the Thorn Birds 荊鳥

the Thorn Birds 荊鳥


這部小說以一位神父和一個美麗少女的禁忌戀情為主題，這段被詛咒的愛情，讓他們終生受苦難折磨。然而他們卻從來不曾後悔或停止他們的澎湃的情感　。神父為了他的信仰，前途和金錢，選擇了遠離，不得不讓他的愛人孤苦寂寞。而那如同荊鳥的女子，似乎也明白她的愛情不是為了　占有心愛的人，而是受苦，心甘情願的受愛與思念的煎熬，在一次又一次的希望幻滅後，她尋找荊棘長刺，在生命結束之前，將劇痛化為燦美，唱出她淒絕動人的歌聲。



The Thorn Birds is a 1977 best-selling novel by Colleen McCullough, an Australian author. In 1983 it was adapted as a television mini-series that, during its television run became the United States' second highest rating mini-series of all time behind Roots; both series were produced by television veteran David L. Wolper.
(Wikipedia: The Thorn Birds )








The mini-series starred :

Richard Chamberlain as
Ralph de Bricassart

Rachel Ward as
Meggie Cleary








and the story goes~~

The epic begins with Meghann "Meggie" Cleary, a four-year-old girl living in New Zealand in the early twentieth century, the only daughter of Paddy, an Irish farm labourer, and Fee, his harassed but aristocratic-looking wife. Although Meggie is a beautiful child with curly red-gold hair, she receives little coddling and must struggle to hold her own against her numerous older brothers. Of these brothers, her favourite is the eldest, Frank, a small but unusually strong young man who is unwillingly preparing himself for the blacksmith's trade.


Paddy is poor, but has a wealthy sister, Mary Carson, who lives in Australia on an enormous sheep ranch called Drogheda. One day, Paddy receives a letter from Mary offering him a job on her estate. He accepts, and the whole family moves to the Outback.



Here Meggie meets Father Ralph de Bricassart, a young, capable and ambitious priest who as punishment for insubordination has been relegated to a remote parish in the town of Gillanbone, near Drogheda. Ralph has befriended Mary, hoping a hefty enough bequest from her to the Catholic church might liberate him from his exile. Ralph is strikingly handsome - "a beautiful man" - and Mary, who doesn't bother to conceal her desire for him, often goes to great lengths to see if HE can be induced to break his vows. Ralph blandly shrugs off these attentions and continues his visits. Meanwhile, he cares for all the Clearys and soon learns to cherish beautiful but forlorn little Meggie. Meggie, in return, makes Ralph the center of her life.


Frank's relationship with his father Paddy has never been peaceful. The two vie for Fee's attention, and Frank resents the many pregnancies Paddy makes her endure. One day, after Fee, now in her forties, reveals she is again pregnant, the two men quarrel violently and Paddy blurts out the truth about Frank: he is not Paddy's son. Long ago, Fee had been the adored only daughter of a prominent citizen. Then, she had an affair with a married politician, and the result, Frank, was already eighteen months old when her mortified father married her off to Paddy. Because he resembles her lost love, Fee has always loved Frank more than her other children. To the sorrow of Meggie and Fee, when Frank learns that Paddy is not his father, he runs away to become a boxer. Fee later gives birth to twin boys, James and Patrick (Jims and Patsy), but shows little interest in them. Shortly afterward, Meggie's beloved little brother Hal dies.



With Frank gone and Hal dead, Meggie clings to Ralph more than ever. This goes unnoticed by many as Ralph has now been her mentor for several years; however, as she ripens into womanhood some begin to question their close relationship, including Ralph and Meggie themselves.













Mary Carson, meanwhile, has noticed their changing relationship and from motives of jealousy mingled with Machiavellian cruelty, she devises a plan to separate Ralph from Meggie by tempting him with his heart's desire - a high place in the Church hierarchy. Although her will of record leaves the bulk of her estate to Paddy, she quietly writes a new one, making the Roman Catholic Church the main beneficiary and Ralph the executor.





In the new will, the vast nature of Mary's wealth is exposed for the first time. Drogheda is not the center of Mary's fortune as Ralph and Paddy have long believed but is mearly a "hobby", a diversion from her true financial interests. Mary's wealth is derived from a vast multi-national financial empire worth over 11 million Pounds (about AU$85 million in modern terms). The sheer size of Mary's bequest will insure Ralph's rapid rise in the church. She also makes sure that after she dies only Ralph, at first, will know of the new will all but daring him to turn down the advancement that it will bring. She also provides for her disinherited brother promising him and all his descendants a home on Drogheda as long as they wish. This seemingly benevolent bequest has a dark side. Since Drogheda will now be the property of the church and Ralph will be the executor, Mary has insured that Meggie will be forever dependent upon Ralph for everything.

At Mary's seventy-second birthday party Ralph goes to great lengths to avoid Meggie, now seventeen and dressed in a beautiful rose-pink evening gown; later, he explains that others might not see his attention as innocent. Mary dies in the night; possibly by suicide. Ralph duly learns of the new will. He sees at once the subtle genius of Mary's plan and, although he weeps and calls her "a disgusting old spider" he takes the new will to her lawyer without delay. The lawyer, scandalised, urges Ralph to destroy the will, but to no avail. The bequest of eleven million pounds works its expected magic, and Ralph soon leaves to begin his rapid advance in the Church.

Before he leaves Meggie confesses her love for him. Ralph refuses her because of his duties as a priest and begs Meggie to find someone to love and marry.

The Clearys discover that Frank was convicted of murder after killing someone in a fight. He spends three decades in prison.

Paddy and his son Stuart are killed; Paddy dies in a fire triggered by lightning, and Stu is gored by a wild boar shortly after he finds his father's body. Ralph is on his way to Drogheda for a visit and when he arrives he is unaware of Paddy and Stu's deaths. Whilst on his way to Drogheda, Ralph is injured when his plane bogs in the mud and as Meggie is tending his wounds they share a passionate kiss. Ralph remains at Drogheda to conduct the funerals and then leaves for Rome.

Three years later a new ranch worker named Luke O'Neill begins to court Meggie. Although his motives are more mercenary than romantic, she marries him because he looks a little bit like Ralph. She soon realises her mistake. After a brief honeymoon, Luke, a skinflint who regards women as sex objects and prefers the company of men, finds Meggie a live-in job with a kindly couple, the Muellers, and leaves to join a gang of itinerant sugarcane cutters in North Queensland.

Although Luke tells Meggie he's saving money to buy a homestead, he quickly becomes obsessed with the competitive toil of cane-cutting and has no real intention of giving it up. Hoping to change Luke's ambition and settle him down, Meggie purposely becomes pregnant and bears Luke a red-haired daughter, Justine. The new baby, however, makes little impression on Luke.

Father Ralph visits Meggie during her difficult labor; he has come to say goodbye, as he is leaving Australia for Rome. He sees Meggie's unhappiness for himself, and pities her. Justine proves to be a fractious baby, so the Muellers send Meggie to an isolated island resort for a rest.



Father Ralph returns to Australia and learns of Meggie's whereabouts from Anne Mueller, and joins her for several days. There, finally, the lovers consummate their passion, and Ralph realizes that despite his ambition to be the perfect priest, his desire for Meggie makes him a man like other men.







Father Ralph returns to the Church and Meggie, pregnant with Ralph's child, decides to separate from Luke. She spends one last night with him to disguise the unborn baby's scandalous parentage; the next morning, she tells Luke what she really thinks of him, and returns to Drogheda, leaving him to his cane-cutting.

Back home, she gives birth to a beautiful boy whom she names Dane. Fee, who has had experience in such matters, notices Dane's resemblance to Ralph as soon as he is born. The relationship between Meggie and Fee takes a turn for the better. Justine grows into an independent, keenly intelligent girl who loves her brother dearly however Meggie neglects Justine just as Fee neglected Meggie.

Eventually, Frank is released from prison and he also returns to Drogheda; his spirit, however, is broken, and all his restless ambition is gone. None of Meggie's other brothers ever marry, and Drogheda gradually becomes a place filled with old people.


Dane grows up and decides, to Meggie's dismay, to become a priest. Fee tells Meggie that what she stole from God she must now give back. Justine, meanwhile, decides to become an actress and leaves Australia to seek her dream in England. Ralph, now a Cardinal, becomes a mentor to Dane, but somehow fails to recognise that the young man is his own son. Dane is also unaware of their true relationship. Ralph takes great care of him, and because of their resemblance people mistake them for uncle and nephew. Ralph and Dane encourage the rumour.




Dane vacations in Greece while a civil war is underway and drowns while swimming in the ocean. Meggie, desperate to find his body, seeks Ralph's help. When he refuses, she reveals her trump card: Dane is Ralph's son. Ralph, now as grief-stricken as Meggie, flies with her to Greece; together, they bring their son's body back to Drogheda. Ralph dies in Meggie's arms after the funeral.

Justine, now the sole surviving grandchild of Fee and Paddy Cleary, finally accepts the advances of Rainer, a distinguished German politician who has loved her for years. They marry, but have no plans to live on Drogheda.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The book's title refers to a mythical bird that searches for thorn trees from the day it is hatched. When it finds the perfect thorn it impales itself, singing the most beautiful song ever heard as it dies.


傳說有一種鳥，終生不發出聲音，它不斷的尋找一根最利最長的荊棘尖刺長刺，然後湧身而上，在臨死的最後一瞬，發出最清麗美好的歌聲。




伸延閱覽：
The Thorn Birds 維基百科
荊鳥 互動百科
由 MS 譯成繁體中文版的 本文 MS translator
由 Google 譯成繁體中文版的 本文 谷歌 translator