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第一部 第六章 彩虹鸽出走

所属教程:译林版·彩虹鸽

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2022年06月06日

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PART ONE Chapter Six Gay-Neck's Truancy

But the day after our return Gay-Neck flew away again, in the morning, and failed to put in an appearance later. We waited for him most anxiously during four successive days, and then, unable to bear the suspense any longer, Ghond and I set out in search of him, determined to find him, dead or alive. This time we hired two ponies to take us as far as Sikkim. We had made sure of our path by asking people about Gay-Neck in each village that we had to pass through. Most of them had seen the bird, and some of them gave an accurate description of him: one hunter had seen him in a lamasery nesting next to a swift under the eaves of the house; another, a Buddhist monk, said that he had seen him near their monastery in Sikkim on a river-bank where wild ducks had their nest, and in the latest village that we passed through on the second afternoon we were told that he was seen in the company of a flock of swifts.

Led by such good accounts we reached the highest table-land of Sikkim and were forced to bivouac there the third night. Our ponies were sleepy, and so were we, but after what seemed like an hour's sleep, I was roused by a tenseness that had fallen upon everything. I found the two beasts of burden standing stiff; in the light of the fire and that of the risen half-moon I saw that their ears were raised tensely in the act of listening carefully. Even their tails did not move. I too listened intently. There was no doubt that the silence of the night was more than mere stillness; stillness is empty, but the silence that beset us was full of meaning, as if a God, shod with moonlight, was walking so close that if I were to put out my hand I could touch his garment.

Just then the horses moved their ears as if to catch the echo of a sound that had moved imperceptibly through the silence. The great deity had gone already; now a queer sensation of easing the tense atmosphere set in. One could feel even the faintest shiver of the grass, but that too was momentary; the ponies now listened for a new sound from the north. They were straining every nerve in the effort. At last even I could hear it. Something like a child yawning in his sleep became audible. Stillness again followed. Then a sighing sound, long drawn out, ran through the air, and sank lower and lower, like a thick green leaf slowly sinking through calm water. Then rose a murmur on the horizon as if someone were praying against the sky-line. About a minute later the horses relaxed their ears and switched their tails, and I, too, felt myself at ease. Lo! Thousands of geese were flying through the upper air. They were at least four thousand feet above us, but all the same the ponies had heard their coming long before I did.

The flight of the geese told us that dawn was at hand, and I sat up and watched. The stars set one by one. The ponies began to graze. I gave them more rope; now that the night had passed, they did not need to be tied so close to the fire.

In another ten minutes the intense stillness of the dawn held all things in its grip, and that had its effect on our two beasts. This time I could clearly see both of them lifting their heads and listening. What sounds were they trying to catch? I did not have long to wait. In a tree not far off a bird shook itself; then another did the same thing, on another bough. One of them sang. It was a song-sparrow, and its cry roused all nature. Other song-sparrows trilled; then other birds, and still others! By now shapes and colours were coming to light with blinding rapidity. Thus passed the short tropical twilight, and Ghond got up to say his prayers.

That day our wanderings brought us to the lamasery near Singalila of which I have spoken before. The lamas were glad to give us all the news of Gay-Neck. They informed me that the previous afternoon Gay-Neck and the flock of swifts who nested under the eaves of the monastery had flown southwards.

Again with the blessings of the lamas we said farewell to their hospitable serai, and set out on Gay-Neck's trail. The mountains burned like torches behind us as we bestowed on them our last look. Before us lay the autumn-tinted woods glimmering in gold, purple, green and cerise.

第一部 第六章 彩虹鸽出走

然而,我们回家后的第二天清晨,彩虹鸽又飞走了,此后没再露面。在连续四天当中,我们心急火燎地等待着他,随后再也忍受不了这种悬念,我和刚德就出发寻找他,做出决定,无论是死是活,都要找到他。这一次,我们租了两匹小马,一路骑到了锡金。经过每个村庄,我们都要向人们打听是不是见到过彩虹鸽,以确保我们的行动路线。大多数人都见过彩虹鸽,其中有些人准确描述了他的样子。一个猎人见过他在喇嘛庙的屋檐下休息,在一只雨燕的旁边筑巢;一个和尚说他看见彩虹鸽在锡金他们的寺院附近的河岸上,那里有一群野鸭筑巢。第二天下午,我们经过最近的一个村庄的时候,有人告诉我们说,他看到彩虹鸽跟一群雨燕在一起。

根据这些可靠的消息,我们来到了锡金最高的台地上,第三天夜里被迫露宿在那里。两匹小马昏昏欲睡,我们也昏昏欲睡,但我们好像刚睡了一个小时,我就被笼罩一切的紧张气氛惊醒了。我发现两匹小马僵立在那里;在火光和升起一半的月光中,我们看到两匹小马紧张地竖起耳朵,正在侧耳倾听,连尾巴都一动不动。我也聚精会神地倾听。毫无疑问,夜晚的寂静不仅仅是单纯的静止;静止是空的,但困扰我们的寂静充满了含义,就像披着月光的神灵走得那么近,我要是伸出手,就能摸到他的衣服。

正在这时,两匹小马动了动耳朵,好像要捕捉一种声音的回响,那种声音让人察觉不到地穿过了寂静。大神已经离开了,现在有了一种缓和紧张气氛的奇异感觉。我们甚至能感受到小草最轻微的颤动,但那也是暂时的。此刻,小马倾听起了来自北方的一种新的声音。他们正在努力绷紧每一根神经。最后,就连我也听到了那种声音。听上去像睡梦中小孩子打哈欠的声音,非常清晰,随后又消失了。接着,一阵拖长的叹息声划过了空中,声音越来越低,犹如一片厚厚的绿叶慢慢地沉入平静的水面。这时候,地平线上传来了一阵低语声,仿佛有人正在对着天际线祈祷。大约一分钟之后,两匹小马放松了绷紧的耳朵,摆动起了尾巴,我也感到自己轻松自在了。瞧!几千只大雁正在飞过高空。他们至少在我们上空四千英尺的地方,但还没等我听到,小马依旧早早就听到了他们飞来的声音。

大雁飞过,告诉我们黎明就要来了。我坐起来观望,星星一个接一个地沉落了。两匹小马开始吃草。我给他们放松了些缰绳;既然夜晚已经过去了,就不必把他们拴得离火那么近了。

在另外的十分钟里,黎明的极度寂静掌控着所有的一切,对我们的两匹马产生了影响。这一次,我可以清晰地看到他们俩抬起头又在倾听。他们在设法捕捉什么声音呢?我不必长久等待。只见不远处的一棵树上有一只小鸟在晃动;另一只鸟也在另一根大树枝上晃动。其中一只在歌唱。那是一只歌雀,它的叫声唤醒了万物。其他歌雀也鸣唱了起来;随后,其他鸟儿都争先恐后地鸣唱了起来!到如今,形形色色的东西都以炫目的速度显露了出来。因此,短暂的热带黎明过去了,刚德站起来,开始祷告。

那天,我们漫游到了我先前说过的新格里拉附近的那座喇嘛庙。喇嘛们非常高兴地给我们提供彩虹鸽的所有消息。他们告诉我说,前一天下午,彩虹鸽和那群住在喇嘛庙屋檐下的雨燕已经向南飞去了。

我们又一次带着喇嘛们的祝福,告别热情友好的“客栈”,踏上了追寻彩虹鸽的旅程。我们最后回望那些山时,只见它们在我们身后像一把把火炬一般燃烧。我们面前展现出秋色染成的树林,这些树林闪动着金黄色、紫色、绿色和樱桃色的光芒。

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