通译双语文库:像爱丽丝的小镇第八章|Chapter 8

1

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他们度过了很特别的一天，时而卿卿我我，时而讨论生意问题。“你说一个降雨量三倍于北领地的地区，无法发展出一个和爱丽丝一样好的镇子，那是不合逻辑的。”期间她有一次说，“我知道爱丽丝有铁路，威尔斯镇有雨，我还知道我自己更情愿在哪个地方养牛。如果你还说要换工作，乔，我就自己坐开去。我们还没结婚呢。”她把他的手拉过来，吻了一下。

1

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They spent that day in a curious mixture of love-making and economic discussion.“You can’t tell me that a country with three times the rainfall of the Territory can’t support a town as good as Alice,”she said once.“I know Alice has a railway. Willstown’s got rain, and I know which I’d rather have for raising cattle. If you go on doing that, Joe, I’ll go off and sit by myself. We aren’t married yet.”She removed his hand and kissed it.

2

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“养牛需要的不单是雨水，”他说，“不过当然，饲料越多，就有更多小牛能挺过旱季，也有更多牛可以拿去卖。但除此之外，还有很多其他事情，哦，老天。”

2

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“Rain’s not the only thing you want for raising cattle,”he said.“The better the feed, of course, the more calves live through the dry and the more you’ve got to sell. But there’s a lot more to it than that, oh my word.”

3

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“还有其他什么？告诉我，乔。”她紧紧握住他的手。

3

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“Tell me, Joe.”She had his hand in a firm grip.

4

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“其中一件是，”他说，“下雨的时候，你必须想办法蓄水。米德赫斯特确实有很多雨水，但转眼间就全部流走了。我们的降水从十二月中旬持续到二月底，那时你就会看到小河都涨得满满的，简直要泛滥成灾。但三周后，到三月底，它们就又全部重新变干了，整个地区又变得像往常一样干燥。”

4

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“One thing,”he said,“you’ve got to keep that water when you’ve got it. It’s true that Midhurst gets a lot of rainfall, but it’s all gone in a flash. We get rain from the middle of December till the end of February, and you’ll see the creeks all running full in flood. But three weeks later, by the end of March, they’ll be all dry again, and the country as dry as ever.”

5

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“这就是你要在袋鼠溪和干树胶河上修建水坝的原因？”

5

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“Is that what you want to build the dams for, at Kangaroo Creek and Dry Gum Creek?”

6

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“没错。”他说，“我想开始的时候先修建一些小型拦河坝来储水。从每条小溪的源头开始，一点一点慢慢往下修。沿着那些小溪，每隔两三英里储备出一个小水池，直到它们流入吉尔伯特河。当然了，旱季时无法蓄水，因为太阳太猛烈了。但如果米德赫斯特有那样的水坝，饲料数量就会大大增加。哦，老天，肯定会的。”

6

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“That’s right,”he said.“I want to make a start with building little kind of barrages to hold back the water. Do a bit each year, starting at the head of each creek and working down. Get a little pool held back every two or three miles all down the creeks till they run out into the Gilbert. They wouldn’t hold the water right through the dry, of course; the sun’s too strong. But you could add a lot of feed to Midhurst if you had a lot of little dams like that. Oh my word, you could.”

7

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她放开他的手。“乔，米德赫斯特有多大？”

7

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She released his hand.“How big is Midhurst, Joe?”

8

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“一千一百平方英里。”

8

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“Eleven hundred square miles.”

9

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“上面养了多少头牛？”

9

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“How many cattle does it carry?”

10

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“大概九千头吧。应该还可以养更多，但牛场的北部边界很干，非常干。”

10

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“About nine thousand. Ought to carry more than that, but it’s dry up at the top end. Very dry.”

11

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“假设你所想象的这些小水坝全都可以建起来，那时可以养多少头？”

11

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“Suppose you could get all the little dams that you’re imagining. How many would it carry then?”

12

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他想了一会儿。“我不明白为什么不能养现在的两倍。那大概是每平方英里养十六头。有那么多的雨水，我们应该能做到。”

12

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He thought for a minute.“I don’t see why it shouldn’t carry double what’s on it now. That’ld be about sixteen to the mile. With a rainfall like we’ve got you should be able to do that.”

13

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“今年你们卖了一千四百头，是不是？”

13

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“You sold fourteen hundred head this year, didn’t you?”

14

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“没错。”

14

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“That’s right.”

15

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“每头卖多少钱？”

15

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“How much a head?”

16

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“四镑十六先令。”

16

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“Four pound sixteen.”

17

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她又抓住他的手，把它紧紧攥在自己手里。“乔，我在想，如果你在牛场上多养一倍的牛，每年就能多卖一千四百头。那就是——那就是每年能多卖六七千镑。那样你每年就能卖出价值一万两三千镑的牛了，乔。投点成本在水坝上，就能使营业额增加那么多，如此良机绝对不能错过，是不是？”

17

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She grabbed his hand again, and held it imprisoned.“I’m trying to think, Joe. If you doubled the stock on the station you’d have another fourteen hundred to sell each year. That’s—that’s between six and seven thousand pounds a year more to sell. You’d be selling twelve or thirteen thousand pounds worth every year then, Joe. It’ld be worth spending a bit of capital on dams to get that rise in turnover, wouldn’t it?”

18

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他对她另眼相看。“嗯，我就是那样想的。我告诉过斯皮尔斯太太，说我想聘请一个由三个男员工和一些土著组成的固定团队来专门负责这件事。从源头开始，每年修一点。一年差不多要花一千五百镑。第一年的利润会低一些，但那之后利润就会稳步上升，直到接近翻番。我就是那样跟她说的。”

18

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He looked at her with a new respect.“Well, that’s the way I worked it out. I told Mrs Spears, I said, I want to keep a permanent gang of three men and a few Abos on this. Do a bit each year, working down from the top. Spend about fifteen hundred a year, you might say. There’d be less profit the first year, but after that it should rise steadily to nearly double. That’s what I told her.”

19

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“她同意了吧？”

19

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“She agreed, did she?”

20

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“她同意出钱。但这只是开头，让她出钱倒不难，问题是我可能要花很多年才能雇到这些人。”

20

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“She’s agreed to spend the money. But that’s only the start of it, the easy part. It may be years before I get the men.”

21

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她难以置信地看着他。“很多年？”

21

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She looked at him incredulously.“Years?”

22

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“太对了，”他沉重地说，“要想出这个计划来很容易，但真正将它付诸实践要费很大工夫。可能要等五年才能开工。在米德赫斯特只有我们三个人——我是指白人——我、吉姆·伦农和戴夫·霍普。我们必须再找三个人，他们必须整个礼拜都在距离牧场住宅四十英里的偏远地区工作，差不多天天用鹤嘴锄和铁铲干活。他们还必须负责可靠，这样我们只需每周或每两周去跟进一次。嗯，根本就雇不到那样的人。海湾地区的人口每年都在减少。如果没有土著牧工，我都不知道要怎么办。”

22

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“Too right,”he said heavily.“It’s all very well to think of things like that, but it’s another thing to do them. Might be five years before I get the work in hand. You see, there’s only three of us on Midhurst—whites, that is—me and Jim Lennon, and Dave Hope. We’ve got to find three more who’ll work out all the week up-country, forty miles from the homestead, working with a pick and shovel mostly, and responsible enough to get on by themselves with only just a visit once a week or once a fortnight. Well, you can’t get men like that. There are fewer people in the Gulf country every year. If it wasn’t for the Abo stockmen, the boongs, I don’t know what we’d do.”

23

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“真的只有你们三个白人在经营米德赫斯特吗？”

23

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“Are there really only three of you—whites—running Midhurst?”

24

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他用手臂环着她的肩膀。“你来了之后就有四个了。”

24

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He put his arm around her shoulders.“When you come it’ll be four.”

25

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她想可能很快就有五六个了，但忍住没把这个想法说出来。“你们的理想人数是多少？”

25

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She thought it would be five or six soon after that, but she refrained from saying so.“How many would you like to have?”

26

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“你是说，未来养一万八千头牛的时候？”她点点头。“我认为那样一个牛场需要二十人。”他说，“如果我们把经过驯服的公牛都赶进畜栏来改良牲口质量，就不需要太多人。到时将要修建篱笆和畜栏，还有其他杂七杂八的东西。我可能需要二十个白人牧工，此外再请一些别的帮手。”

26

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“You mean with eighteen thousand head of cattle, some time in the future?”She nodded.“I could use twenty on a station like that,”he said.“That wouldn’t be too many, not if you were running tame bulls in a paddock, to improve the stock. There’d be fences and stockyards and all sorts of things to make. I could use twenty white ringers, and some other hands besides.”

27

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她慢慢地说：“彼特·弗莱彻说有五十个牧工去了威尔斯镇，在那里成家立业。”

27

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She said slowly,“Pete Fletcher said that there were fifty ringers coming into Willstown, using it as their town.”

28

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“差不多吧。”他说。

28

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“That’s about right,”he said.

29

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“如果所有的牛场都像你说的那样发展起来，”她说，“那意味着牧工数量要增加到现在的七倍，因为现在你们只有三个人。这个地区将会有三四百个牧工，还有他们的妻子和家庭，这些人需要商店、酒吧、车库、无线电台和电影院。威尔斯镇可以发展成两三千人的小镇，乔。”

29

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“If all the stations developed like you say,”she observed,“that means seven times as many ringers, because there are only three of you now. Three or four hundred ringers in the district, all with wives and families, and shops for them, and pubs, and garages, and radio, and cinemas. There’s room here for a town of two or three thousand people, Joe.”

30

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他微微一笑。“下一步你就要把它发展得跟布里斯班一样大了。”

30

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He smiled.“You’ll be making it as big as Brisbane next.”

31

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她严肃地说：“乔。在马来亚当战俘的时候，我们当中有一位叫作弗里思太太的老妇，她觉得你肯定是耶稣托世，因为你曾经为我们受难。我尝试告诉她，你不是。如果她看见你现在的所作所为，就很可能会相信我。”

31

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She said severely,“Joe. There was an old girl in our party in Malaya called Mrs Frith. She thought you must be Jesus Christ, because you’d been crucified. I tried to tell her that you weren’t. If she saw what you’re doing now she’d probably believe me.”

32

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他们谈论了一会儿弗里思太太，然后把话题转到更加世俗的事务上。“乔，”她说，“听我说。如果我说我想在威尔斯镇创业，你会不会觉得我很愚蠢？”

32

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They talked about Mrs Frith for a time, and then reverted to more mundane matters.“Joe,”she said,“listen to me. Would you think it very stupid if I said I wanted to start a business in Willstown?”

33

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他盯着她。“创业？你能在威尔斯镇做什么生意？”

33

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He stared at her.“A business? What sort of business could you do in Willstown?”

34

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“你知道我在英国的工作吗？”她问道。

34

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“Do you know what I was doing in England?”she inquired.

35

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“速记打字员，是不是？”他问。

35

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“Shorthand typing, wasn’t it?”he asked.

36

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她拿起他的手，在自己双手间摩挲着。“你太不了解我了，”她说，“我有太多事情要告诉你。”她先告诉他帕克和利维公司，然后说到帕克先生、短吻鳄鱼皮鞋，还有阿姬·托普。半小时后，她说：“那就是我想要做的事情，乔。你会觉得这有点疯狂吗？”

36

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She took his hand and smoothed it between her own.“There’s such a lot that you don’t know about me,”she said.“So much to tell you.”She started in to tell him about Pack and Levy, and Mr Pack, and about alligator-skin shoes, and Aggie Topp. Half an hour later she said,“That’s what I want to do, Joe. Do you think it’s crazy?”

37

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“我不知道。”然后，他很有点出人意料地说，“我去逛过邦德街的商店。”

37

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“I don’t know.”And then, quite unexpectedly, he said,“I took a walk down Bond Street, looking in the shops.”

38

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她转向他，一脸惊讶。“真的吗，乔？”

38

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She turned to him, surprised.“Did you, Joe?”

39

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他点点头。“我问斯特拉坎先生应该去伦敦什么地方参观，他问我知道多少伦敦的历史，我告诉他我没上过多少学。所以他就让我去参观圣保罗大教堂和威斯敏斯特教堂，然后坐公共汽车去皮卡迪利广场，往北走上摄政街，沿着牛津街走到邦德街，再沿着皮卡迪利广场走回来。他说走那条路线的话我就能看见所有最好的商店。”

39

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He nodded.“I asked Mr Strachan what I ought to see in London and he asked me how much history I knew and I told him that I never got much schooling. So then he said to go and see St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey, and then he said to take the bus to Piccadilly Circus and walk up Regent Street and along Oxford Street and down Bond Street and back along Piccadilly; he said I’d see all the best shops that way.”

40

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她点点头。伦敦仿佛远隔万水千山之外。海洋的微风拂面而来，只听见头顶上椰子树低低的沙沙声。

40

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She nodded. It seemed very far away from Green Island, and the whisper of the coconut palms overhead in the sea breeze.

41

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“我看到了很多鳄鱼皮鞋，”他说，“还有一些化妆箱。”他转向她，“我看见它们的时候，心想也许它们的皮就来自老杰夫·波科克捕获的那些鳄鱼，真是有趣。那让我感到挺亲切的。它们都制作得非常漂亮，手工很好。但价钱——哦，老天。它们几乎都不带价签，但其中有一个很小的女用鳄鱼皮箱，里面装了一些银白色的小玩意儿，这样一个箱子竟然要卖一百基尼。”

41

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“I saw a lot of alligator-skin shoes,”he said.“Sort of dressing-cases, too.”He turned to her.“It was interesting seeing those, and wondering if they were skins that old Jeff Pocock trapped. Made me feel quite at home. Beautifully done up, they were. But the prices—oh my word. Most of them hadn’t got no labels, but there was one, just a little alligator-skin case with silvery things in it, for a lady. A hundred guineas, that one was.”

42

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她很兴奋。“乔，我敢打赌那是帕克和利维公司制作的。我们做的全是那一类生意。”

42

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She was excited.“Joe, I bet that was made by Pack and Levy. We did all that sort of work.”

43

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“你不是在想，在威尔斯镇也能生产那些东西吧？”

43

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“You weren’t thinking you could make that sort of stuff in Willstown?”

44

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“不做皮箱，乔。只做鞋——至少以做鞋开始。一间小工厂，雇用六七个姑娘制作鳄鱼皮鞋。成本不会很高，乔——万一出了问题，也不会超出我所能承受的范围。但我不知道——也许不出问题呢？如果进展顺利，有利可图，对于小镇来讲是一件好事。”

44

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“Not cases, Joe. Just shoes—shoes to start with, anyway. A little workshop with six or seven girls making alligator-skin shoes. It won’t cost very much, Joe—not more than I can afford to lose if it goes wrong. But I don’t know—perhaps it won’t go wrong. If it worked out all right, and if it paid, it’ld be a good thing for the town.”

45

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“六七个姑娘，全都在威尔斯镇工作挣钱？”他若有所思地说，“你留不住她们的。最多六周，她们就会全部嫁出去——哦，老天，她们会的。”

45

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“Six or seven girls all earning money at a job in Willstown?”he said thoughtfully.“You wouldn’t keep them six weeks. They’d all be married—oh my word, they would.”

46

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她笑道：“那我就再找六七个。”她站起身来，“我们去游泳吧，不然一会儿就太热了。”

46

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She laughed.“Then I’d have to find six or seven more.”She got up.“Let’s go and bathe. It’ll be too hot if we don’t bathe soon.”

47

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他们换好衣服，躺在干净的银白色海水中，身下是幼细的珊瑚沙。“看看这些瘀痕，”她说，“你真会欺负人。下次欺负一个跟你一样健壮的人试试看。”过了一会儿她又说，“我还有一个疯狂的主意。现在就告诉你——可别晕倒在水里。我想开一间冰室。”

47

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They went and changed and lay in the clean, silvery water on the coral sand.“Look at those bruises,”she said.“You great bully. Hit somebody your own size.”And presently she said,“I’ve got another shock for you. You won’t drown if I tell you now? I want to start an ice-cream parlour.”

48

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“哦，老天。”

48

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“Oh my word.”

49

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“我要付给这些姑娘很高的薪水，乔，”她严肃地说，“我要把它们挣回来。”

49

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“I’m going to pay these girls a lot of money, Joe,”she said seriously.“I’ve got to get some of it back.”

50

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他看着她，不能确定她是否在开玩笑。“在威尔斯镇开一间冰室？”他说，“那挣不了钱的。”

50

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He looked at her, uncertain if she were laughing or not.“An ice-cream parlour in Willstown?”he said.“It’ll never pay.”

51

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“且看我每个冰淇淋卖多少钱。”她说，“我不仅要卖冰淇淋，乔——以后还要卖蔬果、速冻食品、女士杂志、化妆品和所有其他女士想要的小玩意儿。有一个很漂亮的姑娘想来帮我打理这间冰室，名叫露丝·索耶，现在住在爱丽丝。”

51

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“You wait till you see what I charge for an ice-cream,”she said.“Not only ice-cream, Joe—fruit and vegetables, quick frozen stuff, and women’s magazines, and cosmetics, and all the little bits of things that women want. I’ve got a very pretty girl who wants to come and run it for me, a girl called Rose Sawyer who lives in Alice Springs.”

52

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他慢慢地说：“如果店里有那样一个女孩儿，女士们就挤不进去。牧工会把它挤得满满当当。”

52

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He said slowly,“If you’ve got a girl like that to run it, the women won’t be able to get in the shop. It’ll be full of ringers.”

53

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“那也没关系，”她说，“只要他们买我的冰淇淋。”她转向他，“乔，你有没有去过爱丽丝过周日？”

53

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“That’s all right,”she said,“so long as they buy ice-cream.”She turned to him.“Joe, did you ever spend a Sunday in Alice Springs?”

54

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他摇摇头。“我想没有。至少开战以来没有。”

54

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He shook his head.“I don’t think I ever did. Not since before the war, anyway.”

55

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“我也知道原因，”她说，“周日所有酒吧都不开门。”

55

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“I know why that is, too,”she said.“The pubs are shut.”

56

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他咧嘴笑道：“太对了。”

56

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He grinned.“Too right.”

57

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“威尔斯镇的酒吧周日也不开门。”

57

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“The pub’s shut in Willstown, too, on Sundays.”

58

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“酒吧是关了，”他说，“但你通常可以从康纳老妈那儿买到酒，从旅馆后面。”

58

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“The bar’s shut,”he said.“You can usually get it out of Ma Connor, round the back.”

59

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她在水里翻了一个身。“我必须向海恩斯中士通风报信，乔。星期天是爱丽丝的冰室生意最好的日子。泡了一个礼拜酒吧的男人会带着妻子和小孩去冰室，大口大口喝冰淇淋汽水和可口可乐。那个地方周日的生意兴隆得不得了。”

59

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She rolled over in the water.“I’ll have to tip off Sergeant Haines, Joe. Sunday’s the best day of all for the ice-cream parlour at Alice. All the men who are in the bar all the week come along with their wives and kids on Sunday to the ice-cream parlour and put down ice-cream sodas and Coca-Cola. That place does a roaring trade on Sundays.”

60

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“确实如此，”他思考着说，“不然人们也没别的事情可做。”

60

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“It would,”he said thoughtfully.“There’d be nothing else to do.”

61

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不久他们从海里上来，坐到树荫里。他不允许她在太阳底下坐太久，以免晒伤。他们一起在树底下抽烟的时候，他说：“你想做的这一切将会花掉一大笔钱。我看要三四千镑吧，甚至更多。”

61

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They got out of the sea presently and went and sat in the shade; he would not let her stay in long for fear of sunburn. When they were smoking together under the trees, he said,“It’s going to cost a hell of a lot of money, all this you want to do. Three or four thousand pounds, I’d say, or more than that.”

62

-

“我有足够的钱。”她说。

62

-

“I’ve got enough,”she said.

63

-

他转向她。“斯特拉坎先生告诉我，你是一个有钱的姑娘。”他轻轻地说，“那确实让我非常担心，不过后来我慢慢接受了这个现实。你有多少钱？别告诉我你情愿保守秘密。如果我知道你有多少身家，就能帮你出更好的主意。”

63

-

He turned to her.“Mr Strachan told me you were a wealthy woman,”he said quietly.“It worried me, that did, till I got used to the idea. How much have you got? Don’t tell me if you’d rather not say, but if I knew about how much I’d be able to help you more.”

64

-

“我当然会告诉你。”她说。经过昨晚之后，他们之间已经没有隔阂。“斯特拉坎先生说我有大概五万三千英镑。但这笔钱全部被托管，托管期要到我三十五岁才结束。如果我想在那之前使用这笔钱，就必须先经他同意。”

64

-

“Of course,”she said. Nothing would come between them now, after last night.“Mr Strachan says I’ve got about fifty-three thousand pounds. It’s all in trust for me until I’m thirty-five, though. If I want to spend capital before then, I’ve got to ask him.”

65

-

“哦，老天。”

65

-

“Oh my word.”

66

-

“那真是很大一笔钱，是不是？”她说，“从某种意义上说，我很高兴它被托管了，因为我现在根本不知道拿它来干什么。而且诺尔又是如此可亲可爱。”她顿了顿，“我想拿它来做点有意义的事情，”她说，“但我不知道真正做起生意来是怎么样的。我唯一懂行的也就只有高档皮制品生意了。我想，如果我们可以开办一个类似的工厂，和一个售卖女士用品的商店——嗯，即使不能财源滚滚，那也是把钱花在了该花的地方上，在像威尔斯镇那样的地方。”

66

-

“It is a lot of money, isn’t it?”she said.“I’m glad that it’s in trust for me in a way, because I wouldn’t in the least know what to do with it. And Noel has been such a dear.”She paused.“I want to do something useful with it,”she said.“I don’t know anything about real business. The only thing I know about at all is what Pack and Levy made. I thought if we could start a little workshop of that sort, and a shop where women could get things they like—well, even if it didn’t pay very well, it’ll be using money the way money ought to be used, in places like Willstown.”

67

-

他弯下腰来吻她。“还有一件事，乔。”她说，“我不知道，但我有一种感觉，雇用这些姑娘可能会带来连锁效应。你说牧工都要离开海湾地区，外面的男人也不愿意来内地。嗯，他们当然不愿意，如果在内地找不到姑娘结婚的话。并且，所有的姑娘都因为找不到工作而离开内地。我每给一个姑娘提供一份工作，就能同时给你招来一个愿意在米德赫斯特工作的男人。你觉得是不是这样？”

67

-

He bent and kissed her.“There’s another thing, Joe,”she said.“I don’t know, but I’ve got a sort of feeling that there’s more to it than just employing a few girls. You say the ringers are all leaving the Gulf country, and men won’t come to the outback. Well, of course they won’t if they can’t get a girl. And all the girls go because they can’t get a job. For every girl I make a job for, I believe you’ll get a man to work at Midhurst. Don’t you think that’s true?”

68

-

“不知道。”他的视线越过大海，落到高原暗淡的灰蓝线条上，“如果那儿能有一群姑娘，自然好多了。住在内地的人，常常会感到孤独寂寞，哦，老天。”

68

-

“I don’t know.”He stared out over the sea to the dim blue line of the Tableland.“It’ld certainly help to have a flock of girls around. It can be lonely in the outback, oh my word.”

69

-

体会到这种深不见底的孤寂，她猛然一阵心酸。那些牧场住宅里没有尽头的漫漫长夜，使得“在内地，没有狗就熬不下去”。她想起那张敏感睿智的脸，想起卡莱尔牛场的埃迪·佩吉，想到他跟那个没有文化又不善言辞的土著女人结了婚。她马上理解了他的话，并对他生出无限同情。她转向他。“我真不忍心让你继续等我。”她说。他执起她的手，紧紧握了一下。“但我确实很想在我们结婚之前，开始尝试做这些生意，乔。”她说。她向他微笑道：“你是一个精力充沛的爱人，我相信我们很快就会迎来第一个孩子。”

69

-

A poignant realization of the solitude struck her. The long nights alone in the homestead, when ‘you couldn’t get along in the outback without dogs’. The sensitive, intelligent face of the manager of Carlisle, Eddie Page, who had married his illiterate, inarticulate lubra. She turned to him with quick understanding and sympathy.“I feel an awful pig asking you to wait,”she said. He took her hand and squeezed it.“I do want to try and start this business before we get married, Joe,”she said. She smiled at him.“You know, you’re a pretty energetic lover. I don’t believe you’ll waste much time starting a family.”

70

-

他咧嘴笑道：“我不会催迫你的。”

70

-

He grinned,“I won’t go quicker than you want to.”

71

-

“我也想尽快生儿育女，”她说，把他的头拉到自己面前吻他，“但那意味着我们结婚后，我只有六个月时间来打理生意，然后就不得不开始考虑其他事情。乔，你们什么时候开始集合？”

71

-

“I want to have them, too.”She pulled his head down to her and kissed him.“But that means I’ll only have six months for business after we get married, and then I’ll have to begin thinking of other things. Joe, when do you start mustering?”

72

-

“雨季后。”他说，“今年是三月集合，因为雨季来迟了。往常我们都是二月中旬开始集合。”

72

-

“After the wet,”he said.“It was March this year because of the late season, but normally we’d start mustering about the middle of February.”

73

-

“要集合多长时间？”

73

-

“How long does the muster go on for?”

74

-

“大概三周或者一个月。之后就要给小牛打烙印并把牛赶到朱利亚克里克。”

74

-

“About three weeks or a month. After that there’s the branding of the calves, and driving the stock down to Julia Creek.”

75

-

“我们可以等集合结束后再结婚吗，乔？比如说四月上旬？”

75

-

“Could we get married after the mustering, Joe? Say early in April?”

76

-

“当然可以。”

76

-

“Of course.”

77

-

她思考着说：“那意味着从现在开始，我有大约一年的时间，把生意发展到可以离开我一两个月的阶段，好让我能专心生孩子。我认为时间很充裕。如果这些生意离开了我，连一个月也经营不下去，那它们也没什么前途，最好直接关门大吉。”

77

-

She said thoughtfully,“That would mean that I’d have nearly a year from now, to get it to the stage when I could leave the business for a month or two while we start your family. I think that’s fair enough. If it couldn’t run without me for a month by then the whole thing wouldn’t be much good, and we’d better pack it up.”

78

-

他说：“我当然也可以帮你照看一段时间。”

78

-

He said,“I’ll be around, of course.”

79

-

她笑道：“让你向年轻姑娘递雪糕和卖唇膏吗？我不会叫你做这种事情的，乔。”

79

-

She laughed.“Handing out ice-creams and selling lipsticks to young girls. I won’t ask you to do that, Joe.”

80

-

他思考这个计划。“吉姆可以独自把牲口赶到朱利亚克里克，”他说，“在我们忙着操办婚礼的时候。我会派布尔纳维尔和其他土著跟他一起去。婚礼结束后，我们可以开越野车追他，应该能在他差不多到达的时候赶上他，和他一起把牛赶上火车。就当是度蜜月了。”

80

-

He thought about this programme.“Jim could drive the steers alone down to Julia Creek,”he said,“while we’re getting married. I’d send Bourneville and some of the other boongs with him. Then we could drive down in the utility and catch him up about the time he got there, and put them on the train. Have it as a kind of honeymoon.”

81

-

她微微一笑。“我喜欢你这个度蜜月的主意。”他咧嘴笑了。“在朱利亚克里克，除了喝啤酒，还有其他事情可做吗？”

81

-

She smiled.“I like your idea of a honeymoon.”He grinned.“Is there anything to do in Julia Creek, Joe, except drink beer?”

82

-

“哦，老天，”他说，“在朱利亚克里克可做的事情多着呢。”

82

-

“Oh my word,”he said.“There’s plenty to do in Julia Creek.”

83

-

“有什么呀？”

83

-

“What is there to do there?”

84

-

“把一万五千头牛赶上火车，”他向她咧嘴一笑，“没多少英国姑娘能有机会度一个这么特别的蜜月呢。”他说。

84

-

“Put fifteen hundred cattle into railway trucks.”He grinned at her.“There’s not many English girls get a chance of a honeymoon like that,”he said.

85

-

他们回去换衣服吃午饭。吃饭时他说：“关于晒干和加工鳄鱼皮的工作，我希望能把它承包出去。”他对于在威尔斯镇做这件工作很反感。那是一件邋里邋遢的工作，不适合女孩儿干，又找不到男人来干。他告诉她，凯恩斯有皮革厂，可以加工她送去的皮革。“是一个叫作戈登的家伙经营的，”他说，“他去年离开了海湾地区。如果你愿意，我们下午就可以去见他。”

85

-

They went and changed for lunch, and over lunch he said,“About this tanning and dressing the alligator skins. I’d give that away.”He was very much against attempting to do that in Willstown; it was messy work, unsuitable for girls, and no men were available to do it. He told her that there was a tannery in Cairns who could dress any skins she sent them.“A joker called Gordon runs it,”he said.“He was over in the Gulf country last year. We could go and see him tomorrow afternoon if you like.”

86

-

“你觉得他那里有白色小山羊皮吗？”

86

-

“Would he have any white kid basils, do you think?”

87

-

“可能有。即使没有，他也很可能有办法搞到手。”

87

-

“Might do. If not he’ll probably get them.”

88

-

他有丰富的牛场管理知识，提出的建议对她的开厂计划大有帮助。“我觉得，既然你决定要建一个厂房，就应该把它修得又大又好。”他说，“把木材运到威尔斯镇才是花钱最多的地方。”他想了想，“如果一切顺利的话，将有三个新姑娘到威尔斯镇来生活，”他说，“你、露丝·索耶和阿姬·托普。为什么不把工厂修得大一些，在其中一头隔出三个坐卧室？可以用墙将它们和其他地方隔开来，设一个单独的出入口。那样你们就不必住在旅馆里，自己住得舒舒服服。然后，如果生意越做越大，你们可以把墙拆掉，把坐卧室和生产车间打通。”这在她听来真是一个非常好的主意。

88

-

With his knowledge of station management he was a great help to her with suggestions for the workshop.“I’d make it good and big, while you’re at it,”he said.“It’s the transport of the wood to Willstown that’s going to cost the money.”He thought for a minute.“There’s three of you new girls coming in to live in Willstown, if all goes right,”he said.“You and this Rose Sawyer and this Aggie Topp. Why don’t you make your workshop building a bit bigger and have three bed-sitting-rooms at the end, walled off from the rest of it and with a separate entrance? Then you wouldn’t have to live in the hotel and you’d be all comfortable by yourselves. Then if the business grows up you can pull down the wall and throw it all into one.”This seemed to her to be a very good idea indeed.

89

-

午饭后，他们找来纸和铅笔，草草写下他们回到凯恩斯后要办的几件事情和需要订购的东西。然后他们回到各自的小屋，在白天热气蒸腾时呼呼大睡。乔在屋子外面叫醒了她。“来游泳吧，”他在说，“差不多五点了。”

89

-

They got a paper and pencil after lunch and jotted down a few essential things to do in Cairns when they got back there, and orders to be placed. Then they retired to their own huts and slept in the heat of the day. She was roused by Joe calling her outside her hut.“Come on and bathe,”he was saying.“It’s nearly five o’clock.”

90

-

她迅速把床单拉起来遮住身体。“我马上就来。你没偷看吧？”

90

-

She pulled the sheet over quickly.“I won’t be a minute. Have you been looking in?”

91

-

“我不会做那种事的。”

91

-

“I wouldn’t do a thing like that.”

92

-

“希望我能相信你。”她把窗帘拉严，换上泳衣去沙滩找他，和他一起躺在蔚蓝的银白色海水中。海水很温暖，身子底下是细滑的沙子。她说：“乔，你想不想我们现在就订婚，用一个戒指或者随便别的什么东西？”

92

-

“I wish I could believe you.”She pulled the curtain across and put on her bathing dress, and joined him on the beach. And lying with him in the warm blue and silvery water on the sand, she said,“Joe, do you want us to be engaged, with a ring and everything?”

93

-

“你想这么做吗？”

93

-

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

94

-

她摇摇头。“不，除非那能让你安下心来。我四月上旬就嫁给你，乔——绝不骗你。”他微微一笑。“但就目前来说，我相信如果我们不正式订婚会相处得更好。”她转向他，“回到威尔斯镇后，我将做出一系列标新立异的举动，威尔斯镇的人肯定会认为这些举动很疯狂。其中一些确实会很疯狂，因为总会出点问题。我不想只是因为我们订了婚就把你牵扯进来。你最好置身事外。”

94

-

She shook her head.“Not unless it would prevent you worrying. I’ll marry you early in April, Joe —that’s dinkum.”He smiled.“But for the present, I believe we’d get on better if we weren’t officially engaged.”She turned to him.“You see, when we get back to Willstown I’ll be doing some pretty odd things, things that Willstown people will think crazy. Some of them may be, because there’ll probably be some mistakes. I don’t want you to have to be mixed up in it, just because we’re engaged. You’ve got a position to keep up.”

95

-

“如果人们认为，不管你做什么，我总是和你并肩作战，那不是很好吗？”

95

-

“Wouldn’t it help if people thought I was with you in whatever you’re doing?”

96

-

她微笑着，翻了一个身，吻他。“你真可爱。你要是每个周六晚上都和酒吧里面的人打起来，只是因为有人对你的未婚妻骂了粗口，对我的生意又有什么帮助呢？”他咧嘴而笑。“他们肯定会说些不中听的话。他们肯定会觉得我疯了。”

96

-

She smiled, and rolled over and kissed him.“You’re all salt. It wouldn’t help if you get in a fight every Saturday night in the bar because somebody says something rude about your fiancée.”He grinned.“They will, you know. They’re bound to think I’m crackers.”

97

-

过了一会儿，他们从海里上来，坐在树荫里，绵绵不绝地谈论未来。“乔，”她说，“如果一个土著走进冰室买汽水，我该怎么办？一个土著牧工？我就在这个冰室里卖给他，还是要另给他们开一家店？”

97

-

They got out of the water presently and sat in the shade of the trees, talking and talking about the future.“Joe,”she said once,“what do I do if a boong comes into the ice-cream parlour and wants a soda? A boong stockrider? Do I serve him in the same place, or has he got to have a different shop?”

98

-

他挠挠头。“我不知道那种事情在威尔斯镇有没有发生过。他们会去比尔·邓肯的商店买东西。我想你不能在冰室里招待他们，因为柜台后面站的是一个白人姑娘。”

98

-

He scratched his head.“I dunno that it’s ever happened in Willstown. They go into Bill Duncan’s store. I don’t think you could serve them in an ice-cream parlour, with a white girl behind the counter.”

99

-

她坚定地说：“那我就给他们另开一家店，请个土著姑娘来招待他们。那里有很多土著牧工，乔——我们不能把他们排除在外。我们要开两家冰室，厨房就修在两家冰室之间，冷冻柜也共用。”她用手指在白沙上画了一幅小小的布局图。“就像这样。”

99

-

She said firmly,“Then I’ll have to have another parlour for them with a black girl in it. There’s such a lot of them, Joe—we can’t cut them out. We’ll have two parlours, with the freezes and the kitchen between.”She drew a little diagram on the white sand with her forefinger.“Like this.”

100

-

“哦，老天，”他说，“你会在威尔斯镇引起很多议论的。”

100

-

“Oh my word,”he said.“You’re going to start some talk in Willstown.”

101

-

她点点头。“我知道。那就是我不想那么早订婚的缘故。”

101

-

She nodded.“I know. That’s why I don’t want us to be engaged till just before we’re married.”

102

-

晚上，他们在两人的小屋之间互吻晚安时，她说：“回到威尔斯镇后，我们将要保持距离了。我会终生铭记这个格林岛的，乔。”

102

-

In the evening as they kissed goodnight between their bedroom huts, she said,“We won’t be able to do this in Willstown. I’ll remember this Green Island all my life, Joe.”

103

-

他咧嘴而笑：“如果你喜欢的话，我们四月再来。在去朱利亚克里克之前。”

103

-

He grinned.“Come back here in April, if you like. Before Julia Creek.”

104

-

第二天早上艾迪开摩托艇来带他们离开格林岛，下午一早就在凯恩斯上了岸。他们把提包拿回旅馆后，就直接去制革厂见戈登先生，花了一个小时和他讨论鳄鱼皮和其他制鞋材料的问题。他建议他们放弃用山羊皮做衬里的想法。“任何可以用山羊皮做的东西，我们都会给你换成沙袋鼠皮来做，”他说，“你们那儿有很多沙袋鼠，而且沙袋鼠皮和山羊皮一样好——手感、外观、漂白、磨光——任何方面。”哈曼做好安排，等下一辆卡车从威尔斯镇去凯恩斯时，顺道给他送去半打皮革作样品处理。“稍微控制沙袋鼠的数量是件好事，”他说，“它们在牛场上吃掉的饲料实在是太多了。它们的数量太多。”

104

-

They left next morning, when Eddie came for them with his motorboat, and landed at Cairns early in the afternoon. They took their bags to the hotel, and then went straight to see Mr Gordon at the tannery, and spent an hour with him discussing alligator skins and other shoe materials. He advised them to dismiss the idea of kid for linings.“Anything that can be done with kid we’ll do for you with wallaby,”he said.“You’ve got any amount of wallaby out there, and it’s as good as kid— texture, appearance, bleaching, glazing—anything you like.”Harman arranged to send him half a dozen skins for sample treatment by the next lorry.“Be a good thing to keep down some of these wallabies,”he said.“They eat an awful lot of feed out on the station. Too many of them altogether.”

105

-

他们下午剩下的时间都花在购物和订购上，黄昏时精疲力竭地回到旅馆。他们已经订好了早晨回威尔斯镇的机票。琴说：“乔，我有一件事情必须今晚完成，赶在离开凯恩斯之前。我必须写信给诺尔·斯特拉坎，告诉他所发生的一切。”

105

-

They spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and ordering, and got back to the hotel at dusk, tired out, having booked their passages to Willstown upon the morning plane. Jean said,“There’s one thing I must do tonight, Joe, before leaving Cairns. I must write to Noel Strachan and tell him what’s happened.”

106

-

昆士兰海边初夏的夜晚温暖恬适，花香袅袅。饭后，她坐在门廊上给我写了一封长信。她写信的时候，乔·哈曼坐在她身旁安静地抽烟，一脸平和。

106

-

In the warm scented night of early summer by the Queensland sea, she sat down on the veranda after tea and wrote me a long letter. Joe Harman sat beside her as she wrote, smoking quietly, at peace.

107

-

她很会写信，直到现在仍然如此。她依旧每周给我写信。我记得很清楚，我是在十一月上旬收到那封信的。那是一个雾蒙蒙的阴天，烟雨茫茫。我不得不开着电灯吃早饭，对面的皇家马厩几乎消失在浓雾中。出租车经过楼下的街道，把泥水溅到潮湿的木墙上。

107

-

She was very good about writing, and she still is; she still writes every week. I got that letter early in November; I remember it so well. It was a foggy, dark morning with a light rain or drizzle falling. I had to have the electric light on for breakfast, and the Palace stables on the other side of the road were hardly visible. In the street below the taxis went past with a wet swish of mud and water on the wet wood blocks.

108

-

那是一封长信，写信人是一个沉浸在幸福中的姑娘，满纸都是她和乔的爱情。我读到这个消息当然很高兴。我坐着读这封信，把早餐晾在面前，又把信从头到尾看了一遍，然后读了第三遍。等我回到现实中时，咖啡已经冷了，荷包蛋在我面前的盘子里冻成又冷又硬的油膏状，但我太过沉迷于她的消息，对早餐失去了兴趣。我进卧室去穿鞋和大衣，准备去办公室。当我打开衣橱拿大衣时，看见她的靴子和溜冰刀，那是我一直在为她保存，等她回来取走的。老人家有时候会变得非常愚蠢。我不得不说，在看见它们的那一瞬间，我仿佛挨了重重的一击——因为她不会回来取走它们了。她永远也不会再回英国了。

108

-

It was a long letter from a very happy girl, telling me about her love. I was delighted at the news, of course. I sat reading it with my breakfast before me, and then I read it through again, and then I read it a third time. When I woke up to realities my coffee was cold and the fried egg had frozen to the dish in front of me in cold, congealed fat, but I was too absorbed in her news to want it. I went into my bedroom to put my shoes and coat on for the office, and as I opened the wardrobe to get my coat I saw her boots and skates, that I had been keeping for her till she came back for them. Old men get rather silly, sometimes, and I must say that that rather dashed me for a moment, because she wouldn’t be coming back for them. She wouldn’t be coming back to England ever again.

109

-

我走到前门。我的保姆在公寓里，正好从餐厅走出来。“有一个好消息，尚贝太太。”我说，“你还记得佩吉特小姐吗？时不时来这里做客的那位。她订婚了，马上就要结婚了，跟一位澳大利亚人，在昆士兰。”

109

-

I went to the front door, and my charwoman was in the flat, just coming out of the dining-room.“Such good news, Mrs Chambers,”I said.“Do you remember Miss Paget, who used to come here sometimes? She’s got engaged to be married, to an Australian, out in Queensland.”

110

-

“哦，真让人高兴，”她说，“她真是个不错的女士呢。”

110

-

“Oh, I am glad,”she said.“Such a nice lady, she was.”

111

-

“是啊，”我重复道，“真是个不错的女士。”

111

-

“Yes, wasn’t she?”I repeated.“Such a nice lady.”

112

-

她说：“您还没吃早饭，先生。早餐没什么问题吧？”

112

-

She said,“You didn’t eat your breakfast, sir. Was everything all right?”

113

-

“嗯，没什么问题，谢谢，尚贝太太。”我说，“我今儿早上什么都不想吃。”

113

-

“Yes, quite all right, thanks, Mrs Chambers,”I said.“I didn’t want anything this morning.”

114

-

街上阴冷生寒，那些灰黄色的早晨总是沉雾迷蒙，冰冷中带着臭味，让人止不住咳嗽。我一直往前走去办公室，半梦半醒地，想着沙袋鼠和带着笑脸的土著牧工，想着流过白色珊瑚沙的蓝色海水，想着琴·佩吉特，以及在那个所有衣服都是负担的热带国家里，纱笼带给她的麻烦。然后我的头顶上方猛然传来一阵撕心裂肺的尖叫声，我感到右臂上重重挨了一下，踉跄了几步，差不多跌倒了。我发现自己正站在蓓尔美尔街正中央，一辆出租车横在我面前。那一刹那，我不知道自己身在何方，然后我听到一脸煞白的司机说：“看在上帝的分上，你还活着就真是谢天谢地了！”

114

-

It was cold and raw out in the street, one of those yellow foggy mornings with a reeking chill that makes you cough. I walked on towards the office in a dream, thinking about wallabies and laughing black stockmen, about blue water running over the white coral sands, about Jean Paget and the trouble she had had with her sarong in that hot country where all clothes are a burden. Then there was a fierce, rending squeal right on top of me, and a heavy blow on my right arm so that I staggered and nearly fell, and I was in the middle of Pall Mall with a taxi broadside on across the road beside me. I didn’t know where I was for a moment, and then I heard the white-faced driver saying,“For Christ’s sake. You can think yourself bloody lucky that you’re still alive.”

115

-

“我很抱歉，”我说，“我没看路。”

115

-

“I’m sorry,”I said.“I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

116

-

“你怎么能没头没脑地横冲到马路上！”他愤怒地说，“都这么大年纪了，走路还不带眼睛！我撞伤你了吗？”

116

-

“Stepping out into the road like that,”he said angrily.“Ought to have more sense, at your age. Did I hit you?”

117

-

周围开始聚集起一圈小小的人。“只是撞到了手臂。”我说。我动动它，好像没什么问题。“没事儿。”

117

-

A little crowd was starting to collect.“Only my arm,”I said. I moved it, and it worked all right.“It’s nothing.”

118

-

“哼，那可真是个奇迹。”他说，“下次好好看路！”他挂上挡，发动出租车开走了。我继续向办公室走去。

118

-

“Well, that’s a bloody miracle,”he said.“Look out where you’re going to next time.”He put his gear in, straightened up his taxi, and drove on; I walked on to the office.

119

-

秘书像往常一样把信拿给我过目，但我把它们放到一边，满心只想着我胸前口袋里的另一封信。我想，那天早上我接待了一两个客户，我通常都会接待这么多。我想我给他们提供了一些建议，但我的灵魂似乎飞到了一万两千英里外。有一次列斯特·罗宾逊进来跟我商量一些工作上的事情，或者别的事情，我对他说：“你记得我的佩吉特姑娘吗——麦法登先生的遗产继承人？她订婚了，并打算嫁给一个澳大利亚人。他似乎是一个很不错的小伙子。”

119

-

The girl brought in the letters for me to go through, as usual, but I put them on one side in favour of another letter that I had in my breast pocket. I had a client or two that morning, I suppose; I usually have, and I suppose I gave them some advice, but my mind was twelve thousand miles away. Lester Robinson came in once with some business or other and I said to him,“You remember my Paget girl—the heir to that Macfadden estate? She’s got herself engaged to be married to an Australian. He seems to be a very good chap.”

120

-

他嘟哝着说：“我忘记了。那会终止我们的托管吗？”

120

-

He grunted.“I forget. Does that terminate our trust?”

121

-

“不，”我说，“还要等一段时间，直到她三十五岁。”

121

-

“No,”I said.“That goes on for some time to come. Till she’s thirty-five.”

122

-

“真遗憾，”他说，“这个托管条款给你增添了很多工作。真希望托管期尽快结束。”

122

-

“Pity,”he said.“It’s made a lot of work for you, that trust has. It’ll be a good thing when it’s all wound up.”

123

-

“我不觉得麻烦，真的。”我说。那天快要结束的时候，我想我已经把她的信都记在脑子里了，尽管它有八张四开纸那么长，但我还是把它带去了俱乐部。我在酒吧里喝了一杯雪利酒，告诉莫尔她订婚了，因为他稍微了解她的故事。晚饭后我跟丹尼森、斯特里克兰和卡拉汉一起坐下来打了几局桥牌，每天晚上都是我们四个一起玩儿。我把她的事情告诉了他们。

123

-

“It’s been no trouble, really,”I said. By the end of the day I think I knew her letter by heart although it was eight quarto pages long, but I took it with me to the club. I had a glass of sherry in the bar and told Moore about her engagement because he knew something about her story, and after dinner we sat down to a couple of rubbers of bridge, Dennison and Strickland and Callaghan, the four of us who play together every evening, and I told them about her.

124

-

大约十一点，我从桌子旁站起身来，走进图书馆，在步行穿过公园回公寓之前抽最后一根烟。那个空荡荡的大房间里只有我和怀特两个人，他曾经在马来警察局工作，知道她的故事。我在他旁边的一张椅子上坐下来，说：“你还记得那个佩吉特姑娘吗？我想以前我跟你提过几次。”

124

-

I got up from the table at about eleven o’clock, and went into the library for a final cigarette before going back across the park to my flat. The big room was empty but for Wright, who had been in the Malay Police and knew her story. I dropped down into a chair beside him, and remarked,“You know that girl, Jean Paget? I think I’ve spoken to you about her once or twice before.”

125

-

他微微一笑：“是的。”

125

-

He smiled.“You have.”

126

-

“她订婚了，马上要结婚了，”我告诉他，“和一个牛场的经理，在北昆士兰。”

126

-

“She’s got herself engaged to be married,”I told him.“To the manager of a cattle station, in Northern Queensland.”

127

-

“真的？”他说，“他怎么样？”

127

-

“Indeed?”he said.“What’s he like?”

128

-

“我见过他，”我说，“他是一个很好的小伙子。她很爱他，我想他们会过得非常幸福。”

128

-

“I’ve met him,”I replied.“He’s a very good chap. She’s very much in love with him. I think they’re going to be very happy.”

129

-

“她结婚前会回英格兰吗？”他问。

129

-

“Is she coming back to England before getting married?”he asked.

130

-

我坐在那里，盯着墙上的一排排书和天花板角落凸着花纹的金饰。“不，”我说，“我想她再也不会回英国了，再也不了。”

130

-

I sat staring at the rows of books upon the wall, the gold embossed carving at the corner of the ceiling.“No,”I said.“I don’t think she’s ever coming back to England, ever again.”

131

-

他不言语。

131

-

He was silent.

132

-

“太远了，”我说，“我想她现在会选择在昆士兰安居乐业。”

132

-

“It’s too far,”I said.“I think she’ll make her life in Queensland now.”

133

-

接下来是一阵长长的沉默。“无论如何，她没有任何回英国的理由，”我终于说道，“她回来干什么呢？她在这里又没有牵绊。”

133

-

There was a long pause.“After all, there’s no reason why she should come back to England,”I said at last.“There’s nothing for her to come back for. She’s got no ties in this country.”

134

-

然后他说了一句很愚蠢的话。他也许是出于好意，但说那样的话确实愚蠢之极。我站起来离开他，回到我那幽暗空荡的公寓。那之后有一段时间我都躲着他。我那个秋天已经七十三岁了，年纪大得足以当她的祖父，怎么可能爱上了她？

134

-

And then he said a very foolish thing. He meant it well enough, but it was a stupid thing to say. I got up and left him and went home to my dark, empty flat, and I avoided meeting him for some time after that. I was seventy-three years old that autumn, old enough to be her grandfather. I couldn’t possibly have been in love with her myself.

	rainfall ['reɪnfɔːl]	n.降雨;降雨量
	railway ['reɪlweɪ]	n.【C】铁路
	barrage ['bærɑːʒ]	n.弹幕;掩护炮火
	Gilbert ['gɪlbət]	n.【电】吉伯(磁通量的单位)
	imprison [ɪm'prɪzn]	v.监禁;关押;束缚
	turnover ['tɜːnəʊvə(r)]	n.营业额
	spear [spɪə(r)]	n.矛;标枪
	abo ['æbəʊ]	n. 土著; 土著居民
	incredulous [ɪn'kredjələs]	adj.怀疑的;不轻信的
	pick [pɪkt]	采摘，挑选；
	stockman ['stɒkmən]	n.畜牧工;仓库管理员
	refrain [rɪ'freɪn]	v.抑制;避免;克制
	stockyard ['stɒkjɑːd]	n.牲畜围栏
	ringer ['rɪŋə(r)]	n.振铃器;敲钟人;铁环;套环;冒名顶替者;酷似的人
	Pete [piːt]	皮特(Peter 的昵称)(m.)
	Brisbane ['brɪzbən]	n.布里斯班(澳大利亚地名)
	Jesus ['dʒiːzəs]	n.耶稣,杰西(男子名).
	revert [rɪ'vɜːt]	vi.恢复;回复;归还
	Shorthand ['ʃɔːthænd]	n.速记;缩写
	Levy ['levi]	n.征税;召集
	Westminster ['westmɪnstə(r)]	威斯敏斯特
	Abbey ['æbi]	n.修道院;修道院教堂
	Circus ['sɜːkəs]	n.马戏团;马戏表演;竞技场;广场
	Oxford ['ɒksfəd]	n.牛津城;牛津大学;牛津
	coconut ['kəʊkənʌt]	n.椰子
	silvery ['sɪlvəri]	adj.含银的;银色光泽的;银铃般的
	excite [ɪk'saɪt]	vt.使兴奋;使激动;刺激;激起
	thoughtful ['θɔːtfl]	adj.深思的;体贴的
	bruise [bruːz]	n.瘀青;擦伤;挫伤
	bully ['bʊli]	n.欺凌弱小者;开球
	parlor ['pɑːlə]	n. (机关、银行等)接待室，客厅;
	cosmetic [kɒz'metɪk]	adj.化妆用的;整容的;表面的
	ice-cream ['aɪskriːm]	n.冰淇淋
	roar [rɔː(r)]	v.吼叫;咆哮
	sunburn ['sʌnbɜːn]	n.日灼;晒伤
	outback ['aʊtbæk]	n.(尤指澳大利亚的)内地
	realization [ˌriːəlaɪ'zeɪʃn]	n.实现;领悟
	energetic [ˌenə'dʒetɪk]	adj.精力旺盛的;有力的;能量的
	muster ['mʌstə(r)]	v.集合;鼓起
	programme [ˈprəʊgræm]	n.电视台播放的各种电视节目
	tan [tæn]	n.棕褐色;黝黑 v.晒成棕褐色
	alligator ['ælɪɡeɪtə(r)]	n.短吻鳄
	Gordon [ˈgɔːdn]	n.戈登(男子名)
	Aggie ['ægɪ]	n.农校;农业院校学生;玩具弹子
	jot [dʒɒt]	n.少量
	cairn [keən]	n.石堆纪念碑;石冢;堆石界标
	rousing ['raʊzɪŋ]	adj.使奋起的;使感动的;使醒的,
	dinkum ['dɪŋkəm]	n.工作;辛苦
	rude [ruːd]	adj.粗鲁无礼的;原始的;未加工的;粗糙的;猛烈的
	cracker ['krækə(r)]	n. 爆竹;
	soda ['səʊdə]	n.汽水;苏打
	Bill [bɪl]	①帐单；清单;
	diagram ['daɪəɡræm]	n.图解;图表
	goodnight [ˌɡʊd'naɪt]	int.晚安;再见
	bleach [bliːtʃ]	n.漂白剂;漂白 vt. 漂白；使褪色;
	lorry ['lɒri]	n.卡车
	dusk [dʌsk]	n.黄昏;薄暮;幽暗
	Jean [dʒiːn]	n.斜纹布(复数)jeans:牛仔裤.
	veranda [və'rændə]	n.阳台;游廊
	past [pɑːst]	a. 过去的;
	fry [fraɪ]	v.油煎;油炸
	congeal [kən'dʒiːl]	v.(使)凝结;凝固
	skate [skeɪt]	v.溜冰;滑冰
	reek [riːk]	n.恶臭;水蒸汽
	rend [rend]	v.撕破;分裂;劈开;强夺
	stagger ['stæɡə(r)]	vi.蹒跚;犹豫;动摇
	angrily ['æŋɡrəli]	adv.气愤地
	heir [eə(r)]	n.继承人
	chap [tʃæp]	vt. 使(皮肤)裂口，裂开；变粗糙;
	grunt [ɡrʌnt]	v.咕哝;(猪等)打呼噜
	terminate ['tɜːmɪneɪt]	v.结束;终止;满期;达到终点
	Moore [mʊər]	n.穆尔(美国俄克拉荷马州中部的一座城市)
	Wright [raɪt]	赖特
	emboss [ɪm'bɒs]	vt.加浮雕花纹于;使凸出;装饰
	autumn ['ɔːtəm]	n.秋季