Tē 15 Chiong
15.1 La̍k goe̍h cha̍p-chhit yi boeh lī-khui
Ū chi̍t-tiuⁿ Hilda kià ê phe khǹg tī chá-chhan ê phâng-pôaⁿ. "A-pa chit lé-pài khì London, góa ē tī 6 goe̍h 17, pài-4 hit-kang khì lín hia. Lí tio̍h chún-pī hó, lán chiah thang chek-sî chhut-hoat. Góa bô-ài tī Wragby lōng-hùi sî-kan, hia chiâⁿ khó-phà. Góa khó-lêng ē seng tī Retford khì Colemans in tau keh chi̍t mê, pài-4 ē khì lín tau chia̍h-tàu. Án-ne lán tī ē-po͘ chia̍h-tê ê sî-kan koh chhut-hoat, àm-sî tō tòa tī Grantham. Hām Clifford kòe àm bô siáⁿ lō͘-iōng. I nā thó-ià lí lī-khui, án-ne i tian-tò bô hoaⁿ-hí."
Tō-sī án-ne! Yi koh tī kî-pôaⁿ téng hō͘ lâng tu̍h leh lin-long se̍h.
Clifford chiok chheh yi lī-khui, in-ūi yi nā bô tī leh, i ē kám-kak bô an-choân. Yi nā tī sin-piⁿ, m̄-chai siáⁿ lí-iû, i tō kám-kak an-choân, tō ē-tàng chū-chāi chò i ài chò ê tāi-chì. I chhiâng-chāi khì thòaⁿ-khang, ká náu-kin boeh kái-koat hiah-ê bô-kái ê būn-tê, khòaⁿ án-chóaⁿ iōng siōng keng-chè ê hong-hoat chhái-thòaⁿ, koh kā bē chhut-khì. I chai, i tio̍h chhōe-chhut hong-hoat, khòaⁿ án-chóaⁿ sú-iōng che thô͘-thòaⁿ, a̍h-sī án-chóaⁿ kā choán-piàn, tō m̄-bián bē, a̍h-sī m̄-bián hoân-ló bô siau-lō͘. M̄-koh, i nā iōng he lâi hoat-tiān, boeh án-chóaⁿ bē tiān a̍h-sī iōng tiān? Nā-sī kā choán-piàn chò iû, sêng-pún iáu siuⁿ koân, ki-su̍t mā siuⁿ ho̍k-cha̍p. Ūi tio̍h ûi-chhî kang-gia̍p ê sèⁿ-miā, tio̍h koh chhòng-chō sin ê kang-gia̍p, ná khí-siáu leh.
Che sī chi̍t-chân khí-siáu ê tāi-chì, su-iàu siáu-lâng lâi oân-sêng. Sī ah, i sió-khóa siáu-siáu, Connie án-ne siūⁿ. Yi kám-kak, i tùi thòaⁿ-khang ê jia̍t-chêng kap châi-chêng lóng piáu-bêng i teh khí-siáu, i ê lêng-kám pún-sin tō sī khí-siáu ê lêng-kám.
I tiōng-iàu ê kè-ōe lóng kā yi kóng, yi iōng sim-sek ê sim-chêng thiaⁿ, chhāi i khì kóng. Āu-lâi, kóng-ōe siaⁿ thêng-chí, i khì khui rajíoh, piàn kah sit-sîn, sit-sîn, m̄-koh i ê kè-ōe hián-jiân iáu-sī ná chi̍t-chióng bîn-bāng, kè-sio̍k tîⁿ tī i ê sim nih.
Chit-má ta̍k-àm i lóng hām Bolton Tt ī Eng-kok kun-jîn (Tommy) sńg ê pontoon pâi-á, su-iâⁿ 6 pence. Kāng-khoán, tī ī-pâi ê sî, i mā ē chìn-ji̍p bô-ì-sek ê chōng-thài, a̍h-sī ná sit-sîn teh chùi, a̍h-sī chùi kah sit-sîn, tō sī án-ne. Connie put-jím khòaⁿ i án-ne. M̄-koh yi nā khì khùn, i hām Bolton Tt tō kè-sio̍k poa̍h, it-ti̍t kàu pòaⁿ-mê 2 tiám a̍h 3 tiám, chū-chāi koh chhiong-moá hèng-chhù. Bolton Tt hèng chit-bī bē-su Clifford: sīm-chì koh-khah hèng, in-ūi yi chha-put-to lóng teh su.
Chi̍t-kang, yi kā Connie kóng: "Cha-àm góa su Clifford 23 shilling."
"I ū kā lí the̍h hit tiâu chîⁿ bô?" Connie tio̍h-kiaⁿ mn̄g yi.
"Tong-jiân lah, Hu-jîn! He sī sìn-iōng ê siàu!"
Connie tōa-tōa kā chek-pī, tùi in nn̄g-ê lóng chiâⁿ siū-khì. Kiat-kio̍k, Clifford Sià kā Bolton Tt ê nî-sin the̍h-koân 100 Eng-pōng, hō͘ yi thang iōng che poa̍h-kiáu. Tông-sî, chāi Connie khòaⁿ, Clifford chin-chiàⁿ bô io̍h kiù ah-lah.
Chòe-āu yi kā i kóng, 17 hit-ji̍t yi tit-boeh lī-khui ah.
"Cha̍p-chhit!" i kóng. "Iah lí tâng-sî ē tńg-lâi?"
"Siōng-bān kàu 7 goe̍h 20."
"Hó! 7 goe̍h 20."
I koài-kî koh sit-sîn khòaⁿ yi, ná gín-á ê bê-bâng, m̄-koh mā ná lāu-lâng kî-koài ê sit-sîn kan-chà.
"Lí bē hō͘ góa sit-bōng lah, sī bô?" i kóng.
"Án-chóaⁿ kóng?"
"Góa sī kóng, lí chhut-khì, lí tiāⁿ-tio̍h ē koh tńg-lâi?"
"He pí siáⁿ góa lóng khah khak-tēng, góa tiāⁿ-tio̍h ē tńg-lâi."
"Hó! Hmh! 7 goe̍h 20!"
I lia̍h yi khòaⁿ, kek kah chin koài.
Sū-si̍t i goān-ì yi khì. Che chin kî-miāu. I ài yi khì, tek-khak sī, hō͘ yi ū sió-sió ê lōng-bān, hoān-sè tńg-lâi ê sî tō ū-sin, án-ne chin hó. M̄-koh tông-sî, i iū-koh kiaⁿ yi chū án-ne cháu-khì.
Yi hèng chhih-chhih, kî-thāi chit-ê chin-chiàⁿ ê ki-hōe thang oân-choân lī-khui i, tán-thāi sî-kan khòaⁿ yi ka-tī kap i ka-tī ê sêng-se̍k.
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第 15 章
15.1 六月十七她欲離開
有一張 Hilda 寄 ê 批囥 tī 早餐 ê 捀盤. "阿爸這禮拜去 London, 我會 tī 6 月 17, 拜 4 彼工去恁遐. 你著準備好, 咱才通即時出發. 我無愛 tī Wragby 浪費時間, 遐誠可怕. 我可能會先 tī Retford 去 Colemans in 兜隔一暝, 拜 4 會去恁兜食晝. Án-ne 咱 tī 下晡食茶 ê 時間 koh 出發, 暗時 tō 蹛 tī Grantham. 和 Clifford 過暗無啥路用. 伊若討厭你離開, án-ne 伊顛倒無歡喜."
Tō 是 án-ne! 她 koh tī 棋盤頂予人揬 leh lin-long 踅.
Clifford 足慼她離開, 因為她若無 tī leh, 伊會感覺無安全. 她若 tī 身邊, 毋知啥理由, 伊 tō 感覺安全, tō 會當自在做伊愛做 ê 代誌. 伊常在去炭空, 絞腦筋欲解決 hiah-ê 無解 ê 問題, 看按怎用上經濟 ê 方法採炭, koh kā 賣出去. 伊知, 伊著揣出方法, 看按怎使用這塗炭, 抑是按怎 kā 轉變, tō 毋免賣, 抑是毋免煩惱無銷路. M̄-koh, 伊若用彼來發電, 欲按怎賣電抑是用電? 若是 kā 轉變做油, 成本猶 siuⁿ 懸, 技術 mā siuⁿ 複雜. 為著維持工業 ê 性命, 著 koh 創造新 ê 工業, ná 起痟 leh.
這是一層起痟 ê 代誌, 需要痟人來完成. 是 ah, 伊小可痟痟, Connie án-ne 想. 她感覺, 伊對炭空 ê 熱情 kap 才情攏表明伊 teh 起痟, 伊 ê 靈感本身 tō 是起痟 ê 靈感.
伊重要 ê 計畫攏 kā 她講, 她用心適 ê 心情聽, 在伊去講. 後來, 講話聲停止, 伊去開 rajíoh, 變 kah 失神, 失神, m̄-koh 伊 ê 計畫顯然猶是 ná 一種眠夢, 繼續纏 tī 伊 ê 心 nih.
Chit-má 逐暗伊攏和 Bolton Tt 奕英國軍人 (Tommy) 耍 ê pontoon 牌仔, 輸贏 6 pence. 仝款, tī 奕牌 ê 時, 伊 mā 會進入無意識 ê 狀態, 抑是 ná 失神 teh 醉, 抑是醉 kah 失神, tō 是 án-ne. Connie 不忍看伊 án-ne. M̄-koh 她若去睏, 伊和 Bolton Tt tō 繼續跋, 一直到半暝 2 點抑 3 點, 自在 koh 充滿興趣. Bolton Tt 興這味袂輸 Clifford: 甚至 koh 較興, 因為她差不多攏 teh 輸.
一工, 她 kā Connie 講: "昨暗我輸 Clifford 23 shilling."
"伊有 kā 你提彼條錢無?" Connie 著驚問她.
"當然 lah, 夫人! 彼是信用 ê 數!"
Connie 大大 kā 責備, 對 in 兩个攏誠受氣. 結局, Clifford Sià kā Bolton Tt ê 年薪提懸 100 英鎊, 予她通用這跋筊. 同時, 在 Connie 看, Clifford 真正無藥救 ah-lah.
最後她 kā 伊講, 17 彼日她得欲離開 ah.
"十七!" 伊講. "Iah 你 tang 時會轉來?"
"上慢到 7 月 20."
"好! 7 月 20."
伊怪奇 koh 失神看她, ná 囡仔 ê 迷茫, m̄-koh mā ná 老人奇怪 ê 失神奸詐.
"你袂予我失望 lah, 是無?" 伊講.
"按怎講?"
"我是講, 你出去, 你定著會 koh 轉來?"
"彼比啥我攏較確定, 我定著會轉來."
"好! Hmh! 7 月 20!"
伊掠她看, 激 kah 真怪.
事實伊願意她去. 這真奇妙. 伊愛她去, 的確是, 予她有小小 ê 浪漫, 凡勢轉來 ê 時 tō 有身, án-ne 真好. M̄-koh 同時, 伊又 koh 驚她自 án-ne 走去.
她興 chhih-chhih, 期待這个真正 ê 機會通完全離開伊, 等待時間看她家己 kap 伊家己 ê 成熟.
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Chapter 15
15.1
There was a letter from Hilda on the breakfast-tray. ‘Father is going to London this week, and I shall call for you on Thursday week, June 17th. You must be ready so that we can go at once. I don’t want to waste time at Wragby, it’s an awful place. I shall probably stay the night at Retford with the Colemans, so I should be with you for lunch, Thursday. Then we could start at teatime, and sleep perhaps in Grantham. It is no use our spending an evening with Clifford. If he hates your going, it would be no pleasure to him.’
So! She was being pushed round on the chess-board again.
Clifford hated her going, but it was only because he didn’t feel safe in her absence. Her presence, for some reason, made him feel safe, and free to do the things he was occupied with. He was a great deal at the pits, and wrestling in spirit with the almost hopeless problems of getting out his coal in the most economical fashion and then selling it when he’d got it out. He knew he ought to find some way of using it, or converting it, so that he needn’t sell it, or needn’t have the chagrin of failing to sell it. But if he made electric power, could he sell that or use it? And to convert into oil was as yet too costly and too elaborate. To keep industry alive there must be more industry, like a madness.
It was a madness, and it required a madman to succeed in it. Well, he was a little mad. Connie thought so. His very intensity and acumen in the affairs of the pits seemed like a manifestation of madness to her, his very inspirations were the inspirations of insanity.
He talked to her of all his serious schemes, and she listened in a kind of wonder, and let him talk. Then the flow ceased, and he turned on the loudspeaker, and became a blank, while apparently his schemes coiled on inside him like a kind of dream.
And every night now he played pontoon, that game of the Tommies, with Mrs Bolton, gambling with sixpences. And again, in the gambling he was gone in a kind of unconsciousness, or blank intoxication, or intoxication of blankness, whatever it was. Connie could not bear to see him. But when she had gone to bed, he and Mrs Bolton would gamble on till two and three in the morning, safely, and with strange lust. Mrs Bolton was caught in the lust as much as Clifford: the more so, as she nearly always lost.
She told Connie one day: ‘I lost twenty-three shillings to Sir Clifford last night.’
‘And did he take the money from you?’ asked Connie aghast.
‘Why of course, my Lady! Debt of honour!’
Connie expostulated roundly, and was angry with both of them. The upshot was, Sir Clifford raised Mrs Bolton’s wages a hundred a year, and she could gamble on that. Meanwhile, it seemed to Connie, Clifford was really going deader.
She told him at length she was leaving on the seventeenth.
‘Seventeenth!’ he said. ‘And when will you be back?’
‘By the twentieth of July at the latest.’
‘Yes! the twentieth of July.’
Strangely and blankly he looked at her, with the vagueness of a child, but with the queer blank cunning of an old man.
‘You won’t let me down, now, will you?’ he said.
‘How?’
‘While you’re away, I mean, you’re sure to come back?’
‘I’m as sure as I can be of anything, that I shall come back.’
‘Yes! Well! Twentieth of July!’
He looked at her so strangely.
Yet he really wanted her to go. That was so curious. He wanted her to go, positively, to have her little adventures and perhaps come home pregnant, and all that. At the same time, he was afraid of her going.
She was quivering, watching her real opportunity for leaving him altogether, waiting till the time, herself himself should be ripe.
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