Enter Mitchell恩特爾·米切爾

The Western train had just arrived at Redfern railway-station with a lot of ordinary passengers and one swagman1.

西方號列車剛剛抵達(dá)雷德芬火車站，車上有很多普通乘客，還有一個(gè)流浪漢。

He was short， and stout， and bow-legged， and freckled， and sandy. He had red hair and small， twinkling， grey eyes， and—what often goes with such things—the expression of a born comedian. He was dressed in a ragged， well-washed print shirt， an old black waistcoat with a calico back， a pair of cloudy moleskins patched at the knees and held up by a plaited greenhide belt buckled loosely round his hips， a pair of well-worn， fuzzy blucher boots2， and a soft felt hat， green with age， and with no brim worth mentioning， and no crown to speak of. He swung a swag on to the platform， shouldered it， pulled out a billy3 and water-bag， and then went to a dog-box in the break van.

他身材矮小，敦實(shí)，羅圈腿，滿臉雀斑，沙色皮膚。他一頭紅發(fā)，還有一雙眨巴著的灰色小眼睛。所有這些給了他一幅天生喜劇演員的表情。他身著一件破舊干凈的印花襯衫，套一件背后拼接白布的老舊黑色馬甲，下身穿一條褪色的工裝褲，膝蓋處打著補(bǔ)丁，一條生牛皮編織腰帶松松垮垮地掛在胯上。腳穿一雙磨舊、毛邊翻卷的布魯徹爾靴子，頭戴一頂軟氈帽，舊得泛綠，幾乎沒有帽檐，更看不見帽頂。他把行包甩到站臺(tái)上，扛起來，從里面扯出一只鐵皮罐和一個(gè)水袋，然后朝火車的運(yùn)狗車廂走去。

Five minutes later he appeared on the edge of the cab-platform， with an anxious-looking cattle-dog crouching4 against his legs， and one end of the chain in his hand.

五分鐘后，他出現(xiàn)在出租車站臺(tái)邊緣，手里牽著狗鏈，一只神情焦慮的牧牛犬蜷縮在他的腿邊。

He eased down the swag against a post， turned his face to the city， tilted his hat forward， and scratched the well-developed back of his head with a little finger.

他倚著柱子緩緩卸下行包，轉(zhuǎn)身向面城區(qū)，把帽子往前拉了拉，用小拇指撓他那飽滿的后腦勺。

He seemed undecided what track to take.

他似乎拿不定主意該走哪條路。

‘Cab， sir！’

“打車嗎，先生？”

The swagman turned slowly and regarded cabby with a quiet grin.

這個(gè)流浪漢慢慢轉(zhuǎn)過身來，沖著出租車司機(jī)淡然一笑。

‘Now， do I look as if I want a cab？’

“哦，您瞧我像要打車的人嗎？”

‘Well， why not？ No harm， anyway—I thought you might want a cab.’

“呃，為什么不呢？反正也沒壞處——我以為您想要打車?！?/p>

Swaggy scratched his head， reflectively.

流浪漢若有所思地?fù)蠐项^。

‘Well，’ he said， ‘you’re the first man that has thought so these ten years. What do I want with a cab？’

“好吧，”他說，“這十年來，您還是第一個(gè)這么想的人?？晌腋蓡岽蜍嚹?？”

‘To go where you’re going’ of course.’

“當(dāng)然是去您要去的地方啊。”

‘Do I look knocked up？’

“您瞧我是走不動(dòng)了嗎？”

‘I didn’t say you did.’

“我可沒這么說?！?/p>

‘And I didn’t say you said I did... Now， I’ve been on the track this five years. I’ve tramped two thousan’ miles since last Chris’mas， and I don’t see why I can’t tramp the last mile. Do you think my old dog wants a cab？’

“我也沒說您是這么看的……聽著，這五年來我一直在路上。去年圣誕節(jié)以來，我已經(jīng)走過兩千英里，所以我沒有理由不走完這最后一英里。您是覺得我這條老狗需要坐出租車嗎？”

The dog shivered and whimpered; he seemed to want to get away from the crowd.

那只狗全身發(fā)抖，發(fā)出嗚咽的聲音，似乎想遠(yuǎn)離人群。

‘But then， you see， you ain’t going to carry that swag through the streets， are you？’ asked the cabman.

“可是，您瞧，您總不能扛著那個(gè)行包穿街過巷吧？”司機(jī)問道。

‘Why not？ Who’ll stop me？ There ain’t no law agin it， I b’lieve？’

“為什么不能呢？誰會(huì)攔我？我想，沒有哪條法律禁止吧？”

‘But then， you see， it don’t look well， you know.’

“可是，您瞧，那樣做不太好看，對吧？?！?/p>

‘Ah！ I thought we’d get to it at last.’

“啊！我早就料到，我們最后會(huì)說到這個(gè)?！?/p>

The traveller up-ended his bluey against his knee， gave it an affectionate pat， and then straightened himself up and looked fixedly at the cabman.

流浪漢把行包豎起來靠著膝蓋，親切地拍了拍它，然后挺直身子，盯著出租車司機(jī)。

‘Now， look here！’ he said， sternly and impressively， ‘can you see anything wrong with that old swag o’ mine？’

“您且瞧好了！”他神色一凜，不容置疑地喝道，“這個(gè)舊行包可有哪點(diǎn)不入您的眼？”

It was a stout， dumpy swag， with a red blanket outside， patched with blue， and the edge of a blue blanket showing in the inner rings at the end.

這是個(gè)矮而厚實(shí)的行包，外面裹著一條紅毯，打著藍(lán)色補(bǔ)丁，行包底端的內(nèi)層現(xiàn)出一條藍(lán)毯邊。

The swag might have been newer; it might have been cleaner; it might have been hooped with decent straps， instead of bits of clothes-line and greenhide—but otherwise there was nothing the matter with it， as swags go.

這個(gè)行包或許可以更新一些，更干凈一些，或許可以用像樣的皮帶捆扎，而不是用幾段晾衣繩和生牛皮繩——但除此之外，作為行包它并沒有什么毛病。

‘I’ve humped that old swag for years，’ continued the bushman; ‘I’ve carried that old swag thousands of miles—as that old dog knows—an’ no one ever bothered about the look of it， or of me， or of my old dog， neither; and do you think I’m going to be ashamed of that old swag， for a cabby or anyone else？

“這個(gè)舊行包我背好多年了?！绷骼藵h接著說道，“我背著它走了成千上萬英里——我的老狗知道——從來就沒人在意它的樣子，也沒人在意我的樣子和我這條老狗的樣子；那么，您覺得我會(huì)因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)出租司機(jī)或其他什么人說了什么，就對這個(gè)舊行包感到難為情嗎？

Do you think I’m going to study anybody’s feelings？

您覺得我會(huì)琢磨別人的感受嗎？

No one ever studied mine！

從來沒有人關(guān)注過我的感受！

I’m in two minds to summon you for using insulting language towards me！’

我在考慮，要不要告您辱罵我！”

He lifted the swag by the twisted towel which served for a shoulder-strap， swung it into the cab， got in himself and hauled the dog after him.

他抓住擰成一條用作肩帶的毛巾，拎起行李，把它扔進(jìn)車，自己也上了車，身后還拽著狗。

‘You can drive me somewhere where I can leave my swag and dog while I get some decent clothes to see a tailor in，’ he said to the cabman. ‘My old dog ain’t used to cabs， you see.’

“您把我拉去一個(gè)地方，讓我把行包和狗安頓好，我再去弄身像樣的衣服穿上去見裁縫?！彼麑λ緳C(jī)說?！澳疲业睦瞎凡涣?xí)慣坐出租。”

Then he added， reflectively： ‘I drove a cab myself， once， for five years in Sydney.’

接著，他又若有所思地補(bǔ)充道：“我自己也開出租，在悉尼，開過五年?！?/p>

（譯者單位：江西師范大學(xué)外國語學(xué)院）

1 swagman流浪漢，四處打短工的人。" 2 blucher boots一種高筒靴。" 3 billy鐵鍋或鐵罐（露營時(shí)燒水用）。

4 crouch蜷伏。