【英文读物】The Girls From Earth

【英文读物】The Girls From EarthChapter 1"The beasts aren't much help, are they?"Karl Allen snatched a breath of air and gave another heave on the line tied to the raft of parampa logs bobbing in the middle of the river."No," he grunted, "they're not. They always balk at a time like this, when they can see it'll be hard work."Joseph Hill wiped his plump face and coiled some of the rope's slack around his thick waist."Together now, Karl. One! Two!"They stood knee-deep in mud on the bank, pulling and straining on the rope, while some few yards distant, in the shade of a grove of trees, their tiny yllumphs nibbled grass and watched them critically, but made no effort to come closer."If we're late for ship's landing, Joe, we'll get crossed off the list."Hill puffed and wheezed and took another hitch on the rope."That's what I've been thinking about," he said, worried.They took a deep breath and hauled mightily on the raft rope. The raft bobbed nearer. For a moment the swift waters of the Karazoo threatened to tear it out of their grasp, and then it was beached, most of it solidly, on the muddy bank. One end of it still lay in the gurgling, rushing waters, but that didn't matter. They'd be back in ten hours or so, long before the heavy raft could be washed free."How much time have we got, Karl?"The ground was thick with shadows, and Karl cast a critical eye at them. He estimated that even with the refusal of their yllumphs to help beach the raft, they still had a good two hours before the rocket put down at Landing City."Two hours, maybe a little more," he stated hastily when Hill looked more worried. "Time enough to get to Landing City and put in for our numbers on the list."He turned back to the raft, untied the leather and horn saddles, and threw them over the backs of their reluctant mounts. He cinched his saddle and tied on some robes and furs behind it.Hill watched him curiously. "What are you taking the furs for? This isn't the trading rocket.""I know. I thought that when we come back tonight, it might be cold and maybe she'll appreciate the coverings then.""You never would have thought of it yourself," Hill grunted. "Grundy must have told you to do it, the old fool. If you ask me, the less you give them, the less they'll come to expect. Once you spoil them, they'll expect you to do all the trapping and the farming and the family-raising yourself.""You didn't have to sign up," Karl pointed out. "You could have applied for a wife from some different planet.""One's probably just as good as another. They'll all have to work the farms and raise families."Karl laughed and aimed a friendly blow at Hill. They finished saddling up and headed into the thick forest.It was quiet as Karl guided his mount along the dimly marked trail and he caught himself thinking of the return trip he would be making that night. It would be nice to have somebody new to talk to. And it would be good to have somebody to help with the trapping and tanning, somebody who could tend the small vegetable garden at the rear of his shack and mend his socks and wash his clothes and cook his meals.And it was time, he thought soberly, that he started to raise a family. He was mid-twenty now, old enough to want a wife and children."You going to raise a litter, Joe?"Hill started. Karl realized that he had probably been thinking of the same thing."One of these days I'll need help around the sawmill," Hill answered defensively. "Need some kids to cut the trees, a couple more to pole them down the river, some to run the mill itself and maybe one to sell the lumber in Landing City. Can't do it all myself."He paused a moment, thinking over something that had just occurred to him."I've been thinking of your plans for a garden, Karl. Maybe I ought to have one for my wife to take care of, too."Karl chuckled. "I don't think she'll have the time!"They left the leafy expanse of the forest and entered the grasslands that sloped toward Landing City. He could even see Landing City itself on the horizon, a smudge of rusting, corrugated steel shacks, muddy streets, and the small rocket porta scorched thirty acres or so fenced off with barbed wire.Karl looked out of the corner of his eye at Hill and felt a vague wave of uneasiness. Hill was a big, thick man wearing the soiled clothes and bristly stubble of a man who was used to living alone and who liked it. But once he took a wife, he would probably have to keep himself in clean clothes and shave every few days. It was even possible that the woman might object to Hill letting his yllumph share the hut.The path was getting crowded, more of the colonists coming onto the main path from the small side trails.Hill broke the silence first. "I wonder what they'll be like."Karl looked wise and nodded knowingly. "They're Earthwomen, Joe. Earth!"It was easy to act as though he had some i