月亮和六便士 第五十二章(2)

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There was a little stream that ran not far away, in which he bathed, and down this on occasion would come a shoal of fish. 离他住的地方不远有一条小河，他经常在里面洗澡。有时候河水里有鱼群出现，

Then the natives would assemble with spears, and with much shouting would transfix the great startled things as they hurried down to the sea. 土人们便拿着长矛从各处走来，大吵大嚷地把正向海里游去的受惊的大鱼叉上来。

Sometimes Strickland would go down to the reef, and come back with a basket of small, coloured fish that Ata would fry in cocoa-nut oil, or with a lobster¹; 思特里克兰德有时候也到海滩上去，回来的时候总带来一筐各种颜色的小鱼。爱塔用椰子油把鱼炸了，有时还配上一只大海虾，

and sometimes she would make a savoury dish of the great land-crabs that scuttled² away under your feet. 另外她还常常给他做一盘味道鲜美的螃蟹，这种螃蟹在脚底下爬来爬去，一伸手就可以捉住。

Up the mountain were wild-orange trees, 山上面长着野桔子树；

and now and then Ata would go with two or three women from the village and return laden³ with the green, sweet, luscious⁴ fruit. 爱塔偶然同村子里两三个女伴上山去，总是满载而归，带回许多芬芳甘美的绿色小桔子。

Then the cocoa-nuts would be ripe for picking, 不久以后，椰子成熟，就该到采摘的时候了。

and her cousins (like all the natives, Ata had a host of relatives) would swarm⁵ up the trees and throw down the big ripe nuts. 爱塔的表兄表弟、堂兄堂弟（像所有的土人一样，她的亲戚数也数不过来）成群结队地爬到树上去，把成熟的大椰子扔下来。

They split them open and put them in the sun to dry. 他们把椰子剖开，放在太阳底下晒。

Then they cut out the copra and put it into sacks, 晒干以后就把椰肉取出来，装在口袋里。

and the women would carry it down to the trader at the village by the lagoon⁶, 妇女们把一袋袋的椰肉运到咸水湖附近一个村落的贸易商人那里，

and he would give in exchange for it rice and soap and tinned meat and a little money. 换回来大米、肥皂、罐头肉和一点点儿钱。

Sometimes there would be a feast in the neighbourhood, and a pig would be killed. 有时候邻村有什么庆贺宴会，就要杀猪。

Then they would go and eat themselves sick, and dance, and sing hymns⁷. 附近的人蜂拥到那里，又是跳舞，又是唱赞美诗，大吃大喝一顿，吃得人人都快要呕吐了。

But the house was a long way from the village, and the Tahitians are lazy. 但是他们的房子离附近的村子很远，塔希提的人是不喜欢活动的。

They love to travel and they love to gossip, but they do not care to walk, and for weeks at a time Strickland and Ata lived alone. 他们喜欢旅行，喜欢闲聊天，就是不喜欢走路。有时候一连几个星期也没有人到思特里克兰德同爱塔家里来。

He painted and he read, and in the evening, when it was dark, they sat together on the verandah, smoking and looking at the night. 思特里克兰德画画儿、看书，天黑了以后，就同爱塔一起坐在凉台上，一边抽烟一边望着天空。

Then Ata had a baby, and the old woman who came up to help her through her trouble stayed on. 后来爱塔给他生了一个孩子。生孩子的时候来服侍她的一个老婆婆待下来，一直也没有走。

Presently the granddaughter of the old woman came to stay with her, and then a youth appeared— 不久，老婆婆的一个孙女也来同他们住在一起，后来又来了个小伙子——

no one quite knew where from or to whom he belonged— 谁也不清楚这个人从哪儿来，同哪个人有亲属关系——，

but he settled down with them in a happy-go-lucky way, and they all lived together. 他也毫无牵挂地在这里落了户。就这样他们逐渐成了个大家庭。

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