【荆棘鸟】第二章 18

 she was too busy trying to remember how many plates there were in Teresa's willow 1 pattern tea set. And when the Maoris in the organ gallery broke into glorious song, Meggie's head was spinning in a daze 2 of ultramarine blue far removed from Catholicism or Polynesia.

The school year was drawing to a close, December and her birthday just beginning to threaten full summer, when Meggie learned how dearly one could buy the desire of one's heart. She was sitting on a high stool near the stove while Fee did her hair as usual for school; it was an intricate business. Meggie's hair had a natural tendency to curl, which her mother considered to be a great piece of good luck. Girls with straight hair had a hard time of it when they grew up and tried to produce glorious wavy 3 masses out of limp, thin strands 4. At night Meggie slept with her almost kneelength locks twisted painfully around bits of old white sheet torn into long strips, and each morning she had to clamber up on the stool while Fee undid 5 the rags and brushed her curls in. Fee used an old Mason Pearson hairbrush, taking one long, scraggly curl in her left hand and expertly brushing the hair around her index finger until the entire length of it was rolled into a shining thick sausage; then she carefully withdrew her finger from the center of the roll and shook it out into a long, enviably thick curl. This maneuver 6 was repeated some twelve times, the front curls were then drawn 7 together on Meggie's crown with a freshly ironed white taffeta bow, and she was ready for the day. All the other little girls wore braids to school, saving curls for special occasions, but on this one point Fee was adamant 8; Meggie should have curls all the time, no matter how hard it was to spare the minutes each morning. Had Fee realized it, her charity was misguided, for her daughter's hair was far and away the most beautiful in the entire school. To rub the fact in with daily curls earned Meggie much envy and loathing 9. The process hurt, but Meggie was too used to it to notice, never remembering a time when it had not been done. Fee's muscular arm yanked the brush ruthlessly through knots and tangles 10 until Meggie's eyes watered and she had to hang on to the stool with both hands to keep from falling off. It was the Monday of the last week at school, and her birthday was only two days away; she clung to the stool and dreamed about the willow pattern tea set, knowing it for a dream. There was one in the Wahine general store, and she knew enough of prices to realize that its cost put it far beyond her father's slender means.
 

她正在忙于因忆特丽萨的那套柳木纹茶具到底有多少个盘子哩。当毛利人在风琴席上突然引吭高唱颂歌的时候，梅吉的思绪正盘旋在与天主教和波利尼西亚相去十万八千里的一片茫茫的青色里。
　　学年就要结束了。腊月和梅吉的生日预示着盛夏的来临，就在这个时候，梅吉懂得了一个人想要实现自己的心愿得付出多大的代价。她正坐在火炉边上的一个高凳上，菲在把她的头梳成通常的上学时的样子；这是件复杂的事。梅吉的头发生来就有卷曲的趋势，她妈妈认为这是很幸运的。直头发的女孩子长大以后要想把又软又细的头发做成光亮蓬松的卷发那就有苦头吃了。夜里睡觉的时候，梅吉得把快长到膝盖的头发费力地缠在用旧白被单扯成的一条条的带子上。每天早晨，她都得爬上高凳子，让菲解开旧布条，把她的卷发梳好。
　　
　　菲用的是一把旧的梅森·皮尔逊梳子，她用左手抓起一把又长又蓬乱的卷发，熟练地围着食指梳理着，直到整缕长发都卷成一个闪闪发亮的粗卷；然后她小心翼翼地将食指从发卷中间抽出来，再摇摇，将发卷展成一条长长的、浓密得叫人生羡的卷发。这样大约要重复12次，然后将前面的卷发束在一起，用一条刚刚熨出来的白塔夫绸打个蝴蝶结，系在头顶，这一天的头就算梳好了。其他的小女孩除了在特别的场合卷一下头发外，都是扎着辫子到学校来的，但是在这一点上菲是不动摇的：那就是梅吉无论什么时候都得梳卷发，不管每天早上要挤出这点时间来是多么的困难。要是菲认识到这一点的话，那她的好心就是无的放矢了，因为她女儿的头发在整个学校是最漂亮的，其他人难以望其项背。每天都梳卷发给梅吉招来了许多人的妒嫉和厌恶。
　　这种卷头发的方法是很疼的，但是梅吉已经很习惯，不在意了，她从来不记得有不梳头发的时候。菲有力的胳膊狠心地拉着梳子，梳通缠住的发结，直到梅吉的眼睛含满了泪水；她不得不用双手紧紧地抓住高凳，以防从上面掉下来。那是她学年的最后一个礼拜的星期一，她的生日刚刚过去两天，她紧紧地抓住凳子，出神地想着那套柳木纹茶具；她心里明白，这不过是梦想罢了。韦汉的杂货店里倒有一套，可是她知道它的售价远远超过了她爸爸那微薄的财力。