【荆棘鸟】第三章 16

Meggie never forgot the sound of foghorns 1, her first introduction to Australia.
  Paddy carried Fee off the Wahine in his arms, Frank following with the baby, Meggie with a case, each of the boys stumbling wearily under some kind of burden. They had come into Pyrmont, a meaningless name, on a foggy winter morning at the end of August, 1921. An enormous line of taxis waited outside the iron shed on the wharf 2; Meggie gaped 3 round-eyed, for she had never seen so many cars in one place at one time. Somehow Paddy packed them all into a single cab, its driver volunteering to take them to the People's Palace. "That's the place for youse, mate," he told Paddy. "It's a hotel for the workingman run by the Sallies."
  The streets were thronged 4 with cars seeming to rush in all directions; there were very few horses. They stared raptly out of the taxi windows at the tall brick buildings, the narrow winding 5 streets, the rapidity with which crowds of people seemed to merge 6 and dissolve in some strange urban ritual. Wellington had awed 7 them, but Sydney made Wellington look like a small country town.
  While Fee rested in one of the myriad 8 rooms of the warren the Salvation 9 Army fondly called the People's Palace, Paddy went off to Central Railway Station to see when they could get a train for Gillanbone. Quite recovered, the boys clamored to go with him, for they had been told it was not very far, and that the way was  all shops, including one which sold squill candy. Envying their youth, Paddy yielded, for he wasn't sure how strong his own legs were after three days of seasickness 10. Frank and Meggie stayed with Fee and the baby, longing 11 to go, too, but more concerned that their mother be better. Indeed, she seemed to gain strength rapidly once off the ship, and had drunk a bowl of soup and nibbled 12 a slice of toast brought to her by one of the workingman's bonneted 13 angels.
  "If we don't go tonight, Fee, it's a week until the next through train," Paddy said when he returned. "Do you think you could manage the journey tonight?"
  Fee sat up, shivering. "I can manage."
  "I think we ought to wait," Frank said hardily 14. "I don't think Mum's well enough to travel."
  "What you don't seem to understand, Frank, is that if we miss tonight's train we have to wait a whole week, and I just don't have the price of a week's stay in Sydney in my pocket. This is a big country, and where we're going isn't served by a daily train. We could get as far as Dubbo on any one of three trains tomorrow, but then we'd have to wait for a local connection, 
 

梅吉永远也忘不了那雾号声，这是她第一次踏上澳大利亚的序曲。
　　
　　帕迪抱着菲走下了"韦汉"号，弗兰克抱着小娃娃跟在后面，梅吉提着一只箱子，每个男孩都打着一些行李，疲惫不堪地、磕磕绊绊地走着。1921年8月底的一个大雾弥漫的冬晨。他们进入了皮尔蒙特。这是一个没有任何含义的地名。码头的铁货棚外面，出租汽车排成了一排长龙，等在那里。梅吉目瞪口呆地四万张望着，她还从来没见过在一个地方一次停这么多小汽车呢。不知怎么的，帕迪把他们全都塞进了一辆汽车，那司机主动提出把他们送到"人民宫"。
　　"伙计，那是适合你们这样的人的地方。"他告诉帕迪。"那是萨利夫妇为劳苦大众开的旅店。"
　　街道上挤满了似乎是从四面八方拥来的汽车，马却极少。他们从出租汽车里的全神贯注地望着窗外高耸的砖楼，狭窄迂回的街道，拥挤的行人过往匆匆，仿佛是在参加某种稀奇古怪的都市仪礼。惠灵顿使他们感到敬畏不已，而与悉尼相比，惠灵顿却显得像个农村市镇了。
　　当菲在救世军称之为"人民宫"的许多鸟笼似的小屋中歇憩时，帕迪出门到中心火车站去，看看他们什么时候能搭乘火车到基兰博去。已经差不多缓过劲儿来的男孩子们吵嚷着要跟他一起去，因为他们听说车站高得不太远，而且一路全是商店，其中还有一家卖棒棒糖的呢。帕迪真羡慕他们的青春活力，便答应了他们的要求。经过三天晕船之后，他对自己的两条腿是否顶得下来，心里依然没把握。弗兰克和梅吉也想去，但他们更关心妈妈的身体，希望她好起来，于是就留下来陪菲和小孩了。确实，一下船，她似乎很快恢复了，她已经喝了一碗汤，慢慢地吃了一片烤面包，这是一位劳苦大众中的一个头戴帽子的天使给她送来的。
　　
　　"菲，要是今天晚上咱们不走的话，那下一次直达车就在一周以后了。"帕迪回来以后说道。"你觉得你今天晚上走能挺得下来吗？"
　　菲坐了起来，身上发着抖。"我能挺过去。"
　　"我觉得咱们应该等一等，"弗兰克壮着胆子说道。"我想妈的身体还没缓过来，不能赶路。"
　　"弗兰克，你好像不明白，要是我们误了今晚的火车，就得整整等上一个星期，我口袋里的钱可付不起在悉尼呆一个星期的帐。这个国家大着哩，咱们要去的那地方可不是每天有火车。明天有三趟车，我们坐哪一趟车都只能到达博。这样，我们就得在那里等着转车，