【来源】

英汉比较翻译教程练习·练习29 魏志成 编著 清华大学出版社

【原文】

First Snow

Gilean Douglas

One evening I look out the window of my secluded cabin, and there are soft languid flakes falling in the golden lamplight. They fall all night, while the voice of the Teal River becomes more and more hushed and the noises of the forest die away. By dawn, the whole world of stream and wood and mountain has been kindled to a white flame of beauty.

I go out in the early morning and there is such silence that even breath is a profanation. The mountain to the north has a steel-blue light on it, and to the west the sky still holds something of the darkness of the night. To the east and the south a faint pink is spreading. I look up and see the morning star keeping white watch over a white world.

Soon the whole sky is azure and flaming. Every branch of every tree is weighted with cold and stillness; every stump is crowned with crystal; every fallen log is overlaid with silver. The wild berry bushes have puffballs of jeweler's cotton here and there along their branches, and the stark roots of hemlocks and cedars have become grottoes of quartz and chrysolite.

After heavy snowfalls, it is the evergreens that are the loveliest, with their great white branches weighted down until they are almost parallel with the trunks. They seem like giant birds with their wings folded against the cold.

But after a light fall, it is the deciduous trees that are the most beautiful. They are so fragile, so ethereal, that it seems even the sound of the rivers might shatter them as they appear to drift like crystal smoke along the banks. The bushes are silver filigree, so light, so much on tiptoe in this enchanted world. Even the slightest breeze sends the snow shimmering down form them, leaving the branches brown and bare and rather pitiful.

The sky is clear blue now and the sun has flung diamonds down on meadow and bank and wood. Beauty, the virgin, walks here quietly, no sign upon the immaculate snow. The silence is dense and deep. Even the squirrels have stopped their ribald chattering. And faint snowbird whisperings seems to emphasize the stillness.

Night comes, and the silence holds. There is a feeling about this season that is in no other—a sense of snugness, security and solitude. It is good to be out in the bracing cold, which cleans the mind and invigorates the heart. It is equally good to come in and feel the warmth wrap around the body like a soft fluffy blanket. Fire is a first-rate companion. The coffee is full-bodied and fragrant; shadows dance on the walls and the world outside my windows is very still. I am more than content to begin and end a day like this amid all the calm clarity of wintered earth.

Outside the moon is high with a dark-blue sky behind it and with mountains, plains, and forests of silver lying below. The trees, the bushes and the tall ferns are carved with alabaster. The river runs like quicksilver between the porcelain of its banks.

Earth and heavens glitter, and the sword-fern clumps are diamond sunbursts pinned to the silver-sequined ground. But it is all in silence. There are shadows from the stars. They are white, sharp lights in the midnight blue sky and appear literally to spark with coldness. I feel as though I can see every star in the universe.

It seems impossible for one human heart to contain all this loveliness without breaking. Perhaps the ache that is in mine comes from the knowledge that all this beauty is so ephemeral, that it will be gone almost before I have done more than touch it with my fingertips.

【译文】

初雪

吉丽安·道格拉斯

一天晚上，我从我那隐居的小木屋，透过那扇窗，看到柔软的雪花慢悠悠地飘落在金色的灯光之中。一整夜的雪啊！那奔腾的梯尔河(Teal River)开始渐入宁静安逸，那喧嚣的森林也逐步销声敛迹。到了黎明时分，整个世界里，溪流川谷、林木群山，早已是银装素裹，皑皑动人。

清早，我便来到屋外。雪后的世界是如此安谧，甚至是轻微的呼吸都能打破这份宁静。北边的山峰正笼罩在一片钢蓝色之中，西边的天空还残留着朦胧的夜色；而在东南面广褒的天际，有一片淡淡的粉色正蔓延开来。我抬起头，仰望着天空，依稀可见晨曦中的星星，正俯瞰着这片白茫茫的世界。

顷刻之间，万里晴空已是一片火红。每一条枝桠分杈都承载着冷寂严霜，每一个残根短桩都戴上了水晶王冠，每一根原木横枝都裹上了厚厚银装。野果灌丛间，随处可见泛着珠光宝气的白色马勃菌；铁杉和雪松光秃秃的树根俨然成了石英和橄榄石砌成的洞穴。

一场大雪之后，要数常青树最是可人。那被积雪压弯的枝条低垂在树干的周围，如同一只只合拢翅膀抵御严寒的巨鸟。

若是小雪过后，最美的要数那些落叶树了。它们有如烟雾般飘渺轻盈，似是沿着河岸飘去，却又脆弱得不堪一击，仿佛潺潺水声也能把它们震碎。银丝细缕的灌木丛恍若置身幻境，好似轻得可以踮起脚尖，哪怕最轻柔的微风也会吹落枝梢上微微闪烁的雪花，徒留空荡的裸枝，惹人怜爱不已。

此时，天空已是一片澄澈的蓝，阳光普照，好似把千万颗钻石撒在草地上，撒在河流旁，撒在树林间。美，这位纯洁的少女，静静地漫步于洁白无暇的雪地间，却没有留下一丝的痕迹。静谧弥深，连松鼠儿都停止了它们不合时宜的喧闹，唯有雪鸟微弱的几声细语，却愈发衬托出这世界的悠然恬静。

夜幕降临了，天地间依然万籁俱静。唯有在这样的季节，我的心中油然而生一种独特的感情——舒适、安宁却带着淡淡的孤独。当置身于室外，那种清冷涤荡心灵，振奋心情，让我心旷神怡。而回到了屋里，那绒毯般松软的温暖包裹着全身，同样令人愉悦。炉火温暖贴心，咖啡醇香浓郁，墙上光影绰绰，窗外宁静无比。能在冬日世界的清幽明净中开始并结束这样的一天，我感到非常的满足。

窗外，深蓝色的天幕上一轮明月高挂，天幕下山川河岳一片银辉。无论是乔木，灌丛还是高大的蕨树，都似玉砌冰雕。柔波似水银，坐拥两岸瓷光。

天地一色，银光闪闪。雪中的蕨丛恍若镶满钻石的旭日胸针，别在银色的大地上。万物沉寂。繁星在深蓝的天空中闪着灼灼白光，彷如闪出了凛凛寒光，映在洁白的雪地上点点成姿。我仿佛能看见浩渺夜空中的每一颗星辰。

看来没有谁能将这万千美景尽收眼底而不心碎。也许我心中的痛楚正来自于这样的意识：眼前的美景实在太过短促，我几乎才刚刚触摸到它，而它就要悄然逝去。

参考资料：

《英汉比较翻译教程练习》 魏志成编著 清华大学出版社

新浪一博主greedytiger的译本：

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_537d1eea0100cn2v.html

新浪另一博主顾忆青的节选译本：

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_3e81caec0100dqq4.html