Some Day總有一天

The two travellers had yarned late in their camp， and the moon was getting low down through the mulga. Mitchell’s mate had just finished a rather racy yarn， but it seemed to fall flat on Mitchell—he was in a sentimental mood.

兩個旅行者在營地閑聊到很晚，透過旁邊的相思木，依稀可以看到月亮漸漸沉了下去。米切爾的同伴剛剛講完一個相當生動的故事，但似乎并未引起米切爾的興趣；他今晚有點多愁善感。

He smoked a while， and thought， and then said：

他吸了幾口煙，沉思了一會兒，然后說：

“Ah！ there was one little girl that I was properly struck on. She came to our place on a visit to my sister， I think she was the best little girl that ever lived， and about the prettiest. She was just eighteen， and didn’t come up to my shoulder; the biggest blue eyes you ever saw， and she had hair that reached down to her knees， and so thick you couldn’t span it with your two hands—brown and glossy—and her skin was like lilies and roses.

“唉！我曾經(jīng)很是喜歡一個姑娘。她到我們家找我姐姐。在我心中，她是世上最棒的小姑娘，也可以說是最漂亮的。那年，她才18歲，個子還不到我的肩膀，藍藍的大眼睛天下無雙，她那及膝的秀發(fā)，你用兩只手都握不過來——光澤發(fā)亮——她的肌膚就像百合和玫瑰花。

“Of course， I never thought she’d look at a rough， ugly， ignorant brute like me， and I used to keep out of her way and act a little stiff towards her; I didn’t want the others to think I was gone on1 her， because I knew they’d laugh at me， and maybe she’d laugh at me more than all. She would come and talk to me， and sit near me at table; but I thought that that was on account of her good nature， and she pitied me because I was such a rough， awkward chap. I was gone on that girl， and no joking; and I felt quite proud to think she was a country woman of mine. But I wouldn’t let her know that， for I felt sure she’d only laugh.

“當然，我從未奢望她會留意我這樣一個粗俗、丑陋又無知的傻瓜，我總是和她盡量保持距離，在她面前也總是很拘謹，因為不想讓別人看出來我喜歡她；他們會嘲笑我，而她沒準兒會比其他人嘲笑得更厲害。但她卻走過來跟我說話，在桌子旁挨著我坐；但我想，那是她的性格使然，那是她可憐我這個粗俗、笨拙的家伙。我打心底愛她，真的，心里只要想想她是我的鄉(xiāng)下女人，我就很自豪。但我沒有讓她知道，我深信，那樣只會招來她的嘲笑。

“Well， things went on till I got the offer of two or three years’ work on a station up near the border， and I had to go， for I was hard up2; besides， I wanted to get away. Stopping round where she was only made me miserable.

“就這樣，直到昆士蘭邊境附近一個大農(nóng)場給了一個機會，讓我在那兒工作兩三年，我得去，因為手頭拮據(jù)，我得想辦法活下來；而且我想要逃離，待在她身邊只會讓我痛苦?！?/p>

“The night I left they were all down at the station to see me off—including the girl I was gone on. When the train was ready to start she was standing away by herself on the dark end of the platform， and my sister kept nudging me and winking， and fooling about but I didn’t know what she was driving at.

“我走的那晚，他們都到車站為我送行——我深愛的那個姑娘也來了。當火車準備開動時，她遠遠地，站在黑漆漆的站臺的尾端，孤身一人，姐姐一直用胳膊肘捅我，朝我使眼色，讓我過去，但我不明白她的用意。

At last she said;

最后她說：

“‘Go and speak to her， you noodle; go and say good-bye to Edie.’

“‘去跟她說話啊，你個笨蛋； 去，跟伊迪道個別。’”

“So I went up to where she was， and， when the others turned their backs.

“于是我走到她面前，這時，其他人都轉過身來——”

“Well， good-bye， Miss Brown， I said， holding out my hand; I don’t suppose I’ll ever see you again， for Lord knows when I’ll be back. Thank you for coming to see me off.’

“‘嗯。再見，布朗小姐?！疫呎f邊伸出手，‘我估計我們不會再見了，天知道我什么時候回來。謝謝你來為我送行。’”

“Just then she turned her face to the light， and I saw she was crying. She was trembling all over. Suddenly she said， ‘Jack！ Jack！’ just like that， and held up her arms like this.”

“就在那當兒，她轉過臉朝向燈光，我看到她在哭泣。她整個人都在顫抖。突然間她說，‘杰克！杰克！’，就像那樣，然后張開雙臂，就像這樣?！?/p>

Mitchell was speaking in a tone of voice that didn’t belong to him， and his mate looked up. Mitchell’s face was solemn， and his eyes were fixed on the fire.

米切爾的聲音像變了個人似的，他的同伴抬頭看他。米切爾表情一臉嚴肅，眼睛緊緊盯著火苗。

“I suppose you gave her a good hug then， and a kiss？” asked the mate.

“我猜，然后你給了她一個大大的擁抱，并吻了她吧？”他的同伴問道。

“I s’pose so，” snapped Mitchel， “There is some things a man doesn’t want to joke about....Well， I think we’ll shove on one of the billies， and have a drink of tea before we turn in，”

“應該吧?！泵浊袪栵@得有點不自在?！白鳛橐粋€男人，有些事，不能隨便開玩笑的……行了，我們還是燒點水，喝杯茶，就睡吧?！?/p>

“I suppose，” said Mitchell’s mate， as they drank their tea， “I suppose you’ll go back and marry her some day？’”

“我想，”喝茶的時候，米切爾的同伴說，“我想，你總有一天會回去，然后和她結婚吧？”

“Some day！ That’s it; it looks like it， doesn’t it？ We all say， ‘Some day’. I used to say it ten years ago， and look at me now. I’ve been knocking round for five years， and the last two years constant on the track， and no show of getting off it unless I go for good， and what have I got for it？ I look like going home and getting married， without a penny in my pocket or a rag to my back scarcely， and no show of getting them. I swore I’d never go back home without a cheque， and， what’s more， I never will; but the cheque days are past. Look at that boot！ If we were down among the settled districts we’d be called tramps and beggars; and what’s the difference？ I’ve been a fool， I know， but I’ve paid for it; and now there’s nothing for it but to tramp， tramp， tramp for your tucker， and keep tramping till you get old and careless and dirty， and older， and more careless and dirtier， and you get used to the dust and sand， and heat， and flies， and mosquitoes， same as a bullock does， and lose ambition and hope， and get contented with this animal life， like a dog， and till your swag seems part of yourself， and you’d be lost and uneasy and light-shouldered without it， and you don’t care a damn if you’ll ever get work again， or live like a Christian; and you go on like this til the spirit of a bullock takes the place of the heart of a man. Who cares？ If we hadn’t found the track yesterday we might have lain and rotted in that lignum， and no one been any the wiser- or sorrier- who knows？ Somebody might have found us in the end， but it mightn’t have been worth his while to go out of his way and report us. Damn the world， say I！”

“總有一天！是呀；看起來是這樣，對吧？我們都說，‘總有一天’。十年前我就說過，可看看我現(xiàn)在的樣子。我已經(jīng)在外飄蕩五年了，過去兩年一直沒停歇，這樣的日子似乎無法擺脫，除非我永遠離開，而我又得到什么了？ 我想回家結婚，可我現(xiàn)在這樣子，身無分文，衣衫襤褸，沒希望改變現(xiàn)狀。我發(fā)過誓，攢不到錢是不會回去的，現(xiàn)在這樣，更回不去了；但是，能掙到錢的日子已經(jīng)過去了。看看那靴子！如果我們在幾個移民集聚區(qū)跑來跑去討生活，很可能被人們當成流浪漢和乞丐；可這又有什么區(qū)別呢？我為我過去的愚蠢付出了代價?，F(xiàn)在為了填飽肚子得四處流浪，除了流浪，還是流浪，流浪到對一切都無所謂且又臟又老的那一天；流浪到對一切更無所謂、更臟更老的那一天；流浪到你習慣了這里的沙塵、沙漠、炎熱、蒼蠅、蚊子；流浪到就像閹牛一樣，拋卻一切抱負和希望，滿足于像狗一樣的畜生生活；什么時候行囊成為身體的一部分就好了。沒了它，你會失落、會不安，還會一身輕，也壓根兒不會在乎能不能再找到份工作或者活得像個基督徒；你得一直這樣，一直流浪，直到你的心態(tài)跟閹牛一樣，不再像人那樣抱有希望。誰在乎呢？要是昨天我們沒發(fā)現(xiàn)這條路，我們這會兒已經(jīng)葬身叢林、尸體都已經(jīng)腐爛了吧。也沒人比我們更明智——或更遺憾吧，誰知道呢？可能，最終我們的尸體會被人發(fā)現(xiàn)，但都不值得他們特地去上報。該死的世界！”

He smoked for a while in savage silence; then he knocked the ashes out of his pipe， felt for his tobacco with a sigh， and said：

在可怕的沉默中，他猛抽了幾口煙；接著他把煙管里的煙灰磕出來，邊摸索著裝上煙絲，邊嘆了口氣說道：

“‘Well， I am a bit out of sorts to-night. I’ve been thinking.... I think we’d best turning old man; we’ve got a long， dry stretch before us to-morrow.”

“唉，我今晚情緒不佳。我一直在想……我想，我們還是睡吧，老伙計；明天還有很長的路要走?！?/p>

They rolled out their swags on the sand， lay down， and wrapped themselves in their blankets. Mitchell covered his head with a piece of calico， because the moon light and wind kept him awake.

他們在地上展開包袱，躺了下來，把自己裹進毯子里。米切爾用一塊白棉布蓋在臉上，因為月光和風讓他難以入睡。

（譯者單位：揚州中學）

1 be gone on sb迷戀（某人），傾心于（某人）。 2 hard up拮據(jù)的，手頭緊的。