打理它。这个姑娘一定要是个行家，能够把顾客打扮得像丽塔·海华丝那么漂亮。我时不时就想起这个计划来。但我不知道那是不是比利的经营范围。”

155

-

Jean stretched in her bed.“A nice hairdressing saloon and beauty parlour,”she said,“with a pretty French brunette in it who really knew her stuff, and could make one look like Rita Hayworth. That’s what I want, sometimes. But I don’t think that’s in Billy’s line.”

156

-

“最好不是。”露丝说。

156

-

“It had better not be,”said Rose.

157

-

琴第二天起床出院，一瘸一拐地走到工厂。帕克先生寄来了一封航空邮件，内容是关于他从她们那儿收到的空运皮鞋。他故作平淡地指出它们的瑕疵和毛病，提醒她们在进行批量生产时必须予以改正，这一次他们就先替她们处理好了。在信的结尾，他说他会尝试把这批鞋卖掉。琴和阿姬·托普非常了解帕克先生，把这句话理解成对她们的表扬。

157

-

Jean got up next day and left the hospital, and walked awkwardly to the workshop. There was an airmail letter from Mr Pack about the air freight consignment of shoes that he had received from them. His enthusiasm was temperate; he pointed out a number of defects and crudities which would require correction in production batches; most of these they were aware of and had attended to. He finished up by saying he would try and shift them, which, knowing Mr Pack, Jean and Aggie Topp interpreted as praise.

158

-

“下一批会让他更满意的。”阿姬说。然后她说：“你不在的时候，有两个姑娘来应聘。一个是弗雷德·道森的女儿，弗雷德好像是一个叫作卡莱尔农场的牧工领班什么的。她十五岁，由母亲带着来的。她有点太年轻了，但挺有前途。还有一个十九岁的姑娘，之前在诺曼顿的商店工作。我不是很喜欢她。”

158

-

“He’ll like the next lot better,”Aggie said. And then she said,“I had two girls come along for jobs while you were away. One was Fred Dawson’s daughter; he’s the chief stockman or something on a station called Carlisle. She’s fifteen; her mother brought her in. She’s a bit young, but she’d be all right. The other was a girl of nineteen who’s been working in the store at Normanton. I didn’t like her so much.”

159

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“我不想在售出第一批鞋子之前招聘新员工。”琴说，“如果道森太太再来，就说我们会在雨季结束后答复她。如果可以的话我想聘用这个小姑娘。我想我们就不聘另一个了，你说呢？”

159

-

“I don’t want to take on anyone else until that first batch of shoes have been sold,”said Jean.“If Mrs Dawson comes in again, tell her that we’ll let her know about the kid after the wet. I’d like to have her if I can. I don’t think we want the other one, do we?”

160

-

“我想还是不要了。她看起来有点懒。”

160

-

“I don’t think so. Bit of a slut, she was.”

161

-

她们就工作的细节问题谈论了一个小时。“我们还没把制服拿回来，”阿姬说，“我去找哈里森太太了，但她的背病又犯了。我们必须找另一家帮忙洗。”她们已经向姑娘们作出保证，每周都能让她们穿着干净的制服干活。这些制服的清洗工作对她们来讲是一个问题。

161

-

They talked about the details of the business for an hour.“We haven’t got the overalls back yet,”said Aggie.“I went and saw Mrs Harrison, but her back’s bad again. We’ll have to find someone else.”They issued the girls with a clean overall each week to work in, and the washing of these overalls was something of a problem to them.

162

-

“我们需要的，”琴说，“是一台洗衣机，自己洗制服。我们可以把它接在发电机组上……当然了，还需要热水。”她想了一会儿，“要不这样，”她说，“我们可以把它租给人们洗衣服。不过，目前还是要先找到另一个哈里森太太。”

162

-

“What we want,”said Jean,“is one of those Home Laundry things, and do them ourselves. We could run it off the generating set.... Of course, it needs hot water.”She thought for a minute.“Think about that one,”she said.“Hire it out, do people’s washing for them. Anyway, see if you can find another Mrs Harrison for the time being.”

163

-

阿姬说：“所有人都在谈论你骑马的事情，佩吉特小姐。”

163

-

Aggie said,“Everybody’s talking about your ride, Miss Paget.”

164

-

“真的？”

164

-

“Are they?”

165

-

她点点头。“就连那个从诺曼顿来的女孩儿也听说了。”

165

-

She nodded.“Even that girl from Normanton, she knew about it, too.”

166

-

“她到底是从哪儿听来的？”

166

-

“How on earth did she get to hear?”

167

-

“就是他们在牛场上使用的那些无线电收发机。”阿姬说，“这里的牧工告诉我，他们每天都收听广播——电报内容什么的他们都知道。他们反正闲着也是闲着。在这个地区，秘密都藏不住。”然后她说，“我今早听见飞机起飞了。那个男人的伤势很严重吗？”

167

-

“It’s these little wireless sets they have up on the cattle stations,”Aggie said.“The boys here were telling me, they all listen in to what everybody else is saying—telegrams and everything. They’ve got nothing else to do. You can’t keep anything secret in this country.”And then she said,“I heard the aeroplane go off this morning. Was the man very bad?”

168

-

“不太好，”琴说，“护士认为那条腿应该能保住。我们真应该请个医生过来。”

168

-

“Not too good,”said Jean.“Sister thinks they’ll be able to save the leg. We ought to have a doctor here, of course.”

169

-

“医生在这个地方没什么活干。”阿姬说，“他们要把他送去哪儿？”

169

-

“There’s not enough work to keep a doctor occupied in a place like this,”said Aggie.“Where did they fly him to?”

170

-

“凯恩斯。凯恩斯有一个很好的医院。”她转向门口，顿了顿，“阿姬，”她说，“你觉得在威尔斯镇修一个游泳池怎么样？人们会去游泳吗？”

170

-

“Cairns. There’s a good hospital in Cairns.”She turned to the door, and paused.“Aggie,”she said,“how do you think a swimming-pool would go in Willstown? Would people use it?”

171

-

乔·哈曼当天下午和彼特·弗莱彻一起骑马进镇。他把马牵进澳大利亚旅馆后面的马厩，然后来找琴。他穿着骑马服，湿淋淋脏兮兮的，因为小河都涨满了。虽然他离开米德赫斯特时打扮得很整洁，对于一个去镇上见女朋友的男士而言非常得体，但路上他必须抓住马的鬃毛和马鞍游过一两条小河，使得他精心打扮的成果付诸东流。他抵达威尔斯镇时，身上已经干了一半。他梳了梳头，把靴子里的水倒干，去冰室问露丝琴在哪里。

171

-

Joe Harman rode into the town that afternoon with Pete Fletcher. He put his horse into the stable behind the Australian Hotel and came to find Jean; he was wet and dirty in his riding clothes because the creeks were up, and though he had started spick and span from Midhurst as befits a man going in to town to see his girl, he had had to swim one of the two creeks on the way holding to the mane and saddle of his horse, which had rather spoilt the sartorial effect. He was half dry when he got to Willstown; he combed his hair and emptied out his boots, and went to the ice-cream parlour to ask Rose where Jean was.

172

-

他在卧室里找到了正在给我写一封长信的琴。他敲了敲门，她出来迎接他。“我们不能在这里谈话，乔。如果你走进来，人们肯定要没完没了地嚼舌根。我们去冰室吃客冰淇淋吧。”她确信，这是威尔斯镇唯一一个可以让青年男女光明正大地见面聊天的地方。如果是在雨季，他们还可以走进马厩或者谷仓。他们挑了一张靠墙的桌子坐下。她东张西望，看着方方正正的四面墙，邻桌的人对她很有意见。“这不行，”她说，“我要隔出一些雅座，让顾客可以在小角落里说悄悄话。”

172

-

He found her in her bedroom, writing a long letter to me. He tapped on the door and she came out to him.“We can’t talk here, Joe. I’ll never hear the last of it if you come in. Let’s go and have an ice-cream in the parlour.”It was borne in on her that this was literally the only place in Willstown where young men and young women could meet reputably to talk; the alternative, in the wet, would be to go into the stable or a barn. They picked a table by the wall; she looked around her at the rectangular walls and the adjacent tables with discontent.“This won’t do at all,”she said.“I’ll have some sort of booths made, little corners where people can talk privately.”

173

-

“你要吃什么？”他问。

173

-

“What’ll you have?”he asked.

174

-

“我要香蕉船，”她说，“我要补充营养。我不知道你是否知道，但我一直都觉得很不舒服。别给钱，乔——冰室请客啦。”

174

-

“I’ll have a banana split,”she said.“I want feeding up. I don’t know if you know it, but I’ve been very ill. Don’t pay, Joe—have it on the house.”

175

-

他咧嘴而笑。“你觉得我是那种带女孩儿出去却让她请客的男人吗？”

175

-

He grinned.“Think I’m the kind of man to take a girl out and let her shout?”

176

-

“如果你那样想，我就来两份。香蕉明天就要变质了。”她请空中列车每周三送来少量水果，很容易就能售罄，价格足以支付航空运费。但问题是它们通常不到一个星期就变质了。

176

-

“If you’re feeling like that, I’ll have two. The bananas will be going bad by tomorrow.”She was getting fruit flown in by the Dakota every Wednesday, and she had little difficulty in selling the small quantities she got at prices that would pay for the air freight. Her trouble was that usually she could not keep it for a week.

177

-

他端着冰冻的甜品回来，和她一起坐下。“好了，乔，”她说，“小牛畜栏是怎么回事？”

177

-

He came back with the ices and sat down with her.“Now Joe,”she said,“what about that poddy corral?”

178

-

他不好意思地露齿而笑，回头看了看。“那是骗人的，”他说，“米德赫斯特没有小牛畜栏。”

178

-

He grinned sheepishly, and looked over his shoulder.“That’s crook,”he said.“There’s no poddy corral on Midhurst.”

179

-

“好像有一个吧，”她笑道，“你老实交代。唐·柯蒂斯到底是怎么受的伤？”

179

-

“There’s something damn like one,”she said, laughing.“Come clean, Joe. What happened to Don Curtis, anyway?”

180

-

“他在我的土地上偷偷摸摸地瞎溜达，他是没有权利这么做的。”乔小心地说，“他找到我用来围住小牛的畜栏——注意，是我的小牛。我把它们关在那儿，让它们冷静一下，因为它们离群了。嗯，唐想把它们偷走。他拿掉上门闩，但那些小牛可野了，它们已经有大概四天没喝水了，只能靠雨水解渴。我猜他弄松第二条门闩的时候，它们把门冲破了，木柱砸在他后背上，把他击倒了。然后它们都从他身上跑过，踩碎了他的脚。它们还向马冲去。唐用缰绳把马系在不知道什么东西上，那些小牛冲向那匹马，把缰绳撞断了，马就跑了。唐就这样倒在那儿，直到我发现他。真是活该，让他乱跑。”

180

-

“He was moseying about on my land where he hadn’t got no right to be,”Joe said carefully.“He found that corral where I’d got some poddys—my own poddys, mind you. I’d put ’em in there to consider things a bit, because they’d been wandering. Well, Don went to steal them off me, and he took down the top bar, but they were pretty wild, those poddys were; they hadn’t had no water for about four days except the rain. Far as I can make out they pushed the second bar out on top of him when he went to loose it, and knocked him over on his back with the pole on top, and then they all ran over him and bust his leg. They ran out on the horse, too; Don had hitched his horse by the rein to something or other, and these poddys, they come charging down on to the horse and he bust the rein and he went too. So there Don was, and serve him bloody well right for going where he hadn’t got no business to be.”

181

-

“这些小牛是谁的？老实告诉我，乔。”

181

-

“Whose poddys were they, really, Joe?”

182

-

“我的。”他坚定地回答。

182

-

“Mine,”he replied firmly.

183

-

她微微一笑。“你在哪里发现它们离群了？”

183

-

She smiled.“Where had they been wandering?”

184

-

他咧嘴而笑。“温德米尔。但它们是我的小牛。他从我那儿偷走的。我告诉过彼特他在温德米尔有一个小牛畜栏，你也听见了。”

184

-

He grinned.“Windermere. But they were my poddys. He pinched ’em off me. You heard me telling Pete he’s got a poddy corral there.”

185

-

“你畜栏里那些小牛，是不是就是你从他的畜栏里放出来的那些？”她问。她似乎已经开始介入此事了。

185

-

“Were these poddys that you had in your corral the same ones that you let out of his corral?”she asked. It seemed to be getting just a little bit involved.

186

-

“差不多吧，”他说，“你可以说有几头是我顺手牵走作为补偿的。”他顿了顿，“有时候会混在一起分不清。”他说。

186

-

“Most of ’em,”he said.“There might have been one or two with them that we picked up as damages, you might say.”He paused.“Things get a bit mixed up sometimes,”he observed.

187

-

“现在小牛在哪儿？”她问，“我是指唐放出来的那些。”

187

-

“Where are the poddys now?”she asked.“The ones that Don let out?”

188

-

“它们会在米德赫斯特，”他说，“我想是在钻头附近。它们绝对不会离开第一个水源，甚至在雨季时也不会。”

188

-

“They’ll be on Midhurst,”he said.“They’ll be somewhere round about the bore, I’d say. They won’t stir from the first water that they find, not even in the wet.”

189

-

她默默地吃了几口香蕉船，然后说：“嗯，至少你在他住院期间不能去偷他的小牛，乔。那不公平。那样他出院时就会发现所有小牛都被偷光了。”

189

-

She ate a little of her banana split in silence. Then she said,“Well, anyway, you’re not to go after any of his poddys while he’s in hospital, Joe. That’s not fair. He’ll come out of hospital and find there’s not a poddy left.”

190

-

“我不会做那种事。”

190

-

“I wouldn’t do a thing like that.”

191

-

“我敢打赌说你会。我不懂这个游戏的玩法，乔，但我肯定那是违反规则的。”

191

-

“I bet you would. I don’t know how this game is played, Joe, but I’m quite sure that’s against the rules.”

192

-

他咧嘴而笑。“好吧，但他一出院就会来偷我的牛。那肯定错不了。”

192

-

He grinned.“All right. But he’ll be after mine as soon as he gets back. That’s sure as anything.”

193

-

“你们为什么不能放过其他人的小牛？”

193

-

“Why can’t you let each other’s poddys alone?”

194

-

“即使我放过他的小牛，他也不会放过我的小牛。”他简单地说，“去年我多偷了他五十头。”

194

-

“I’ll let his alone, but he won’t let mine alone. You see,”he said simply.“I got about fifty more of his last year than he got of mine.”

195

-

琴感觉这个对话不会有成果。在小牛的问题上，乔似乎毫无道德操守可言。她换了一个话题，说：“乔，我想跟你谈谈你在格林岛上提到的那些小水坝。你找到人来修了吗？”

195

-

This conversation, Jean felt, was not getting them anywhere; where poddys were concerned Joe’s moral standards seemed to be extremely low. She changed the subject, and said,“Joe, about those little dams you were talking about on Green Island. Have you got anyone to build them for you yet?”

196

-

他摇摇头。“等旱季来了再说吧。”

196

-

He shook his head.“It’s no good thinking about those until the dry.”

197

-

“用推土机能修起来吗？”

197

-

“Could a bulldozer build them?”

198

-

“哦，老天，”他说，“如果有人有辆推土机，一个月内就会建起来很多东西。但克里一带没有推土机。”

198

-

“Oh my word,”he said.“If anybody had a bulldozer he’d built the lot inside a month. But there’s no bulldozer this side of the Curry.”

199

-

“可能会有一辆。”她说。她告诉乔露丝·索耶和比利·韦克林的事情。“反正他也要来见她，”她说，“而且她说他想在这里承包工程。我想他和露丝的感情会稳定下来。他来的时候，你最好带他到米德赫斯特去谈一谈。”

199

-

“There might be one,”she said. She told him about Rose Sawyer and Billy Wakeling.“He’s coming up to see her anyway,”she said,“and she says he’s looking for that sort of work to do up here. I suppose he’s turning into Rose’s steady. You’d better take him out to Midhurst when he comes, and have a talk to him.”

200

-

“老天，”他说，“如果在威尔斯镇有一个会开推土机的家伙，周边的牛场将会发生很大的变化。”

200

-

“My word,”he said.“If we had a joker with a bulldozer in Willstown it’ld make a lot of difference to the stations.”

201

-

“威尔斯镇也会改头换面。”她说，“乔，如果我们就在钻头附近修一个相当不错的游泳池，配上跳水板、换装的小屋和可以晒日光浴的草坪，再请一位老人家负责修剪并打理草坪——人们会去游泳吗，乔？如果我们收一先令的入场费？”

201

-

“It’ld make a lot of difference here in Willstown,”she observed.“Joe, if we had a really decent swimming-pool just by the bore, with little cabins to change in and green lawns to sunbathe on, and diving-boards, and an old man in charge to mow the grass and keep it clean and nice—would people use it, Joe? If we charged, say, a bob a bathe?”

202

-

他们就游泳池的话题讨论了一段时间，如果一个小镇只有一百五十个居民，修一个游泳池是无利可图的。“只是发展速度的问题，”他说，“游泳池和其他东西一样，也能促进它的发展。整个海湾地区没有一个镇有游泳池。”

202

-

They discussed the swimming-pool for some time, and came to the conclusion that it could never pay upon the basis of a town with a hundred and fifty people.“It’s just a question of how fast this town is going to grow,”he said.“A swimming-pool is just another thing to make it grow. There’s not a town in the whole Gulf country that’s got a pool.”

203

-

“冰室绝对能挣钱。”琴说，“如果能保持食物的质量，应该很快就会上轨道。要是我能从诺尔·斯特拉坎那儿预支一笔钱，下一步我想试试游泳池。”

203

-

“The ice-cream parlour’s paying, definitely,”Jean said.“If we can keep up the quality, I feel we’re home on that one. I’d like to try the swimming-pool next, I think, if I can get the money for it out of Noel Strachan.”

204

-

他微笑着，好奇地问道：“游泳池之后是什么？”

204

-

He smiled in curious wonder.“What comes after the swimming-pool?”

205

-

她的目光落在外面一大片潮湿泥泞的土地上，威尔斯镇的街道荒凉寂寞。“他们游泳时会把头发弄湿，所以我要开一间美容院。”她说，“我想那是下一步。之后是一间露天影院，然后是水洗洗衣房，再然后是一间漂亮的服装店。”她转向他，“别笑我，乔。我知道那听起来有点疯狂，但看看我的成绩。我开了一间冰室给露丝打理，年轻的韦克林就冲着她来到了威尔斯镇，还带来了一辆推土机，这样你的水坝也修好了。”

205

-

She stared out at the wet, miry expanse of earth that was the street.“They’ll get their hair wet in the swimming-pool, so we’ll have to have a beauty parlour,”she said.“I think that’s the next thing. And after that, an open-air cinema. And after that, a battery of Home Laundries for the wet wash, and after that a decent dress shop.”She turned to him.“Don’t laugh, Joe. I know it sounds crackers, but just look at the results. I start an ice-cream parlour and put Rose in it, and young Wakeling comes after her with a bulldozer, so you get your dams built.”

206

-

“你说早了，”他说，“还没开始修呢。”

206

-

“You’re a bit ahead of the game,”he said.“They aren’t built yet.”

207

-

“很快就会开始了。”

207

-

“They will be soon.”

208

-

他环视冰室。“如果你的所有计划都像这个冰室一样顺利，”他慢慢地说，“威尔斯镇很快就会变得跟爱丽丝斯普林斯一样棒了。”

208

-

He glanced around the ice-cream parlour.“If everything you want to do works out like this,”he said slowly,“you’ll have a town as good as Alice Springs in no time.”

209

-

“那就是我想要的，”她说，“一个像爱丽丝的小镇。”

209

-

	Jean [dʒiːn]	n.斜纹布(复数)jeans:牛仔裤.
	grunt [ɡrʌnt]	v.咕哝;(猪等)打呼噜
	fracture ['fræktʃə(r)]	n.破碎;骨折
	splint [splɪnt]	n.薄木片;托板;夹板
	corral [kə'rɑːl]	n.畜栏
	grind [ɡraɪnd]	v.磨;压迫;碾碎;磨得吱吱响;逐渐停顿
	infinite ['ɪnfɪnət]	adj.无穷的;无限的
	labour [ˈleɪbə]	n. 劳动;劳动力
	liftable [lɪftəbl]	a.1. 可以举起的
	earlier ['ɜːlɪə]	adj.早的;初期的
	swirl [swɜːl]	n.漩涡;涡状形
	Jesus ['dʒiːzəs]	n.耶稣,杰西(男子名).
	downstream [ˌdaʊn'striːm]	adv.朝下游方向
	sump [sʌmp]	n.污水坑;水坑;机油箱
	coil [kɔɪl]	n.卷;圈;线圈
	tandem ['tændəm]	n.串联
	axle ['æksl]	n.轮轴;车轴
	grope [ɡrəʊp]	v.(暗中)摸索;探索;(调情时)抚摸…身体
	awe [ɔː]	n.敬畏;恐惧
	stoop [stuːp]	n.佝偻;弯腰;屈尊;俯冲 vi. 屈身，弯腰;
	casting ['kɑːstɪŋ]	n.铸造
	splinter ['splɪntə(r)]	n. 【C】(木头、玻璃、骨头等的)裂片，破片，尖片;
	aeroplane ['eərəpleɪn]	n.飞机
	unpack [ˌʌn'pæk]	v.打开取出;卸下
	clumsy ['klʌmzi]	adj.笨拙的;不得体的;笨重的
	spade [speɪd]	n.铲子;铁锹
	inadequate [ɪn'ædɪkwət]	adj.不适当的;不充分的
	homestead ['həʊmsted]	n.家园;田产;农场
	Sergeant ['sɑːdʒənt]	n.中士;巡佐;军士;警官;(法庭或议会等地的)警卫官
	Moonshine ['muːnʃaɪn]	n.月光;空话;荒唐的空想;私酿酒(尤指威士忌)
	stretcher ['stretʃə(r)]	n.担架;伸张器;横档
	past [pɑːst]	a. 过去的;
	Robin ['rɒbɪn]	罗宾(人名)
	straddle ['strædl]	v.跨坐;把两腿叉开;观望
	saddle ['sædl]	n.鞍;车座;山脊;当权
	stirrup ['stɪrəp]	n.【机】镫形具;马蹬;【建】(抗剪的)箍筋
	responsive [rɪ'spɒnsɪv]	adj.回答的;应答的;易感应的
	energetic [ˌenə'dʒetɪk]	adj.精力旺盛的;有力的;能量的
	gait [ɡeɪt]	n.步态;步法
	trot [trɒt]	vi. (马)疾驰;
	tumble ['tʌmbl]	v.暴跌;倒塌;跌倒;翻滚;弄乱;明白;突然发现
	alternate ['ɔːltɜːnət]	v.交替;轮流
	Missy ['mɪsi]	n.小姐;姑娘;少女
	mingle ['mɪŋɡl]	vt.使混合;使结合
	whereas [ˌweər'æz]	conj.然而;鉴于
	thirst [θɜːst]	vi.渴望;渴求;口渴
	bridle ['braɪdl]	n.马笼头，缰绳;约束，约束物
	seam [siːm]	n.缝;接缝
	wearily ['wɪərəli]	adv.疲倦地;厌烦地
	fry [fraɪ]	v.油煎;油炸
	stockman ['stɒkmən]	n.畜牧工;仓库管理员
	bundle ['bʌndl]	n.捆;束
	stiffen ['stɪfn]	v.使 ... 坚硬;变为浓粘;使坚定;使强硬
	stretchable [stretʃəbl]	可伸展的;可延伸的
	airstrip ['eəstrɪp]	n.(飞机紧急降落用的)临时跑道
	cairn [keən]	n.石堆纪念碑;石冢;堆石界标
	thoughtful ['θɔːtfl]	adj.深思的;体贴的
	ringer ['rɪŋə(r)]	n.振铃器;敲钟人;铁环;套环;冒名顶替者;酷似的人
	penicillin [ˌpenɪ'sɪlɪn]	n.青霉素
	ointment ['ɔɪntmənt]	n.药膏;油膏;软膏
	transmitter [træns'mɪtə(r)]	n.传播者;发射机
	Roger ['rɒdʒə(r)]	n.罗杰(男子名)
	mercy ['mɜːsi]	n.仁慈;怜悯;恩惠;宽恕
	Bacon ['beɪkən]	n.培根;咸肉;熏肉
	Helen ['helən]	n.海伦(女子名)
	Constable ['kʌnstəbl]	n.警官;治安官;巡官;(皇家或贵族的) 总管
	sinner ['sɪnə(r)]	n.罪人;流氓
	conversation [ˌkɒnvə'seɪʃn]	n.谈话;会话
	perplex [pə'pleks]	v.使困惑;使糊涂;使复杂化
	Goodnight [ˌɡʊd'naɪt]	int.晚安;再见
	thankful ['θæŋkfl]	adj.感谢的;感激的
	rueful ['ruːfl]	adj.悲伤的;怜悯的;悔恨的
	flap [flæp]	n.拍打
	shroud [ʃraʊd]	n.寿衣;裹尸布;覆盖物
	navigational [ˌnævɪ'ɡeɪʃənl]	adj.导航的;航行的
	scrape [skreɪp]	v.刮掉;擦掉
	runway ['rʌnweɪ]	n.跑道;河床;悬索道;滑沟
	orderly ['ɔːdəli]	adj.有秩序的;整齐的;一丝不苟的
	vapor ['veɪpə]	n.蒸汽;水蒸汽
	gorge [ɡɔːdʒ]	n. 【C】峡谷;
	starboard ['stɑːbəd]	n.(船、飞机的)右舷
	microphone ['maɪkrəfəʊn]	n.麦克风;
	Baker ['beɪkə(r)]	n.面包师;烤炉
	gallon ['ɡælən]	n.加仑(容量单位)
	octane ['ɒkteɪn]	n.【化】辛烷
	refuel [ˌriː'fjuːəl]	v.补给燃料
	inland [ˈɪnlənd]	adj.内陆的, 国内的
	compass ['kʌmpəs]	n.指南针
	pick [pɪkt]	采摘，挑选；
	pitiful ['pɪtɪfl]	adj.慈悲的;可怜的;凄惨的
	gangrene ['ɡæŋɡriːn]	n.坏疽;脱疽;腐败堕落的根源
	streamer ['striːmə(r)]	n.横幅;长条旗;装饰彩纸条;北极光;流光;(报纸的)通栏标题
	lemonade [ˌlemə'neɪd]	n.柠檬水
	stroll [strəʊl]	n.闲逛;漫步
	sway [sweɪ]	v.摇动;摇摆;支配;影响;说服，使相信
	propeller [prə'pelə(r)]	n.螺旋桨;推进器
	chafe [tʃeɪf]	v.擦痛;激怒;摩擦
	honorable ['ɒnərəbl]	adj.光荣的;可敬的;体面的.
	Billy ['bɪli]	n.棍棒;警棍;【英纺】粗纱机
	grader ['ɡreɪdə(r)]	n.分类机;(中小学的) ... 年级学生
	artless ['ɑːtləs]	adj.单纯自然的;不造作的;质朴的
	Sydney ['sɪdni]	n.悉尼
	Harbour [ˈhɑːbə]	港，海港，港口，港湾入港停泊，停泊
	scoop [skuːp]	n.铲子;勺;舀取;穴;独家新闻
	parlor ['pɑːlə]	n. (机关、银行等)接待室，客厅;
	freight [freɪt]	n.货运;货物
	temperate ['tempərət]	adj.温和的;适度的;有节制的
	crudity ['kruːdəti]	n.天然状态;粗糙;粗鲁
	correction [kə'rekʃn]	n.订正;改正
	batch [bætʃ]	n.一批;批次
	Fred [fred]	= Fast Random Enquiry Display,快速随机查询显示;
	nineteen [ˌnaɪn'tiːn]	十九
	slut [slʌt]	n.荡妇;懒妇;母狗
	Aggie ['ægɪ]	n.农校;农业院校学生;玩具弹子
	wireless ['waɪələs]	adj.无线的
	Pete [piːt]	皮特(Peter 的昵称)(m.)
	rectangular [rek'tæŋɡjələ(r)]	adj.矩形的
	adjacent [ə'dʒeɪsnt]	adj.邻近的
	sheepish ['ʃiːpɪʃ]	adj.羞怯的;局促不安的;驯服的;胆怯的
	crook [krʊk]	n.钩;曲柄杖;弯曲;骗子
	mosey ['məʊzi]	v.漫步;徘徊;离去
	rein [reɪn]	n.缰绳;驾驭;控制
	felted ['feltɪd]	v. 把 ... 制成毡(使 ... 粘结)
	Curry ['kʌri]	n.咖哩饭菜;咖哩粉
	sunbathe ['sʌnbeɪð]	v.晒日光浴
	cracker ['krækə(r)]	n. 爆竹;