【荆棘鸟】第三章 01

Section Two
  1921-1928 Ralph
  The road to Drogheda brought back no memories of his youth, thought Father Ralph de Bricassart, eyes half shut against the glare as his new Daimler bounced along in the rutted wheel tracks that marched through the long silver grass. No lovely misty 1 green Ireland, this. And Drogheda? No battlefield, no high seat of power. Or was that strictly 2 true? Better disciplined these days but acute as ever, his sense of humor conjured 3 in his mind an image of a Cromwellian Mary Carson dealing 4 out her particular brand of imperial malevolence 5. Not such a highflown comparison, either; the lady surely wielded 6 as much power and controlled as many individuals as any puissant 7 war lord of elder days.
  The last gate loomed 8 up through a stand of box and stringybark; the car came to a throbbing 9 halt. Clapping a disreputable grey broad-brimmed hat on his head to ward 10 off the sun, Father Ralph got out, plodded 11 to the steel bolt on the wooden strut 12, pulled it back and flung the gate open with weary impatience 13. There were twenty-seven gates between the presbytery in Gillanbone and Drogheda homestead, each one meaning he had to stop, get out of the car, open the gate, get into the car and drive it through, stop, get out, go back to close the gate, then get in the car again and proceed to the next one. Many and many a time he longed to dispense 14 with at least half the ritual, scoot on down the track leaving the gates open like a series of astonished mouths behind him; but even the awesome 15 aura of his calling would not prevent the owners of the gates from tarring and feathering him for it. He wished horses were as fast and efficient as cars, because one could open and close gates from the back of a horse without dismounting.
  "Nothing is given without a disadvantage in it," he said, patting the dashboard of the new Daimler and starting off down the last mile of the grassy 16, treeless Home Paddock, the gate firmly bolted behind him. Even to an Irishman used to castles and mansions 17, this Australian homestead was imposing 18. Drogheda was the oldest and the biggest property in the district, and had been endowed by its late doting 19 owner with a fitting residence.
 

荆棘鸟　　第三章
    拉尔夫·德·布里克萨特神父的那辆崭新的戴姆勒汽车在那穿越一片长长
的、银白色的草地的小路上向前行驶着，路上布满了车辙的印痕、强烈的阳光刺得
他半闭着眼睛。他思量着。这条通往德罗海达的道路没有给他带来什么年轻时代的
回忆，这不是爱尔兰那可爱的雾气迷漫的绿色草地。德罗海达会是什么样呢？没有
战场、没有权力的宝座。这是一点也不假的。这些日子他的幽默感有所收敛，但其
强烈程度却不减往日。他在头脑里勾画出了一个克伦威尔式的玛丽·卡森的形
象，她正在滥施她独特的、帝王般的淫威。其实也用不着这样夸张的比喻；毫无疑
问，女人在行使权力和控制别人方面是丝毫不亚于往日那些强权在握的军阀的。
 
    穿过一片黄杨树和桉树，最后一道大门已经在望了，汽车颤动了一下，戛然停
住。拉尔夫神父把一顶破破烂烂的灰色的宽边帽戴到头上，遮挡阳光。他走下车来。
慢慢地向木柱上的钢插销走去；他把插销往后一拉，不耐烦地猛然拉开大门。在基
兰博神父邸宅和德罗海达邸宅之间总共有27道大门，每一道门都意味着他要停下来，
走出汽车，打开门，再回到汽车里，驱车穿过去，然后再停车，再出来，返回去关
上大门，然后再回汽车，向下道门开去。有无数次了，他都渴望能至少把这种程序
省去一半，一路开下去，让那些门像一串受惊的嘴巴似地张开着留在他身后。但是，
尽管他有令人敬畏的职业，如果他这样做的话，他一定会受到大门主人的重罚的。
他真希望马匹能和汽车跑得一样快，一样有效，因为这样你就可以从马背上开门关
门，而用不着下来了。
 
    “无一物无其弊啊。”他说着，拍了拍那辆崭新的戴姆勒汽车的仪表板，驶过
了最后那一英里不见树木的草地，来到了这个围场府邸；大门在他身后牢牢地拴住
了。