Drought 中国翻译.docVIP

中国翻译2001年第一期65页Drought Barry Lopez (1) I awoke one night and thought I heard rain--it was the dry needles of fir trees falling on the roof. Men with an intolerable air of condolence have appeared, as though drawn by the smell of death, dressed comfortably, speaking a manipulated tongue, terminally evil. They have inquired into the purchase of our homes. And reporters come and go, outraged over the absence of brown trout, which have never been here. The river like some great whale lies dying in the forest. [美]巴里·洛珀兹著陈宏薇译 (1)一天夜里我醒来，以为听到了雨声——其实那是枞树干枯的针叶掉到屋顶上的沙沙声。人们出现了。悲哀的样子，令人难受。似乎是死亡的气息把他们引出来的。他们穿着宽松舒适的衣服，说话字斟句酌，十分谨慎，然最后仍然露出险恶的用心。他们仔细询问是为 了购买我们的家园。记者们来来往往，因看不到棕鳟而震惊，其实这里从未见过棕鳟。这条河，就像一种巨鲸，躺在林中渐渐死去。 (2) In the years we have been here I have trained myself to listen to the fiver, not in the belief that I could under: stand what it said, but only from one day to the next know its fate. The fivers language arose principally from two facts: the slightest change in its depth brought it into contact with a different portion of the stones along its edges and the rocks and boulders midsteam that lay in its way, and so changed its tone; and although its movement around one object may seem uniform at any one time it is in fact changeable. Added to these major variations are the landings of innumerable insects on its surface, the breaking of its waters by fish, the falling into it of leaves and twigs, the sloshing of raccoons, the footfalls of deer; ultimately these are only commentary on the fiver s endless reading of the surface of the earth over which it flows. (2)我们在河边已生活了数年。我曾训练自己去倾听河流的声音，这芽不是因为我相信自己能听懂它的话语，只是因为我想逐日了解它的命运。河流的语言可以主要通过两种现象理解：水量的微小变化能影响它与河边的石块、横卧中流的岩石和圆石接触的多寡，从而改变它的声音；流过物体的水似乎每时每刻都一样，事实上每分每秒都在变化。除了这些主要的变化，那数不清的昆虫落在水面，鱼儿地从水中跳起，树叶与细枝咚咚落入水中，浣熊的洗濯声与鹿的足音，都是河流的话语。它们基本上只是报道河流如何不倦地了解它所流过的地球表面。(3) It was in this way that I learned before anyone else of the coming drought. Day after day as the river fell by imperceptible increments its song changed, notes came t