October Days1十月天

Just below me on the hillside is a forty-acre field that slopes gently down to the valley. Last year it was ploughed by a motor-tractor： this year I rejoice to say it is being ploughed in the old way， as it has been ploughed for a thousand years. I suppose we ought to be grateful for the motor-tractor and the steam-digger that in cheapening production cheapen our food， but I am glad that the farmer below me has returned to the ancient way. When the machine comes in， the poetry goes out， and though poetry has no place in the farmer’s ledger2 it is pleasant to find that he has sound reasons for reverting to the primitive plough. All the operations of the fields are beautiful to see. They are beautiful in themselves and beautiful in their suggestions of the permanence of things in the midst of which we come and go like the guests of a day. Who can see the gleaners in the field， or the haymakers piling the hay on the hay-wain， or the mower bending over the scythe without the stirring of the feelings which the mere beauty of the scene or of the motion does not explain？3 Indeed the sense of beauty itself is probably only the emanation of the thoughts subtly awakened by the action. It is so with pictures4. I do not know any painting that lives in my mind with a more abiding beauty than one of Millet’s. It is just a solitary upland field， with a flight of birds and an untended plough lying in the foreground. The barrenness and austerity of the scene5 are almost forbidding at the first glance， but as the mind dwells on it， it becomes instinct with6 meaning and emotion. Evening has come and darkness is falling over the land. The labourer has left the field and the rooks are going home. In the midst of the ancient solitude and silence that have taken possession of the earth， the old plough has the passion of personality. It embodies the epic of man’s labour with the intensity that direct statement could not convey but only the power of suggestion can give.

就在我下方的山坡上，有一片四十英畝的田地，坡度徐緩地往下延伸到山谷。去年這塊地用一輛拖拉機犁過，而今年我會樂滋滋地說，人們正以古老的方式犁這塊地，就是沿用千年的那種方式。依我看，我們應該感謝拖拉機和蒸汽挖掘機，它們既降低了生產(chǎn)成本，也降低了食品價格，但我高興的是地里那個農(nóng)民已然回歸了古老的耕作方式。隨著機器的引進，詩歌過時了。雖然那位農(nóng)民的日常算計中沒有詩歌的份額，但我欣喜地發(fā)現(xiàn)，他依然滿有理由轉回去使用簡陋的犁鏵。田間地頭的勞作全都賞心悅目，不僅美在它們自身，還美在它們透出的種種跡象，暗示著我們?nèi)绱掖疫^客般親歷事物之恒久。誰瞧見有人田間埋頭拾穗，或彎腰揮鐮割草，抑或往車上堆放干草，能不心潮蕩漾？何以如此情難自禁，單以風光美麗或動作漂亮是說不通的。事實上，美感本身可能只是顯現(xiàn)被行為隱約喚起的想法。欣賞畫作亦然。我不知道留存于我心的畫作，有哪幅能比米勒的任一幅更具持久的魅力。他畫的只是一片孤零零的高地田野，一群飛翔的鳥兒，前景里有一把無人看顧的犁躺在那兒。一派貧瘠蕭瑟的景象，初看幾乎令人悚然心驚，但神游其中，它便漸漸充滿意義與情感。夜幕已經(jīng)降臨，黑暗開始籠罩大地。農(nóng)民離開了田地，禿鼻烏鴉也要歸巢。在已然占據(jù)大地的遠古的孤獨與靜謐之中，那把古老的犁富于強烈的個性。它象征著人類勞動的史詩，氣勢之盛難以直言道明，只能借助暗示傳遞幾分。

And so it is with the scene before me. As I watch the ploughman drawing that straight， undulating line in the yellow stubble of the field， he seems to be not so much a mortal as a part of the landscape， that comes and goes as the seasons come and go， or as the sun comes and goes7. His father， it may be， ploughed this field before him， and his father before him， and so on back through the centuries to the days when the monks still drank their sack8 and ate their venison in the monastery below， which is now only a mound of stones. And over the new-ploughed soil the rooks， who have as ancient an ancestry as himself， descend in clouds to forage as they have descended in these late October days for a thousand years. And after the rooks， the starlings. They have gathered in hosts after the pleasant domestic intimacies of summer for their winter campaigning， and stream across the sky in those miraculous mass man-oeuvres that affect one like winged and noiseless music. When they swoop down on the upturned soil the farmer blesses them. He forgets the devastations of the summer in the presence of the ruthless war which the mail-clad host is making on the leather-jackets and other pestilent broods that lurk in the soil.9 They， too， have their part in the eternal economy of the fields. They are notes in that rhythm of things which touches our transitoriness with the hint of immemorial ancestry.

我眼前的畫面也是如此。我注視著耕夫在遍布黃色麥茬的田野上劃出那條高低起伏的直線，覺得他似乎不是一個普通人，而是風景的一部分，頻繁地出現(xiàn)和消失，伴隨著四季更迭或晝夜交替。他的父親，或許在他之前就耕過這片地，還有他父親的父親，耕著耕著，頃刻間時光倒流幾百年，回到僧侶們依然在修道院里飲薩克酒、吃鹿肉的日子，而當年位于田野下方的那座修道院，如今只剩下一堆石塊。盤旋在新耕土地上的禿鼻烏鴉，和耕夫本人有著同樣古老的祖先，它們成群地從天而降，一起覓食，上千年來多少個十月下旬的日子亦復如是。禿鼻烏鴉之后是椋鳥。夏天愉悅親昵的家庭生活結束后，大量椋鳥聚集起來，為它們越冬的斗爭做準備。它們以神奇的群體飛翔特技掠過長空，和振翅而作的無聲樂曲一樣打動人心。眼見它們俯沖而下，落在深翻過的土壤上，農(nóng)民自會送上祝福。這支全副武裝的鳥兒大軍正在向潛藏于土壤的大蚊幼蟲和其他害蟲幼蟲發(fā)動無情的攻擊，他目睹全程，自然忘了夏天遭受的禍害。這些鳥兒也參與了田地的永久經(jīng)營。它們構成了那首萬物詠嘆調(diào)的一個個音符，給我們眼前的倏忽一瞬平添了些許悠悠遠古的意味。

The ploughman has reached the far end of his furrow and rests his horses while he takes his lunch by the hedgerow. That is aflame once more with the returning splendours of these October days. The green of summer has turned to a passion of gold and scarlet and yellow and purple10， and all over the landscape the foliage is drunk with colour. The elms that have stood so long garbed in sober green are showing wonderful tufts and curls of bright yellow at the top， like old gentlemen who are growing old gaily. It is as though they have suddenly become vocal and hilarious and are breaking into song. A few days hence they will be a glory of bright yellow. But that last note of triumph does not belong to October. It is in the first days of November that the elm is at its crowning hour. But the beech is at its best now， and the woodlands that spread up the hillside glow， underfoot and overhead， with the fires of fairyland.

耕夫已經(jīng)到達犁溝的盡頭，他在灌木樹籬旁吃午飯，正好讓馬兒也在一旁歇息。隨著十月天繽紛秋色的復歸，那道樹籬再度燃起耀眼的光焰。夏天的蒼翠轉為熱烈的金黃、緋紅、黃褐和絳紫，整片林地的樹葉浸染了絢麗的色彩。那些身披樸素綠裝已久的榆樹，在樹巔露出一簇簇、一綹綹怡人的亮黃色，猶如一個個欣然老去的年長紳士。它們似乎陡然開始發(fā)聲，歡笑之余引吭高歌。幾天后，它們將變成一片亮燦燦的金黃，但那首勝利曲調(diào)最后的音符并不屬于十月。十一月的頭幾天才是榆樹頂起黃冠的時期。不過，此時正是山毛櫸最美的時候，蔓延到山腰的山毛櫸林從頭到腳紅得鮮艷，仿佛閃耀著仙境之火。

In the bright warm sunshine there is a faint echo of the songs of spring. There are chirrups and chatterings from voices that have been silent for long. There is the “spink11， spink” of the chaffinch， and from the meadowland at the back there comes at intervals the song of a lark， not the full song of summer， but no mean imitation of it. It is the robin， however， who is now chorister-in-chief12. His voice was lost or unnoticed when the great soloists were abroad， but now he is left to sing the requiem of the year alone—unless we include the owl13 who comes punctually every evening as the dusk falls to my garden， and utters a few owlish incantations.

明亮溫暖的陽光下，依稀回蕩著春天的歌聲。沉寂許久的唧唧喳喳聲再度響起。其中有倉頭燕雀“斯平克，斯平克”的呼喚，后面的草地上還不時傳來一只云雀的歌聲——不是夏天的縱情放歌，但也絕不是對夏日謠曲的拙劣模仿。然而，知更鳥才是唱詩班的現(xiàn)任首席歌手。前些日子那些大牌獨唱演員出來獻藝時，它的聲音消失了或者被忽視了，但現(xiàn)在只剩下它獨唱本年度的安魂曲——除非我們把貓頭鷹劃歸歌手之列。每天傍晚暮色降臨之際，貓頭鷹總會準時來到我的花園，念幾句貓頭鷹的咒語。

I can see the ploughman nearing the top end of the field， and can hear the jangle of the harness and his comments to the horses and almost the soft fall of the soil as the furrow is turned over. I think I will bid him adieu， for these October days provide tasks for me as well as for the ploughman. There are still some apples to pick， there is an amazing bed of carrots to be got up， there are laurels to be cut down， there are—oh， joy！—bonfires to be lighted， and there are young fir-trees to be transplanted. I think I will start with the bonfires.

我能看見耕夫正在接近田地上坡的盡頭，可以聽到馬具叮叮當當?shù)穆曇?、耕夫對馬兒的責怪，就連深翻犁溝時土壤輕輕濺落的聲音也隱約可聞。我想我得向他告別了，因為十月天向耕夫和我都分派了任務。仍有一些蘋果要采摘，有一畦成色不錯的胡蘿卜要拔出，有幾棵月桂樹要砍倒，有——哦，棒極了！——有篝火要點燃，還有樅樹苗要移植。我想我還是先點燃篝火吧。

（譯者單位：揚州大學）

1 本文選自英國作家阿爾弗雷德·喬治·加德納的隨筆集《道道畦溝》（Many Furrows）。作者寄情于金秋十月的田野風光，神游物外，思接千載，委婉而深沉地抒發(fā)今昔之比的感慨，是一篇蘊含詩情畫意和深邃哲理的美文。美文需美譯，翻譯時應認真理解揣摩原意，精心煉詞琢句，用自然貼切的對等語再現(xiàn)原文的神韻。 2 譯文重新調(diào)整這一從句結構，將farmer作為行為主體；ledger（記賬用的簿子）則取其喻義“日常算計”，譯作“農(nóng)民的日常算計中沒有詩歌的份額”，讀來順暢自如。

3 將這一長句前三個并列的名詞短語“gleaners … the mower bending over the scythe”譯作“有人田間埋頭拾穗，或彎腰揮鐮割草，抑或往車上堆放干草”，節(jié)奏鮮明，朗朗上口，音美意美兼具；which譯為設問“何以如此情難自禁”，照應前文the stirring of the feelings（心潮蕩漾）；the mere beauty of the scene or of the motion則擴展為“單以風光美麗或動作漂亮”。概括而言，譯文將原句的多重意思按照漢語習慣順勢鋪陳，化為絡繹行文，無阻隔之感，無斧鑿之痕。 4 此處pictures若只譯為“畫作”，便難以進行比類，因而加上“欣賞”一詞，凸顯動態(tài)。 5 barrenness and austerity在原文中做主語，譯文未囿于原文語法結構，采用小句意合。 6 be instinct with 充滿著。

7 the seasons come and go譯為“四季更迭”，the sun comes and goes譯為“晝夜交替”。只要留心漢語的慣常說法，總能找出不同于詞典概念意義的自然而貼切的對等語。 8 sack薩克葡萄酒，古老的葡萄酒術語，指16—17世紀產(chǎn)于西班牙本土及加那利群島的葡萄酒。

9 此句中的“in the presence of ...”暗含解釋原因。根據(jù)中文表達習慣，譯文調(diào)整了全句的語序，先“因”后“果”，前后連續(xù)而貫通；mail是“鎧甲”，host是“軍隊”，此處運用了暗喻修辭。 10 用帶有修飾成分的雙音節(jié)詞分別對應原文簡單的顏色詞green、gold、scarlet、yellow和purple，譯文包蘊具有情感色彩的視覺聯(lián)想，呈現(xiàn)秋色繽紛的美景。

11 spink 倉頭燕雀叫聲。 12 chorister-in-chief 唱詩班首席歌手。 13 結合語境增補詞義，將其譯為“把貓頭鷹劃歸歌手之列”，與前面的great soloists（大牌獨唱演員）形成有效的語義銜接。