Some Day总有一天

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.

两个旅行者在营地闲聊到很晚，透过旁边的相思木，依稀可以看到月亮渐渐沉了下去。米切尔的同伴刚刚讲完一个相当生动的故事，但似乎并未引起米切尔的兴趣；他今晚有点多愁善感。

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

他吸了几口烟，沉思了一会儿，然后说：

“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！我曾经很是喜欢一个姑娘。她到我们家找我姐姐。在我心中，她是世上最棒的小姑娘，也可以说是最漂亮的。那年，她才18岁，个子还不到我的肩膀，蓝蓝的大眼睛天下无双，她那及膝的秀发，你用两只手都握不过来——光泽发亮——她的肌肤就像百合和玫瑰花。

“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.

“当然，我从未奢望她会留意我这样一个粗俗、丑陋又无知的傻瓜，我总是和她尽量保持距离，在她面前也总是很拘谨，因为不想让别人看出来我喜欢她；他们会嘲笑我，而她没准儿会比其他人嘲笑得更厉害。但她却走过来跟我说话，在桌子旁挨着我坐；但我想，那是她的性格使然，那是她可怜我这个粗俗、笨拙的家伙。我打心底爱她，真的，心里只要想想她是我的乡下女人，我就很自豪。但我没有让她知道，我深信，那样只会招来她的嘲笑。

“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.

“就这样，直到昆士兰边境附近一个大农场给了一个机会，让我在那儿工作两三年，我得去，因为手头拮据，我得想办法活下来；而且我想要逃离，待在她身边只会让我痛苦。”

“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，他们都到车站为我送行——我深爱的那个姑娘也来了。当火车准备开动时，她远远地，站在黑漆漆的站台的尾端，孤身一人，姐姐一直用胳膊肘捅我，朝我使眼色，让我过去，但我不明白她的用意。

At last she said;

最后她说：

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

“‘去跟她说话啊，你个笨蛋； 去，跟伊迪道个别。’”

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

“于是我走到她面前，这时，其他人都转过身来——”

“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。再见，布朗小姐。’我边说边伸出手，‘我估计我们不会再见了，天知道我什么时候回来。谢谢你来为我送行。’”

“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.”

“就在那当儿，她转过脸朝向灯光，我看到她在哭泣。她整个人都在颤抖。突然间她说，‘杰克！杰克！’，就像那样，然后张开双臂，就像这样。”

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.

米切尔的声音像变了个人似的，他的同伴抬头看他。米切尔表情一脸严肃，眼睛紧紧盯着火苗。

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

“我猜，然后你给了她一个大大的拥抱，并吻了她吧？”他的同伴问道。

“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，”

“应该吧。”米切尔显得有点不自在。“作为一个男人，有些事，不能随便开玩笑的……行了，我们还是烧点水，喝杯茶，就睡吧。”

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

“我想，”喝茶的时候，米切尔的同伴说，“我想，你总有一天会回去，然后和她结婚吧？”

“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！”

“总有一天！是呀；看起来是这样，对吧？我们都说，‘总有一天’。十年前我就说过，可看看我现在的样子。我已经在外飘荡五年了，过去两年一直没停歇，这样的日子似乎无法摆脱，除非我永远离开，而我又得到什么了？ 我想回家结婚，可我现在这样子，身无分文，衣衫褴褛，没希望改变现状。我发过誓，攒不到钱是不会回去的，现在这样，更回不去了；但是，能挣到钱的日子已经过去了。看看那靴子！如果我们在几个移民集聚区跑来跑去讨生活，很可能被人们当成流浪汉和乞丐；可这又有什么区别呢？我为我过去的愚蠢付出了代价。现在为了填饱肚子得四处流浪，除了流浪，还是流浪，流浪到对一切都无所谓且又脏又老的那一天；流浪到对一切更无所谓、更脏更老的那一天；流浪到你习惯了这里的沙尘、沙漠、炎热、苍蝇、蚊子；流浪到就像阉牛一样，抛却一切抱负和希望，满足于像狗一样的畜生生活；什么时候行囊成为身体的一部分就好了。没了它，你会失落、会不安，还会一身轻，也压根儿不会在乎能不能再找到份工作或者活得像个基督徒；你得一直这样，一直流浪，直到你的心态跟阉牛一样，不再像人那样抱有希望。谁在乎呢？要是昨天我们没发现这条路，我们这会儿已经葬身丛林、尸体都已经腐烂了吧。也没人比我们更明智——或更遗憾吧，谁知道呢？可能，最终我们的尸体会被人发现，但都不值得他们特地去上报。该死的世界！”

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，他猛抽了几口烟；接着他把烟管里的烟灰磕出来，边摸索着装上烟丝，边叹了口气说道：

“‘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，我今晚情绪不佳。我一直在想……我想，我们还是睡吧，老伙计；明天还有很长的路要走。”

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.

他们在地上展开包袱，躺了下来，把自己裹进毯子里。米切尔用一块白棉布盖在脸上，因为月光和风让他难以入睡。

（译者单位：扬州中学）

1 be gone on sb迷恋（某人），倾心于（某人）。 2 hard up拮据的，手头紧的。