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One day Mrs. Lawson put on her sun-bonnet, with a curtain that came half-way down her back, and went to the grass-plat to look for eggs, and Harry14 went with her. All of a sudden she started up with a great black snake coiled round her arm. Though Harry was a slapdash little fellow, he could be cool enough sometimes. The instant he saw what was the matter he darted15 at the snake before it could bite, just like a snake when it springs, as stiff and as straight as an arrow, and caught it round the throat so tightly with both hands, that it could not put its horrid16 fangs17 either into them or into his mother’s arm. Mrs. Lawson didn’t shriek18, but stood quite still (though her face was very white, both for Harry’s sake and her own), so that the snake might not get a chance to wriggle19 free: it was lashing20 about with its nasty tail, and swelling21 out as if it wanted to burst itself. Harry knew that Sydney was taking an after-breakfast pipe on the verandah, and shouted as loudly as the throttling22 he was giving the snake would let him:
54
“Syd, there’s a beastly snake on mamma! I’ve grabbed him.”
All the Lawsons could put this and that together; so, before he rushed to the rescue, Sydney dashed into the keeping-room for the carving-knife. He was not long about it.
“Hold on like grim death,” he said to Harry, when he ran down; and then he sliced through the snake just under Harry’s fingers. The head part gave such a jump that, after all, the horrid fangs nearly went into Mrs. Lawson’s arm, but Harry managed to keep hold of the slippery thing until he could fling it ever so far off; whilst the headless part untwined from his mother’s arm, and writhed23 about on the ground in a very uncanny fashion. When the head had been smashed with a stone, and kicked up to a great red boil of an ant-hill, and the tail dragged after it, for the ants to pick the bones, both parts still kept twitching24 every now and then.
55
“Snakes can’t die outright25, you know, until after sundown.” said Harry.
“Confound the beast! He’s made me break my pipe,” said Sydney.
But though they talked in that cool way, they had both hugged their mother like boa-constrictors when she was safe from the black snake; and when she gave over kissing Harry for a minute, Sydney had clapped him on the back, and said that he was proud to have a game little fellow like that for a brother. Harry scarcely knew whether he was more pleased by the kissing or the clapping—although he did not quite relish26 being called a little fellow.
56
Black snakes, and all kinds of snakes, swarmed27 about Wonga-Wonga in warm weather. In cold weather—such cold weather, that is, as they have in Australia—the snakes lie up in holes. They are not very brisk when they first come out in spring. They seem to be rubbing their eyes, so to speak, after their long sleep; but perhaps they are most dangerous then, because they are more likely to let you tread on them, instead of getting out of your way, as they are generally glad enough to do.
57
One bright spring morning in September (seasons are turned topsy-turvy, you know, in Australia), Donald had gone down with John Jones’s little boy to pull up some night lines that Harry and Donald had set in the creek28, Harry was too lazy to turn out that morning, so Donald had got little Johnny Jones to go with him. Johnny had no shoes or stockings on, and as he ran to pull one of the lines up, he set his bare foot on a sluggish29 snake, coiled up like a lady’s back-hair, in a hollow of a black log he was clambering over. Up came the flat head and bit Johnny’s great toe, and off the snake wriggled30. Poor little Johnny was dreadfully scared, but Donald made him sit down on the log, and tied one of the fishing lines so tightly round the toe that it almost cut to the bone. Then Donald went down on his knees, and sucked the poison out as well as he could, and spat31 it out on the ground. What with the bite, and the fright, and the tight string, Johnny could not manage to walk. So Donald took him up on his back like a sack, and trotted32 off to the house with him, and told Mr. Lawson about him. Mr. Lawson at once cut out the bitten part with a sharp pen-knife, and blazed some gunpowder33 in the hollow, and, except that he had to limp a little for a day or two, Johnny came to no harm. But if it had not been for Donald, very likely his leg would have swelled34 up, and he would have grown sleepy, and perhaps died, long before the doctor could have been fetched from Jerry’s Town; and when the doctor had come, perhaps he would not have been able to do any good. If “Old Cranky” or any of the black fellows had been on the station, they might have cured Johnny perhaps.
58
Old Cranky was a half-crazy, transported poacher, whom the squatters paid to wander about their runs, killing35 dingoes. Though he was half-crazy, he was sharp enough in doing that; and he was a snake-tamer too. He used to carry little ones about in his cabbage-tree hat, and trouser-pockets, and the bosom36 of his blue blouse, and pull out a bundle of them every now and then like a pocket-handkerchief. He left the fangs in them, and they sometimes bit him, but he had found out something that always cured him at any rate; and the blacks have got something of the same kind.
59
Some people say that when a stump-lizard has been bitten in a fight with a snake, it eats the leaves of a little herb that prevents the poison from taking effect, and that the blacks and snake-charmers have found out what the herb is. The stump-lizard is a thick spotted37 brown and blue thing that is very fond of killing snakes; though it is so lazy generally, that when it thinks you want to hurt it, it won’t take the trouble to run away, but only turns round and makes ugly faces at you. To be sure it can give you a nasty bite if you do lay hold of it. The big-headed laughing jackass is very fond, too, of stabbing snakes and breaking their backs with its strong beak38. It seems to enjoy the jobbing job, as if it thought that it was only serving them out fairly for eating birds and birds’ eggs. One day Donald shot a snake that was climbing up a tree to a bird’s-nest; and another day he and Harry came upon one that was mesmerizing39 a lot of little diamond sparrows. Half of it was coiled up like a corkscrew, and the rest went backwards40 and forwards, like a boat’s tiller when no one has got hold of it; and the little birds kept on coming nearer and nearer, as if they were being drawn41 into its open mouth. When Harry shied a stick and frightened them away, the snake looked round at him quite savagely42 before it rustled43 off.
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There were plenty of snakes, as I have said, about Wonga-Wonga. Great black-backed and yellow-backed fellows crawled into the huts sometimes when the men were away, and coiled themselves up in the boots and blankets; and little lithe44 mud-brown whip-snakes used to pop out their wicked-looking little heads between the planks45 of the wool-shed, and the house verandah, and the weather-boards of the barn, and then pop in again before a gun could be pointed at them. Whilst the snakes were about, too, it was a hazardous46 thing to pull a log out of the wood-heap. You might have fancied that Harry and Donald saw enough snakes to keep them from wanting to hear about any more, but Old Cranky’s snake stories fascinated them as the snakes fascinate the little birds. He told them about the death-adder, with its feet like a lizard’s, and its sting like a wasp’s, besides the venomous fangs in its thick head; and of the huge boas that he had seen “ever so far up country,” joining the trees together with great cat’s cradles. There is a stumpy snake in Australia that is, perhaps, particularly dangerous, because it lies still to be trodden on; and there is, also, a small python; and out of these men like Old Cranky have made up their death-adders and their big boas. When the boys asked him to let them get a peep at these hideous47 creatures, he always put them off with the excuse that there were none for miles thereabouts; but he did show them something in the snake line that they did not forget in a hurry.
61
From wandering about the country so much alone, and not being afraid of snakes, Old Cranky knew of places that even the blacks did not know of. It was for one of these that he, and the boys, and his gingerbread kangaroo-bitch, and a shaggy old mongrel, with an ear and a half and a quarter of a tail, that could find game like a pointer and bring it in like a retriever, started one summer’s day. The old man made a great mystery of what he was going to show the boys. Except that he took them by short cuts that they were not familiar with, they saw nothing remarkable48 until they came to the brim of a deep little basin, with a big water-hole fringed with thick scrub at the bottom. They had not gone many steps down the side before Lag—that was the mongrel’s name—lifted up his fore-foot.
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“What’s the dog pointing at?” asked Harry.
“Quail, I suppose?” said Donald.
“No, it ain’t quail,” Old Cranky answered with a grin. “Can’t ye smell ’em? Well, ye’ll see ’em soon. Keep close ahind me. Don’t ye tread but jest where I goes.”
63
They did see them soon. It was snakes the old man meant. He had brought them to what he called the Snakes’ Corrobboree. There they were in scores: snakes with backs like Spanish leather, and snakes with backs like a gaudy-patterned carpet; snakes with white china bellies49 and with striped china bellies; snakes with verdigrised-copper bellies, and with scoured-copper bellies; snakes of all colours and all sizes, up to seven feet or so; snakes wriggling50 like eels51 through the water, and floating on it like straight sticks; snakes undulating through the scrub; snakes basking52 on dry ground, curled up like coils of rope, or littered about like black cravats53 untidily thrown down upon the floor; snakes twined round tree-poles like variegated54 creepers, and snakes dangling55 their heads from grey branches like waving clusters of poisonous fruit.
“THE SNAKES CORROBBOREE.”
“I’ll go bail56 ye niver see the like of that afore,” said Old Cranky. “Ain’t it a pretty sight? I niver showed it to nobody afore. I likes to come an’ watch ’em by myself. Me an’ the dog, that is. Lag likes it ’most as well as me. Fan, there, is afeard. She stayed outside, ye see.”
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The boys felt almost as afraid of Lag and Old Cranky as they were of the snakes when they heard of such peculiar57 tastes. Heartily58 glad were they when they joined the kangaroo-bitch outside the horrible basin, and they felt relieved, too, when they reached a track they knew, and the crazy old snake-charmer slouched off on his way to the next station with his dogs behind him.
Tired as they were with their long walk when they got back to Wonga-Wonga, Harry and Donald did not have “pleasant dreams and sweet repose” that night. They both of them dreamt of the Snakes’ Corrobboree; and, I scarcely need say, they never took the trouble to find their way to it again.
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1
slovenly
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| adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的 | |
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pumpkin
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| n.南瓜 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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hacked
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| 生气 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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pumpkins
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| n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊 | |
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marrows
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| n.骨髓（marrow的复数形式） | |
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bulge
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| n.突出，膨胀，激增；vt.突出，膨胀 | |
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13
ripen
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| vt.使成熟；vi.成熟 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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15
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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17
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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21
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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throttling
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| v.扼杀( throttle的现在分词 )；勒死；使窒息；压制 | |
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writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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27
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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28
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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31
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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38
beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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39
mesmerizing
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| adj.有吸引力的，有魅力的v.使入迷( mesmerize的现在分词 ) | |
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40
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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41
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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42
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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43
rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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45
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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46
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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47
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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48
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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49
bellies
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| n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的 | |
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50
wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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51
eels
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| abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system） | |
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52
basking
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| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
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53
cravats
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| n.（系在衬衫衣领里面的）男式围巾( cravat的名词复数 ) | |
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54
variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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55
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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56
bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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57
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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