《time enough for love-时间足够你爱(英文版)》

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time enough for love-时间足够你爱(英文版)- 第86部分


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  … got what she wanted; Buckaroo covered her。 Sure enough; the colt had been too big for her and I had to go in and cut it up and take it out in chunks…a routine job of emergency veterinary surgery but an impressive and bloody sight for two
  
  stripling boys who had helped their father by controlling the mare while le operated。
  
  No; indeed; they did not want anything even a little bit like that to happen to He! en ~No; sir!
  
  Minerva; I cheated a little。 I did not tell them that the way Helen was spreading in the butt and the measurements she already had made it appear to her family doctor…me…that she was even more of a natural baby factory than her mother
  
  …and would be big enough for ~ier first one much younger than Dora had had Zaccur; I did not tell them that the chances of a healthy baby from a brother…sister mating were higher than the chances of a defective。 I certainly did not!
  
  Instead; I waxed lyrical about 'what wonderful creatures girls are; what a miracle it is that they 'could make babies; how precious thcy are and how it is a man's proud privilege to love and cherish and protect them…protect them even from their follies because Helen might behave just like Dancing Girl; impatient and foolish。 So don't let her tempt you; boys…jerk off instead; just like you've been doing。 They promised; tears in their eyes。 …
  
  I didn't ask them to promise that or anything…but it gave me the idea: Have 〃Princess〃 Helen knight them。
  
  The kids grabbed that idea and ran with it; Tales of King Arthur's Court was one of the books Dora had fetched along because Helen Mayberry had given it to her。 So we had Sir Zaccur the Strong and Sir Andrew the Valiant and two ladiesin…waiting…waiting rather eagerly; Iseult and Undine knew that they; too; would… be 〃princesses〃 as each reached menarche。 Ivar was squire to both knights and would be dubbed himself when his voice changed。 Only Elf was too small as yet to play the game。 …
  
  It worked; a stopgap。 I suppose 〃Princess〃 Helen was protected more than she wanted to be protected。 But if she could not lure her faithful knights into the cornfields; they did place her stool for her at meals; they bowed to her rather often; and usually addressed her as 〃Fair?Princess〃…considerably more than I ever did for my sisters。 …
  
  Before the first anniversary of 〃Helen's Day〃 those three new families dropped down the rise and the crisis was over。 It was Sammy Roberts; not one of her brothers; who first spread 〃Princess〃 Helen's thighs…certain; as she told her mother about it at once (more of Helen Mayberry's influence) and Dora kissed her and told her that she was a good girl and now go find Papa and ask him to examine you…and I
  
  did and she hadn't been hurt; not to mention。 But it gave Dora some control over the matter; just as Helen Mayberry had guided Dora at about the same age…so Dora had told me; long before that。 In consequence our oldest daughter did not get pregnant until she was almost as old as and quite a bit more filled out than Dora had been when I married her。 Ole Hanson married her; and Sven Hanson and I; and Dora and Ingrid; helped the youngsters start their homestead。 Helen thought the baby was Ole's; and for all I know she was right。 No fuss。 No fuss when Zack married Hilda Hanson; either。 In Happy Valley pregnancy was equivalent to betrothal; 。1 can't recall any girl who married without that proof of eligibility。 Certaintly none of our daughters。 …
  
  Having neighbors Was grand。
  
  ~ tOmitted)…
  
  …not only '~tched his fiddle over the Rampart but could call。 I…could call some and; while I hadn't touched a violin for fifty years or so; I found it came back to me; so we spelled each other as Pop like to dance; too。 Like so:
  
  〃Square 'em up!
  
  〃Salute your lady! Opposite lady! Corner gal! Right…hand gal! Salute your own and make 'er a throne。 All stand up and don't let 'er fall; swing your ladies one and all!
  
  〃'Moses lived a long time ago。
  
  'King said Yes; Moses said No!…f arm hands; circle right。 'Phar'ah was dat king's first na~ne; …
  
  'Made 'em live a life of shame!…allemande left!…with a dosey…doh! Then home you go and swing!
  
  said Yes and th' waves did part。 First couple through the Red Sea! Now corner gal and right…hand man!
  
  Corner boy; right…hand gal…on around and keep it ing
  
  …right and left!
  
  〃'A happy band on th' opp'site shore; 'So all form up and swing once more! 'King weeps alone on Egypt's shore; 'Chosen People slaves no more!
  
  'So kiss your lady and whisper in her ear;
  
  'Then sit 'er down and get 'er a beer。' Intermission!〃
  
  Oh; we had fun! Dora learned to dance when she was a new grandmother…and was still dancing when she was a great…
  
  great…grandmother。 Early years the parties were oftenest at our place because we had the biggest house and a pound
  
  …large enough' for a big party。 Start dancing late afternoon; dance till you couldn't see your partner; then a potluck buffet supper to candlelight and moonlight; then sing a while; and beddown all over the place…all the rooms; the roof; shakedowns in the pound; some in wagons…and if anybody ever slept alone; I never heard about it。 Nor any trouble worth mentioning if things got a little loose around the edges。
  
  Next morning there was likely to be a double performance by the Merm~id Tavern Players; one edy; one tragedy; then it would be time for those who lived farthest away to round up their kids; hitch up their mules; and roll; while those who lived closer helped clean up before doing the same thing。
  
  Oh; I remember one spot of trouble: A man gave his wife a black eye over nothing much; whereupon six men nearest him tossed him out the gate and barred it。 Made him so mad he hitched up and left 。 。 and headed back up the Great Gorge toward Hopeless Pass…a fa髏 that wasn't noticed for a while; as his wife and baby moved in with her sister and her husband and their kids; and stayed on; a polygamy…though not …the only one。 No laws about marriage or sex…no laws about anything for many years…except that incurring the disapproval of your neighbors; such as by giving your wife a bl~ck eye; meant risking Coventry; about the worst thing that can happen to a pioneer short of being lynched。
  
  But migrants tend to be both horny and easy about it。 Superior intelligence always includes strong sexual drive; and the pioneers in Happy Valley had been through a double screening; first in a decision to leave Earth and then in deciding to tackle Hopeless Pass。 So we had real survivors in Happy Valley; smart; cooperative; industrious; tolerant… willing to fight when necessary but not likely to fight aver trivial matters。 Sex is not trivial; but fighting over it is usually pretty silly。 It's characteristic only of a man who isn't sure of his manhood; which didn't describe any of these men; they were sure of themselves; no need to prove it。 No cowards; no thieves; no weaklings; no bullies…the rare exception didn't last long enough to count。 Either dead like that first three…; or
  
  … ran away from us like that idiot who took a poke at his wife。 These rare purgings al。 For
  
  many years the only law we had was the Golden Rule; nowritten but closely followed。
  
  In such a munity functionless taboos about sex couldn't
  
  last; they didn't tend to be… brought into … our… valley in the first place。 Oh; close inbreeding wasn't well thought of; these pioneers were not ignorant of geics;… nor of conception control。 But the attitude was pragmatic; I don't think I ever heard anyone speak out against incest that was just a jolly romp with no oute。 But I recall one girl who married her half brother openly and had several children by him…I assume that they were his。 There may have been gossip; but it did not get them ostracized。 Any marriage pattern was treated as the private business of the partners in it; not something to be licensed by the munity。 I recall two young couples who decided to bine their farms; then built a house big enough by adding to the larger of their two houses and making the other into a barn。 Nobody asked who slept with whom; it was taken for granted that it was then a four…cornered marriage; and no doubt had been one before they enlarged that house and pooled their goods。 Nobody's business but theirs。 …
  
  Among such people… the plural of 〃spouse〃 is 〃spice。〃 … A pioneer munity; poor in everything else; always makes its own recreations…with sex at the top of the list。 We had no professional entertainers; no theaters '(unless you count the amateur theatricals started by our kids); no cabarets; no diversions dependent on sophisticated electronics; no periodicals; few books。 Certainly those meetings of the Happy Valley Dance Club continued ai~ gentle orgies after it was too …dark to dance and the younger children were bedded down for the night…how else? But it was all quite gentle; a couple could always go sleep in their own wagon and ignore the quiet luau elsewhere。 No pulsion either way…shucks; they didn't even have to attend 
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