The Secrets of Frost霜之密語(yǔ)

In rural Suffolk， where I live， frost most commonly arrives in December. In Aviemore， October. In Penzance it might not happen at all. For gardeners and agriculturalists the phenomenon is a blessing and a curse： it breaks up heavy soils， kills weeds， reduces pest populations， and turns parsnips， carrots， kale and leeks so much sweeter. But at the other end of winter， unseasonably late frosts can wreak havoc1， leaving new plant-growth limp and blackened and dead.

我住在薩?？丝さ泥l(xiāng)下。一般而言，那兒一到十二月就開(kāi)始起霜。在阿維莫爾是十月，在彭贊斯可能根本就不會(huì)有霜。對(duì)園丁和農(nóng)夫而言，霜既是福音也是詛咒：它讓硬土松軟，殺死野草，減少害蟲(chóng)，蘿卜、胡蘿卜、甘藍(lán)菜、韭蔥因?yàn)樗兊糜l(fā)甘甜?？扇绻诙鞂⒈M之時(shí)光顧，那遲到得可真不是時(shí)候。它會(huì)引發(fā)一場(chǎng)浩劫，打蔫新長(zhǎng)出的嫩牙，讓他們變黑，而后死去。

With the earlier springs of a warming world， late frosts are increasingly destructive and can devastate industries. Desperate not to lose entire vintages， French winemakers light bonfires and candles among the vines to keep the ice at bay2.

全球變暖，春天越來(lái)越早，晚霜的破壞性也越來(lái)越大，甚至?xí)o相關(guān)產(chǎn)業(yè)釀成災(zāi)難。法國(guó)釀酒商為了不讓葡萄園顆粒無(wú)收，只好在葡萄園中點(diǎn)起篝火和蠟燭防止霜凍。

Frost occurs because warm air is able to carry more moisture than cold air. When temperatures dip， water is lost from it. Should temperatures remain above freezing， this water is deposited as dew. If temperatures continue to fall， dew may freeze to a clear， glassy coat called rime ice. But with sufficient cold， water vapour lost from the air skips the liquid stage entirely and turns directly to crystalline ice： frost.

之所以會(huì)產(chǎn)生霜，是因?yàn)楸绕鹄淇諝猓諝鈹y帶的水分更多。溫度下降，空氣中的水分也隨之流失。如果溫度維持在冰點(diǎn)以上，析出的水分沉積在物體表面成為露水。而如果溫度持續(xù)下降，露水會(huì)在物體表面形成清澈透明的霧凇。但如果足夠冷，空氣中析出的水蒸氣就會(huì)完全跳過(guò)液態(tài)階段，直接變?yōu)楸?，也就是霜?/p>

Like clouds， frosts have their own taxonomy. Wind frost occurs when a bitter wind blows over surfaces， forming tiny spikes that cluster along the edges of leaves， twigs or poles. The branching， feathered patterns on windscreens and the interior of windows in unheated rooms are known as fern frost or window frost， each curling frond3 seeded from an imperfection， a scratch or grain of dust or dirt that allows ice crystals their first purchase4 on an otherwise smooth surface.

霜和云一樣，也分門(mén)別類(lèi)。寒風(fēng)吹過(guò)，沿葉面邊緣、樹(shù)枝或樹(shù)干表面形成的細(xì)小尖刺狀物叫做風(fēng)霜。在擋風(fēng)玻璃和沒(méi)有暖氣的房間窗戶(hù)內(nèi)側(cè)形成的發(fā)散性羽毛狀花紋叫做蕨紋霜或霜花。光滑的玻璃表面只要有瑕疵，一粒灰塵又或是灰塵留下的劃痕，都會(huì)最先讓冰晶緊緊附著在玻璃表面，形成一片片卷曲的蕨葉狀花紋。

Hoar frost—spines and needles of white ice growing from frozen sur-faces—is often a consequence of freezing fog. And rarest of all is an exquisitely beautiful phenomenon called hair ice. Rotting wood of deciduous trees infected by the fungus Exidiopsis effusa5 can， under the right conditions， extrude a tangled， thick mop of long strands of white ice possessing the soft sheen of animal fur. The presence of the fungus and the chemicals it releases allow ice to grow in a form unlike any other manifestation： it looks like a tiny silver toupee or a patch of polar bear pelt discarded on the darkness of a forest floor.

白霜是形成于結(jié)冰物體表面的白色冰針和冰錐，往往是凍霧的產(chǎn)物。其中，最罕見(jiàn)的是一種名為發(fā)絲冰的精美絕倫的現(xiàn)象。當(dāng)闊葉樹(shù)朽木感染一種名為擬黑耳的真菌時(shí)，在適宜的條件下，表面就會(huì)長(zhǎng)出一堆亂蓬蓬的白色冰絲，厚厚長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的，擁有動(dòng)物毛發(fā)一般溫潤(rùn)的光澤。真菌及其釋放的化學(xué)物質(zhì)讓冰形成與眾不同的形態(tài)。發(fā)絲冰看上去就像遺棄在森林黑色大地上的一小頂銀色假發(fā)，或是一塊北極熊皮。

In their resemblance to biological growths， fern ice and hair ice conjure life. But in their fragility and transience， all forms of frost intimate death. It’s not something we can interact with： the merest touch of human warmth destroys it. It can only be observed. Furthermore， its mysterious appearances feel unanchored from any tangible cause. We see snow and rain fall from the sky， but frost appears from thin air， apparently grown from the things it decorates， as if they themselves had produced it.

和萬(wàn)物生長(zhǎng)相仿，蕨葉狀和發(fā)絲狀冰變戲法一般綻放生命的活力。而各種各樣的霜都易碎又易逝，因而預(yù)示著死亡。我們無(wú)法和霜互動(dòng)，哪怕稍一接觸，體溫也足以把它融化。霜，僅供觀賞。它神秘的外觀讓人覺(jué)得它憑空產(chǎn)生。我們看見(jiàn)雨雪從天而降，但霜是突然出現(xiàn)的，貌似是自它所點(diǎn)綴之物中生成，仿佛這些東西自己產(chǎn)生了霜一樣。

Frost’s transformative power isn’t limited to its physical effects on soil structure or living tissue. It has the capacity to alter the kind of attention we pay to the world and the meanings we take from it. Under its secret ministrations， straight lines become furred， baroque. Hoar frost turns soft， near-invisible spiders’ webs into heavy opalescent6 necklaces slung between branches. Things you would pass without a second glance on any other day become rich， fascinating and deserving of minute attention： the newly feathered lattices of a chain-link fence， the tiny stars and spears of ice growing from a discarded soda can. All things touched by frost are rendered the same， whether roadside litter or the rarest late rose.

霜具有改變的力量，它不僅實(shí)實(shí)在在地改變了土壤結(jié)構(gòu)、活性組織，還讓我們對(duì)世界的關(guān)注有所不同，領(lǐng)悟出不一樣的意義。因?yàn)殪F的秘密相助，直線上細(xì)毛叢生，精美而華麗。柔軟的蜘蛛絲肉眼幾乎不可見(jiàn)，白霜卻讓它變成了懸掛于樹(shù)枝間散發(fā)著乳白色光芒的沉甸甸的項(xiàng)鏈。那些你平日里不會(huì)多看一眼的東西，因?yàn)樗拇嬖谧兊秘S富而有趣，值得我們細(xì)細(xì)觀察。比如一個(gè)鐵絲網(wǎng)籬笆，上面的菱形格剛剛披上了一層羽毛狀的白霜。又如一個(gè)被人扔在一邊的汽水罐，上面結(jié)的霜宛如小小的星星、短短的尖矛。不管是路邊的垃圾，還是最最罕見(jiàn)的、遲開(kāi)的玫瑰，只要結(jié)上白霜，就都變美了。

To me， the changes wrought by heavy frost recall J.G. Ballard7’s The Crystal World， a deeply eerie novel that relates the effects of a distant cosmic event that causes areas of the world inexplicably to crystallise8. Across swathes of tropical jungle， flesh and wood and light and water become conjoined and refracted in glittering， final solidity， as if time and space and life and death had become one and the same. And it’s that intimation9 of crystalline10， collapsing time that sits inside my memories of hoar frost.

對(duì)我而言，嚴(yán)重霜凍引發(fā)的變化讓我想到《結(jié)晶的世界》，這部極其詭異的小說(shuō)出自J. G.巴拉德之手。書(shū)中寫(xiě)到，遙遠(yuǎn)的宇宙事件導(dǎo)致世界各地莫名其妙地結(jié)晶。在熱帶叢林的沼澤地，有靈萬(wàn)物、陽(yáng)光雨露，通通連了起來(lái)，最終成為一個(gè)閃閃發(fā)光的固態(tài)世界，時(shí)間、空間、生命、死亡仿佛已然合為一體，不分彼此，毫無(wú)差別。在我記憶中，我對(duì)白霜的印象便是這仿佛坍縮在結(jié)晶里的時(shí)間。

One day in particular stays with me. It began with freezing fog， and it was a weekday in winter. I’d set out at dawn for a walk in Chippenham Fen， and as the light increased I saw that over the short hours of darkness， long spines of white ice had grown from every surface exposed to air. Hoar frost isn’t rare， but the size and thickness of these lapidary encrustations11 were： the fogbound landscape I walked in was other-worldly and entirely bewitching.

有那么一天，我的印象尤為深刻。時(shí)值冬季，工作日，一早起來(lái)，漫天凍霧。天剛破曉，我便出發(fā)去奇彭納姆濕地散步。天色漸亮，我這才發(fā)現(xiàn)，夜晚短短的幾個(gè)小時(shí)之間，暴露在空氣中的每一件物體的表面都長(zhǎng)出了長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的白色冰錐。白霜并非稀罕物，罕見(jiàn)的是這些寶石一般的凝結(jié)物的尺寸和厚度，再加上這漫天的濃霧，一切都變得超然于世，令人無(wú)盡陶醉，而我，則正漫步其中。

Frost， silence， stillness. The only soul I met on that walk was a man escorting his small border terrier12 back to the car park. It was an elderly dog with a halting gait that bespoke age and frozen paws. As we passed I expected the usual wordless nod of greeting. But the man stopped. Looked at me. Rubbed his gloved hands， then gestured at everything around us. When he spoke， his voice was deep and full of feeling.

霜的世界，寂靜無(wú)聲，靜如止水。一路上，我沒(méi)見(jiàn)著什么人，只有一個(gè)男人帶著一只小邊境?往停車(chē)場(chǎng)的方向走去。那只邊境?走走停停，看起來(lái)上了年紀(jì)，爪子也凍僵了。碰面的時(shí)候，我以為我和那個(gè)男人會(huì)照例點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，不說(shuō)話，就當(dāng)是打招呼了。沒(méi)想到，他卻停住腳步，看向我。他搓了搓戴著手套的雙手，指了指周?chē)囊磺校f(shuō)話時(shí)嗓音低沉，感情充沛。

“I’ve never seen it like this and I’m 73. Never. Never like this in all my life.” He paused. “You can get this old， as old as me，” he said， his voice breaking mid-sentence， “but you can still see something new.”

“這樣的景象，我還是頭一次見(jiàn)，活了73年，頭一次見(jiàn)。這輩子頭一次。”他頓了頓，說(shuō)：“沒(méi)想到活到我這把年紀(jì)，這么大歲數(shù)，”話說(shuō)到一半，他又停了下來(lái)，“還能看見(jiàn)讓我大開(kāi)眼界的東西?！?/p>

We’d been privy to a miracle， a shared secret. Less than ten minutes later the frost started to decay. Each frozen twig and branch of the willows around and above me began shedding ice， soft splinters13 falling slowly through the air， glittering here and there with the first touch of winter sun through mist.

我們倆共同見(jiàn)證了一場(chǎng)奇跡，擁有了同一個(gè)秘密。不出十分鐘，霜開(kāi)始慢慢消退。我頭頂和周?chē)粌鲎〉拿恳桓鴺?shù)枝條都開(kāi)始下起了冰粒雨，輕柔的霜屑從空中緩緩降落，冬日的第一縷陽(yáng)光穿過(guò)薄霧，照在霜屑上，熠熠生輝。

As I walked， the frost tickled my face and nape as it melted， glittering spines coating my sleeves. The sky had grown bright as I reached my car， that foggy silence replaced by the patter of dripping water， and by the time I found myself home， the whole new world I’d been given had gone.

我走在路上，霜融化在面頰和后脖頸，癢癢的。袖子上落滿(mǎn)亮晶晶的霜針。等我走到車(chē)跟前，天已大亮，霜霧的寂靜消失了，取而代之的是水滴的啪嗒聲。等我回到家，那個(gè)屬于我的全新世界已然消失了。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>

1 wreak havoc嚴(yán)重危害。 2 keep… at bay阻止……發(fā)生。

3 frond窄長(zhǎng)的葉子。 4 purchase緊握；抓住。 5一種屬于木耳科的真菌。

6 opalescent發(fā)乳光的；像蛋白石的。

7英國(guó)著名科幻作家，代表作包括《淹沒(méi)的世界》《撞車(chē)》等。 8 crystallise形成晶體。 9 intimation暗示。 10 crystalline晶瑩剔透的。

11 encrustation（積垢、化學(xué)物等）表層沉積物，凝結(jié)物。 12 border terrier 邊境?。英國(guó)犬種，主要用于獵狐和獾。

13 splinter（木頭、玻璃、塑料等的）尖細(xì)條，尖碎片。