【荆棘鸟】第一章 09

Frank shrugged 1 and said no more. The dishes were all put away; Fee got out her sewing basket and sat down in Paddy's chair by the fire, while Frank went back to the doll.
  "Poor little Meggie!" he said suddenly.
  "Why?"
  "Today, when those wretched chaps were pulling her dolly about, she just stood there crying as if her whole world had fallen to bits." He looked down at the doll, which was wearing its hair again. "Agnes! Where on earth did she get a name like that?""She must have heard me talking about Agnes Fortescue-Smythe, I suppose." "When I gave her the doll back she looked into its head and nearly died of fright. Something scared her about its eyes; I don't know what." "Meggie's always seeing things that aren't there."
  "It's a pity there isn't enough money to keep the little children at school. They're so clever."
  "Oh, Frank! If wishes were horses beggars might ride," his mother said wearily. She passed her hand acrossher eyes, trembling a little, and stuck her darning needle deep into a ball of grey wool. "I can't do any more. I'm too tried to see straight."
  "Go to bed, Mum. I'll blow out the lamps."
  "As soon as I've stoked the fire."
  "I'll do that." He got up from the table and put the dainty china doll carefully down behind a cake tin on the dresser, where it would be out of harm's way. He was not worried that the boys might attempt further rapine; they were more frightened of his vengeance 2 than of their father's, for Frank had a vicious streak 3. When he was with his motheror his sister it never appeared, but the boys had all suffered from it.
  Fee watched him, her heart aching; there was something wild and desperate about Frank, an aura of trouble. If only he and Paddy got on better together! But they could never see eye to eye, and argued constantly. Maybe he was too concerned for her, maybe he was a bit of a mother's boy. Her fault, if it was true. Yet it spoke 4 of his loving heart, his goodness. He only wanted to make her life a little easier. And again she found herself yearning 5 for the day when Meggie became old enough to take the burden of it from Frank's shoulders.
 

弗兰克耸了耸肩，不再说什么了，盘子都已经放好，菲取出了针线筐，在火边那把帕迪的椅子上坐了下来，弗兰克又回去修布娃娃了。
    “可怜的小梅吉！”他突然说道。
    “怎么了？”
    “今天，那些讨厌的小鬼头拉扯她的布娃娃时，她站在那儿哭着，象是她的整个世界被扯成了碎片似的。”他低眼看着那布娃娃，她的头发又重新粘上去了。“艾格尼丝！
    她是从哪儿找来这样一个名字的啊？”
    “我猜她一定是听我说起过艾格尼丝·福蒂斯丘—斯迈思。”
    “我把娃娃还给她的时候，她往它的脑壳里望了一眼，几乎给吓死了。不知道娃娃的眼睛里有什么东西吓着她了，我也搞不清是怎么回事。”
    “梅吉老是看见实际上并不存在东西。”
    “没有钱让小孩子们去上学，真是可怜。他们多聪明埃”“哦，弗兰克！要是想啥就是啥，叫化子也就成了财神爷啦。”他妈困乏地说道。
    她用手揉了揉眼睛，颤抖了一下，把补衣针深深地扎进了一个灰色的毛线团。“我什么也干不了了，累得眼都看不清了。”
    “去睡吧，妈，我会把灯吹熄的。”
    “我添上火就去睡。”
    “我来添吧。”他从桌边站起来，将那雅致的瓷娃娃小心翼翼地放到碗柜上的一个糕饼桶后面，这儿可以使它免受糟踏。他并不担心它会再遭孩子们的蹂躏，他们害怕他的报复更甚于怕他们的父亲，因为弗兰克的脾气大。和妈妈或妹妹在一起的时候，他从没发作过，可那些秃小子们全吃过他脾气的苦头。
    菲奥娜望着他，为他感到伤心。弗兰克身上有一种狂野的、不顾一切的性子，这是麻烦的预兆。要是他和帕迪能更好的相处就好了！可是他们的意见总不能一致，老是有争执。也许他太关心她了，也许做妈妈有些偏爱他。如果真是这样的话，那就是她的过错了。不过这表明他有一颗爱母之心，也是他好的地方。他只是想叫她的日子过得更松快些罢了。这时，她又觉得她在盼着梅吉长大，接过哥哥肩上的重担。