ANOTHER OF MITCHELL'S PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

 “I'll get down among the cockies along the Lachlan, or some of these rivers,” said Mitchell, throwing down his swag beneath a big tree. “A man stands a better show down there. It's a mistake to come out back. I knocked around a good deal down there among the farms. Could always get plenty of tucker, and a job if I wanted it. One cocky I worked for wanted me to stay with him for good. Sorry I didn't. I'd have been better off now. I was treated more like one of the family, and there was a couple of good-looking daughters. One of them was clean gone on me. There are some grand girls down that way. I always got on well with the girls, because I could play the fiddle² and sing a bit. They'll be glad to see me when I get back there again, I know. I'll be all right—no more bother about tucker. I'll just let things slide as soon as I spot the house. I'll bet¹ my boots the kettle will be boiling, and everything in the house will be on the table before I'm there twenty minutes. And the girls will be running to meet the old cocky when he comes riding home at night, and they'll let down the sliprails, and ask him to guess 'who's up at our place?' Yes, I'll find a job with some old cocky, with a good-looking daughter or two. I'll get on ploughing if I can; that's the sort of work I like; best graft³ about a farm.

 

“By and by the cocky'll have a few sheep he wants shorn, and one day he'll say to me, 'Jack⁴, if you hear of a shearer⁶ knockin' round let me know—I've got a few sheep I want shore.'

 

“'How many have you got?' I'll say.

 

“'Oh, about fifteen hundred.'

 

“'And what d'you think of giving?'

 

“'Well, about twenty-five bob a hundred, but if a shearer sticks out for thirty, send him up to talk with me. I want to get 'em shore as soon as possible.'

 

“'It's all right,' I'll say, 'you needn't bother; I'll shear⁵ your sheep.'

 

“'Why,' he'll say, 'can you shear?'

 

“'Shear? Of course I can! I shore before you were born.' It won't matter if he's twice as old as me.

 

“So I'll shear his sheep and make a few pounds, and he'll be glad and all the more eager to keep me on, so's to always have someone to shear his sheep. But by and by I'll get tired of stopping in the one place and want to be on the move, so I'll tell him I'm going to leave.

 

“'Why, what do you want to go for?' he'll say, surprised, 'ain't you satisfied?'

 

“'Oh, yes, I'm satisfied, but I want a change.'

 

“'Oh, don't go,' he'll say; 'stop and we'll call it twenty-five bob a week.'

 

“But I'll tell him I'm off—wouldn't stay for a hundred when I'd made up my mind; so, when he sees he can't persuade me he'll get a bit stiff⁷ and say:

 

“'Well, what about that there girl? Are you goin' to go away and leave her like that?'

 

“'Why, what d'yer mean?' I'll say. 'Leave her like what?' I won't pretend to know what he's driving at.

 

“'Oh!' he'll say, 'you know very well what I mean. The question is: Are you going to marry the girl or not?'

 

“I'll see that things are gettin' a little warm and that I'm in a corner, so I'll say:

 

“'Why, I never thought about it. This is pretty sudden and out of the common, isn't it? I don't mind marrying the girl if she'll have me. Why! I haven't asked her yet!'

 

“'Well, look here,' he'll say, 'if you agree to marry the girl—and I'll make you marry her, any road—I'll give you that there farm over there and a couple of hundred to start on.'

 

“So, I'll marry her and settle down and be a cocky myself and if you ever happen to be knocking round there hard up, you needn't go short of tucker a week or two; but don't come knocking round the house when I'm not at home.”

1 bet   

v.打赌，以(与)...打赌；n.赌注，赌金；打赌

参考例句：

• I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说，你解决不了这个难题。
• I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。

2 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

3 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

4 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

5 shear   

n.修剪，剪下的东西，羊的一岁；vt.剪掉，割，剥夺；vi.修剪，切割，剥夺，穿越

参考例句：

• Every spring they shear off the sheep's wool and sell it.每年春天他们都要剪下羊毛去卖。
• In the Hebrides they shear their sheep later than anywhere else.在赫伯里兹，剪羊毛的时间比其他任何地方都要晚。

6 shearer   

n.剪羊毛的人；剪切机

参考例句：

• A bad shearer never had a good sickle. 拙匠无利器。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Eventually, Shearer lost faith, dropping him to the bench. 最终，希勒不再信任他，把他换下场。 来自互联网

7 stiff   

adj.严厉的，激烈的，硬的，僵直的，不灵活的

参考例句：

• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。
• You have to push on the handle to turn it,becanse it's very stiff.手柄很不灵活，你必须用力推才能转动它。