【荆棘鸟】第二章 27

In the kitchen the boys were sitting glumly¹ around the table, and Paddy's chair was empty. So was Frank's. Meggie slid into her place and sat there, teeth chattering² in fear. After breakfast Fee shooed them outside dourly³, and behind the barn Bob broke the news to Meggie.

  "Frank's run away," he breathed.

  "Maybe he's just gone into Wahine," Meggie suggested. "No, silly! He's gone to join the army. Oh, I wish I was big enough to go with him! The lucky coot!"

  "Well, I wish he was still at home."

  Bob shrugged⁴. "You're only a girl, and that's what I'd expect a girl to say."

  The normally incendiary remark was permitted to pass unchallenged; Meggie took herself inside to her mother to see what she could do. "Where's Daddy?" she asked Fee after her mother had set her to ironing handkerchiefs.

  "Gone in to Wahine."

  "Will he bring Frank back with him?"

  Fee snorted. "Trying to keep a secret in this family is impossible. No, he won't catch Frank in Wahine, he knows that. He's gone to send a telegram to the police and the army in Wanganui. They'll bring him back."

  "Oh, Mum, I hope they find him I don't want Frank to go away!" Fee slapped the contents of the butter churn onto . the table and attacked the watery⁵ yellow mound⁶ with two wooden pats. "None of us want Frank to go away. That's why Daddy's going to see he's brought back." Her mouth quivered for a moment; she whacked⁷ the butter harder. "Poor Frank! Poor, poor Frank!" she sighed, not to Meggie but to herself. "I don't know why the children must pay for our sins. My poor Frank, so out of things . . ." Then she noticed that Meggie had stopped ironing, and shut her lips, and said no more. Three days later the police brought Frank back. He had put up a terrific struggle, the Wanganui sergeant⁸ on escort duty told Paddy. "What a fighter you've got! When he saw the army lads were a wakeup he was off like a shot, down the steps and into the street with two soldiers after him. If he hadn't had the bad luck to run into a constable⁹ on patrol, I reckon he'd a got away, too. He put up a real wacko fight; took five of them to get the manacles on."

 

在厨房里，男孩子们都闷闷不乐地围坐在餐桌旁，帕迪的椅子是空的。弗兰克的椅子也是空的。梅吉悄悄地溜进了自己的座位，坐在那儿，吓得牙齿打颤。早饭以后，菲声色俱厉地把他们全都赶到外面去了。在谷仓后面，鲍勃把这一新闻透露给了梅吉。

 

　　"弗兰克逃走了。"他吸了一口气。

　　"兴许，他只不过是到韦汉去了。"梅吉猜道。

　　"不会的，你这个笨蛋！他跑去参军了。啊，我希望我也长得够个儿，跟他一块去！这个走运的老傻瓜！"

　　"嗯，我希望他还留在家里。"

　　鲍勃耸了耸肩："你真是个丫头片子，我就知道黄毛丫头会这么说的。"

　　梅吉没有理会这句普普通通的挑衅话，她顾自走进家去找妈妈，想问问她能够做些什么。

　　"爸上哪去了？"在菲让她去熨手帕的时候，她问道。

　　"上韦汉镇去了。"

　　"他能把弗兰克带回来吗？"

　　菲哼了一下鼻子："要想在这个家里保守个秘密简直是办不到。不，他心里也明白，在韦汉是抓不到弗兰克的，他到那儿是给旺加努伊的警察局和军队拍电报去了。他们会把他送回来的。"

　　"哦，妈妈，我希望他们能找到他！我不愿意让弗兰克走！"

　　菲把搅乳器里盛的东西噗地倒在桌子上，用两块木拍板使劲地拍着那堆含水的、黄色的奶油。"咱们谁都不愿意让他走。就因为这个爸才去想法让他们把他带回来的。"她的嘴颤抖了一会儿，更加用力地拍着那堆奶油。"可怜的弗兰克！可怜哪，可怜的弗兰克！"她叹息着，这一声叹不是冲着梅吉的，而是冲自己的："我不知道为什么孩子们要替我们还孽债。可怜的弗兰克，事事不称心……"这时她发现梅吉停手不熨了，于是就闭了口，不再言语了。

　　三天以后，警察把弗兰克带了回来，送他回来的警士告诉帕迪说，他反抗得很厉害。

　　"你们倒真有个打架的好手！当他看到军队里的那些小伙子们发觉了他的时候，他撒腿就跑。他奔下台阶，跑到了大街上，后面有两个士兵在追他。要不是他运气坏，正碰上一个巡逻的警官的话，我估计又得叫他跑脱了。他还狠狠地干了一架呢；用了五个人才把手铐子给他铐上。"

1 glumly   

adv.忧郁地，闷闷不乐地；阴郁地

参考例句：

• He stared at it glumly, and soon became lost in thought. 他惘然沉入了瞑想。 来自子夜部分
• The President sat glumly rubbing his upper molar, saying nothing. 总统愁眉苦脸地坐在那里，磨着他的上牙，一句话也没有说。 来自辞典例句

2 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

3 dourly   

参考例句：

• He sat in his chair dourly. 他闷闷不乐地坐在椅子上。 来自互联网

4 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

6 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

7 whacked   

a.精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• She whacked him with her handbag. 她用手提包狠狠地打他。
• He whacked me on the back and I held both his arms. 他用力拍拍我的背，我抱住他的双臂。

8 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

9 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。