【荆棘鸟】第十一章 02

 “You looked all right to me.” 
   “How far is it now?” she asked, giving up. 
   “Three to six hours, give or take a bit. They don’t run to timetableup here too much. There’s plenty of room now those blokes aregone; lie down and put your tootsies in my lap.” 
   “Oh, don’t baby-talk me!” she snapped tartly 1. 
   “It would havebeen a lot better if they’d got off two days ago in Bundaberg!” 
   “Come on now, Meghann, be a good sport! Nearly there. OnlyTully and Innisfail, then Dungloe.”It was late afternoon when they stepped off the train, Meggie clinging desperately 2 to Luke’s arm, too proud to admit shewasn’t able to walk properly. He asked the stationmaster for thename of a workingmen’s hotel, picked up their cases and walkedout onto the street, Meggie behind him weaving drunkenly. 
   “Only to the end of the block on the other side of the street,” hecomforted. 
   “The white two-storied joint 3.”Though their room was small and filled to overflowing 4 with greatpieces of Victorian furniture, it looked like heaven to Meggie, collapsingon the edge of the double bed. 
   “Lie down for a while before dinner, love. I’m going out to findmy landmarks,” he said, sauntering from the room looking as freshand rested as he had on their wedding morning. That had beenSaturday, and this was late Thursday afternoon; five days sittingup in crowded trains, choked by cigarette smoke and soot 5.The bed was rocking monotonously 6 in time to the clickety-clickof steel wheels passing over rail joins, but Meggie turned her headinto the pillow gratefully, and slept, and slept.Someone had taken off her shoes and stockings, and covered herwith a sheet; Meggie stirred, opened her eyes and looked around.Luke was sitting on the window ledge 7 with one knee drawn 8 up,smoking. Her movement made him turn to look at her, and hesmiled. 
   “A nice bride you are! Here I am looking forward to my honeymoonand my wife conks out for nearly two days! I was a bitworried when I couldn’t wake you up, but the publican says it hitswomen like that, the trip up in the train and the humidity. He saidjust let you sleep it off. How do you feel now?”She sat up stiffly, stretched her arms and yawned, 
   “I feel muchbetter, thank you. Oh, Luke! I know I’m young and strong, butI’m a woman! I can’t take the sort of physical punishment you can.”He came to sit on the edge of the bed, rubbing her arm in a rather charming gesture of contrition 9. 
   “I’m sorry, Meghann,I really am. I didn’t think of your being a woman. Not used tohaving a wife with me, that’s all. Are you hungry, darling?” 
   “Starved. Do you realize it’s almost a week since I’ve eaten?” 
   “Then why don’t you have a bath, put on a clean dress and comeoutside to look at Dungloe?”There was a Chinese café next door to the hotel, where Luke ledMeggie for her first-ever taste of Oriental food. She was so hungryanything would have tasted good, but this was superb. Nor didshe care if it was made of rats’ tails and sharks’ fins 10 and fowls’bowels, as rumor 11 had it in Gillanbone, which only possessed 12 a caférun by Greeks who served steak and chips. Luke had brown-baggedtwo quart bottles of beer from the hotel and insisted she drink aglass in spite of her dislike for beer. 
   “Go easy on the water at first,” he advised. 
   “Beer won’t give youthe trots 13.”Then he took her arm and walked her around Dungloe proudly,as if he owned it. But then, Luke was born a Queenslander. Whata place Dungloe was! It had a look and a character far removedfrom western towns. In size it was probably the same as Gilly, butinstead of rambling 14 forever down one main street. Dungloe wasbuilt in ordered square blocks, and all its shops and houses werepainted white, not brown. Windows were vertical 15 woodentransoms, presumably to catch the breeze, and wherever possibleroofs had been dispensed 16 with, like the movie theater, which hada screen, transomed walls and rows of ship’s canvas desk chairs,but no roof at all.All around the edge of the town encroached a genuine jungle.Vines and creepers sprawled 17 everywhere—up posts, across roofs,along walls. Trees sprouted 18 casually 19 in the middle of the road, orhad houses built around them, or perhaps had grown up throughthe houses. It was impossible to tell which had come first, trees or humanhabitations, for the overwhelming impression was one of uncontrolled,hectic growth of vegetation. Coconut 20 palms taller andstraighter than the Drogheda ghost gums waved fronds 21 against adeep, swimming blue sky; everywhere Meggie looked was a blazeof color. No brown-and-grey land, this. Every kind of tree seemedto be in flower—purple, orange, scarlet 22, pink, blue, white.There were many Chinese in black silk trousers, tiny black-andwhiteshoes with white socks, white Mandarin-collared shirts, pigtailsdown their backs. Males and females looked so alike Meggiefound it difficult to tell which were which. Almost the entire commerceof the town seemed to be in the hands of Chinese; a largedepartment store, far more opulent than anything Gilly possessed,bore a Chinese name: AH WONG’S, said the sign.All the houses were built on top of very high piles, like the oldhead stockman’s residence on Drogheda. This was to achievemaximum air circulation, Luke explained, and keep the termitesfrom causing them to fall down a year after they were built. At thetop of each pile was a tin plate with turned-down edges; termitescouldn’t bend their bodies in the middle and thus couldn’t crawlover the tin parapet into the wood of the house itself. Of coursethey feasted on the piles, but when a pile rotted it was removedand replaced by a new one. Much easier and less expensive thanputting up a new house. Most of the gardens seemed to be jungle,bamboo and palms, as if the inhabitants had given up trying tokeep floral order. 
   The men and women shocked her. To go for dinner and a walkwith Luke she had dressed as custom demanded in heeled shoes,silk stockings, satin slip, floating silk frock with belt and elbowsleeves. On her head was a big straw hat, on her hands were gloves.And what irritated her the most was an uncomfortable feeling from the way people stared that she was the one improperly 23 dressed!The men were bare-footed, bare-legged and mostly bare-chested,wearing nothing but drab khaki shorts; the few who covered theirchests did so with athletic 24 singlets, not shirts. The women wereworse. A few wore skimpy cotton dresses clearly minus anythingin the way of underwear, no stockings, sloppy 25 sandals. But themajority wore short shorts, went bare-footed and shielded theirbreasts with indecent little sleeveless vests. Dungloe was a civilizedtown, not a beach. But here were its native white inhabitantsstrolling around in brazen 26 undress; the Chinese were better clad.There were bicycles everywhere, hundreds of them; a few cars,no horses at all. Yes, very different from Gilly. And it was hot, hot,hot. They passed a thermometer which incredibly said a mere 27 ninetydegrees; in Gilly at 115 degrees it seemed cooler than this. Meggiefelt as if she moved through solid air which her body had to cutlike wet, steamy butter, as if when she breathed her lungs filledwith water. 
   “Luke, I can’t bear it! Please, can we go back?” she gasped 28 afterless than a mile. 
   “If you want. You’re feeling the humidity. It rarely gets belowninety percent, winter or summer, and the temperature rarely getsbelow eighty-five or above ninety-five. There’s not much of a seasonalvariation, but in summer the monsoons 29 send the humidityup to a hundred percent all the flaming time.” 
   “Summer rain, not winter?” 
   “All year round. The monsoons always come, and when they’renot blowing, the southeast trades are. They carry a lot of rain, too.Dungloe has an annual rainfall of between one and three hundredinches.”Three hundred inches of rain a year! Poor Gilly ecstatic if it gota princely fifteen, while here as much as three hundred fell, twothousand miles from Gilly. 
   “Doesn’t it cool off at night?” Meggie asked as they reached the hotel; hot nights in Gilly were bearable compared tothis steam bath. 
   “Not very much. You’ll get used to it.” He opened the door totheir room and stood back for her to enter. 
   “I’m going down to thebar for a beer, but I’ll be back in half an hour. That ought to giveyou enough time.”Her eyes flew to his face, startled. 
   “Yes, Luke.”Dungloe was seventeen degrees south of the equator, so nightfell like a thunderclap; one minute it seemed the sun was scarcelysetting, and the next minute pitch-black darkness spread itself thickand warm like treacle 30. When Luke came back Meggie had switchedoff the light and was lying in the bed with the sheet pulled up toher chin. Laughing, he reached out and tugged 31 it off her, threw iton the floor. 
   “It’s hot enough, love! We won’t need a sheet.”She could hear him walking about, see his faint shadow sheddingits clothes. 
   “I put your pajamas 32 on the dressing 33 table,” shewhispered. 
   “Pajamas? In weather like this? I know in Gilly they’d have astroke at the thought of a man not wearing pajamas, but this isDungloe! Are you really wearing a nightie?” 
  
 

"在我看来，你没啥事儿呀。"
　　"还有多远才能到？"她让步了，问道。
　　"三到六个小时，也许长点儿，也许短点儿。在这个地方，他们不怎么按时刻表行车。现在那些家伙们已经走了，有不少空地方，你躺下吧，把脚丫子放在我的膝盖上。"
　　"哦，别象对孩子那样跟我说话！"她厉声说道。"要是他们早两天在邦达伯格下车的话，就好多了！"
　　"喂，梅格翰，拿出点儿精神来！快到了。过了图里和因尼斯费尔就到邓洛伊了。"
　　时近傍晚一他们走下了火车。梅吉使劲抓着卢克的胳臂，她心性高傲，不肯防认自己已经无法正常走路了。他向站长打听到了一家接待干活人的旅店，然后提起他们的箱子，向站外的街道走去。梅吉跟在他身后，象喝醉了酒似的摇摇晃晃。
　　"只要走到这条街那一边的尽头就行了，"他安慰道。"就是那个白色的二层楼房。"
　　虽然他们的房间很小，摆满了许多维多利亚时代的家具。显得有些拥挤，但在梅吉看来就是赛天堂了。她一头倒在了双人床的边上。
　　"亲爱的，吃饭前先躺一会儿。我到外面找找路标去。"他说着，便溜溜达达地走出了房间，看上去就象他们结婚的那天早晨一样生气勃勃，悠然自得。那天是星期六，而今天已经是星期三傍晚了；整整在喧闹的、纸烟和煤烟令人窒息的车里坐了五天。
　　当咔咔作响的火车钢轮走过铁轨连接点的时候，床就在单调地摇动着，可是，梅吉却欣然地扑在枕头上，蒙头沉沉睡去。
　　有人把她的鞋和长统袜脱了下来，给她盖上了一条被单；梅吉被惊醒了，睁开眼四下看了看。卢克坐在窗架上，跨起一条腿，正在抽着烟。她一动，他便回过头来，望着她，他笑了。
　　"你是个多好的新娘啊！我正在这儿盼着度我的蜜月，可我的老婆却倒头睡了差不多两天！当我叫不醒你的时候，我还真有点儿担心呢。不过，这店老板说，乘火车旅行和这种潮气就能把女人折腾成这样。他说，只要让你把疲劳睡过去就行了。现在你觉得怎么样？"
　　她身子发僵地坐了起来，伸了伸胳臂，打着哈欠。"我觉得好多了，谢谢你。哦，卢克！我知道我年轻力壮，可我是个女人啊！我不能象你这样受这种身体上的折磨。"
　　他走了过来，坐在床沿上，用一种颇为动人的、后悔的姿态，抚摩着她的胳膊。"对不起，梅格翰。真是对不住。我没有想到你是一个女人。对身边带着妻子还不习惯，就是这么回事。你生气吗？宝贝儿？"
　　"我饿了。你没想到，自从上次吃过东西到现在已经有一个星期了吗？"
　　"那你干嘛不洗个澡，穿上一套新衣服，到外面瞧瞧邓洛伊呢？"
　　客店的隔壁是一家中国餐馆，在那里，卢克让梅吉有生以来头一次尝到了东方食品。她饿坏了，什么东西都会觉得好吃的，可是，这种吃食却特别鲜美可口。她也顾不上那菜肴是老鼠尾巴做的，还是鱼翅或鸡鸭肚做的了。在基兰博就有这样风言风语传说，那里只有一家希腊人开的馆子，卖牛排和油煎土豆片。卢克从店里带来了几瓶两夸脱①装的啤酒，非要她喝一杯不可，尽管她不喜欢喝啤酒。
　　①一夸脱，英制合1.136升，美制合0.946升。--译注
　　"先喝点儿水就没事了，"他建议道。"啤酒不会让你身上发软的。"
　　饭后，他挽着她的胳臂，趾高气扬地在邓洛伊镇上散着步，就好象他拥有这个镇子似的；另一方面，卢克是个天生的昆士兰人，邓洛伊是个多好的地方啊！它的外貌和特点与西部的城镇迥然不同。也许它的规模和基里差不多，但是，走在一条主要街道上却永远不会看到那杂乱无章的建筑。邓洛伊是井井有条地建成的一个方形市镇，所有的店铺和房屋都漆成了白色，而不是棕色。窗户上都装着垂直的木气窗，大概是为了通风；凡是可能的地方，都省去了房顶。就说那座电影院吧，里面有一个银幕，有带气窗的墙，一排排船上用的帆布桌椅，但却完全没有顶棚。
　　镇子的四周有一片名副其实的丛林。到处都缠绕着葡萄藤和爬山虎--盘上了桩柱，爬满了房顶，攀附着墙壁。树木随随便便地长在道路的中间，或者把房子建在树林的周围，也可能树就从房子中间长出来。要想说清树木或人们的住宅孰先孰后，是根本办不到的。给人压倒一切的印象是，一切植物都在毫无控制地、蓬蓬勃勃地生长着。椰子树比德罗海达的魔鬼桉还要高大，还要挺拔，树叶在深远的、令人目眩的蓝天下摆动着；在梅吉看来，这里到处都闪动着强烈的色彩。这里没有棕灰色的土地。每一种树似乎都花朵累累--紫红、橙黄、鲜红、浅粉、莹蓝、雪白。
　　这里有许多中国人，他们穿着黑绸裤，黑白相间的小鞋，白色的短袜，马褂领的衬衫，背后拖着一条猪尾。男男女女长得都十分相象，梅吉发现要说出谁是男，谁是女，非常困难。整个城镇的经济命脉似乎都掌握在中国人的手里。这里有一家比基里任何一个商店都要货丰物盈的百货店。店名是中国名字，招牌上写着：阿王百货店。
　　所有的房子都建在很高的木基桩上，就象德罗海达的那幢牧工头住宽一样。卢克解释说，这是为了最大限度载获得周围的空气，并且保证在建成后一年不生白蚁。在每一根桩子的顶部，都有一块边缘下折的马口铁皮；白蚁的身子中间无法弯曲，这样，它们就无法爬过马口铁护板，进入房屋本身的木头了。当然，它们尽情受用那些木桩，不过，当一根木桩朽了的时候，可以把它取走，代之以新的木桩。比起建造新房屋来，这方法既方便又省钱。大多数花园都象是丛林，长着竹子和棕榈，仿佛居民们已经放弃保护植物的条理了。
　　那些男人和女人使她感到厌恶。和卢克一起去吃饭和散步的时候，她按照习惯穿上了高跟鞋，长丝袜，缎子长衬衣和轻飘飘的，带腰带的半截袖绸外衣。她头上戴着一顶大草帽，手上戴着手套。最让她恼火的是，由于人们盯着她的那种眼光使她产生的一种不舒服的感觉，她是个衣着不合时宜的人！
　　男人都是赤脚露背，其中大多数都袒胸露怀，除了土黄色的卡其布短裤之外，什么都不穿；少数遮盖着胸膛的人穿的不是衬衫，而是运动员式的背心。女人们更糟糕。少数仅马马虎虎地穿着棉布衣服，显然，她们把内衣全部省去了。她们不穿长衬衣，脚上马虎邋遢地蹬着便鞋。但大多数女人都穿着短衬衫，赤着脚，这种无袖的衬衫不雅观地遮着乳房。邓洛伊是个开化的镇子。不是个穷困的海滩。但在这里，土生土长的白人居民不知羞耻地光着身子。四处闲逛着，中国人反而穿得要好一些。
　　到处都是自行车，成百上千的；汽车很少，根本看不到马。是啊，和基里大不一样。这里天气很热，热不可耐。他们路过一只温度计，上面令人难以置信地仅仅指在华氏90度上；而基里有115度，可好像比这里凉快得多。梅吉觉得自己似乎是在凝固的气体中走动着，呼吸的时候，觉得肺里充满了水。
　　"卢克，我受不了啦！求求你。咱们回去好吗？"还没走到一英里，她就气喘吁吁了。
　　"要是你想回，就回去吧。你觉得潮气逼人吧。不论冬夏，这里的湿度很少低于百分之九十，温度很少低于85度或高于95度。季节的变化很不显著，可是在夏天大暑的时候，季风能使湿度高进百分之百。"
　　"夏天下雨，冬天不下雨？"
　　"一年到头都下雨。季风总是光临此地，不刮季风的时候，就换成了东南风。东南风也带来许多雨水。邓洛伊的年降雨量在100英寸到300英寸之间。"
　　一年下三百英寸的雨！老天要是给可怜的基里开恩下上50英寸的雨，人们就欣喜若狂了，然而离基里2000英里的此地竟多达300英寸。
　　"夜里也不凉快吗？"他们到了客店之后，梅吉问道；比起这种蒸汽浴来，基里炎热的夜晚又是可以忍受的了。
　　"不太凉快。你会习惯的。"他打开了他们房间的门，转过身站在那里，让她进去。"我要到酒吧间喝啤酒去，不过，一个半小时后就回来。这段时间对你来说应当是绰绰有余了。"