【荆棘鸟】第二章 06
时间：2017-02-21 05:09:27
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（单词翻译）
The sight was truly extraordinary; three dabs1 of person, which were Sister Agatha's face and hands, the rest white starched2 wimple and bib glaring against layers of blackest black, with a massive rope of wooden rosary beads3 dangling4 from an iron ring that joined the ends of a wide leather belt around Sister Agatha's stout5 middle. Sister Agatha's skin was permanently6 red, from too much cleanliness and the pressure of the knifelike edges of the wimple framing the front center of her head into something too disembodied to be called a face; little hairs sprouted7 in tufts all over her chin, which the wimple ruthlessly squashed double. Her lips were quite invisible, compressed into a single line of concentration on the hard business of being the Bride of Christ in a colonial backwater with topsy-turvy seasons when she had taken her vows8 in the sweet softness of a Killarney abbey over fifty years before. Two small crimson9 marks were etched into the sides of her nose from the remorseless grip of her round, steel-framed spectacles, and behind them her eyes peered out suspiciously, pale blue and bitter. "Well, Robert Cleary, why are you late?" Sister Agatha barked in her dry, once Irish voice.
"I'm sorry, Sister," Bob replied woodenly, his blue green eyes still
riveted10 on the tip of the quivering
cane11 as it waved back and
forth12. "Why are you late?" she repeated.
"I'm sorry, Sister."
"This is the first morning of the new school year, Robert Cleary, and I would have thought that on this morning if not on others you might have made an effort to be on time."
Meggie shivered, but plucked up her courage. "Oh, please, Sister, it was my fault!" she
squeaked13.
The pale-blue eyes
deviated14 from Bob and seemed to go through and through Meggie's very soul as she stood there gazing up in genuine
innocence15, not aware she was breaking the first rule of conduct in a deadly
duel16 which went on between teachers and pupils ad infinitum: never volunteer information. Bob kicked her swiftly on the leg and Meggie looked at him sideways, bewildered. "Why was it your fault?" the
nun17 demanded in the coldest tones Meggie had ever heard.
"Well, I was sick all over the table and it went right through to my drawers, so Mum had to wash me and change my dress, and I made us all late," Meggie explained artlessly.
Sister Agatha's features remained expressionless.
梅吉以前从没见过修女，因此目瞪口呆地望着她。她看到的情况的确实少见：阿加莎嬷嬷的身上只露出了脸和双手，其余就是浆得雪白的修女头巾和胸巾了，它们在其黑无比的衣服的衬托下，耀人眼目。
阿加莎修女那粗壮的腰上围着一条宽皮带，皮带套在一个铁环上，环上挂着一大串用结实的绳子串起来的木念珠。阿加莎嬷嬷的皮肤永远是红的，一来是因为它过于干净，二来是因为那压得紧紧的头巾褶边裹着她的头，只露出了前面中间的一部分，她的脸因而显得过于超凡拔俗，难于称之为脸了。她的下巴上长满了一撮撮的汗毛，它们被头巾毫不留情地挤压着。她的嘴唇干瘪得成了一条细缝，几乎看不见了，这是由于她五十多年前在基拉尔尼修道院的温暖怀抱里立下誓言，到这季节颠倒的穷僻的殖民地来当修女的艰苦生活所造成的。她鼻子的两侧各有一块绯红的疤痕，这是她那副圆形眼镜的钢框压出来的，眼镜的后面闪着一双浅蓝色的、严厉而又疑心重重的眼睛。
“喂，罗伯特·克利里，你怎么迟到了？”阿加莎嬷嬷那一度是操着爱尔兰腔的、干巴巴的嗓音厉声喝道。
“对不起，嬷嬷。”鲍勃毫无表情地答道，他那双翠蓝的眼睛仍然死死地盯着那前后挥动着的藤条尖。
“你为什么迟到？”她又问了一遍。
“对不起，嬷嬷。”
“罗伯特·克利里，这可是新学期的第一天早晨，我以为在这一天早晨你是会尽量准时到校的，即使在别的时候你不这样做。”
梅吉发着抖，但还是鼓起了勇气说：“哦，对不起，嬷嬷，这是我的错！”她尖声说道。
那双浅蓝色的眼睛离开了鲍勃，似乎想要把梅吉的灵魂彻底地看个透似的。这时，她天真无邪地站在那里，仰脸望着，她没有意识到，她破坏了师生之间无时无刻不在进行着的激烈的对话中那首要的行为准则，即决不要自动打报告。鲍勃飞快地在她的腿上踢了一下，梅吉莫名其妙地斜眼看了看他。
“为什么是你的错？”嬷嬷用一种梅吉闻所未闻的最冷冰冰的声调问道。
“嗯，吃饭的时候我一直恶心，把吃的东西全都吐在衬裤上了，所以妈妈只好给我洗了洗，换了身衣服。是因为我。我们才都迟到了。”梅吉天真地解释道。
阿加莎嬷嬷的脸上依然毫无表情，
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