![]()
Winter Memories
冬天的回忆
Henry David Thoreau
亨利·大卫·梭罗
（张爱玲 译）
Within the circuit of this plodding life
在这劳苦跋涉的生活圈子里，
There enter moments of an azure hue,
时而有蔚蓝的一刹那到来，
Untarnished fair as is the violet
明艳无垢，如同紫罗兰或白头翁，
Or anemone, when the spring strews them
春天散布在曲折的小河边的花。
By some meandering rivulet, which make
这一刹那间，就连最好的哲学
The best philosophy untrue that aims
也显得不真实，倘若它唯一的目标
But to console man for his grievances.
只是慰藉人间的冤苦。
I have remembered when the winter came,
在冬天到来的时候，
High in my chamber in the frosty nights,
霜浓之夜，我高栖在小楼上，
When in the still light of the cheerful moon,
愉快的月亮寂静的光辉中，
On every twig and rail and jutting spout,
每一根树枝，阑干，突出的水管上，
The icy spears were adding to their length
冰枪越来越长，
Against the arrows of the coming sun,
映着日出的光箭；
How in the shimmering noon of summer past
当时我记得去夏流火的正午，
Some unrecorded beam slanted across
一线日光无人注意，悄悄地斜穿过
The upland pastures where the Johnswort grew;
高地上长着约翰草的牧场；
Or heard, amid the verdure of my mind,
间或在我的心灵中的绿荫里
The bee’s long smothered hum, on the blue flag
听见悠长的闷闷的蜂鸣，嗡嗡绕着
Loitering amidst the mead; or busy rill,
徘徊于草原上的蓝色的剑兰；
Which now through all its course stands still and dumb
或是听见那忙碌的小溪——现在它上下游整个暗哑，木立，
Its own memorial, – purling at its play
成为它自己的纪念碑——以前曾漩卷着潺潺地
Along the slopes, and through the meadows next,
在山坡上游戏，穿过附近的草原，
Until its youthful sound was hushed at last
直到它年轻的声音终于淹没
In the staid current of the lowland stream;
在低地的江河迟重的潮流中；
Or seen the furrows shine but late upturned,
或是看见新刨的一行行田壤
And where the fieldfare followed in the rear,
发出光辉，后面跟着画眉鸟，
When all the fields around lay bound and hoar
而现在四周一切田地都冻结，白茫茫
Beneath a thick integument of snow.
盖着一层冰雪的厚壳。这样，仗着上帝
So by God’s cheap economy made rich
经济的办法，我的生活丰富起来，
To go upon my winter’s task again.
使我又能够从事于我冬天的工作。
A Winter Walk
冬日漫步
Henry David Thoreau
亨利·戴维·梭罗
The wind has gently murmured through the blinds, or puffed with feathery softness against the windows, and occasionally sighed like a summer zephyr lifting the leaves along, the livelong night. The meadow-mouse has slept in his snug gallery in the sod, the owl has sat in a hollow tree in the depth of the swamp, the rabbit, the squirrel, and the fox have all been housed. The watch-dog has lain quiet on the hearth, and the cattle have stood silent in their stalls. 风轻轻地低声吹着，吹过百叶窗，吹在窗上，轻软得好像羽毛一般；有时候数声叹息，几乎叫人想起夏季长夜漫漫和风吹动树叶的声音。田鼠已经舒舒服服地在地底下的楼房中睡着了，猫头鹰安坐在沼地深处一棵空心树里面，兔子、松鼠、狐狸都躲在家里安居不动。看家的狗在火炉旁边安静地躺着，牛羊在栏圈里一声不响地站着。The earth itself has slept, as it were its first, not its last sleep, save when some street-sign or wood-house door has faintly creaked upon its hinge, cheering forlorn nature at her midnight work – the only sound awake twixt Venus and Mars – advertising us of a remote inward warmth, a divine cheer and fellowship, where gods are met together, but where it is very bleak for men to stand. But while the earth has slumbered, all the air has been alive with feathery flakes descending, as if some northern Ceres reigned, showering her silvery grain over all the fields.大地也睡着了——这不是长眠，这似乎是它辛勤一年以来的第一次安然入睡。时虽半夜，大自然还是不断地忙着，只有街上商店招牌或是木屋的门轴上，偶然轻轻地发出叽咯的声音，给寂寥的大自然添一些慰藉。茫茫宇宙，在金星和火星之间，只有这些声音表示天地万物还没有全体入睡——我们想起了远处（就在心里头吧？）还有温暖，还有神圣的欢欣和友朋相聚之乐；可是这种境界是天神们互相往来时才能领略，凡人是不胜其荒凉的。天地现在是睡着了，可是空气中还是充满了生机，鹅毛片片，不断地落下，好像有一个北方的五谷女神，正在我们的田亩上撒下无数银色的谷粒。
We sleep, and at length awake to the still reality of a winter morning. The snow lies warm as cotton or down upon the window-sill; the broadened sash and frosted panes admit a dim and private light, which enhances the snug cheer within. The stillness of the morning is impressive. The floor creaks under our feet as we move toward the window to look abroad through some clear space over the fields. 我们也睡着了，一觉醒来，正是冬天的早晨。万籁无声，雪厚厚地堆着，窗槛上像铺了温暖的棉花或羽绒；窗格子显得加宽了，玻璃上结了冰纹，光线暗淡而隐秘，更加强了屋内的舒适愉快的感觉。早晨的安静咄咄逼人。我们走到窗口——脚下的地板在吱吱地响——挑了一处没有冰霜封住的地方，眺望田野的景色。We see the roofs stand under their snow burden. From the eaves and fences hang stalactites of snow, and in the yard stand stalagmites covering some concealed core. The trees and shrubs rear white arms to the sky on every side; and where were walls and fences, we see fantastic forms stretching in frolic gambols across the dusky landscape, as if nature had strewn her fresh designs over the fields by night as models for man’s art.窗外一幢幢的房子都是白雪盖顶；屋檐下、篱笆上莫不垂垂地挂满了钟乳石似的冰雪；院子里像石笋似站了很多雪柱，雪里藏的是什么东西，却看不出来。大树小树四面八方地伸出白色的手臂，指向天空；本来是墙壁和篱笆的地方，形状更是奇特，在昏暗的大地上，它们向左右延伸，如跳如跃，似乎一夜之间，大自然把田野风景重新设计过，好让人间的画师来临摹。
Silently we unlatch the door, letting the drift fall in, and step abroad to face the cutting air. Already the stars have lost some of their sparkle, and a dull, leaden mist skirts the horizon. A lurid brazen light in the east proclaims the approach of day, while the western landscape is dim and spectral still, and clothed in a somber Tartarian light, like the shadowy realms. They are Infernal sounds only that you hear – the crowing of cocks, the barking of dogs, the chopping of wood, the lowing of kine, all seem to come from Pluto’s barn-yard and beyond the Styx – not for any melancholy they suggest, but their twilight bustle is too solemn and mysterious for earth. 我们稍稍地拔去了门闩，雪花飘飘，立刻落到屋子里来；走出屋外，寒风迎面扑来，利如刀割。星光已经不那么闪烁光亮，地平线上笼罩了一层沉重晦暗的薄雾。东方露出一种奇幻的古铜色的光彩，表示天快要亮了；可是西面的景物，还是模模糊糊，一片幽暗，寂静无声，恍如幽灵，到处阴光闪烁，鬼影憧憧，疑非人间。耳边的声音，也带鬼气——鸡啼狗吠，木柴的砍劈声，牛群的低鸣声——这一切都好像是阴阳河彼岸冥王的农场里发出的声音；声音本身并没有特别凄凉之处，只是天色未明，这种种活动显得太庄严了，太神秘了，不像人间所有。The recent tracks of the fox or otter, in the yard, remind us that each hour of the night is crowded with events, and the primeval nature is still working and making tracks in the snow. Opening the gate, we tread briskly along the lone country road, crunching the dry and crisped snow under our feet, or aroused by the sharp clear creak of the wood-sled, just starting for the distant market, from the early farmer’s door, where it has lain the summer long, dreaming amid the chips and stubble; while far through the drifts and powdered windows we see the farmer’s early candle, like a paled star, emitting a lonely beam, as if some severe virtue were at its matins there. And one by one the smokes begin to ascend from the chimneys amidst the trees and snows.院子里，雪地上，狐狸和水獭所留下的印迹犹新，这使我们想起：即使在冬夜最静寂的时候，自然界生物没有一个钟点不在活动，它们还在雪上留下痕迹。把院子门打开，我们以轻快的脚步，跨上寂寞的乡村公路，雪干而脆，脚踏上去发出破碎的声音；早起的农夫，驾了雪橇，到远处的市场去赶早集市。这辆雪橇一夏天都在农夫的门口闲放着，与木屑稻梗为伍，现在可有了用武之地。它的尖锐、清晰、刺耳的声音，对于早起赶路的人，也有提神醒脑的作用。农舍窗上虽然积雪很多，但是屋里的农夫早把蜡烛点起，孤独的烛光照射出来，像一颗暗淡的星，宛如某种淳朴的美德正在作着晨祷。树际和雪堆之间，炊烟也是一处处地依次从烟囱里开始升起。We hear the sound of wood-chopping at the farmers’ doors, far over the frozen earth, the baying of the house-dog, and the distant clarion of the cock – though the thin and frosty air conveys only the finer particles of sound to our ears, with short and sweet vibrations, as the waves subside soonest on the purest and lightest liquids, in which gross substances sink to the bottom. They come clear and bell-like, and from a greater distance in the horizon, as if there were fewer impediments than in summer to make them faint and ragged. The ground is sonorous, like seasoned wood, and even the ordinary rural sounds are melodious, and the jingling of the ice on the trees is sweet and liquid. There is the least possible moisture in the atmosphere, all being dried up or congealed, and it is of such extreme tenuity and elasticity that it becomes a source of delight. The withdrawn and tense sky seems groined like the aisles of a cathedral, and the polished air sparkles as if there were crystals of ice floating in it. As they who have resided in Greenland tell us that when it freezes “the sea smokes like burning turf-land, and a fog or mist arises, called frost-smoke,” which “cutting smoke frequently raises blisters on the face and hands, and is very pernicious to the health.” But this pure, stinging cold is an elixir to the lungs, and not so much a frozen mist as a crystallized midsummer haze, refined and purified by cold.大地冰冻，远处鸡啼狗吠；从各处农舍门口，不时传来丁丁劈柴的声音。空气稀薄干寒，只有比较美妙的声音才能传入我们的耳朵，这种声音听来都有一种简短的可是悦耳的颤动；凡是至清至轻的流体，波动总是稍发即止，因为里面粗粒硬块，早就沉到底下去了。声音从地平线的远处传来，都清越明亮，犹如钟声，冬天的空气清明，不像夏天那样有众多杂质阻碍，因此声音听来也不像夏天那样的毛糙模糊。脚下的土地，铿锵有声，如叩坚硬的古木；一切乡村间平凡的声音，此刻听来都美妙悦耳；树上的冰条，互相撞击，其声琤琮，如流水，如妙乐。大气里面一点水分都没有，水蒸气不是干化，就是结成冰霜的了；空气十分稀薄而似有弹性，人呼吸其中，自觉心旷神怡。天似乎是绷紧了的，往后收缩，人从下上望，很像处身大教堂中，顶上是一块连一块弧状的屋顶；空气中闪光点点，好像有冰晶浮游其间。据在格陵兰住过的人告诉我们说，那边结冰的时候，“海就冒烟，像大火燎原一般；而且有一种雾气上升，名叫烟雾；这种烟雾有害健康，伤人皮肤，能使人手脸等处，生疮肿胀。”我们这里的寒气，虽然其冷入骨，然而质地清纯可提神，可清肺；我们不能把它认为是冻结的雾，只能认为是仲夏的雾气的结晶，经过寒冬的洗练，越发变得清纯了。![]()
The sun at length rises through the distant woods, as if with the faint clashing, swinging sound of cymbals, melting the air with his beams, and with such rapid steps the morning travels, that already his rays are gilding the distant western mountains. Meanwhile we step hastily along through the powdery snow, warmed by an inward heat, enjoying an Indian summer still, in the increased glow of thought and feeling. Probably if our lives were more conformed to nature, we should not need to defend ourselves against her heats and colds, but find her our constant nurse and friend, as do plants and quadrupeds. If our bodies were fed with pure and simple elements, and not with a stimulating and heating diet, they would afford no more pasture for cold than a leafless twig, but thrive like the trees, which find even winter genial to their expansion.太阳最后总算从远处的林间上升，阳光照处，空中的冰霜都融化，隐隐之中似乎有铙钹伴奏，铙钹每响一次，阳光的威力逐渐增强；时间很快地从黎明变成早晨，早晨也越来越老，很快的把西面远处的山头，镀上一层金色。我们匆匆的踏着粉状的干雪前进，因为思想情感更为激动，内心发出一种热力，天气也好像变得像十月小阳春似的温暖。假如我们能改造我们的生活，和大自然更能配合一致，我们也许就无需畏惧寒暑之侵，我们将同草木走兽一样，认大自然为我们的保姆和良友，她是永远照顾着我们的。如果我们不是进食使人兴奋和富于热量的食物，而是洁净而单纯的基本要素，那么我们就会像一根无叶的小枝桠那样丝毫不为寒冷提供让它施展其淫威的场地，却会如同树木那样茁壮成长，即使冬天也会适宜于它们的欣欣向荣。![]()
The wonderful purity of nature at this season is a most pleasing fact. Every decayed stump and moss-grown stone and rail, and the dead leaves of autumn, are concealed by a clean napkin of snow. In the bare fields and tinkling woods, see what virtue survives. In the coldest and bleakest places, the warmest charities still maintain a foothold. A cold and searching wind drives away all contagion, and nothing can withstand it but what has a virtue in it, and accordingly, whatever we meet with in cold and bleak places, as the tops of mountains, we respect for a sort of sturdy innocence, a Puritan toughness. All things beside seem to be called in for shelter, and what stays out must be part of the original frame of the universe, and of such valor as God himself. It is invigorating to breathe the cleansed air. Its greater fineness and purity are visible to the eye, and we would fain stay out long and late, that the gales may sigh through us, too, as through the leafless trees, and fit us for the winter – as if we hoped so to borrow some pure and steadfast virtue, which will stead us in all seasons.大自然在这个季节显得特别纯洁，这是使我们觉得最为高兴的。残干枯木，苔迹斑斑的石头和栏杆，秋天的落叶，到现在被大雪掩没，像上面盖了一块干净的手巾。在裸露的田野里和丁当作声的树林里，看看还剩下什么美德。在最冷和最凄惨的地方，最最温暖人心的善行犹自坚守阵地。寒风一吹，无孔不入，一切乌烟瘴气都一扫而光，凡是不能坚贞自守的，都无法抵御；因此凡是在寒冷荒僻的地方（例如在高山之顶），我们所能看得见的东西，都是值得我们尊敬的，因为它们有一种坚强的纯朴的性格——一种清教徒式的坚韧。别的东西都寻求隐蔽保护去了，凡是能卓然独立于寒风之中者，一定是天地灵气之所钟，是自然界骨气的表现，它们具有和天神一般的勇敢。空气经过洗涤，呼吸进去特别有劲。空气的清明纯洁，甚至用眼睛都能看得出来；我们宁可整天待在户外，不到天黑不回家，我们希望朔风吹过光秃秃的大树一般的吹澈我们的身体，使得我们更能适应寒冬的气候。我们希望藉此能从大自然借来一点纯洁坚定的力量，这种力量对于我们是一年四季都有用的。
注：红色部分为朱乃长补译，其余为夏济安原译。
