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还乡记(上)
(2006-08-12 13:32:15)| 分类： 名著浅读 |
名著浅读
还乡记(上)
GOING HOME(I)
- 作者简介：
- 萨洛扬(William
Saroyan)，是美国著名剧作家兼短篇小说家。他自幼开始写作，出版的第一篇短篇小说是一九三三年的Hairenik。
一九三四年所写 The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze 获得当年奥亨利奖。
他一九三九年尝试编写剧本，一九四零年因 The Time of Your Life 获得普利兹戏剧奖，他下笔快速，从不修改，是一位天才型多产作家。
| This valley, he thought, all this
country between the mountains is mine, home to me, the place I
dream about, and everything is the same, not a thing is changed,
water sprinklers still splash in circles over lawns of Bermuda
grass, good old home town, simplicity, reality. Walking along Alvin Street he felt glad to be home again. Everything was fine, common and good, the smell of earth, cooking suppers, smoke, the rich summer air of the valley full of plant growth, grapes growing, peaches ripening, and the oleander bush swooning with sweetness, the same as ever. He breathed deeply, drawing the smell of home deep into his lungs, smiling inwardly. It was hot. He hadn't felt his senses reacting to the earth so cleanly and clearly for years; now it was a pleasure even to breathe. The cleanliness of the air sharpened the moment so that, walking, he felt the magnificence of being, glory of possessing substance, of having form and motion and intellect, the piety of merely being alive on the earth. |
他沿着爱尔文街踽踽前行，心里觉得很高兴，能够再度回到家乡。一切都是美好的、踏实的、宜人的：泥土，煮着的晚饭以及炊烟所发出的芳香；河谷里夏天浓郁的空气充满了植物生长的气息，葡萄越长越大，桃子越来越熟，夹竹桃的馥郁令人昏晕，这一切永远是老样子。他深深地吸了一口气，把家乡的芬芳深深地吸到肺里去，不禁感到窃喜。天气很热。他已多年未曾有过这种感觉，自己的感官对大地的反应竟然会如此清新，如此的清新；现在连呼吸也成了一大乐事。空气的清新使他此刻感触良多，他一面走，一面感觉到生命的庄严，具有实质、形体、动作和智力的光荣以及活在世上应有的虔敬。 |
| Water, he thought, hearing the soft
splash of a lawn sprinkler; to taste the water of home, the full
cool water of the valley, to have that simple thirst and that solid
water with which to quench it, fulfillment, the clarity of life. He
saw an old man holding a hose over some geranium plants, and his
thirst sent him to the man.
"Good evening," he said quietly, "may I have a drink?" |
他听到草地上洒水装置轻微的洒水声，就想到了水；他要嚐嚐家乡的水，河谷里冰凉的水，口渴时喝下那种纯净的水就可以止渴，他会感到满足，也会感到生命的清澈。他看见一位老人拿着水管浇天筑葵，觉得口渴，于是就走上前去。
「晚安，」他低声说道；「我可以喝一口吗？」 |
| The old man turned slowly, his shadow large against the house, to look into the young man's face, amazed and pleased. "You bet," he said; "here," and he placed the hose into the young man's hands. "Mighty fine water," said the old man, "this water of the San Joaquin Valley; best yet, I guess. That water up in Frisco makes me sick; ain't got no taste. And down in Los Angeles, why, the water tastes like castor oil; I can't understand how so many people go on living there year after year." | 老人慢慢转过身来，背屋而立，影子特别大，他看看年轻人的脸，显得惊讶又高兴。「当然可以，」他说道：「快喝吧，」接着就把水管交到年轻人的手里。「非常好的水，」老人说道，「这是圣瓦金河谷的水，我想这是最好的水了。北边旧金山的水喝起来叫人难受，一点意思也没有。南边洛杉机的水喝起来却有篦麻油的味道；我真不懂，那么多的人怎么能在那儿一年又一年地活下去。」 |
| While the old man talked, he listened to the water falling from the hose to the earth, leaping thickly, cleanly, sinking swiftly into the earth. "You said it," he said to the old man; "you said it; our water is the finest water on earth." | 老人说话的时候，年轻人听见水从软管流到地上，水一股股地射出，又大又清，很快就渗到地里去了。「你说得对，」他对老人说道；「你说得对，我们的水是世上最好的水。」 |
| He curved his head over the spouting water and began to drink. The sweet rich taste of the water amazed him, and as he drank, he thought, God, this is splendid. He could feel the cool water splashing into his being, refreshing and cooling him. Losing his breath, he lifted his head, saying to the old man, "We're mighty lucky, us folk in the Valley." | 他把头弯向喷出来的水，开始喝。水味的香纯使他感到惊异，他一面喝一面想道，上帝呀，这真是美妙。他感觉得出，冰凉的水钻进了身体，使他觉得清爽、凉快。他喝得喘不过气来，抬起头来，对老人说道：「我们的运气真好，我们谷里这些人。」 |
| He bent his head over the water again
and began again to swallow the splashing liquid, laughing to
himself with delight. It seemed as if he could't get enough of it
into his system; the more he drank, the finer the water tasted to
him and the more he wanted to drink.
The old man was amazed. "You drunk about two quarts," he said. |
他再度把头弯到水的上方，重新喝喷出来的水，开心得大笑起来。他似乎永远喝不够，水的味道愈喝愈好，愈喝愈想喝。
老人有点吃惊。「你喝了两夸脱左右，」他说道。 |
| Still swallowing the water, he could
hear the old man talking, and he lifted his head again, replying,
"I guess so. It sure tastes fine." He wiped his mouth with a
handkerchief, still holding the hose, still wanting to drink more.
The whole valley was in that water, all the clarity, all the
genuineness, all the goodness and simplicity and reality.
"Man alive," said the old man. "You sure was thirsty. How long since you had a drink, anyway?" |
他这时正在咽水，听到老人说话，才又把头抬起来，回答道：「大概差不多吧，这水的味道的确不错。」他用手帕擦擦嘴，手里仍旧拿着水管，还想再喝一些。整个河谷都呈现在这种水里，是那么样的清澈，那么样的纯净，那么的善良、淳朴、实在。
「我的天呀！」老人说道。「你一定很渴，有多久没喝水啦？」 |
| "Two years," he replied. "I mean two years since I had a drink of this water. I been away, traveling around. I just got back. I was born here, over on G Street in Russian town; you know, across the Southern Pacific tracks; been away two years and I just got back. Mighty fine too, let me tell you, to be back. I like this place. I'm going to get a job and settle down." | 「两年了，」他答道。「我是说，自从我上次喝过这种水以后已经有两年了。我一直在外到处旅行，刚刚才回来。我是在此地出生的，就是在俄人城那边的G街出生的；你知道，就在南太平洋铁路的那一边；我离开了两年，刚刚才回来。让我告诉你，回到家乡真是好，我就喜欢这个地方。我要在这里找个工作，安定下来。」 |
| He hung his head over the water again
and took several more swallows; then he handed the hose to the old
man.
"You sure was thirsty," said the old man. "I ain't never seen anybody anywhere drink so much water at one time. It sure looked good seeing you swallow all that water." |
他又低下头去喝了几口水，然后才把水管还给老人。
「你一定是很渴，」老人说道。「从没有在任何地方见过任何人一定喝下那么多的水，看到你喝下那么多，实在难得。」 |
| He went on walking down Alvin Street, humming to himself, the old man staring at him. | 他继续沿着爱尔文街走去，边走边哼，老人一直注视着他。 |
| Nice to be back, the young man thought; greatest mistake I ever made, coming back this way. | 年轻人知道，回到家乡真好；不过，像这个样子回来，真是天大的错误。 |
| Everything he had ever done had been a mistake, and this was one of the good mistakes. He had come south from San Francisco without even thinking of going home; he had thought of going as far south as Merced, stopping there awhile, and then going back, but once he had got into the country, it had been too much. It had been great fun standing on the highway in his city clothes, hitchhiking. | 他所做的每一件事都是错误的，而这件事更是大错特错。他从旧金山往南走，压根儿就没有想到要回家；只想往南走到马德塞，在那儿停留一下再折回去，可是一旦来到这个地区却又身不由己。穿着城市里的服装在公路上搭便车旅行实在有趣。 |
| One little city after another, and here he was walking through the streets of his home town, at seven in the evening. It was great, very amusing; and the water, splendid. | 经过一个又一个的小城市，他终于在晚上七时来到自己的家乡，在镇上的街头徜徉。回到家乡真有趣，真好玩，此地的水更是精彩。 |
| He wasn't far from town, the city itself, and he could see one or two of the taller buildings, the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, all lit up with colored lights, and another, a taller one, he thought; they put up that one while I was away; things must be booming. | 他距离市区并没有多远，看得见一两栋比较高的大楼，其中一栋是太平洋电力大楼，被彩色电灯照得亮亮的，另外一栋比较高，是他从前没有见过的。他想道，那是一栋新建的大楼，他们是在我离开以后才把那栋楼建造起来的；市区必定是越来越繁荣了。 |
| He turned down Fulton Street and began walking into town. It looked great from where he was, far away and nice and small, very genuine, a real quiet little town, the kind of place to live in, settle down in , marry in, have a home, kids, a job, and all the rest of it. It was all he wanted. The air of the valley and the water and the reality of the whole place, the cleanliness of life in the valley, the simplicity of the people. | 他转向福尔顿街，开始走进市区。从他的所在望去，市区显得特别可爱，远处便是那个小巧宜人、十分真实、非常宁静的小城，一个适于居住、定居、结婚生子、成家立业等的好地方。这正是他所需要的，谷里空气清新，水质奇佳，整个地方实实在在，生活清净，民风淳朴。 |
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