(中英)现代散文:耐力 Endurance

Endurance

耐　力

◎ Duanmu Hongliang

◎　端木蕻良

The pigeon flies high. People tie a whistle to its leg so that they can enjoy the sweet sound coming from the air.

鸽子，在天空飞着①。人们把哨子拴在它的腿上，从天空里，便飞来悠扬的哨响②。

When the pigeon circles in the clear blue sky with a speck or two of white cloud, the rises and falls of the whistling sound are indicative of the aerial somersaults performed by the bird.

天是晴朗的，只有一两片白云。鸽子在空中盘旋。鸽子的翻腾③，从哨子发声的波折中④，也可以听出来。

Pigeons fly in flocks. They hover over the ancient castles in Rome. In fact, they have been hovering over them ever since Dante first met Beatrice.

鸽子一群一群地飞着，在罗马的古堡上飞着，当但丁⑤第一次和碧蒂利采⑥相遇的时候，鸽子就在那儿飞着。

They wheel over Tian'anmen Square. In fact, they have been wheeling over it ever since the birth of the City of Beijing.

鸽子在天安门前飞着，在北京城刚刚建造起来的时候，它们就在这儿飞着。

Some pigeons have a head shaped like that of a phoenix. Their wings are either black, white or speckled, and invariably strong and vigorous.

鸽子有凤头的，有黑翅的，有纯白的，还有带芝麻点儿的。但，翅膀都同样的矫健。

Their eyes glisten with love. They use their mouths to pass food to their nestlings. It is said that when the pigeon grows old, it will be fed in the same manner by the adult pigeons it has hatched and reared.

鸽子的眼睛，透着爱的光。它会把食物用嘴吐出来喂养小鸽子。据说鸽子老了，它孵养的鸽子，也会来喂养它……

The pigeon's wings are shorter than those of the seagull, smaller than those of the sparrow hawk and less capable of gliding in the air than those of the eagle, but, nevertheless, stronger than all...

鸽子的翅膀，没有海鸥那么大，也没有鹞子那么大，更没有鹰那么会在高空中滑翔……但它的翅膀却比它们都强……

The pigeon is a social bird, but it also flies by itself. It often covers enormous distances on its own.

鸽子是喜欢群居的⑦，但也能单独飞行，在它完成最远的行程的时候，常常是在单独的情况下做到的。

It has practically nothing to eat or drink while flying long distances non-stop day and night. While in flight over the sea, it finds nothing edible or drinkable, nor a place for taking a rest until a rocky spot is in sight, which means it is nearing the other side of the sea...

在这个远程的飞行里，它几乎是没有东西吃，也没有水喝，就是不停地飞。不达到目的地不停止。鸽子横渡海洋，白天和黑夜都不停地飞行。在海面上没有什么可吃的，海水也是不能喝的，半途也没有地方歇息，要是有岩石的地方，那已是到了海的那一边了……

The camel conquers the desert while the pigeon conquers the air.

骆驼能征服沙漠，鸽子能征服天空……

The camel cannot run as fast as the horse, the pigeon cannot fly with as much agility as the petrel. But both camel and pigeon are hardy. Their endurance is such as to put to shame both the raging sandstorm and the violent typhoon.

骆驼不会像马那样奔驰，鸽子也不像海燕那样遨游。但鸽子和骆驼相比，同样都有耐力。它们的耐力是坚强的，漫卷的黄沙和凶猛的台风在它们面前，都为之失色……⑧

Their great endurance enables them to get to any place they want to. Almost no camel succumbs to difficulties in the midst of a desert and almost no pigeon falls dead while halfway over the sea.

它们的耐力，使它们总是能到达它们要去的地方，在沙漠里几乎找不到中途倒在沙里的骆驼⑨，在海洋里，也看不到中途跌落的鸽子。

Both camel and pigeon are very gentle, with eyes always twinkling timidly. But they never cringe from a blinding dust storm or a furious tempest...

骆驼和鸽子，同样没有剑拔弩张的样子⑩，它们的眼睛都含着羞怯的光。但是它们的眼睛，从不被沙子迷住，也从不怕狂风的吹打……

The camel's hump symbolizes an arch bridge linking up the cultures of East and West. Armed with a jingling bell, it is a most reliable courier delivering most exciting messages...

骆驼的峰就是一座拱桥⑪，它沟通了东方和西方的文化，驼铃是最可靠的信使，最动人的信息……

The pigeon is a most trustworthy messenger. It does the work of delivering secret intelligence to a military commander with unerring accuracy.

鸽子是最忠诚的，它能把军事机密准确无误地带到指挥员的手中……

The pigeon whistle is ringing again overhead. To me, however, the whole firmament seems to pale into insignificance in comparison with the small sound.

鸽哨又在我的头上响起来了，我听到它，并不感到它的声音不大，而是觉得整个天空都在它的声音里变小了……

《耐力》是端木蕻良写于1981年4月的一篇散文。