Chasing After Flowing Clouds追云

周領(lǐng)順/文、譯

Clouds are still-life paintings created by the God of Heaven at His will. To the cloud-lover， the sky covered by clouds looks like a beautiful painting.

云是靜物畫，天公隨意抹。喜云者，常把云天當(dāng)畫作。

Clouds are iridescent， and can appear in shades more nuanced than the seven visible hues of the rainbow， as has been portrayed in poetic lines like “The dawn clouds are an eye-dazzling spectacle” （by Wu Jun） and “The sun sets in molten gold; / The evening clouds form a jade disk.” （by Li Qingzhao）， not to mention the magnificent view described by Wang Bo： “The rainbow clouds with lonely bird together fly; / The autumn water blends with the endless blue sky.”

云有彩，七彩1顏色不為多?！俺苼y人目”（吳均），“落日熔金，暮云合璧”（李清照），更莫說(shuō)王勃所描繪的“落霞與孤鶩齊飛，秋水共長(zhǎng)天一色”的壯麗景觀了。

We tend to describe beautiful sky and clouds as “blue sky and white clouds”. However， it is a bit too stereo-typical. The phrase “blue sky and white clouds” can only be used to refer to sunny days. How about red clouds？ “The clouds turn bright-red again in the waning glow of the setting sun.” （by Shi Yan） And yellow clouds？ “Yellow clouds have been carried along by winds for thousands of miles.” （by Li Bai） In “rainbow-colored clouds spread out for miles” （by Jiang Yan）， “rainbow-colored” is used to describe the strike beauty of iridescent clouds.

人說(shuō)天美、云美，常以“藍(lán)天白云”相稱，但若僅限于天之藍(lán)、云之白，未免單調(diào)了些?！八{(lán)天白云”只是對(duì)于晴好天氣的形容。紅云如何？“彤云又吐，一竿殘照”（時(shí)彥）；黃云怎樣？“黃云萬(wàn)里動(dòng)風(fēng)色”（李白）?！霸坡嫔保ń停?，用“奇色”狀述云之美，則是在無(wú)奈中表現(xiàn)云之多彩給人的震撼之感。

Clouds appear in a variety of forms， as in the sea of clouds conjured by Li Bai： “A bright clear moon rises over the Mountain of Heaven upon a boundless hazy sea of clouds.” Or they appear thin and wispy as depicted by Han Yu：? “Then， clouds drifting， willow catkins floating， / The land is vast， the sky is high.” The characteristics of clouds change along with seasons. The poet Tao Yuanming celebrates the wondrous shapes of clouds in the summer： “Clouds in the summer are continually changing and often appear in the form of grotesque mountain peaks.” The poet Liu Che describes the grace of clouds in the autumn： “Autumn wind rises; white clouds sail across a blue sky.”

云是有形的，或壯觀如海，所以有了李白“明月出天山，蒼茫云海間”的印象，或柔細(xì)如絲，所以有了韓愈“浮云柳絮無(wú)根蒂，天地闊遠(yuǎn)隨飛揚(yáng)”的感觸。季節(jié)不同，云各有特點(diǎn)，陶淵明“夏云多奇峰”，描繪的是夏云的秀姿；劉徹“秋風(fēng)起兮白云飛”，描繪的是秋云的灑脫。

Clouds are flowing. “Looking up I see flying clouds turn to dragons and snakes， swirling and dancing gracefully before melting in the azure sky.” （by Qin Guan） They are flowing all day long and at any moment， sometimes apparent， and sometimes unseeable. The high clouds seem to be motionless， but the low clouds are flowing like water. As a child， at summer time， looking up at the rain clouds in the sky， I would always recite the old saying： “Clouds travel southward， rains would follow; clouds travel northward， no rain comes down; clouds travel eastward， strong winds swirl; clouds travel westward， rains drown chickens.” The words are still ringing in my ears today.

云是流動(dòng)的?！帮w云當(dāng)面化龍蛇，夭矯轉(zhuǎn)空碧”（秦觀）。云之流動(dòng)，不消于一天之中、一時(shí)一刻之中，要么顯而易見(jiàn)，要么隱而不察。高層的云巋然不動(dòng)，低層的云如行云流水2。小時(shí)候一到夏季，仰望欲雨之云都要喊上幾句“云向南，水漣漣；云向北，干研墨；云向東，刮大風(fēng)；云向西，淹死雞”，至今聲猶在耳。

There are even changes in clouds that appear static. When you make a slight movement， or look away for a few seconds， the clouds look different as if they were forever changing in forms， colors and heights. The flowing clouds， aided by human imagination， produce wonderful phenomena in the sky.

即使靜景的云，也有靜中之變。只要你身子稍動(dòng)，眼光就那么轉(zhuǎn)上一圈，云可就有了不一樣的觀感，形狀啊、色彩啊、高低啊，就都在變化之中。云，加上想象，不就有了魔幻般的體驗(yàn)嘛。

Taking clouds as a kind of source material， you may become a master of collage art， a painter or a photographer. I often take photos of clouds and show them to people：

拿云做材料，足可成就你個(gè)拼圖大師、畫家或攝影家。我常拍些云圖給人看：

Look， what kind of buildings， or trees should be arranged with what kind of clouds—

你看，這樣的樓房、樹(shù)木和這樣的云一搭配——

Look， when you place streets， traffic lights with this kind of clouds—

你看，這樣的街道、紅綠燈和這樣的云一搭配——

Look， when you place fields， rivers with that kind of clouds—

你看，這樣的田野、小河和這樣的云一搭配——

Such arrangements work wonders！ Beautiful photo collages can be kept for a long time so the fond memories they capture can be revisited at any time.

奇妙可就來(lái)了！美圖一旦拼好，便能長(zhǎng)久存放，時(shí)時(shí)欣賞。

I have made cloud-themed collages as such：

我拼過(guò)：

The auspicious clouds with a reddish glow come from the east，

祥瑞紅云日邊來(lái)，

Golden beams of light burst through clouds at the Heaven Gate.

云后金光射天界。

The evening clouds are like hundreds of boats racing back，

百舸爭(zhēng)流暮云歸，

A white curtain of rain falls out of clouds turning dark.

墨云帶雨雨幕白。

White clouds above the vast grassland， the looming cumulus clouds over the face of the waters， the magnificent red clouds behind high-rise buildings， and the fantastical sea of undulating clouds being traversed by hikers halfway up the mountain： one couldnt help but be captivated by the picturesque beauty of all these natural wonders.

草地上白云襯托的遼闊，水面上團(tuán)云壓來(lái)的陣勢(shì)，樓房后紅云噴薄的瑰麗，山腰里云與游人共現(xiàn)的仙境，無(wú)不讓人流連再三。

The brightly-shining sun evokes romantic feelings， while low-hanging dark clouds are often associated with disaster films. When you find your life to be dull， look up at the sky where clouds are changing in certain ways; when you feel confined in your living quarters， look up at the sky where clouds are moving in unstrained ways.

艷陽(yáng)高照，讓人想到了風(fēng)花雪月；黑云壓城，讓人想到了災(zāi)難大片。當(dāng)你感到生活單調(diào)了，那就不妨看看云吧，因?yàn)樵朴凶兓?；?dāng)你感到區(qū)域受限，那就不妨看看云吧，因?yàn)樵铺祚R行空。

The beauty of clouds fleets away before you realize it， especially at sunset. When standing in open fields， you see red clouds dissipate at lofty heights. When the dark-colored curtains of night are closed， only sparsely-scattered red and yellow clouds stay high up in the sky. Here， as you are crossing downtown streets and looking up at the sky， youll see high-rise buildings rising through colorful clouds， which then gradually evaporate.

云之美有時(shí)稍縱即逝，特別在日落時(shí)分。站在空曠的原野，看紅云從萬(wàn)丈之高3慢慢淡出視野，及至夜幕合攏，只剩下漂浮于高天之上的幾抹黃紅。此時(shí)，穿行在鬧市中，但見(jiàn)彩色的云就在樓宇間、在大樓后慢慢消失于無(wú)形。

Clouds are to be chased after in a romantic way， not only with your eyes， but your heart. Dynamically-changing clouds fill your life with a spectrum of flowing colors. Look， the gathering clouds at the seaside， the misty clouds on mountains， and the freely-floating clouds over the desert. Each kind of them is endowed with a uniquely enchanting personality. But we should also cherish the clouds around us in our daily lives—over the narrow alleys， the apartment complex we live and the spaces we work in， for these kinds of clouds can carry us on a spiritual journey. To chase after clouds is to chase after romance.

云是要追的。追云，不僅用眼，更要用心4。有了動(dòng)感的云，生活中就有了動(dòng)感的色彩。你瞧，海邊的云，風(fēng)起云涌；山里的云，云霧縹緲；戈壁上的云，閑云野鶴5，它們無(wú)不個(gè)性十足，令人心馳神往。但我們也要珍惜身邊的云——狹小胡同的云，生活小區(qū)的云，工作區(qū)間的云，因?yàn)橐粯幽軒覀冏餍那橹?。追云，追的就是浪漫的感覺(jué)。

Try to be a master of collage art， a painter or a photographer. Clouds could be a great source of inspiration for your writing if you choose to be a writer.

當(dāng)個(gè)拼圖大師、畫家或攝影家吧，即使當(dāng)個(gè)作家，素材也可云中來(lái)。

*博士，教授，博導(dǎo)，中國(guó)英漢語(yǔ)比較研究會(huì)常務(wù)理事，“譯者行為批評(píng)”理論原創(chuàng)者（理論詞條被收入《中國(guó)大百科全書》第三版），本刊編委。曾獲獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)：教育部高?？蒲袃?yōu)秀成果獎(jiǎng)二等獎(jiǎng)、三等獎(jiǎng)；省政府哲學(xué)社會(huì)科學(xué)優(yōu)秀成果獎(jiǎng)一等獎(jiǎng)（兩屆）；省優(yōu)秀教學(xué)成果獎(jiǎng)一等獎(jiǎng)、二等獎(jiǎng)；揚(yáng)州大學(xué)人文社科突出貢獻(xiàn)獎(jiǎng)；等等。

1“七彩”即常說(shuō)的“赤橙黃綠青藍(lán)紫”。

2關(guān)于成語(yǔ)的虛實(shí)，本文均根據(jù)語(yǔ)境做了處理。除了“行云流水”外，還有“風(fēng)花雪月”“黑云壓城”“天馬行空”“風(fēng)起云涌”“云霧縹緲”“閑云野鶴”等。

3“萬(wàn)丈之高”是虛用，故用虛指的lofty heights代之。

4“追”用chase表示是沒(méi)有問(wèn)題的，但因?yàn)橛小白吩疲粌H用眼，更要用心”這樣的浪漫表達(dá)，所以在翻譯第一句的“追”時(shí)加上了隱藏的in a romantic way。? 5“風(fēng)起云涌”“云霧縹緲”“閑云野鶴”都是四字結(jié)構(gòu)，表現(xiàn)為整飭美，譯文則使用了可表現(xiàn)平行對(duì)稱的三個(gè)形容詞（gathering、misty、freely-floating），實(shí)現(xiàn)了相似的美學(xué)功能。