【荆棘鸟】第二章 24

At first opportunity Frank seized the paper and read the feature hungrily, drinking in its jingoistic 1 prose, his eyes glowing eerily 2. "Daddy, I want to go!" he said as he laid the paper down reverently 3 on the table.
  Fee's head jerked around as she slopped stew 4 all over the top of the stove, and Paddy stiffened 5 in his Windsor chair, his book forgotten. "You're too young, Frank," he said.
  "No, I'm not! I'm seventeen, Daddy, I'm a man! Why should the Huns and Turks slaughter 6 our men like pigs while I'm sitting here safe and sound? It's more than time a Cleary did his bit."
  "You're under age, Frank, they won't take you."
  "They wilt 7 if you don't object," Frank countered quickly, his dark eyes fixed 8 on Paddy's face.
  "But I do object. You're the only one working at the moment and we need the money you bring in, you know that."
  "But I'll be paid in the army!"
  Paddy laughed. "The "soldier's shilling' eh? Being a blacksmith in Wahine pays a lot better than being a soldier in Europe."
  "But I'll be over there, maybe I'll get the chance to be something better than a blacksmith! It's my only way out, Daddy."
  "Nonsense! Good God, boy, you don't know what you're saying. War is terrible. I come from a country that's been at war for a thousand years, so I know what I'm saying. Haven't you heard the Boer War chaps talking? You go into Wahine often enough, so next time listen. And anyway, it strikes me that the blasted English use Anzacs as fodder 9 for the enemy guns, putting them into places where they don't want to waste their own precious troops. Look at the way that saber-rattling Churchill sent our men into something as useless as Gallipoli! Ten thousand killed out of fifty thousand! Twice as bad as decimation.
  "Why should you go fighting old Mother England's wars for her? What has she ever done for you, except bleed her colonies white? If you went to England they'd look down their noses at you for being a colonial. En Zed isn't in any danger, nor is Australia. It might do old Mother England the world of good to be defeated; it's more than time someone paid her for what she's done to Ireland. I certainly wouldn't weep any tears if the Kaiser ended up marching down the Strand 10."
 

弗兰克一有空就抓起报纸，贪婪地读着那些特辑，沉浸在他的好战的无聊议论之中，眼中闪动着可怕的光芒。
　　"爸，我想去！"他一边恭恭敬敬地把报纸放在桌子上，一边说道。
　　菲猛地转过头来，炖着的食物溅了一炉顶，帕迪从他那把温莎椅中直起腰来，连书都忘记了。
　　"你还太小，弗兰克。"他说道。
　　"不，我不小了！我都17岁了，爸，我是个男子汉了！为什么当德国鬼子和土耳其人像宰猪似地残杀我们的人的时候，我却稳坐在这里？这是一个克利里家的人尽点本份儿的时候了。"
　　"你不够岁数，弗兰克，他们不会要你的。"
　　"如果你不反对的话，他们会要的。"弗兰克马上反驳着，他那双黑色的眼睛盯着帕迪的脸。
　　"可是我极力反对，眼下，你是家里唯一干活儿的人，我们需要你挣来的钱，这你是知道的。"
　　"可在军队里他们会付我饷金的！"
　　帕迪大笑起来："兵老爷挣的钱吗？在韦汉当个铁匠比在欧洲当兵挣的钱多得多啊。"
　　"可是我会升上去的，也许我能有机会干得比一个铁匠更有出息呢！爸，这是我唯一的出路。"
　　"扯淡！老天爷呀，孩子，你不知道你净在说些什么。战争是可怕的。我是从一个经战千年的国家来的，所以我知道我正在说些什么，你听到过人家谈起过布尔战争吗？你到韦汉镇去得够多的了，下次听着点儿。不管怎么讲，我有这样的印象，那些该死的英国人利用澳新军团当炮灰，送到敌人的枪口下，放到他们不想浪费他们自己的宝贵军队的地方去。看看穷兵黩武的丘吉尔是怎样把咱们的战士送到象加利波利那种无济于事的地方去的吧！五万人中间阵亡了一万！是十个人中阵亡一个人的两倍啊。
　　
　　"你干嘛要替老祖国英格兰打仗去呢？她除了叫殖民地的白人移民去流血送命之外，她给了你些什么？要是你去英国的话，他们会因为你是个移民而看不起你的。安·扎隆没有什么危险，澳大利亚也没有危险。胜利了也许对老祖国有很大的好处；但现在是有人为它对爱尔兰的所作所为而给它点儿颜色看看的时候了。要是德国皇帝一直打到河滨街去，我保准连一滴眼泪也不会掉。"