薛濤 夏盛

從來(lái)到稻田的第一天開(kāi)始，稻草人就一動(dòng)不動(dòng)站在稻田里。鳥(niǎo)雀?jìng)兡康煽诖簦哼@個(gè)家伙來(lái)歷不明，看上去像一捆稻草。

稻草人自言自語(yǔ)：“稻田很美，真的很美。”

稻草人希望鳥(niǎo)雀?jìng)兡苈?tīng)見(jiàn)這句話(huà)，然后檢點(diǎn)自己的行為，可是鳥(niǎo)雀聽(tīng)不見(jiàn)。秋風(fēng)漫過(guò)稻田，稻草人順勢(shì)揮手，趕走了啄食稻穗的鳥(niǎo)群。

稻草人說(shuō)：“鳥(niǎo)群在天上的時(shí)候，天空美了鳥(niǎo)也美了。鳥(niǎo)群在稻田里啄稻穗的時(shí)候不美。”

有一天，稻草人深情地望著主人在稻田里勞作。稻草人便說(shuō)：“主人愛(ài)稻田，我更愛(ài)?！?/p>

稻田旁有一棵白楊樹(shù)，一只烏鴉常常光顧這里。烏鴉清楚，這棵樹(shù)不適合修建鳥(niǎo)巢，是稻田旁邊的炊煙吸引了他。炊煙一縷，從瓦房的煙囪口升起來(lái)。他便早早落在白楊樹(shù)上，癡迷地望著炊煙。炊煙升到更高的地方便散了淡了，融入了藍(lán)天，藍(lán)天更藍(lán)了。這個(gè)時(shí)刻，烏鴉往往會(huì)飛向高空，去炊煙消散的地方尋找它的蹤跡。飛翔、落下；落下、飛翔……炊煙已了無(wú)痕跡，尋找沒(méi)有結(jié)果，烏鴉卻樂(lè)此不疲。他迷戀過(guò)程。

The scarecrow stood in the rice paddy， motionless all day and every day since he arrived. This caused quite a stir among the sparrows； the guy seemed to come from nowhere. He looks like a bunch of straw！

The scarecrow murmured to himself， “Beautiful！ The rice field is beautiful！”

The scarecrow hoped the sparrows could hear him and stay away from the paddy. But the sparrows did not hear him. When the autumn wind blew over the paddy field， the scarecrow waved his hands and drove away the sparrows pecking the ears of rice.

The scarecrow said， “When the birds are in the sky， the sky is beautiful and so are the birds； when the birds are in the paddy field pecking rice， they are not beautiful.”

One day， he watched his owner working in the paddy field and said， “My owner loves this rice field and so do I.”

A poplar tree grows beside the paddy field. A crow was a constant visitor. The crow knew clearly that the poplar tree was not a good place to build a nest on； what attracted him was the smoke from the kitchen chimney. A plume of smoke rose from the chimney of the tile-roofed house. The crow had been resting on the poplar tree and now he was obsessed with the sight. The smoke dispersed as it was rising， and when it disappeared into the sky， the sky was bluer. The crow then flew high up in the sky to follow the smoke. He flew up， landed， then flew up again. The smoke was not there； it was a fruitless pursuit. But the crow was infatuated with this and he did it repeatedly.

稻草人不在意身邊的白楊樹(shù)，更不在意烏鴉的折騰。他的眼里只有稻田。

稻草人第一百零一次趕走了試圖靠近稻田的鳥(niǎo)群。

“我是稻田的主人……”稻草人當(dāng)然是說(shuō)給自己聽(tīng)的，以便讓自己牢記職責(zé)。

“你不是，田里的那個(gè)老人才是主人。”烏鴉的聲音不算好聽(tīng)，卻洪亮。

烏鴉又早早來(lái)了，他站在樹(shù)枝上靜候傍晚的炊煙。今天，他是想讓稻草人知道他的存在，才跟這個(gè)目中無(wú)人的草人搭茬兒。烏鴉是個(gè)例外，他能聽(tīng)見(jiàn)稻草人心里發(fā)出的聲音。

“是這樣……他是我的主人，我是稻田的主人?！钡静萑硕⒅矍暗牡咎铮⒉豢礊貘f。他早就注意到這只鳥(niǎo)了，這只鳥(niǎo)黑黑的傻傻的，看起來(lái)并不美。

“你也看到了，他頂著火熱的太陽(yáng)引水、插秧，他創(chuàng)造了稻田。誰(shuí)是創(chuàng)造者，誰(shuí)就是主人?！睘貘f不客氣地說(shuō)。

稻草人不言語(yǔ)了，他不像烏鴉那么能講出深?yuàn)W的道理。日落西山，主人離開(kāi)了稻田，朝瓦房走去。

The scarecrow did not mind the poplar tree； nor did he care about the crow who was fooling around. In his eyes there was only the paddy.

For the hundred and first time， he drove away the sparrows who tried to come near the rice field.

“I am the owner of the paddy field...” said the scarecrow， reminding himself of the responsibility.

“No， you are not！” the crow said in a loud hoarse voice， “The old man in the rice field is！”

The crow was on the branch very early. He was waiting for the smoke at dinner time. Today， he wanted to make his existence clear to the scarecrow. Otherwise， who would want to talk to that arrogant straw-man？ Strangely， unlike other birds， the crow can hear and understand what the scarecrow thinks and says.

“This is how it is...the old man is my owner； and I am the owner of the rice paddy.” The scarecrow looked straight at the rice field. In fact， he had already noticed this bird， black-feathered and silly-looking， not beautiful at all.

“You have seen it yourself - he， in the fierce sunshine， diverts the water， transplants the rice seedlings. He has created the rice field - he is the owner.” said the crow in his straight forward way.

The scarecrow was silent now. Unlike the crow， he was not good at making a speech. The sun set； the owner left the field and made his way towards his tile-roofed house.

稻草人說(shuō)：“稻田有兩個(gè)主人，白天的主人是他，夜晚的主人是我。”

主人進(jìn)了瓦房，炊煙便升起來(lái)了。烏鴉癡迷地望著炊煙，也不再搭理稻草人。

稻草人說(shuō)：“我是稻田夜晚的主人！你不承認(rèn)嗎？你為什么不回答呢？”

烏鴉說(shuō)：“噓——你也看看炊煙，炊煙很美……”

稻草人說(shuō)：“稻田最美！”

許久，烏鴉說(shuō)：“藍(lán)天很美，你承認(rèn)吧？”

稻草人說(shuō)：“就算吧，可是比不過(guò)稻田。沒(méi)有金燦燦的稻田，人們能在藍(lán)天下面坐多久呢？沒(méi)有金燦燦的稻田，藍(lán)天太單調(diào)了?！?/p>

The scarecrow spoke up， “The rice field has two owners； he is the owner for daytime； and I am the owner for night time.”

The owner had gone into his house， and the smoke rose from the chimney. This fascinated the crow and he did not pay attention to what the scarecrow was saying.

The scarecrow asked， “I am the owner for the night now. Do you believe it？ Why arent you answering？”

“Shhh...” said the crow， “Look at the smoke - it is beautiful.”

“The field is more beautiful！”

For quite a while the crow did not say a word. Then he said， “The blue sky is beautiful. You admit it， dont you？ ”

“Right， but how can it be compared with the rice field？ It is the golden field that invites people to sit under the sky for a long time. The blue sky would be dull without the golden paddy field.”

烏鴉便說(shuō)：“這就好了，你承認(rèn)藍(lán)天是美的。我說(shuō)屋頂?shù)臒焽枋且恢ЧP，你承認(rèn)嗎？這個(gè)你不一定承認(rèn)?！?/p>

稻草人想都沒(méi)想，說(shuō)：“煙囪是一支筆，承認(rèn)了又能怎樣？”

烏鴉有點(diǎn)得意：“很好。那么，我說(shuō)大地握著煙囪，用炊煙畫(huà)出了藍(lán)天。”

稻草人說(shuō)：“真是這樣的話(huà)，我承認(rèn)炊煙也很美?？墒?，‘炊煙畫(huà)出了藍(lán)天只是一個(gè)想象。我不相信想象出來(lái)的東西?！?/p>

烏鴉無(wú)語(yǔ)了。烏鴉突然覺(jué)得，稻田里站立的這個(gè)家伙太刻板了，太乏味了。烏鴉飛上藍(lán)天深處，去追尋炊煙的蹤跡。

炊煙和稻田哪個(gè)最美，烏鴉和稻草人爭(zhēng)論了很多天。他們爭(zhēng)論著，秋越來(lái)越深了，稻田變成金燦燦的海洋。稻草人不免揚(yáng)揚(yáng)自得，可是烏鴉仍舊堅(jiān)持炊煙最美。

The crow then said， “You have admitted the sky is beautiful. Now I say the chimney is like an artist's pencil， do you agree？ I doubt that you will.”

Without thinking， the scarecrow said， “The chimney is like a pencil. I admit it. So what？”

The crow was pleased with himself and said， “Very well. Now， I want to say the earth holds a Chimney Pencil and draws a painting with plumes of smoke.”

“If you must say so， I admit the chimney smoke is attractive， too， but， this is only imagination. I dont like things that are not real.”

This remark left the crow speechless. How tedious， this guy who just stands there all day！ The crow flew into the sky after the chimney smoke.

Their squabble went on day after day. The late autumn was now here. The rice paddy was turned into a golden sea. Scarecrow felt so proud； while the crow was still fascinated with the chimney smoke.

主人收割了水稻，飽滿(mǎn)的稻田一下子干癟了，稻草人卻高大起來(lái)。這些變故讓稻草人無(wú)比失落，可他一動(dòng)不動(dòng)守護(hù)著空蕩蕩的稻田。那些鳥(niǎo)雀?jìng)冞h(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地飛來(lái)了，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)稻草人的樣子很可笑：他只有一條細(xì)腿，并且是個(gè)偏執(zhí)狂。

“水稻沒(méi)有了，你怎么還傻站在那里啊？”鳥(niǎo)群侮辱了稻草人。

“我是稻田的主人，這里是我的崗位……”稻草人執(zhí)拗地說(shuō)。當(dāng)然，這宣言是說(shuō)給自己聽(tīng)的，也不需要鳥(niǎo)群聽(tīng)見(jiàn)。

烏鴉來(lái)看炊煙了。烏鴉第一次發(fā)現(xiàn)，稻草人現(xiàn)在的樣子是一個(gè)很美的姿勢(shì)。他便對(duì)那些鳥(niǎo)雀說(shuō)：“目光短淺！明年還有水稻，稻草人還是稻田的主人?！?/p>

烏鴉回?fù)袅锁B(niǎo)雀，烏鴉也幫稻草人堅(jiān)定了信念：明年還有稻田。整個(gè)冬天，瓦房里燃燒稻草，每天傍晚都有炊煙觀賞。關(guān)于炊煙與稻田哪個(gè)更美，時(shí)不時(shí)還被稻草人和烏鴉提起。

The old man reaped the rice. The rice field was now shallow and the scarecrow seemed taller than before. He was at a loss as to this change. But he guarded the empty rice field as before and stood motionless all day. The sparrows flew over and noted this awkward figure -one-legged and hard-headed scarecrow.

“The rice is all gone. Why are you still standing there？” The birds teased the scarecrow.

“I am the owner of the rice field； this is my post...” said the scarecrow. He said it to himself and did not need any bird to hear him.

The crow came to watch the smoke. For the first time， he found the scarecrow had a beautiful gesture. He said to the birds， “How short-sighted you all are！ Next year there will be new rice growing here and he is still the owner of the rice field.”

The crows witty words beat the birds and gave encouragement to the scarecrow - there will be new rice next year. Through the whole winter， dried rice straw burned in the old mans house； at every dusk， there was chimney smoke to watch. And the babble still went on， about which is more beautiful， the chimney smoke or the rice field.

稻草人說(shuō)：“我承認(rèn)炊煙很美。你也應(yīng)該知道炊煙是從哪里來(lái)的，那是主人燃燒了稻田啊。所以我還是說(shuō)，稻田最美。”

這一次烏鴉的口氣明顯軟了下來(lái)：“原來(lái)，沒(méi)有稻田便沒(méi)有炊煙……”

爭(zhēng)論不存在了，烏鴉和稻草人成了朋友，烏鴉陪稻草人一起等候春天。他們都相信春天一來(lái)，主人會(huì)重造一片稻田。不久大雪覆蓋了稻田，還送給稻草人一頂雪白的帽子。大部分時(shí)間他倆都不再說(shuō)話(huà)，烏鴉踏著樹(shù)枝欣賞炊煙，稻草人戴著白帽等候春天。

One day the scarecrow said， “I admit the smoke is beautiful； but you should know where it comes from - it comes from the rice being burnt！ That is why I think the rice field is more beautiful.”

For the first time the crow replied in a low voice， “ I see. There is no smoke if there is no rice field...”

There was no more argument now. They became friends. Together they waited for the spring， in the belief that the old man would make a new rice paddy. Soon， snow covered the field， and gave the scarecrow a white hat. The two friends were silent for most of the time. The crow rested on the poplar trees branch， watching the smoke； the scarecrow in his white hat waited for the spring.

白帽子被春風(fēng)摘掉那天，烏鴉告訴稻草人：“春天來(lái)了，你的稻田要回來(lái)了！”

稻草人便整天喜氣洋洋的，有時(shí)候還跟烏鴉說(shuō)幾句玩笑。烏鴉卻落落寡歡的。烏鴉道出了心事：“我的炊煙越來(lái)越薄了，稻草快燒光了?！?/p>

稻草人說(shuō)：“春天來(lái)了，過(guò)幾天就有新稻田了?！?/p>

幾天后，炊煙絕跡了。主人卻只顧在瓦房里打點(diǎn)行李，后來(lái)把農(nóng)具也捆扎在一起。這讓烏鴉和稻草人很費(fèi)解。一只麻雀飛來(lái)告訴他們：“你們還不知道吧？主人要離開(kāi)這里了……”

烏鴉無(wú)語(yǔ)，茫然地望著大地。烏鴉的心里有了一個(gè)不祥的直覺(jué)。

烏鴉許久才回答：“他要是走了，稻田沒(méi)有了，炊煙也就沒(méi)有了……”

稻草人說(shuō)：“我不信他會(huì)丟下稻田?！?/p>

A swirl of warm spring wind came and took away the white hat. The crow told his friend， “The spring is coming and your rice field is returning！”

Rejoiced， the scarecrow embraced the spring wind. Now he was even in the mood to make jokes with the crow. But the latter wore a sad look and said， “My smoke is thinner and thinner now. There must be little rice straw left in the house.”

The scarecrow said，“Spring is coming and there will be a new rice field.”

A few days later， there was no more smoke coming from the chimney. The old man was busy himself with packing. He put away all his farm tools， too. The crow and his friends felt puzzled. They could not figure out what was going on. A sparrow flew by and told them that the owner was planning to move.

The crow did not speak. He looked at the field as if he were lost. He had a bad feeling something bad was going to happen.

The scarecrow asked， “Why is he leaving？ I love the paddy； so does he.”

After a long pause the crow said， “If he leaves， there will be no rice field. No smoke either.”

The scarecrow said， “I dont believe he will leave the rice field.”

那只麻雀歷來(lái)喜歡散布一些小道消息，烏鴉和稻草人都不愿相信這是真的，他們等待最后的結(jié)果。直到有一天，主人扛著包裹走出瓦房，惆悵地望著他的稻田。稻田里別無(wú)他物，只有稻草人還堅(jiān)守在崗位上。主人扔下包裹朝稻田跑過(guò)去，站在稻田中央。

主人自言自語(yǔ)道：“我太老了，兩腿得了嚴(yán)重的風(fēng)濕病，不能再插秧了。要不是喜歡這片稻田，我早就答應(yīng)兒子進(jìn)城了?！?/p>

稻草人很悲傷，“原來(lái)他真要離開(kāi)這里了?！?/p>

烏鴉說(shuō)：“這一次，我倆都錯(cuò)了。”

主人低頭對(duì)稻草人說(shuō)：“跟我走吧伙計(jì)，我不能丟下你。”

The sparrow was a great gossip， so the crow and scarecrow did not believe her. They waited for the truth to come out. Then one day， the old man walked out of his house， carrying his package. He looked at the rice field sentimentally. The paddy was empty except for the scarecrow. The old man put his package down and walked to the center of the rice field.

“I am too old. I cant transplant the rice seedlings now. My legs ached from the chronic arthritis， and if it were not for this rice field， I should have gone to the city to join my son long ago.”

The scarecrow was sad now. So the old man was really leaving.

“We are both wrong about him.” said the crow.

The old man lowered his head to the scarecrow， “Come with me pal. I am not going to leave you here.”

稻草人說(shuō)：“我哪兒也不去。”

主人只管輕輕抱起了稻草人。稻草人說(shuō)：“把我燒掉吧，讓烏鴉再看一回炊煙……”

主人似乎懂了稻草人的心思，他看了看遠(yuǎn)處開(kāi)來(lái)的汽車(chē)，又看了看遠(yuǎn)處開(kāi)來(lái)的汽車(chē)，抱著稻草人進(jìn)了瓦房。不久，一縷輕煙從屋頂升起來(lái)，融入了瓦藍(lán)的天空。

“我承認(rèn)，藍(lán)天是大地用炊煙畫(huà)出來(lái)的。現(xiàn)在，我去畫(huà)了……”在最后的時(shí)刻，稻草人對(duì)他的老友烏鴉說(shuō)。

烏鴉看到了最美的一縷炊煙，也是最后一縷炊煙。然后，烏鴉朝高空飛去，他去追尋那縷炊煙的蹤跡。他奮力向高處飛，直到心肺炸裂。

The scarecrow answered， “I am not going anywhere.”

The old man carried the scarecrow gently in his arms. He heard the scarecrow whisper， “Please set me on fire. Let the crow watch the smoke one more time.”

The old man seemed to understand what the scarecrow said. He looked at the car coming to take him away. He looked at the car again. Then he carried the scarecrow into his house. A plume of smoke rose from the chimney， and dispersed into the blue， blue sky.

“I agree with you that the blue sky is painting works of the land drawn with chimney smoke. I am going to do my work now...” The scarecrow， in his last breath， said to his friend the crow.

The crow saw the most beautiful smoke in his life. One last plume. The crow lifted his body and flew after the smoke. With all his might， he flew up and up to the sky， and in where the smoke disappeared， his heart broke.