海倫·凱勒自傳《我的生活》第23期
Chapter XI
第十一章In the autumn I returned to my Southern home with a heart full of joyous memories. As I recall that visit North I am filled with wonder at the richness and variety of the experiences that cluster about it. It seems to have been the beginning of everything. The treasures of a new, beautiful world were laid at my feet, and I took in pleasure and information at every turn. I lived myself into all things. I was never still a moment; my life was as full of motion as those little insects that crowd a whole existence into one brief day. I met many people who talked with me by spelling into my hand, and thought in joyous sympathy leaped up to meet thought, and behold, a miracle had been wrought! The barren places between my mind and the minds of others blossomed like the rose.
帶着滿心歡喜，我在秋天返回了南方的家。這次奇妙的北方之行令我獲益匪淺，一切似乎都剛剛開始，這是一個新寶藏，美麗的世界就躺在我的腳下。在每一次的驚訝中，我汲取快樂和知識。我把自己融入萬物之中，從來不得片刻的安閒，就像那些成羣結隊的小昆蟲一樣，我會忙忙碌碌地度過短暫的一天。我遇到過許多人，他們通過在我手掌上拼寫的方式同我“交談”，於是，快樂而富於同情心的思想在兩個對話者之間碰撞了，所以你看，這真是一個神奇的過程！就是說，在我的思想和別人的思想之間的貧瘠地帶上，同樣可以綻放出美麗的玫瑰。I spent the autumn months with my family at our summer cottage, on a mountain about fourteen miles from Tuscumbia. It was called Fern Quarry, because near it there was a limestone quarry, long since abandoned. Three frolicsome little streams ran through it from springs in the rocks above, leaping here and tumbling there in laughing cascades wherever the rocks tried to bar their way. The opening was filled with ferns which completely covered the beds of limestone and in places hid the streams. The rest of the mountain was thickly wooded. Here were great oaks and splendid evergreens with trunks like mossy pillars, from the branches of which hung garlands of ivy and mistletoe, and persimmon trees, the odour of which pervaded every nook and corner of the wood--an illusive, fragrant something that made the heart glad. In places the wild muscadine and scuppernong vines stretched from tree to tree, making arbours which were always full of butterflies and buzzing insects. It was delightful to lose ourselves in the green hollows of that tangled wood in the late afternoon, and to smell the cool, delicious odours that came up from the earth at the close of day.
在距離圖斯康比亞大約十四英里的山間小屋裏，我和我的家人度過了整個秋天。人們把那裏叫做弗恩採石場，因爲在那附近有一個石灰石礦場，不過很久以前就廢棄了。三條快活的小溪流從此地流過，這些來自山泉的溪流歡笑着左閃右跳一往直前，無論岩石怎樣阻擋都無濟於事。這座山的大部分地區都被茂密的森林所覆蓋，山上有巨大的橡樹，也有四季常青的樹木。這些樹的樹幹就像包裹着青苔的圓柱，樹枝上掛滿了常春藤和槲寄生的花環。附近還有柿子樹，果實的甜美氣息瀰漫在密林中的每一個角落——這種虛幻朦朧的香味令人心情愉悅。野生的圓葉葡萄和斯卡巴農葡萄連成了一大片，葡萄藤上總會落滿了各種各樣的蝴蝶和嗡嗡飛舞的昆蟲。在一天臨近結束的黃昏時分，谷地散發着清爽宜人的氣息，置身其間，的確令人心曠神怡。
Our cottage was a sort of rough camp, beautifully situated on the top of the mountain among oaks and pines. The small rooms were arranged on each side of a long open hall. Round the house was a wide piazza, where the mountain winds blew, sweet with all wood-scents. We lived on the piazza most of the time--there we worked, ate and played. At the back door there was a great butternut tree, round which the steps had been built, and in front the trees stood so close that I could touch them and feel the wind shake their branches, or the leaves twirl downward in the autumn blast.
我們的小屋只是個有些粗糙的露營地，但是它優雅地坐落在橡樹和松樹環繞的山頂之上。房子的四面都有一個開放的門廳，門廳的外圍是一圈寬廣的遊廊。山風從這裏吹過，帶來了樹木的醇香。我們大部分時間都住在遊廊裏——這裏也是我們勞作、吃飯和玩耍的地方。房子後門還有一棵巨大的灰鬍桃樹，人們在它的周圍修建了臺階。我離這些樹木是如此之近，可以輕易地摸到被風吹拂的樹枝，還有在陣陣秋風中滾動的樹葉。Many visitors came to Fern Quarry. In the evening, by the campfire, the men played cards and whiled away the hours in talk and sport. They told stories of their wonderful feats with fowl, fish and quadruped--how many wild ducks and turkeys they had shot, what "savage trout" they had caught, and how they had bagged the craftiest foxes, outwitted the most clever 'possums and overtaken the fleetest deer, until I thought that surely the lion, the tiger, the bear and the rest of the wild tribe would not be able to stand before these wily hunters. "To-morrow to the chase!" was their good-night shout as the circle of merry friends broke up for the night. The men slept in the hall outside our door, and I could feel the deep breathing of the dogs and the hunters as they lay on their improvised beds.
弗恩採石場有很多到訪的遊客。夜晚，男人們聚集在篝火旁玩撲克牌，或者是聊天消磨時光。他們講述打鳥、釣魚和捕獵的過人本事——比如，他們射殺了多少野鴨和火雞，他們如何打撈兇蠻的鮭魚，如何誘捕狡猾的狐狸，如何同聰明的負鼠鬥智，如何追趕動作迅捷的馴鹿。我想，在這些老謀深算的獵手面前，像獅子、老虎、熊和其餘的野生動物恐怕都要遭殃了。當三五成羣的好兄弟們散去的時候，“明天去捕獵”的叫喊聲成了他們道晚安的告別語。男人們都睡在門外的走廊裏，而且，我能感覺到獵人和他們的狗兒熟睡後深沉的鼻息聲。At dawn I was awakened by the smell of coffee, the rattling of guns, and the heavy footsteps of the men as they strode about, promising themselves the greatest luck of the season. I could also feel the stamping of the horses, which they had ridden out from town and hitched under the trees, where they stood all night, neighing loudly, impatient to be off. At last the men mounted, and, as they say in the old songs, away went the steeds with bridles ringing and whips cracking and hounds racing ahead, and away went the champion hunters "with hark and whoop and wild halloo!"
黎明時分，我被咖啡的味道、獵槍的撞擊，還有男人們沉重的腳步聲吵醒了。我知道，他們正大步走出房子，去尋找狩獵季節的好運氣。我還能感覺到馬蹄踏地的震動，它們被拴在遠離城鎮的樹下。站了一整夜後，馬兒們高聲嘶鳴，迫不及待地想脫離束縛。終於，男人們爬上了馬背，就像老歌裏吟唱的那樣，他們策馬揚鞭，在獵犬的簇擁下奔向戰場；他們爲贏得狩獵冠軍而呼聲四起，響徹雲霄！
