The Smell of Smells氣味的氣味

克里斯托弗·莫利　林羽竹/譯

I Smelt it this morning—I wonder if you know the smell I mean？

今天早晨我聞到了——不知你是否知道我所說的氣味？

It had rained hard during the night， and trees and bushes twinkled in the sharp early sunshine like ballroom chandeliers. As soon as I stepped out of doors I caught that faint but unmistakable musk in the air; that dim， warm sweetness. It was the smell of summer， so wholly different from the crisp tang of spring.

夜里雨下得很大，大樹和灌木在清晨耀眼的陽光下閃閃發(fā)光，就像舞廳里的枝形吊燈。一走出家門，我就察覺到了空氣中那隱隱約約但確定無疑的麝香味。那是種淡淡的、溫暖的甜味。它是夏天的味道，與春天干冷的刺鼻氣味完全不一樣。

It is a drowsy， magical waft of warmth and fragrance. It comes only when the leaves and vegetation have grown to a certain fullness and juice， and when the sun bends in his orbit near enough to draw out all the subtle vapors of field and woodland. It is a smell that rarely if ever can be discerned in the city. It needs the wider air of the unhampered earth for its circulation and play.

這是一股讓人昏昏欲睡的、奇妙的溫暖和芬芳。它只在葉子和草木稍稍成熟而流出些許汁液時，還有當太陽沿著運行軌道拐到離地球足夠近，近到可以吸出田野和林地的稀薄水汽時，才會出現(xiàn)。在城里很少聞到這個氣味（如果人們能察覺到的話）。要想散播開來、發(fā)揮作用，它需要暢行無阻的大地之上更為廣闊的天空。

I dont know just why， but I associate that peculiar aroma of summer with woodpiles and barnyards. Perhaps because in the area of a farmyard the sunlight is caught and focused and glows with its fullest heat and radiance. And it is in the grasp of the relentless sun that growing things yield up their innermost vitality and emanate their fragrant essence. I have seen fields of tobacco under a hot sun that smelt as blithe as a room thick with blue Havana smoke. I remember a pile of birch logs， heaped up behind a barn in Pike County， where that mellow richness of summer flowed and quivered like a visible exhalation in the air. It is the goodly soul of earth， rendering her health and sweetness to her master， the sun.

我不知道為什么，但我將這種特殊的夏日芬芳同柴火堆和谷倉旁的空地聯(lián)系到了一起。也許是因為照進農(nóng)家場院里的陽光聚焦之后溫度最高、光輝最亮。正是在無情太陽的照耀下，生長著的萬物才能展現(xiàn)出它們最深處的活力，散發(fā)出它們的香氣。我曾經(jīng)見過烈日下的煙草田，聞上去就像一間充滿藍色哈瓦那雪茄煙霧的房間一樣令人歡樂。我記得有一堆樺樹原木，堆在派克縣的一個谷倉后面，夏天醇美豐厚的氣息在那里飄散、顫抖，如同在空氣中呼出一口看得見的氣。這是大地的美麗靈魂，她將自己的生機和芬芳獻給她的主人——太陽。

Every one， I suppose， who is a fancier of smells， knows this blithe perfume of the summer air that is so pleasant to the nostril almost any fine forenoon from mid-June until August. It steals pungently through the blue sparkle of the morning， fading away toward noon when the moistness is dried out. But when one first issues from the house at breakfast time it is at its highest savor. Irresistibly it suggests worms and a tin can with the lid jaggedly bent back and a pitchfork turning up the earth behind the cow stable. Fishing was first invented when Adam smelt that odor in the air.

我想，每一個對氣味有著特別愛好的人，都了解這夏日空氣令人快樂的芳香。這氣味聞上去非常討人喜歡，從六月中旬到八月，幾乎每個晴朗的上午都能聞得到。清晨它濃厚強烈，偷偷地穿透藍色晨光，臨近中午，潮氣干了，它便逐漸消失。但當人們在早餐時間第一次從房子里走出來時，它的氣味最強烈。它讓人們?nèi)滩蛔÷?lián)想到蟲子、蓋子歪歪扭扭向后彎折的罐頭和叉起牛棚后泥土的干草叉。釣魚就是亞當在空氣中聞到那個氣味后發(fā)明的第一項活動。

The first fishing morning—cant you imagine it！ Has no one ever cele-brated it in verse or oils？ The world all young and full of unmitigated sweetness; the Garden of Eden bespangled with the early dew; Adam scrabbling up a fistful of worms and hooking them on a bent thorn and a line of twisted pampas grass; hurrying down to the branch or the creek or the bayou or whatever it may have been; sitting down on a brand-new stump that the devil had put there to tempt him; throwing out his line; sitting there in the sun dreaming and brooding....

第一個去釣魚的清晨——你能想象嗎？難道沒有人用詩歌或油畫歌頌過它嗎？世界創(chuàng)立之初，充滿純粹的芬芳，亮閃閃的晨露裝點了伊甸園。亞當胡亂抓起一把蟲子，將它們鉤到一根彎曲的刺和一排扭曲的蒲葦草上。他匆忙地奔向小河或者小溪，亦或河口或者任何可能的地方。他坐在一個新出現(xiàn)的木樁上，那是魔鬼為了引誘他而擺在那里的。他拋出釣線，坐在太陽下面，做著夢，想著事……

And then a tug， a twitch， a flurry in the clear water of Eden， a pull， a splash， and the First Fish lay on the grass at Adams foot. Can you imagine his sensations？ How he yelled to Eve to come—look—see， and， how annoyed he was because she called out she was busy....

然后，在伊甸園清澈的水下，有什么東西狠狠地拉了一下，又急急地抽了一下，引起一陣忙亂。亞當拉了一下，水花四濺，接著第一條上鉤的魚便躺在了他腳邊的草地上。你能想象他激動的心情嗎？想象他是怎樣朝夏娃大喊，讓她過來看一看，瞧一瞧；想象他有多氣憤，因為夏娃喊道她自己很忙……

Probably it was in that moment that all the bickerings and back-talk of husbands and wives originated; when Adam called to Eve to come and look at his First Fish while it was still silver and vivid in its living colors; and Eve answered she was busy. In that moment were born the mens clubs and the womens clubs and the pinochle parties and being detained at the office and Kelly pool and all the other devices and stratagems that keep men and women from taking their amusements together.

很可能就在那一刻，所有夫妻間的爭吵和頂嘴產(chǎn)生了；當亞當喊夏娃來看他釣到的第一條魚時，那條魚還閃著銀光，顏色還鮮亮，夏娃卻回話說她忙。那一刻，男人社團和女人社團誕生了，還有皮納克爾牌聚會、有事耽擱在辦公室、彈子游戲等花招和詭計，使得男人和女人不能一起娛樂。

Well， I didnt mean to go back to the Garden of Eden; I just wanted to say that summer is here again， even though the almanac doesnt vouch for it until the 21st. Those of you who are fond of smells， spread your nostrils about breakfast time tomorrow morning and see if you detect it.

啊，我可不打算回到伊甸園。我只想說，夏天又到來了，盡管年歷要等到21號才會宣告此事。喜歡氣味的人們，明天早上吃早飯的時候，張開你們的鼻孔到處聞聞，試試能否聞出這氣味。