【荆棘鸟】第六章 09

倏忽即逝的链状闪光在云层里驰掣游动，时而飞出云底，时而钻入云中，明明灭灭，蔚为壮观。草原中被雷电击中的孤树散发着焦糊味，冒着烟；他们终于明白这些孤零零的牧场卫士为何死去了。
　　空中呈现出一种可怕的、神秘的色彩，尽管空气中没有火，但却不再是不可捉摸的了。它发出粉红、淡紫和焰黄的幽光，弥漫着一股久留不去的甜味，和难以辨别的、不可言喻的香气。树林在发着微光，火舌在克利里家人的红头发上加上了一层光晕，他们胳臂上的汗毛都竖了起来。这奇光异彩整整持续了一个下午，直到太阳落山，才慢慢地消失在东方。他们从这可怕而又迷人景观之中缓过气来。感到心绪激动、紧张、烦躁、恨郁不乐。天上一滴雨也没有落下来，但是他们都觉得这简直象大难不死，又重返阳间，从天地的雷霆暴怒中安然无恙地活了过来。这件事他们大家差不多在嘴边挂了一个星期。
　　"还有更糟糕的呢，"玛丽·卡森厌烦地说。
　　确实还有更糟糕的。第二个干旱的冬季比他们想像的要冷，本来他们以为就是无雪而已。夜里，大地冰冻数英寸，狗蜷缩在窝里，冻得直筛糖，靠大吃袋鼠肉和庄园时杀牛剩下的脂肪来取暖。这种天气至少意味着人们用牛肉和猪肉代替了那水不改受的羊肉。他们在房子里生起了呼呼作响的火，男人们夜间在牧场里寒冷难耐，不得不尽量回家来。可是，当剪毛工们来到的时候，他们却欣喜若狂，因为他们可以快点完事，少流汗水了。在宽大的羊圈中，每个人的剪毛架都是一个圆形的地板，这些地板的颜色比其它羊圈的地板都浅得多。50年来，剪毛工们站在那里，汗水洒在木板上，使木板都变白了。
　　很久以前的那场洪水过去之后，这里依然有草，但是草长得很细、这是不吉利的。日复一日，天气总是阴沉沉的，江线昏暗，可就是不下雨。呼啸的风刮过牧场，天好像刚刚要下雨。它就旋转着把大片棕色的尘土刮到天上。让人误以为是漫天水气，空受折磨。风吹起来的一团一团的尘土看上去活像是积雨云。
　　孩子们的指头上部长了冻疮，他们尽量不笑，因为嘴唇开裂了。脚跟和小腿在流血，他们不得不把袜子脱去。狂风尘厉，脸上简直暖和不过来。尤其这房子的设计，使得它把每一股流动的空气都兜了进来，而不是将其拒之门外。
 

naphtha flashes in chains streaked 1 across the clouds, in and out the billows in a fantastic hide- and-seek. Blasted trees alone in the grass reeked 2 and smoked, and they understood at last why these lonely paddock sentinels were dead. An eerie 3, unearthly glow seeped 4 into the air, air which was no longer invisible but on fire from within, fluorescing pink and lilac and sulphur yellow, and smelling of some hauntingly sweet, elusive 5 perfume quite beyond recognition. The trees shimmered 6, the red Cleary hair was haloed in tongues of fire, the hairs of their arms stood out stiffly. And all afternoon it went on, only slowly fading into the east to release them from its awesome 7 spell at sunset, and they were excited, on edge, unappeased. Not a drop of rain had fallen. But it was like dying and coming back to life again, to have survived the atmospheric 8 tantrum unscathed; it was all they could talk about for a week.
 
"We'll get a lot more," said Mary Carson, bored. They did get a lot more. The second dry winter came in colder than they had thought it could get without snow; frost settled inches thick on the ground at night, and the dogs huddled 9 shivering in their kennels 10, keeping warm by gorging 11 on kangaroo meat and mounds 12 of fat from the homestead's slaughtered 13 cattle. At least the weather meant beef and pork to eat instead of the eternal mutton. In the house they built great roaring fires, and the men were forced to come home when they could, for at night in the paddocks they froze. But the shearers when they arrived were in a mood for rejoicing; they could get through faster and sweat less. At each man's stand in the great shed was a circle of flooring much lighter 14 in color than the rest, the spot where fifty years of shearers had stood dripping their bleaching 15 sweat into the wood of the board.
There was still grass from the flood long ago, but it was thinning ominously 16. Day after day the skies were overcast 17 and the light dull, but it never rained. The wind howled sadly across the paddocks, spinning drifting brown sheets of dust before it like rain, tormenting 18 the mind with images of water. So much like rain it looked, that raggedly 19 blowing dust. The children developed chilblains on their fingers, tried not to smile with cracked lips, had to peel their socks away from bleeding heels and shins. It was quite impossible to keep warm in the face of that bitter high wind, especially when the houses had been designed to catch every stray puff 20 of air, not keep it out.