My swimming also amused them. They saw something very comical and unnatural2 in my movements, and I often caught them imitating me. They seemed to expect me to sink every moment, and never went very far from me in case of accidents.
One morning we swam right across the billabong to the “nuzzer side,” as Bett-Bett called it, and there I noticed a man’s tracks on the bank, and asked whose they were; for of course I did not recognize them. To my surprise the lubras burst into shrieks3 of laughter.
“Him Maluka!” they shouted in delight; “him track belonga Maluka; him bin4 bogey last night.” Then Bett-Bett screamed to the lubras on the opposite bank—
“Missus no more savey track belonga Boss.”
It was the best joke they had ever heard—a woman who did not know her own husband’s tracks! I felt very small indeed, and as soon as possible went back to the house and breakfast.
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We were going to have fowls5 for dinner, which always meant great fun for the blacks. The whole camp generally appeared with sticks and stones, and when the cook had pointed6 out which fowls were to be caught, a most exciting chase took place. Off the birds went at the first alarm, followed by a shrieking7, yelling crowd, flying over and under everything, and dodging8 round corners, till they were at last run down. I tried often to prevent it, but no matter how carefully the birds were shut up over night, they always managed to get out. The blacks enjoyed the chase so thoroughly9 that I suspect the fowls were assisted in their escape. Bett-Bett and Sue were of course in the worst of it this day, and by some mishap10 a stone, meant for one of the fowls, struck Sue on the front legs. She ran yelping11 and limping to Bett-Bett, and then I heard shrieks of—
“Missus! Missus! Sue bin break him arm. Stone bin kill him,” and they both appeared at the door. I took the poor little dog, and found it was only too true; one of her arms—as the blacks insist on calling the front legs—was hanging limp and broken. I bound it up as well as I could, and Bett-Bett cried piteously because I hurt the little creature.
When everything was made quite comfortable, she took Sue and sat nursing and crooning over her all the morning.
In the afternoon the Maluka and I were starting out for a ride, when Bett-Bett appeared with the lubras.
They were going to travel “per boot” or on foot. Slung12 across Bett-Bett’s back was a most ingenious sack-like affair, and from it peeped Sue’s comical little face; for Bett-Bett could not bear either to leave her at home, or to see her limping about.
We were only going about three miles, and as it was too rough and too hot to travel quickly, the lubras kept up with us easily. I noticed that Murraweedbee was with them, and was still dragging her branch. I asked her if she had seen anything of her husband, and she said— “You eye. Him Monkey longa Willeroo.”
Then I was told that Murraweedbee was really our Big Jack13’s lubra, but that Monkey had carried her off, the day that we had found Bett-Bett. Monkey had been very cruel to her, and so she had watched her chance and run back to Jack. It was a most interesting love-story, and the exciting part was that Monkey was supposed to be somewhere rather near. Suspicious tracks had been seen. When we arrived at the Warlock Ponds—our destination—we found that some of the homestead blacks were there—all lubras, gathering14 lily-roots for their husbands’ supper.
When lubras go “looking out lily-root,” as they call it, they take with them tiny little wooden canoes, about two feet long, called coolamuns. They leave these floating about on the top of the water, while they themselves drop down to the bottom for the bulbs. As soon as their hands are full, they come up again, and putting the roots into the little vessels15, disappear for more.
The Warlocks are always very beautiful ponds, all fringed round with pandanus palms, and dotted everywhere with magnificent purple waterlilies, but this day they looked like a peep into fairyland. As I sat on my horse looking at it, I thought I had never seen anything prettier than the little, dainty, rocking canoes, sailing among the blossoms, as the bobbing, curly, black heads of the lubras appeared and disappeared.
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When the lubras saw us, they swam over, pushing the coolamuns before them, and as they came nearer I saw that in two of them were wee black piccaninnies; for a coolamun may be either a cradle or a tucker basket. There is no fear of their upsetting, for they are beautifully balanced, and even on land are very hard to overturn; besides, if the baby did scramble16 out, it would not matter, for most likely it would only swim about till its mother came up. I think if I were a baby, I would like to lie in my little canoe, as it rocked and danced among the lilies.
Suddenly Bett-Bett gave the alarm, and the air was filled with earsplitting shrieks and yells, as every one pointed to a nigger’s tracks, and said they were a Willeroo’s, and that he was running quickly. Murraweedbee pushed forward to see, and then giving a yell of “Monkey!” started for the homestead like an arrow from a bow, the branch bobbing and dancing and leaping behind her.
It looked as though an explosion of dynamite17 had taken place, for every one, seizing the nearest coolamun or tucker basket, ran helter-skelter after her. Only Bett-Bett and a poor blind lubra, “Lose-’em Eye,” as she was called, stayed behind. Bett-Bett preferred white folk and revolvers when Willeroos were about; perhaps she was also thinking of poor Sue’s foot.
We started for home with Bett-Bett and Lose-’em Eye between the horses for safety. At the creek19 a valiant20 army met us, setting out to overtake and conquer Monkey. It was headed by old Jimmy, who had borrowed an old rusty21 revolver, and was full of courage to the finger-tips. He also had old Nellie in tow, to show where the tracks had been seen.
About sundown the valiant army returned, still thirsting for Monkey’s blood; for although they followed him a long way, his tracks were always new, and running westward22. He evidently was doing a quick passage home.
After much excitement we were of course told most awful stories of Willeroos, particularly of Monkey, and Murraweedbee was the heroine of the hour.
Bett-Bett said that once she had been caught by them with some lubras and piccaninnies, and all the lubras said they remembered it well. It was a fearful tale, and a fearful experience. They were made to travel very quickly because of pursuit, and at supper time there was no tucker, so the Willeroos killed some of the piccaninnies and ate them, and then went to sleep. Fortunately in the morning some stockmen, who had been following the tracks, rode into the camp, and the Willeroos took to their heels, and that time the Roper River lubras escaped, Bett-Bett among them.
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I asked her how it had happened that she had not been killed and eaten, and she answered with a chuckle—
“Me too muchee all day bone fellow”—she had evidently not been worth eating, when fatter piccaninnies were about! “Me all day bone fellow,” she repeated, holding out a thin little arm. She seemed to think she had been very clever in being thin, and she certainly had been fortunate!
Poor little mite18! she had seen some fearful doings in her short life.
When I asked her if she had eaten any of these piccaninnies, she said that the blackfellows had not left any for her. “Blackfellow bin finissem, Missus,” was all she said, and I don’t believe she would have refused to have eaten her share.
She lay for a while looking up at the sky, and then changed the conversation by saying—
“Missus, I think big-fellow blackfellow close up finissem, that one moon.”
“What?” I said, looking at the thin little strip of new moon.
“I think big-fellow blackfellow close up finissem, that one moon,” she repeated, jerking her voice, as she jerked her finger, towards it,
“Whatever are you talking about, Bett-Bett?” I asked.
She sat up and looked at me in surprise, and asked what did happen to the moon if a “big-fellow, big-fellow blackfellow”—a giant, I suppose—didn’t cut it up to make the stars? All the lubras sat up too, and agreed with her, saying, “Straightfellow, Missus.” Even Sue joined in the conversation, but perhaps that was because some one had planted an enthusiastic elbow on her tail.
“Me plenty savey,” said Bett-Bett, lying down again. Then she told me that away out east there is a beautiful country, where a big tribe of moons live, hundreds of them. They are very silly creatures, and will wander about in the sky alone—you never see two moons at once, you know! Whenever a new moon wanders into the west—she called a full moon a new one—a great big giant who lives there, catches it and snips23 big pieces off and makes stars with them. Some of the moons get away before he can cut them all up, but this poor moon had been “close up finissem,” first thing.
“Spose me moon,” said Bett-Bett, “me stay in my country; me no more silly fellow.”
The suns live out east too, and are a very powerful tribe of “cheeky fellows.” Every day one of them goes straight across the sky, and nobody knows what happens to him. At least no lubra knows. Of course the wise men know everything.
I suggested that perhaps the sun went back at night, but the lubras said if he did everybody would see him, and so, I supposed, they would.
Stars are very frightened of the sun. They say he is a “cheeky fellow,” and will “round them up,” if he finds them in the sky; so they hide all day, and towards night send two or three of the bravest of them to peep out, and see if he is really gone.
“Look, Missus,” said Bett-Bett, pointing up at the sky. “Littlefellow star come on now. Him look this way. Him look that way. Him talk which way sun sit down,” and it seemed, as I watched, as if they really were peeping cautiously about. Suddenly raising her voice to its very highest and shrillest pitch, she called— “Sun bin go away alright.”
After she had called, a great number of stars came quickly one after the other, and she got very excited about it.
“Him bin hear me, Missus,” she cried. “Straightfellow! Him bin hear me.” After a long silence Bett-Bett said—“Might it God bin make star longa you country, Missus?”
I only said, “You eye, God bin make my star,” Long ago I had given up trying to make them understand anything, excepting that God was a great good Spirit, who was not afraid of the fiercest of Debbil-debbils, and would chase them away from any one if they would ask Him. I had made them understand that much, and after many months they were beginning to believe it. In my first experiences with them I had told them that God had made all things; and of course they had wanted to know how He made them, and what He had made them of. They assured me He had not made anything in the blackfellow’s country. The wise men had an explanation of how everything there had been made, but I knew nothing of God’s mysterious ways, and could explain nothing; so I decided24 to teach them first to believe in God Himself, and to let the other things alone.
Bett-Bett’s thoughts were evidently on those early lessons, for soon she asked why God had not made any “bush” in the white man’s country. A country without a “bush” was a constant puzzle to her. Old Goggle25 Eye had once gone a trip to a big town as “boy” with a mob of cattle, and had come back with the astonishing news that in the white man’s country there was no “bush,” only tracks and humpies.
Goggle Eye had gone to Western Australia in a steamer with these cattle, but had walked home, because, he said, the steamer had “Too muchee jump-up jump-up, too muchee jump-down jump-down; me all day barcoo” (sick).
Before Bett-Bett went to bed she once more repeated— “Blackfellow bin make this one mob star, Missus.” Poor mite! she had no idea that her “mob” and my “mob” were the same “mob.”
Rolly lingered behind every one, and asked if she might sleep under the verandah this night. Poor Rolly was often very ill, and then was very frightened of Debbil-debbils and liked to sleep near me. She said Debbil-debbils could not come near where I was, because “Bigfellow God all day look out longa you, Missus.” So, you see that after all my trouble in teaching them, I had given them the idea that I was God’s especial care.
It is very, very hard work to teach any blackfellow the truth of God’s goodness and love. They have no god of any sort themselves, and they cannot imagine one.
After our Willeroo scare we did not wander “out bush” at all, for two reasons. The fear of Monkey was upon us, and Sue’s foot needed rest.
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收听单词发音
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1
bogey
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| n.令人谈之变色之物；妖怪，幽灵 | |
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2
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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3
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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5
fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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6
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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7
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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8
dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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9
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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10
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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11
yelping
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
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12
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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13
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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14
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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15
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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16
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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17
dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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18
mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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19
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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20
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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21
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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22
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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23
snips
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| n.（剪金属板的）铁剪，铁铗；剪下之物( snip的名词复数 )；一点点；零星v.剪( snip的第三人称单数 ) | |
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24
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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25
goggle
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| n.瞪眼，转动眼珠，护目镜；v.瞪眼看，转眼珠 | |
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