【荆棘鸟】第六章 15

(She knew her son well enough to be convinced) that one word from her would bring him back, so she must not utter that word, ever. If the days were long and bitter with a sense of failure, she must bear it in silence. Paddy hadn't been the man of her choice, but a better man than Paddy never lived. She was one of those people whose feelings are so intense they become unbearable¹, unlivable, and her lesson had been a harsh one. For almost twenty-five years she had been crushing emotion out of existence, and she was convinced that in the end persistence² would succeed.

Life went on in the rhythmic³, endless cycle of the land; the following summer the rains came, not monsoonal⁴ but a by-product⁵ of them, filling the creek⁶ and the tanks, succoring⁷ the thirsting grass roots, sponging away the stealthy dust. Almost weeping in joy, the men went about the business of the patterned seasons, secure in the knowledge they would not have to handfeed the sheep. The grass had lasted just long enough, eked⁸ out by scrub-cutting from the more juicy trees; but it was not so on all the Gilly stations. How many stock a station carried depended entirely⁹ on the grazier running it. For its great size Drogheda was understocked, which meant the grass lasted just that much longer.

Lambing and the hectic¹⁰ weeks that followed it were busiest of all in the sheep calendar. Every lamb born had to be caught; its tail was ringed, its ear marked, and if it was a male not required for breeding it was also castrated. Filthy¹¹, abominable¹² work which soaked them to the skin with blood, for there was only one way to wade¹³ through thousands upon thousands of male lambs in the short time available. The testicles were popped out between the fingers and bitten off, spat¹⁴ on the ground. Circled by tin bands incapable¹⁵ of expanding, the tails of male and female lambs alike gradually lost their vital bloody¹⁶ supply, swelled¹⁷, withered¹⁸ and dropped off. These were the finest wool sheep in the world, raised on a scale unheard of in any other country, and with a paucity¹⁹ of manpower. Everything was geared to the perfect production of perfect wool. There was crutching²⁰; around the sheep's rear end the wool grew foul²¹ with excrement²², fly-blown, black and lumped together in what were called dags. This area had to be kept shaven close, or crutched²³. It was a minor²⁴ shearing²⁵ job but one far less pleasing, stinking²⁶ and fly-ridden, and it paid better rates. Then there was dipping: thousands upon thousands of bleating²⁷, leaping creatures were hounded and yanked through a maze²⁸ of runs, in and out of the phenyl dips which rid them of ticks, pests and vermin.