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It must be near one or two o’clock.The fire is burning low.Alligator lies with his head resting on his paws, and watches the wall.He is not a very beautiful dog, and the light shows numerous old wounds where the hair will not grow.He is afraid of nothing on the face of the earth or under it.He will tackle a bullock as readily as he will tackle a flea.He hates all other dogs—except kangaroo-dogs3kangaroo-dog澳大利亞一種專供觀賞而雜交培育出來(lái)的狗?！猘nd has a marked dislike to friends or relations of the family.They seldom call, however.He sometimes makes friends with strangers.He hates snakes and has killed many, but he will be bitten some day and die; most snake-dogs end that way.

[2]Now and then the bushwoman lays down her work and watches, and listens, and thinks.She thinks of things in her own life, for there is little else to think about.

[3]The rain will make the grass grow,and this reminds her how she fought a bush-fire once while her husband was away.The grass was long, and very dry,and the fire threatened to burn her out.She put on an old pair of her husband’s trousers and beat out the flames with a green bough, till great drops of sooty perspiration stood out on her forehead and ran in streaks down her blackened arms.The sight of his mother in trousers greatly amused Tommy, who worked like a little hero by her side, but the terrified baby howled lustily for his“mummy.”The fire would have mastered her but for four excited bushmen who arrived in the nick of time.It was a mixed-up affair all round; when she went to take up the baby he screamed and struggled convulsively, thinking it was a“blackman;”and Alligator, trusting more to the child’s sense than his own instinct, charged furiously, and(being old and slightly deaf)did not in his excitement at first recognize his mistress’s voice, but continued to hang on to the moleskins until choked off by Tommy with a saddle-strap.The dog’s sorrow for his blunder, and his anxiety to let it be known that it was all a mistake, was as evident as his ragged tail and a twelve-inch grin could make it.It was a glorious time for the boys; a day to look back to, and talk about, and laugh over for many years.

[4]She thinks how she fought a flood during her husband’s absence.She stood for hours in the drenching downpour, and dug an overflow gutter to save the dame across the creek.But she could not save it.There are things that a bushwoman cannot do.Next morning the dam was broken, and her heart was nearly broken too, for she thought how her husband would feel when he came home and saw the result of years of labour swept away.She cried then.

[5]She also fought the pleuro-pneumonia—dosed and bled the few remaining cattle, and wept again when her two best cows died.

[6]Again, she fought a mad bullock that besieged the house for a day.She made bullets and fired at him through cracks in the slabs with an old shotgun.He was dead in the morning.She skinned him and got seventeen-andsixpence for the hide.

[7]She also fi ghts the crows and eagles that have designs on her chickens.Her plan of campaign is very original.The children cry“Crows, mother!”and she rushes out and aims a broomstick at the birds as though it were a gun,and says“Bung!”The crows leave in a hurry; they are cunning, but a woman’s cunning is greater.

[8]Occasionally a bushman in the horrors, or a villainous-looking sundowner, comes and nearly scares the life out of her.She generally tells the suspicious-looking stranger that her husband and two sons are at work below the dam, or over at the yard, for he always cunningly inquires for the boss.

[9]Only last week a gallows-faced swagman—having satisfied himself that there were no men on the place—threw his swag down on the veranda,and demanded tucker.She gave him something to eat; then he expressed the intention of staying for the night.It was sundown then.She got a batten from the sofa, loosened the dog, and confronted the stranger, holding the batten in one hand and the dog’s collar with the other.“Now you go!”she said.He looked at her and at the dog, said“All right,mum,”in a cringing tone and left.She was a determined-looking woman, and Alligator’s yellow eyes glared unpleasantly—besides, the dog’s chawing-up apparatus greatly resembled that of the reptile he was named after.

[10]She has few pleasures to think of as she sits here alone by the fire,on guard against a snake.All days are much the same for her; but on Sunday afternoon she dresses herself, tidies the children, smartens up baby, and goes for a lonely walk along the bush-track,pushing an old perambulator in front of her.She does this every Sunday.She takes as much care to make herself and the children look smart as she would if she were going to do the block in the city.There is nothing to see, however,and not a soul to meet.You might walk for twenty miles along this track without being able to fix a point in your mind, unless you are a bushman.This is because of the everlasting, maddening sameness of the stunted trees—that monotony which makes a man long to break away and travel as far as trains can go, and sail as far as ship can sail—and farther.

[11]But this bushwoman is used to the loneliness of it.As a girl-wife she hated it, but now she would feel strange away from it.

[12]She is glad when her husband returns, but she does not gush or make a fuss about it.She gets him something good to eat, and tidies up the children.

[13]She seems contented with her lot.She loves her children, but has no time to show it.She seems harsh to them.Her surroundings are not favourable to the development of the“womanly”or sentimental side of nature.

[14]It must be nearing morning now;but the clock is in the dwelling-house.Her candle is nearly done; she forgot that she was out of candles.Some more wood must be got to keep the fire up,and so she shuts the dog inside and hurries around to the woodheap.The rain has cleared off.She seizes a stick, pulls it out, and—crash! The whole pile collapses.

[15]Yesterday she bargained with a stray blackfellow to bring her some wood, and while he was at work she went in search of a missing cow.She was absent an hour or so, and the native black made good use of his time.On her return she was so astonished to see a good heap of wood by the chimney, and she gave him an extra fig of tobacco, and praised him for not being lazy.He thanked her, and left with head erect and chest well out.He was the last of his tribe and a King; but he had built that wood-heap hollow.

[16]She is hurt now, and tears spring to her eyes as she sits down again by the table.She takes up a handkerchief to wipe the tears away, but pokes her eyes with her bare fingers instead.The handkerchief is full of holes, and she finds that she has put here thumb through one, and her forefinger through another.

[17]This makes her laugh, to the surprise of the dog.She has a keen, very keen, sense of the ridiculous; and some time or other she will amuse bushmen with the story.

[18]She has been amused before like that.One day she sat down“to have a good cry,”as she said—and the old cat rubbed against her dress and“cried too.”Then she had to laugh.

[19]It must be near daylight now.The room is very close and hot because of the fire.Alligator still watches the wall from time to time.Suddenly he becomes greatly interested; he draws himself a few inches nearer the partition, and a thrill runs though his body.The hair on the back of neck begins to bristle, and the battle-light is in his yellow eyes.She knows what this means,and lays her hand on the stick.The lower end of one of the partition slabs has a large crack on both sides.An evil pair of small, bright bead-like eyes glisten at one of these holes.The snake—a black one—comes slowly out, about a foot,and moves its head up and down.The dog lies still, and the woman sits as one fascinated.The snake comes out a foot further.She lifts her stick, and the reptile, as though suddenly aware of danger, sticks his head in through the crack on the other side of the slab, and hurries to get his tail round after him.Alligator springs, and his jaws come together with a snap.He misses, for his nose is large, and the snake’s body close down on the angle formed by the slabs and the floor.He snaps again as the tail comes round.He has the snake now, and tugs it out eighteen inches.Thud, thud.Alligator gives another pull and he has the snake out—a black brute, fi ve feet long.The head rises to dart about, but the dog has the enemy close to the neck.He is a big, heavy dog, but quick as a terrier.He shakes the snake as though he felt the original curse in common with mankind.The eldest boy wakes up, seizes his stick, and tries to get out of bed, but his mother forces him back with a grip of iron.Thud, thud—the snake’s back is broken in several places.Thud, thud—it’s head is crushed, and Alligator’s nose skinned again.

[20]She lifts the mangled reptile on the point of her stick, carries it to the fire, and throws it in; then piles on the wood and watches the snake burn.The boy and the dog watch too.She lays her hand on the dog’s head, and all the fierce, angry light dies out of his yellow eyes.The younger children are quieted, and presently go to sleep.The dirty-legged boy stands for a moment in his shirt, watching the fire.Presently he looks up at her, sees the tears in her eyes, and, throwing his arms around her neck exclaims:

“Mother, I won’t never go drovin’blast me if I do!”

[21]And she hugs him to her wornout breast and kisses him; and they sit thus together while the sickly daylight breaks over the bush.■

肯定有凌晨一兩點(diǎn)了。爐火微弱。大黑狗“鱷魚”把頭枕在爪上，目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地盯著那堵墻?！镑{魚”長(zhǎng)得不是很好看，燈光下可以看出身上無(wú)數(shù)舊傷疤，那些地方的毛發(fā)不會(huì)再長(zhǎng)了。無(wú)論地上還是地下的東西，它都無(wú)所畏懼。它對(duì)付公牛會(huì)像對(duì)付跳蚤一樣容易。它討厭除了袋鼠狗之外的所有狗，尤其討厭家里來(lái)的親戚和朋友，雖然，他們很少上門。有時(shí)，它會(huì)與陌生人交朋友。它討厭蛇，曾經(jīng)咬死過(guò)好幾條，但終有一天它會(huì)被蛇咬并因此而死，大多數(shù)捕蛇狗都是那樣死的。

[2]時(shí)不時(shí)，叢林人妻子會(huì)停下手里的活兒，四處觀察、傾聽，隨之陷入回憶，回憶她自己生活中的點(diǎn)點(diǎn)滴滴，因?yàn)槌酥庖矝](méi)有什么好回憶的。

[3]雨水會(huì)讓綠草茂盛生長(zhǎng)，這讓她想起丈夫不在家那次她自己撲滅的一場(chǎng)叢林大火。那會(huì)兒草又枯又高，大火差點(diǎn)兒將她整個(gè)吞噬。她穿上丈夫的舊褲子，拿了一根綠色樹枝拼命撲火，直到前額冒出大滴大滴混雜煙灰的汗水，又順著熏黑的雙臂一道道滾落。媽媽穿著褲子的樣子讓湯米覺(jué)得特別好笑，湯米是她身邊的小英雄，可當(dāng)時(shí)這孩子被嚇得拼命喊“媽媽”。要不是四個(gè)火急火燎的叢林人及時(shí)趕到，她肯定被燒死了。這后來(lái)還引發(fā)了一場(chǎng)混亂：她獲救后去抱孩子時(shí)，孩子嚇得大喊大叫，拼命掙扎，以為來(lái)了個(gè)“黑人”；而“鱷魚”竟也不信自己的直覺(jué)而更相信孩子的感覺(jué)，瘋了似的沖過(guò)來(lái)，（由于上了年紀(jì)，耳朵也不太靈敏），興奮中一開始都沒(méi)聽出女主人的聲音，就是一個(gè)勁兒咬著她身上的灰絨棉布，直到湯米用鞍帶勒住它脖子，一場(chǎng)混戰(zhàn)才結(jié)束。大黑狗為自己犯了大錯(cuò)而羞愧，急于表明這是個(gè)誤會(huì)，它極力搖著尾巴，咧著大嘴，明顯為此很焦慮。男孩們樂(lè)壞了，此后好多年，他們時(shí)?；貞?，時(shí)常提起，每次都捧腹大笑。

[4]她又想起丈夫不在時(shí)她自己對(duì)付洪水的那次經(jīng)歷。當(dāng)時(shí)，為了保住小溪上的泥壩，她在瓢潑大雨中奮戰(zhàn)了數(shù)小時(shí)，渾身被雨水浸透，終于挖了一條排水溝。然而，泥壩最終還是沒(méi)能保住。有些事情是叢林女子無(wú)法做到的。第二天早上，泥壩被沖垮，她的心也幾乎垮塌了，她想的是，丈夫回來(lái)后發(fā)現(xiàn)苦心修建多年的泥壩毀之一旦，該多傷心。那會(huì)兒，她哭了。

[5]她還曾抵抗過(guò)牛肺疫——給家里僅剩的幾頭牛喂藥放血，當(dāng)最好的兩頭奶牛最終還是死了的時(shí)候，她再次哭了。

[6]還有一次，她跟一頭瘋了的小公牛斗智斗勇，那頭瘋牛圍著房子轉(zhuǎn)了一天。她自制子彈，用老獵槍透過(guò)石板縫沖牛開了幾槍。第二天早上，牛死了。她剝了牛皮，賣了17先令6便士。

[7]她還要對(duì)抗覬覦家中小雞的烏鴉和老鷹。她對(duì)付它們的方法非常原始。一聽到孩子們叫“媽媽，烏鴉！”，她就沖出屋，像端槍似的舉著掃帚對(duì)準(zhǔn)烏鴉，嘴里喊著“梆梆！”。烏鴉立刻飛走了；它們很狡猾，但女人更狡猾。

[8]有時(shí)候，還會(huì)有面目可怖的叢林人或看上去不像好人的流浪漢上門，讓她怕得要命。她一般會(huì)告訴那個(gè)看著可疑的陌生人，丈夫和兩個(gè)兒子就在堤壩下或那邊的院子里干活兒，因?yàn)槟侨丝偸枪砉硭钏畹貑?wèn)她老公在哪兒。

[9]就在上周，一個(gè)看著像無(wú)賴的無(wú)業(yè)游民確認(rèn)她家里沒(méi)有男人后，把背包往陽(yáng)臺(tái)上一扔，張口便要吃的。她給他拿了點(diǎn)兒吃的，然后他說(shuō)晚上想留在這兒過(guò)夜。那時(shí)已是日落時(shí)分。她從沙發(fā)上抽出一根板條，把大黑狗“鱷魚”也放了出來(lái)。面對(duì)這個(gè)陌生人，她一手拿著板條，一手抓著大黑狗的項(xiàng)圈，說(shuō)道：“你該走了！”他看看她，再看看狗，悻悻地說(shuō)了句“好吧，大媽”，就走了。她看上去就是個(gè)意志堅(jiān)定的女人，而大黑狗的黃眼睛惡狠狠地瞪著。別說(shuō)，“鱷魚”昂首向上的姿勢(shì)跟它的綽號(hào)還真搭。

[10]她獨(dú)自坐在火爐邊，留意著蛇的動(dòng)靜，回憶往事，開心的事沒(méi)有幾件。每一天幾乎都一樣，只有星期天下午，她會(huì)稍作裝扮，把大孩子一個(gè)個(gè)穿戴得干凈整潔，把小小孩也打扮得漂漂亮亮，然后推著舊嬰兒車，一個(gè)人帶著孩子們沿著叢林小道轉(zhuǎn)一圈。這是她每個(gè)星期天必做的。她總是盡可能讓自己和孩子們看上去很精神，就好像他們是要去城里的街區(qū)散步一樣。不過(guò)，叢林里沒(méi)什么可看的，也碰不到一個(gè)人。除非你是一個(gè)叢林人，否則沿著這條小道走上20英里地，你可能也記不住一個(gè)地方。這是因?yàn)槟切┌珮溆肋h(yuǎn)都是一個(gè)樣子，讓人發(fā)狂——這種單調(diào)乏味會(huì)讓人渴望掙脫這里，坐上火車能走多遠(yuǎn)走多遠(yuǎn)，搭上輪船能駛多遠(yuǎn)駛多遠(yuǎn)——越遠(yuǎn)越好。

[11]但是，這位叢林女子習(xí)慣了這里的孤獨(dú)。剛結(jié)婚時(shí)，她還是女孩心性，很討厭這里，但現(xiàn)在，她倒覺(jué)得離開這里會(huì)很奇怪了。

[12]丈夫回來(lái)時(shí)，她很開心，但她不會(huì)過(guò)度表露或?qū)Υ舜篌@小怪。她總是給他做些好吃的，并把孩子收拾得干凈整潔。

[13]她似乎安于命運(yùn)的安排。她愛(ài)自己的孩子，只是沒(méi)有時(shí)間來(lái)展現(xiàn)。她似乎對(duì)他們很嚴(yán)厲。叢林環(huán)境無(wú)法讓她好好培養(yǎng)自己的“女人味兒”或說(shuō)多愁善感的那一面。

[14]天肯定快亮了，但鐘在房子里，不知道具體時(shí)間。蠟燭快燃盡了，她才想起家里蠟燭沒(méi)了。得再去取些柴火，不然火要滅了，于是她把狗關(guān)在屋里，急急奔向柴堆。雨已停了。她拽住一根樹枝，想把它拉出來(lái)，這時(shí)——一聲巨響！整個(gè)柴堆塌了下來(lái)。

[15]昨天，她跟一個(gè)流浪的土著人討價(jià)還價(jià)，讓他帶些柴火來(lái)，在土著人干活兒的當(dāng)兒，她出去尋找一頭失蹤的奶牛。她大約離開了一個(gè)小時(shí)，那個(gè)土著黑人充分利用了這段時(shí)間?；貋?lái)后，她驚喜地發(fā)現(xiàn)煙囪旁邊堆起了一個(gè)大大的柴火堆，她因此額外給了他一些煙草，稱贊他沒(méi)有偷懶。他說(shuō)了聲謝謝，然后就昂首挺胸地走了。他是他們部落的最后一個(gè)人，還是個(gè)首領(lǐng)；但他竟然搭了個(gè)假山似的空柴堆。

[16]如今，她感覺(jué)受到傷害，再次在桌旁坐下時(shí)，眼淚涌上眼眶。她拿起手帕擦眼淚，手指卻直接戳到了眼睛。原來(lái)手帕上全是破洞，她的大拇指穿過(guò)了一個(gè)洞，食指則穿過(guò)了另一個(gè)。

[17]這讓她破涕為笑，大黑狗很是驚訝。她對(duì)荒謬好笑的事情非常敏感，遲早也會(huì)將這件事說(shuō)給叢林人聽，讓大家樂(lè)呵樂(lè)呵。

[18]她此前被一件類似的事逗樂(lè)過(guò)。據(jù)她說(shuō)，有一天，她想坐下來(lái)“好好哭一回”，而家里那只老貓蹭著她衣服“也哭了起來(lái)”。結(jié)果她忍不住笑了。

[19]天一定快亮了。因?yàn)樯穑块g顯得很擠也很熱。“鱷魚”仍然時(shí)不時(shí)盯著墻壁。突然，它興趣大增，往墻面隔斷處挪了幾英寸，渾身一陣顫抖。它后頸的毛發(fā)豎了起來(lái)，黃眼睛里流露出戰(zhàn)斗的目光。她知道這意味著什么，就把手放到了樹棍上。一塊石板隔斷的下方兩面都裂了條大縫兒。一雙邪惡而明亮的珠狀小眼睛在其中一個(gè)洞里閃著光。那條蛇——一條黑蛇——慢慢爬了出來(lái)，大約爬了一英尺，頭上下晃動(dòng)。大黑狗躺著不動(dòng)，她也靜靜坐著，像著了魔。蛇又往外爬了一英尺。她提起木棍，而蛇好像突然意識(shí)到了危險(xiǎn)，把頭探進(jìn)石板另一側(cè)的縫隙，尾巴在后面匆匆甩著?！镑{魚”見(jiàn)狀一躍而起，狠狠咬了下去。因?yàn)楸亲犹?，它沒(méi)咬到，而蛇身蜷縮到了石板與地板形成的夾角縫里。蛇尾擺動(dòng)時(shí)，它再次出擊。這下咬住了，它咬住它往外拽了18英寸。砰，砰?！镑{魚”再次往外拽，這回把蛇拽了出來(lái)——一條漆黑、兇殘的蛇，有5英尺長(zhǎng)。蛇昂起頭四下掃視，但黑狗咬住了它的要害。這是條又大又重的狗，但身手敏捷如小獵犬。它將蛇緊緊咬住搖來(lái)晃去，好像感知到人類同樣背負(fù)的最初的詛咒。這時(shí)，大兒子醒了，抓著樹枝，試圖起來(lái)，但他媽媽使勁兒把他摁了回去。砰，砰——蛇背好幾處被砸斷。砰，砰——蛇頭被砸得粉碎，“鱷魚”的鼻子則再次掛了彩。

[20]她用樹棍頭挑起那條被砸爛的蛇，帶到火邊扔了進(jìn)去，堆在柴火上，看著它燃燒。大兒子和黑狗也一起看著。她把手搭在黑狗頭上，狗的黃眼中那兇猛的怒火立刻都消失了。小一點(diǎn)的幾個(gè)孩子安靜下來(lái)，很快又睡著了。湯米穿著襯衫站在那兒，看著火爐，腿上全是泥。不一會(huì)兒，他抬起頭看著媽媽，看到了她眼里閃閃的淚光，他伸出胳膊摟住她的脖子，大聲說(shuō)：

“媽媽，我長(zhǎng)大了決不去趕牲口，不然不得好死！”

[21]疲憊不堪的她一把將他攬到懷里，親了親。他們就這樣相擁坐著，刺眼的陽(yáng)光透過(guò)灌木照向大地?！?/p>