經(jīng)典雙語(yǔ)散文:Ole and Trufa 兩片樹葉的愛(ài)情

THE FOREST was large and thickly overgrown with all kinds of leaf-bearing trees. Usually, it is cold this time of year and it even happens that it snow, but this November was relatively warm. You might have thought it was summer except that the whole forest was strewn with fallen leaves-some yellow as saffron, some red as wine, some the color of gold and some of mixed color. The leaves had been torn down by the rain, by the wind, some by day, some at night, and they now formed a deep carpet over the forest floor. Although their juices had run dry, the leaves still exuded a pleasant aroma. The sun shone down on them through the living branches, and worms and flies which had somehow survived the autumn storms crawled over them. The space beneath the leaves provided hiding places forcrickets, field mice and many other creatures who sought protection in the earth.

At times during cold and stormy nights, Trufa would complain: “My time had come, Ole, but you hand on!”

“What for?” Ole asked. “Without you, my life is senseless. If you fall, I'll fall with you.”

“No, Ole, don't do it! So long as a leaf can stay up it mustn't let go.”

“It all depends if you stay with me,” Ole replied. “By day I look at you and admire your beauty. At night I sense your fragrance. Be the only leaf on a tree? No never!”

“Ole, your words are so sweet but they're not true,” Trufa said. “You know very well that I'm no longer pretty. Look how wrinkled I am, how shriveled I've become! Only one thing is still left me-my love for you.”

“Isn't that enough? Of all our powers love the highest, the finest,” Ole said. “So long as we love each other we remain here, and no wind, rain or storm can destroy us. I'll tell you something, Trufa-I never loved you as much as I love you now.”

“Why, Ole? Why? I'm all yellow.”

“Who says green is pretty and yellow is not? All colors are equally handsome.”

And just as Ole spoke these words, that which Trufa had feared all these months happened-a wind came up and tore Ole loose from the twig. Trufa began to tremble and flutter until it seemed that she, too, would soon be torn away, but she held fast. She saw Ole fall and sway in the air, and she called to him in leafy language: “Ole! Come back! Ole! Ole!”

But before she could even finish, Ole vanished from sight. He blended in with the other leaves on the ground, and Trufa was left all alone on the tree.

So long as it was still day, Trufa managed somehow to endure her grief. But when it grew dark and cold and a piercing rain began to fall, she sank into despair. Somehow she felt that the blame for all the leafy misfortunes lay with the tree, the trunk with all its mighty limbs. Leaves fell, but the trunk stood tall, thick and firmly rooted in the ground. No wind, rain or hail could upset it. What did it matter to a tree, which probably lived forever, what become of a leaf? To Trufa, the trunk was a kind of god. It covered itself with leaves for a few months, then it shook them off. It nourished them with its sap for as long as it pleased, then it let them die of thirst. Trufa pleaded with the tree to give her back her Ole, to make it summer again, but the tree didn’t heed her prayers.

Trufa didn't think a night could be so long as this one—so dark, so frosty. She spoke to Ole and hoped for an answer, but Ole was silent and gave no sign of his presence.

Trufa said to the tree: “Since you've taken Ole from me, take me too.”

But even this prayer the tree didn't acknowledge.

After a while, Trufa dozed off. This wasn't sleep but a strange languor. Trufa awoke and to her amazement found that she was no longer handing on the tree. The wind had blown her down while she was asleep. This was different from the way she used to feel when she awoke on the tree with the sunrise. All her fears and anxieties had now vanished. The awakening also brought with it an awareness she had never felt before. She knew now that she wasn't just a leaf that depended on every whim of the wind, but that she was part of the universe. Through some mysterious force, Trufa understood the miracle of her molecules, atoms, protons and electrons-the enormous energy she represented and the divine plan of which she was a part.

Next to her lay Ole, and they greeted each other with a love they hadn't been aware of before. This wasn't a love that depended on chance or caprice, but a love as mighty and eternal as the universe itself. That which they had feared all the days and nights between April and November turned out to be not death but redemption. A breeze came and lifted Ole and Trufa in the air and they soared with the bliss known only by those who have freed themselves and have joined with eternity.

詞語(yǔ)注釋:crawl n. 爬行;緩慢的行進(jìn) cricket n. 蟋蟀,板球 fragrance n. 芬芳,香味 languor n.怠惰,疲倦,無(wú)氣力 leafy adj. 葉茂盛的,多葉的, 葉狀的 overgrown adj. 長(zhǎng)得很快,雜草叢生

中文譯本：

這是一座很大很茂密的森林，長(zhǎng)滿生有各種各樣葉子的樹。通常，每年的這個(gè)時(shí)候天氣很冷了，甚至下雪了，可是這個(gè)十一月比較暖和，如果不是滿林子的落葉——桔黃的，酒紅的，金黃的，還有雜色的——也許以為還是夏天呢。這些落葉有些在白天，有些在夜里被雨打落，被風(fēng)吹落，如今它們?cè)谏值牡孛嫔闲纬闪艘粭l厚厚的落葉毯子。盡管已干枯，落葉仍散發(fā)出好聞的香味。陽(yáng)光透過(guò)樹枝照耀著它們，落葉上爬動(dòng)著在秋天的暴風(fēng)雨中不知怎么存活下來(lái)的蟲子、蒼蠅。落葉底下也為蟋蟀們提供了藏身之所，田鼠和許多其它生物也在大地上找尋庇護(hù)。

有時(shí)在寒冷的暴風(fēng)雨之夜，特魯法會(huì)抱怨：“我的時(shí)間到了，奧立，可是你要堅(jiān)持住!”

“為了什么理由呢?”奧立問(wèn)。“沒(méi)有你我的生命毫無(wú)意義，如果你掉下去，我將跟你一起掉下去!”

“不，奧立，別這樣!一片樹葉只要能留在樹上就不應(yīng)該松手往下掉。”

“這全得靠你是否留下來(lái)陪我。”奧立回答。“白天我看著你愛(ài)慕你的美麗，夜里感覺(jué)著你的芬芳。只我一片樹葉留在樹上?決不!”

特魯法說(shuō)：“奧立，你的話真讓我高興，可是你說(shuō)得不對(duì)。你很清楚我不漂亮了，看我多皺，變得多枯萎了啊!我唯一剩下的就是——我愛(ài)你。”

奧立說(shuō)：“那不就夠了嗎?愛(ài)是所有力量中最高尚、最美好的。只要我們?cè)谶@里彼此相愛(ài)，就沒(méi)有風(fēng)，沒(méi)有雨或暴風(fēng)雪能毀滅我們。告訴你，特魯法，我從來(lái)沒(méi)有像現(xiàn)在這么愛(ài)你。”

“為什么，奧立?為什么，我已經(jīng)完全枯黃了。”

“誰(shuí)說(shuō)綠色漂亮黃色就不漂亮了?所有的色彩都同樣漂亮。”

在一棵其它葉子都落了的樹梢上，還有兩片掛在一根細(xì)枝上：這是奧立和特魯法。奧立和特魯法也不知道為什么他們?cè)谒械挠?、寒夜和風(fēng)中幸存了下來(lái)。沒(méi)有人知道為什么有的樹葉會(huì)飄落下來(lái)而有的樹葉依舊長(zhǎng)在樹上?可是奧立和特魯法認(rèn)為答案在于他們深深地愛(ài)著對(duì)方。奧立比特魯法年長(zhǎng)幾天，外形略大于特魯法，可是特魯法更漂亮精致。每當(dāng)刮風(fēng)下雨或開(kāi)始下冰雹時(shí)，一片樹葉并不能為另一片做些什么。然而每到這個(gè)時(shí)候，奧立都鼓勵(lì)特魯法。在最惡劣的暴風(fēng)雨里，雷鳴電閃，狂風(fēng)不僅刮落樹葉，甚至刮斷整根樹枝，奧立央求著特魯法：“堅(jiān)持，特魯法!盡你的全力堅(jiān)持住!”

奧立剛說(shuō)完這些話，特魯法這幾個(gè)月里一直害怕的事發(fā)生了——一陣風(fēng)刮來(lái)從細(xì)枝上拉扯松了奧立。特魯法開(kāi)始顫抖、晃動(dòng)，似乎她很快也要被刮落了，可是她牢牢抓住了。她看到奧立掉了下去在空中搖晃著，她用葉子的語(yǔ)言大聲喊：“奧立，回來(lái)!回來(lái)啊，奧立!”

可是她甚至話都沒(méi)能說(shuō)完，奧立就從視野里消失了。他跟地上的其它落葉混合在一起，而特魯法孤伶伶地留在了樹上。

只要天還沒(méi)黑，特魯法不管怎樣還能設(shè)法忍受悲痛。可是天漸漸黑冷下來(lái)，并開(kāi)始下起刺骨的雨，她絕望了。不知怎么地她覺(jué)得所有樹葉不幸的責(zé)任要怪樹，要怪長(zhǎng)有巨大樹枝的樹干。樹葉掉了，而樹干仍舊高大牢固地扎根在大地上，沒(méi)有風(fēng)雨或冰雹能掀翻它。這些對(duì)樹有什么要緊呢，它有可能永遠(yuǎn)存活下去，可是成為一片樹葉呢?在特魯法看來(lái)，樹干就像上帝，它用樹葉覆蓋自己幾個(gè)月，然后又抖落它們;在樹干高興的時(shí)候就用樹的汁液滋養(yǎng)樹葉，而后又渴死它們。特魯法請(qǐng)求樹把奧立還給她，讓夏天再一次來(lái)臨，可是樹沒(méi)有注意到它的祈求。

特魯法從沒(méi)想到一個(gè)夜晚能像今晚這么長(zhǎng)——這么黑暗，這么嚴(yán)寒。她呼喚著奧立，希望能聽(tīng)到一聲回答，可是奧立沉默著，沒(méi)有給出一點(diǎn)他存在的跡象。

特魯法對(duì)樹說(shuō)道：“既然你從我身邊帶走了奧立，把我也一起帶走吧。”

可是甚至這個(gè)祈求樹也沒(méi)有注意。

片刻后，特魯法打瞌睡了。這不是睡，而是讓人不適的衰弱無(wú)力。醒來(lái)后，她吃驚地發(fā)現(xiàn)她不掛在樹上了，睡著時(shí)風(fēng)已把她刮了下來(lái)。這給了她不同于伴著日出醒來(lái)的感覺(jué)，她所有的害怕和焦慮此刻都消失了。這次醒來(lái)給了她前所未有的意識(shí)。她知道現(xiàn)在她不只是一片依賴于風(fēng)的一時(shí)興致的樹葉了，她成為宇宙的一部分。通過(guò)某些神秘的力量，特魯法了解了自身分子，原子，質(zhì)子和電子的奇跡，她所代表的巨大能量以及她是其中一部分的神圣計(jì)劃。

奧立就躺在她身旁，他們懷著前所未有的愛(ài)問(wèn)候?qū)Ψ?。這不是依賴機(jī)會(huì)或反復(fù)無(wú)常的愛(ài)，這愛(ài)跟宇宙本身一樣巨大和永恒。在四月至十一月間他們?nèi)杖找挂箍謶值慕Y(jié)果卻不是死亡而是解救。一陣和風(fēng)把奧立和特魯法帶到空中，他們?cè)谥挥薪夥抛约哼M(jìn)入永恒才能領(lǐng)悟到的無(wú)限幸福里沖入云宵。