有一个传说,说的是有那么一只鸟儿,它一生只唱一次歌,那歌声比世上任何其他生灵的歌声都更加优美动听。从离开巢窝的那一刻起,它就在寻找着荆棘树,直到如愿以偿,才肯歇息下来。然后,它把自己的身体扎进最长、最尖的荆棘,在尖锐的枝条间放开了歌喉。在最后奄奄一息的时刻,它超脱了自身的痛苦,而那歌声竟然使云雀和夜莺都黯然失色。这是一支无比美好的歌,曲终而命竭。然而,整个世界都在静静地谛听着——因为最美好的东西只能用最深痛的巨创来换 取……这就是荆棘鸟的传说。

世界经典名著《荆棘鸟》是澳大利亚当代著名女作家Colleen Mccullough(考琳·麦卡洛,1937— )的长篇代表作之一,自1977年问世以来,迅速成为风靡全球的国际畅销小说,并先后被改编成影视剧,是20世纪80年代最佳畅销书之一。小说情节曲折生动,结构严密精巧,文笔清新婉丽,被誉为“澳大利亚的《飘》”。

小说进述的是克利里家族传奇式的家世史。故事开始于20世纪初叶,结束于 60年代末70年代初,从帕迪·克利里应无儿无女的姐姐贵夫人玛丽·卡森之召,携妻子和七个子女从新西兰迁居澳大利亚的德罗海达牧羊场,到帕迪惟一幸存的孙辈——才华横溢的演员朱丝婷(梅吉与相貌酷似拉尔夫神父的剪毛工卢克·奥尼尔结婚后所生的女儿)在遥远的异国他乡确定了自己的人生道路和爱情归宿,讲述了克利里家整整三代人的人生经历和情感历程,其中最主要的是女主人公梅吉与拉尔夫神父之间那场刻骨铭心的爱情。年富力强的神父拉尔夫一心向往罗马教廷的权力,但他却爱上了牧主克利里的女儿——美丽绝伦的少女梅吉,内心处于权力与爱情之间深刻的矛盾之中,从而引发出一连串感人至深的故事。

本文节选自该小说的第19章。

When Meggie came into the room 1)Cardinal Ralph hardly knew her. It was thirteen years since he had last seen her; she was fifty-three and he was seventy-one. Both of them had aged now. Her face hadn’t changed so much as settled, and into a mold unlike the one he had given her in his imagination. Substitute a 2)trenchant 3)incisiveness for sweetness, 4)a touch of 5)iron for softness; she resembled a vigorous, aging, 6)willful 7)martyr rather than the 8)resigned, contemplative saint of his dreams. Her beauty was as striking as ever, her eyes still that clear silvery grey, but both had hardened, and the once 9)vivid hair had faded to a 10)drab 11)beige. Most disconcerting of all, she wouldn’t look at him for long enough to satisfy his eager and loving curiosity. Unable to greet this Meggie naturally, he stiffly indicated a chair. “Please sit down.”

当梅吉走进房间时,拉尔夫红衣主教简直不认得她了。自他最后一次见到她,已过了13年;她已经53岁,而他已经71岁了。现在,他们两人都上了年纪。她的面容并没大变,只是随岁月“积淀”了下来,变成了并非他在想象中赋予她的那个样子。一种极为深邃的神态代替了甜美,几分刚强代替了温柔;她更像一位老而弥坚、一意孤行的殉道士,而非他心中那顺从静思的圣徒。她还是一如以往地美丽动人,她的双眼还是那种清澈的银灰色,但却都变得冷酷了;那曾经光亮的秀发已经褪色成暗哑的淡棕色。最令人尴尬不安的是,她不太愿意花上一定的时间把目光停留在他身上与他对视,枉他满心急切,尽是关爱和疑惑。他无法神态自若地迎接这个梅吉,只拘谨地指了指一把椅子。“请坐。”

“Thank you,” she said, equally 12)stilted. It was only when she was seated and he could gaze down upon her whole person that he noticed how visibly swollen her feet and ankles were. “Meggie! Have you flown all the way through from Australia without breaking your journey? What’s the matter?”

“谢谢你。”她说道,同样显得不自然。只有当她坐了下来,他能俯看到她整个人的时候,他才注意到她的脚和脚踝全都肿起来了。“梅吉!你是从澳大利亚一路飞过来,中途连歇都没歇吗?怎么回事?”

“Yes, I did fly straight through,” she said. “For the past twenty-nine hours I’ve been sitting in planes between 13)Gilly and Rome, with nothing to do except stare out the window at the clouds, and think.” Her voice was harsh, cold.

“是的,我是直飞过来的,”她说道,“在刚过去的29个小时里,我就一直坐在从基利到罗马的飞机里,除了看着窗外云彩左思右想之外,什么也没有做。”她那声音硬邦邦,冷冰冰的。

“What’s the matter?” he repeated impatiently, anxious and fearful. She lifted her gaze from her feet and looked at him steadily. There was something awful in her eyes; something so dark and chilling that the skin on the back of his neck 14)crawled and automatically he put his hand up to 15)stroke it.

“怎么回事?”他不耐烦地重复了一遍,又焦急又恐惧。她不再盯着自己的脚,抬起头,坚定地望着他。在她的眼睛里有某种可怕的东西——阴郁冰冷到让他觉得颈后直起鸡皮疙瘩,他下意识地抬起手摩挲颈后。