C Gay-Neck in the Himalayas

Dhan Gopal Mukerji

∷青閏 選譯

At last we reached the homeland of the eagles.Around us were bare granite cliffs surrounded by fir-trees and stunted pines； before us to the north lay the Kangchenjunga and the Qomolangma ranges.Here, on the edge of an abyss, we released our two birds.In that exhilarating air they flew like children running from school at the end of the day.Gay-Neck's mother flew far upwards in order to show her son the sublime heights.

最后，我們到達(dá)了鷹的故鄉(xiāng)。我們四周是裸露的花崗巖懸崖，懸崖被冷杉叢和矮松團(tuán)團(tuán)圍住，我們北面橫亙著干城章嘉峰和珠穆朗瑪峰。我們來到了一道深淵的邊緣，在這里放出了兩只鴿子。在那種令人爽快的空氣中，他們像一天結(jié)束后跑出學(xué)校的孩子們一樣飛翔。彩虹鴿的母親向上遠(yuǎn)飛，以便向她的兒子展示崇高的云天。

After the two birds had flown away, we three men talked of what they might be seeing as they sped above the altitudes.Before them, no doubt, rose the twin peaks of the Kangchenjunga group, slightly lower than Mount Qomolangma but just as impeccable and austere as that immaculate peak untrodden still by the feet of men.1.impeccable： 完美的，無可挑剔的；austere：樸素的，無華飾的；immaculate： 完美無瑕的。That fact roused profound emotions in us.We saw the mountain in the distance, just for a few minutes, like a mirror before the Face of God, and I said to myself:“O thou summit of sanctity, thou inviolate and eternal, no man may tarnish thee, nor may any mortal stain thy purity even by his slightest touch.May thou remain forever unvanquished2.unvanquished： 未被征服的，未被戰(zhàn)勝的。, O thou backbone of the universe, and measurement of immortality.”

兩只鴿子飛走之后，我們?nèi)齻€(gè)人談鴿子飛過那些高峰時(shí)會(huì)看到什么。毫無疑問，他們面前會(huì)矗立著干城章嘉的兩座山峰，比珠穆朗瑪峰稍低些，但就像那座沒有留下人類足跡的完美山峰一樣圣潔而樸素。這一事實(shí)在我們心里激起了深厚的情感。我們從遠(yuǎn)處看那座山，就幾分鐘，像上帝面前的一面鏡子，我對(duì)自己說：“噢，你這圣潔的高峰，你這神圣與永恒，沒有人會(huì)玷污你，甚至也沒有任何人會(huì)以最輕微的觸碰玷污你的純凈。愿你永遠(yuǎn)不被征服，噢，你這宇宙的脊梁和不朽的度量?！?/p>

But I have brought you so high not to tell you about mountains, but of an adventure that befell us there.Now that Gay-Neck and his mother had flown, we gave up watching them and went in quest of an eagle's nest that was on a neighbouring cliff.The Himalayan eagle is brown with a soft golden glow and though very beautiful to look at—it is in perfect proportion of beauty with strength—yet it is a fierce beast of prey.

但是，我給你講述這些高峰，并不是想告訴你有關(guān)山脈的情況，而是要講述我們?cè)谀抢锏囊淮螝v險(xiǎn)。因?yàn)椴屎瑛澞缸觽z已經(jīng)飛走了，所以我們不再望向他們，而是開始尋找鷹巢，鷹巢就在附近的一個(gè)懸崖上。喜馬拉雅山鷹呈棕色，閃著金黃色的柔光，羽毛看上去非常漂亮——是漂亮與力量的完美均衡——但他們也是一種兇猛的肉食動(dòng)物。

But at first on this particular afternoon we encountered nothing savage.On the contrary,we found two fluffy white eaglets in an eyrie.They looked as engaging as new-born babes.The southern wind was blowing right in their eyes, but they did not mind it.It is in the nature of the Himalayan eagle to build his nest facing the direction of the wind.Why? No one knows.Apparently the bird likes to face that which he floats up on.

然而，在這個(gè)不尋常的下午，我們起初沒有遇到什么野獸。相反，我們?cè)谝粋€(gè)鷹巢里發(fā)現(xiàn)了兩只毛茸茸的小白鷹。他們看上去像新生兒一樣迷人。南風(fēng)正吹進(jìn)他們的眼里，但他們并不在意。把巢筑在迎風(fēng)的方向，是喜馬拉雅山鷹的本性。為什么？沒有人知道。顯然，這種鳥喜歡迎風(fēng)站立，在風(fēng)中他會(huì)飄浮起來。

The younglings were nearly three weeks old,for they were already shedding their birthday cotton-like appearance, and had begun to grow real plumage3.plumage： 鳥類羽毛。.Their talons were sharp enough for their age, and their beaks hard and keen.

兩只小鷹快三個(gè)星期大了，因?yàn)樗麄円呀?jīng)脫掉了生下來時(shí)像棉花一樣的外衣，開始長(zhǎng)出真正的羽毛。對(duì)他們這么大的鷹來說，爪子已足夠尖利，喙也堅(jiān)硬鋒利。

An eagle's eyrie is open and large.Its entranceledge—that is to say, landing-place—is about six or seven feet wide, and quite clean.But within,where it is dark and narrow, there is a perfect litter of twigs, branches, and a little of the hair and feathers of victims, every other part of their prey being devoured by the eaglets.The parents devour most of the bones,hair and feathers with the meat.

鷹巢開闊寬大。鷹巢的入口平臺(tái)——也就是降落處——大約有六七英尺寬，而且相當(dāng)干凈。但是，里面陰暗狹窄，堆滿了大大小小的樹枝、獵物的毛發(fā)和羽毛，獵物的其他部分都被小鷹吞吃掉了。鷹爸爸、鷹媽媽連骨帶肉，摻雜著毛發(fā)和羽毛，吞吃掉了獵物的大部分。

Though the surrounding country was clad in stunted pine trees, yet it was full of bird noises.Also,strange insects buzzed in the fir-trees.Jewelled flies fluttered on blue wings over mauve orchids, and enormous rhododendrons glowed in sizes sometimes as large as the moon.4.mauve： 淡紫色的；orchid： 蘭花；rhododendron：杜鵑花。Now and then a wild cat called,apparently talking in his noonday sleep.

盡管懸崖周圍長(zhǎng)著矮松，但還是充滿了鳥叫聲。另外，還有奇怪的昆蟲在冷杉叢中嗡嗡叫著。寶石般的蒼蠅扇動(dòng)藍(lán)色的翅膀，飛過淡紫色的蘭花；大片大片大大小小的杜鵑花絢麗奪目，有時(shí)像月亮一樣大。偶爾傳來一聲野貓叫，顯然是在午睡時(shí)的囈語。

Suddenly Ghond told us to run a dozen yards5.yard： 碼。一碼等于三英尺。and hide in a bush.Hardly had we done so when the noises about us began to subside.In another sixty seconds the insects stopped their buzzing, the birds ceased to call, and even the trees seemed to grow still with expectation.In the air slowly rose the thin whistle of something.In a few moments it fell into a lower key.Hard upon it came a weird noise almost sounding like a shriek, and a giant bird flew down to the eagle's eyrie.The wind was still whistling in its wings.By its size Ghond thought it was the mother of the two babies.She remained still in the air till the eaglets withdrew into the inner recesses of their home.From her talons hung something well skinned,like a large rabbit.She landed, dropping her prey on the ledge.One could see that her wings from tip to tip measured half a dozen feet.She folded them as a man folds a paper； then, seeing that her children We rose from our hiding and started homeward after Radja and I had extracted a promise from Ghond that he would bring us back later to see the full-fledged eaglets.were coming towards her, she drew in her talons lest they pierce their unarmoured tender flesh.Now she hobbled like a cripple.The two little fellows ran and disappeared under her half-open wings, but they did not want to be brooded, for they were hungry.So she led them onwards to the dead rabbit, tore away some of its flesh, excluded any bone that clung to it, and gave it to them to swallow.Again, from below and all about, the insects and birds resumed their noises.

突然，剛德讓我們跑出十二碼遠(yuǎn)，藏在一個(gè)灌木叢里。我們剛藏好，周圍的嘈雜聲就開始減弱了。又過了一分鐘，昆蟲不再嗡嗡叫了，鳥兒也停止了鳴叫，就連樹木也好像因充滿期待而一動(dòng)不動(dòng)。慢慢地，空中響起了一陣微弱的呼嘯聲。又過了一陣子，呼嘯聲變得更低了。緊接著，一種奇異的尖叫聲傳來，一只巨大的鳥兒飛落到鷹巢邊。風(fēng)還在巨鳥的翅膀里呼嘯著。根據(jù)巨鳥的體型，剛德認(rèn)為那是兩只小鷹的母親。她停在空中一動(dòng)不動(dòng)，直到小鷹退到鷹巢的最里面。母鷹的爪子上掛著一只被完全剝掉皮的東西，像一只大兔子。母鷹落下來，把獵物放在巢穴入口的平臺(tái)上。你可以看到她張開的翅膀有六英尺寬。她像人疊紙一樣收攏翅膀；然后，看到她的孩子們向她奔來，她收起爪子，以免刺傷小鷹沒有盔甲的嫩肉。這時(shí)候，母鷹像瘸子一樣跛行。兩個(gè)小家伙跑過來，鉆到了她半張半合的翅膀下面，消失不見了，但他們不想處在母親的羽翼之下，因?yàn)樗麄凁I了。于是，母鷹帶著他們走到死兔旁邊，撕掉一些兔肉，剔除上面的骨頭，扔給他們吞吃。下面和周圍又響起了蟲鳥的叫聲。我們從藏身的地方站起來向家里走去。拉迪亞和我纏著剛德讓他答應(yīng)我們，等小鷹羽毛豐滿后，他再帶我們來看。

And so in a little over a month we returned.We brought with us Gay-Neck and his mother, for I wished the little fellow to fly the second time so that he would know with absolute certainty every village,lamasery, lake and river as well as the beasts, and the other birds—cranes, parrots, Himalayan herons, wild geese, divers, sparrow-hawks and swifts.On this trip we went about a hundred yards beyond the eagle's nest.The finger of autumn had already touched the rhododendrons.Their flaming petals were falling out；their long stems, many feet high, rustled in the winds.Leaves of many trees had begun to turn, and the air was full of melancholy.At about eleven, we uncaged our pigeons, who flew away into the sapphire6.sapphire： 藍(lán)寶石。sky that hung like a sail from the white peaks.

于是，一個(gè)多月后，我們又回到了這里。我們帶來了彩虹鴿母子倆，因?yàn)槲蚁Ｍ屎瑛澾M(jìn)行第二次飛翔，以便他確切地了解每一個(gè)村莊、每一座喇嘛廟、每一個(gè)湖泊與河流，以及野獸和其他鳥類——鶴、鸚鵡、喜馬拉雅蒼鷺、大雁、潛鳥、雀鷹和雨燕。在這次旅途上，我們?cè)诰嚯x鷹巢一百碼遠(yuǎn)的地方走動(dòng)。秋天的手指已經(jīng)觸碰到了杜鵑花?；鸺t的花瓣紛紛凋謝；數(shù)英尺高的長(zhǎng)莖干在風(fēng)中颯颯作響。許多樹的葉子已經(jīng)開始變黃，到處都充滿了憂郁的氣息。十一點(diǎn)鐘左右，我們打開鳥籠，兩只鴿子飛向?qū)毷{(lán)的天空，猶如白色山峰上的船帆一樣。

They had flown for about half an hour when a hawk appeared above them.It drew nearer the two pigeons and then drove at them.But the prey proved too wary； they escaped scatheless7.scatheless： 無損傷的，平安的。.Just as Gay-Neck and his mother were coming down swiftly to where the trees were, the hawk's mate appeared and attacked.She flew at them as her husband had done, without gaining her objective.Seeing that their prey was escaping, the male hawk cried shrilly to his mate； at that, she stopped in the air, just marking time.The pigeons, feeling safe, quickened their wing motion and flew southwards, while the two hawks followed, converging upon them from the east and the west.Wing-beat upon wing-beat, they gained on the pigeons.Their wings, shaped like a butcher's hatchet tipped off at the end, cut through the air like a storm...one, two, three—they fell like spears! Gay-Neck's mother stopped, and just floated in the air.That upset the calculation of the hawks.What to do now? Which one to fall upon? Such questioning takes time, and Gay-Neck seized the chance to change his course.Swiftly he rose higher and higher.In a few moments his example was followed by his mother, but she had lost time,and the hawks rose almost vaulting8.vault： 跳躍，騰躍。up to her.Then apparently a sudden panic seized her； she was afraid that the hawks were after her son, and in order to protect him she flew towards the two pursuers.In another minute both of those birds of prey had pounced upon her.The air was filled with a shower of feathers! The sight frightened Gay-Neck, who fell upon the nearest cliff for protection and safety.It was his mother's error that deprived her of her own life and probably imperiled that of her son.

他們飛行了大約半個(gè)小時(shí)，這時(shí)候一只隼出現(xiàn)在了他們的上空。那只隼離兩只鴿子越來越近，然后沖向他們。但是，獵物十分警覺，毫發(fā)無損地逃脫了。就在彩虹鴿母子倆飛快地降落到有樹的地方時(shí)，隼的配偶出現(xiàn)，并發(fā)起了攻擊。母隼像她的丈夫一樣飛撲向他們，但沒有命中目標(biāo)。眼看獵物要逃脫，公隼對(duì)著母隼尖叫起來；聽到尖叫聲，母隼停在了空中，只是在等待時(shí)機(jī)。鴿子們感覺安全了，就加速扇動(dòng)翅膀，向南飛行，這時(shí)候兩只隼尾隨其后，從東西兩個(gè)方向朝他們聚攏過來，他們連續(xù)拍擊著翅膀，逼近鴿子。兩只隼的翅膀形狀像屠夫削掉了尾端的斧頭，如暴風(fēng)一般劃過天空……一、二、三——仿佛長(zhǎng)矛似的落下。彩虹鴿的母親停住，只是飄浮在空中。這打亂了兩只隼的如意算盤?，F(xiàn)在怎么辦呢？該撲向哪一只呢？這樣的疑問要花時(shí)間，于是彩虹鴿抓住機(jī)會(huì)改變了路線，急速地越飛越高。過了一會(huì)兒，他的母親也如法炮制，但她失去了時(shí)機(jī)，兩只隼幾乎飛躍到了她身邊。這時(shí)，彩虹鴿的母親顯然一下子就慌了；她擔(dān)心那些隼追趕她的兒子，為了保護(hù)兒子，她朝兩個(gè)捕獵者飛去。又過了一分鐘，兩個(gè)捕獵者已經(jīng)撲向了她。羽毛紛紛從空中散落下來！這個(gè)情景嚇壞了彩虹鴿，他飛落到最近的懸崖上，尋求保護(hù)和安全。正是母鴿的失誤葬送了自己的生命，說不定還會(huì)危及兒子的生命。

We three human beings began a search for the cliffwhere Gay-Neck had fallen.It was no easy task, for the Himalayas are very treacherous9.treacherous： 危險(xiǎn)的。.Pythons, if not tigers,were to be feared.Yet my friend Radja insisted, and Ghond the hunter agreed with him, saying that it would augment our knowledge.

我們?nèi)齻€(gè)人開始在懸崖上搜尋彩虹鴿落在了哪里。這并非易事，因?yàn)橄柴R拉雅山非常險(xiǎn)惡。就算沒有老虎，也要擔(dān)心蟒蛇。然而，我的朋友拉迪亞堅(jiān)持要去，獵人剛德也同意他的做法，說這會(huì)增長(zhǎng)我們的見識(shí)。

We descended from the cliff that we were on and entered a narrow gorge where the raw bones lying on the ground convinced us that some beast of prey had dined on its victim the previous night.But we were not frightened, for our leader was Ghond, the most well-equipped hunter of Bengal.Very soon we began a laborious climb through clefts and crevices full of purple orchids on green moss.The odour of fir and balsam filled our nostrils.Sometimes we saw a rhododendron still in bloom.The air was cold and the climb unending.After two in the afternoon, having lunched on a handful of chola (dried beans softened in water), we reached the cliff where Gay-Neck was hiding.To our surprise we discovered that it was the eagle's nest with two eaglets—the babies of our previous visit—now full-fledged.They were sitting on the front ledge of their eyrie, while to our utter amazement we saw Gay-Neck at the farthest corner of a neighbouring ledge, cowering and weak.At our approach the eaglets came forward to attack us with their beaks.Radja,whose hand was nearest,received an awful stroke that ripped open the skin of his thumb, whence blood flowed freely.The eagles were between us and Gay-Neck, and there was nothing to be done but to climb over a higher cliff to reach him.Hardly had we gone six yards away from the nest when Ghond signed to us to hide as we had done the first time we had come.We did so with celerity10.celerity： 快速，敏捷。, under a pine, and soon, with a soft roar in the air, one of the parent eagles drew near.In a few seconds there fell a high-pitched sound as the eagle sailed into its nest.A shiver of exquisite pleasure ran up and down my spine as her tail-feather grazed our tree and I heard that whistling mute itself.

我們從所在的懸崖上爬下來，走進(jìn)了一個(gè)峽谷。峽谷地上的生骨使我們深信，某只獵獸前一天夜里在那里享用過獵物。但是，我們并不害怕，因?yàn)槲覀兊南驅(qū)莿偟?，他是孟加拉裝備最精良的獵人。很快，我們就費(fèi)力爬過了裂口和縫隙，遍地青苔上開滿了紫色的蘭花。冷杉和香脂的氣味撲鼻而來。有時(shí)候，我們會(huì)看到一朵還在開放的杜鵑花。空氣寒冷，攀爬也沒個(gè)頭兒。我們吃了一把寇拉豆（放在水里泡軟的干豆）當(dāng)午餐，然后終于在下午兩點(diǎn)多到達(dá)了彩虹鴿藏身的那個(gè)懸崖。讓我們吃驚的是，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)這里是那個(gè)有兩只小鷹的鷹巢——就是我們上次見過的那兩只小鷹——現(xiàn)在他們的羽毛已經(jīng)豐滿了。他們正臥在鷹巢入口的那塊平臺(tái)上，同時(shí)讓我們?nèi)f分驚訝的是，我們看到彩虹鴿就躲在附近一個(gè)平臺(tái)最遠(yuǎn)處的角落里，畏畏縮縮，弱不禁風(fēng)。看到我們走近，兩只小鷹走向前，要用嘴攻擊我們。拉迪亞的手離他們最近，受到了可怕的一擊。這一擊撕裂了他大拇指上的皮膚，鮮血汩汩直流。小鷹處在我們和彩虹鴿之間，我要夠到彩虹鴿，只有爬到更高的一個(gè)懸崖上。像我們第一次來時(shí)那樣，我們剛走到距離鷹巢六碼的地方，剛德就又示意我們躲藏。我們迅速地躲到了一棵松樹下面，很快空中傳來了一陣柔和的轟鳴聲，其中一只鷹逼近了。幾秒鐘后，那只鷹飛進(jìn)巢里時(shí)，響起了一陣高聲的尖叫。她的尾羽擦過我們藏身的樹木，我聽到那種無言的呼嘯聲，這時(shí)候我的脊背上掠過了一陣劇烈的充滿快感的戰(zhàn)栗。

Soon we reached Gay-Neck and tried to put him in his cage.He was glad to see us, but fought shy of the cage.Since it was getting late, I gave him some lentils to eat.Just about the middle of his meal, seeing him deeply absorbed in eating, I made an effort to grab him with my hand.That frightened the poor bird, and he flew away.The noise of his flight brought the mother eagle out of the inner recess of her nest.She looked out,her beak quivering and her wings almost opening for flight.At once all the jungle noises below were stilled,and she sailed away.We felt that all was over for Gay-Neck.Suddenly a shadow fell upon him.I thought it was the eagle pouncing； however, it rested on him only a moment and then receded, but he had had the fright of his life, and he flew away, driven by sheer terror, in a zigzag course, far beyond our sight.

很快，我們爬到了彩虹鴿身邊，設(shè)法把他放進(jìn)籠子里。他看到我們很高興，但卻避開了籠子。天色越來越晚了，我給了他一些扁豆吃。就在他聚精會(huì)神地吃東西時(shí)，我伸出手，努力想抓住他。這嚇壞了可憐的鳥兒，于是他就飛走了。他飛起時(shí)發(fā)出的響聲把母鷹從巢的深處引了出來。她向外張望，嘴微微顫抖，翅膀幾乎張開，準(zhǔn)備起飛。下面的叢林立刻靜了下來，母鷹翩然飛去。我們覺得彩虹鴿在劫難逃。突然，一個(gè)黑影落在彩虹鴿的身上，我想那是猛撲過去的鷹。然而，那個(gè)黑影只在上面停留了一會(huì)兒，然后就后退了，但彩虹鴿嚇得要死，在極度恐懼的驅(qū)使下，呈曲折航線飛走了，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)消失在了我們的視野中。