◎董繼平 譯

翠 鳥

自從童年時代起，翠鳥就成了我最喜愛的鳥兒。

“精致的鳥” 和“冬天的嚴(yán)寒” 之間的這一對比！

它的頂端閃爍著藍(lán)綠的色調(diào)，就像是熱帶森林中的蜂鳥！冬天的蜂鳥！

它那尖銳的嘴喙像長矛一樣把小魚從水中刺出來，就像刺戳鯨魚的魚叉！

它連續(xù)好幾天都棲息在瞭望臺上，棲息在池塘旁邊的一截樹樁上。突然，它向前疾速地射出，潛入水中，刺戳。一個優(yōu)雅的殺手。

它把鯉魚池中的魚掠奪得精光。沒有人會對此感到驚訝。它連續(xù)幾天等待在樹樁上，身披藍(lán)綠的色調(diào)，嘴喙像長矛、刀劍、匕首、致命的針！

一個用藍(lán)綠色的閃光鎧甲來裝扮的“浪漫仆人”！大自然的一個童話故事的英雄！

莉莉在她祖父的莊園地面上挖掘了一口池塘，在周邊種上柳樹、榿木、榛子叢、胡頹子。她把整口池塘都用精細(xì)的金屬網(wǎng)罩起來。她還把一只翠鳥放進(jìn)去?，F(xiàn)在她連續(xù)好幾個時辰觀察它棲息著等待。那池塘的主人！

結(jié)果，那些紳士來訪者希望征服它那脆弱的靈魂，他們的贊美之詞聽起來完全乏味而且可笑。

它被自然法則和自然的神秘消耗了，消耗了——

每個人與它形成對比，顯得渺小而可憐。他只是一只“笨手笨腳地摸索、殘忍、不美觀的” 翠鳥。他也連續(xù)幾天、連續(xù)幾個時辰等待誘捕獵物。他用長矛刺戳、吞食。但他吞食、殺戮的不是“少得可憐的小魚”！他殺戮“靈魂”！

THE KINGFISHER

The kingfisher was already ever since childhood my favorite bird.

This contrast between “delicate bird” and “stark winter chill”!

On top of which he's iridescently tinged blue -green like a hummingbird in the tropical forests! The winter hummingbird!

His sharp pointed beak spears little fish out of the water;like harpoons spear whales!

He sits on the lookout for days on end，perched on a tree stump beside a pond.Suddenly he shoots forward，dives under，and spears.An elegant killer.

He robs the carp ponds clean of fish.Nobody would put it past him.For days on end he waits on a tree stump，tinged green-blue，his beak a lance，a sword，a dagger，a fatal needle!

A “romantic retainer” decked out in blue-green iridescent armor!A fairy-tale hero of nature!

Lilly had a pond dug on the grounds of her grandfather's estate，had it bordered with willow，alder，hazel shrubs，oleaster.She had the whole thing caged in by a fine chain-link fence.And she put in a kingfisher.And now she watches him for hours on end roosting and waiting.The master of the pond!

Consequently，the compliments of the gentlemen callers who hope to subdue her delicate soul all sound vapid and laughable.

She is consumed，consumed by the laws of nature and by its mysteries—

In contrast to which，every man appears petty and pitiful.He's nothing but a “ fumbling，brutal，uncomely” kingfisher.He too waits hours，days on end，to trap his prey! He spears and devours.But it isn' t “measly minnows” that he devours，slays!He slays “souls”!

旅 行

我知道，有一種極為便宜的快樂完全摒除了失望，從五月中旬開始研究火車時刻表，挑選出那趟火車，但愿你會……這樣，比如在8:45 分，你就已經(jīng)起床走動，甚至刮了胡子（不刮胡子旅行只是一半的快樂，如果需要，最好不盥洗就出去）；因此，在8:45 分登上開往派爾巴赫①的南行特快列車，再從那里乘坐由一匹馬拉的馬車（我最喜歡讓小邁克爾·魯伯特來趕車），前往那天國一般、田園詩一般的塔爾霍夫旅館。一旦到了那里，你就暫時什么也不會去做了，覺得自己的確還坐在你那位于維也納的房間里面，仔細(xì)研讀你的旅行計劃。夠了，萬物都一如既往地好，面對著森林、牛棚、馬廄、冒泡的鱒魚溪、洗衣場地、柴房——三十年前，你和安娜·卡爾德曼在那里收集木柴，遠(yuǎn)方，靠近派爾巴赫格拉本的山丘，我的父親曾經(jīng)想獲得一小塊種植著歐洲酸櫻桃樹的地皮，作為逃往大自然的神圣庇護(hù)所，而我的母親則說：“親愛的，要到兩個女兒結(jié)婚了才去擁有吧！” 因此你在那里，坐在自己的旅行計劃前面，8:45 分為出發(fā)時間，做著那擺脫了現(xiàn)實(shí)負(fù)擔(dān)的愜意之夢，保守地說，你正好節(jié)省了至少二十克朗②。因?yàn)槊恳淮胃淖兊胤剑紩黾幽阃Ａ舻某杀矩?fù)擔(dān)！

注：①奧地利城鎮(zhèn)。②從1892 年到1918 年奧匈帝國解體期間發(fā)行的貨幣。

TRAVELING

There's one dirt cheap pleasure I know that's altogether free of disappointments，to study the train schedule from mid-May on and pick out the very train with which you would，if only … So，for instance，at 8:45，you're already up and about and even shaved(to travel unshaven is only half a pleasure，better，if need be，to go without washing) ;so at 8:45 with the southbound express to Payerbach，and from there by one -horse carriage (my favorite driven by Michael Ruppert，Jr.) to the heavenly idyllic Thalhof Hotel.Once there you do nothing at all for the moment，seeing as you're actually still seated in your room in Vienna poring over your travel plans.Enough，everything's fine as it is，facing the forest，the cowshed，the horse stable，the bubbling trout brook，the laundry yard，the woodshed，where once，thirty years ago，with Anna Kaldermann—you gathered wood，and in the distance the hills near the Payerbachgr?ben where my father wanted to acquire a plot of land planted with sour cherry trees to flee to the holy refuge of nature，while my mother said: “Not until our two daughters are wed，my dear!” So there you sit before your travel plans，8:45 departure time，dreaming sweet dreams free of the burdens of reality，and you just saved，conservatively speaking，at least twenty Crowns.For every change of place taxes the cost of your stay!