EC-Rd 余光中译 A Promise of Spring 春之生机 C.pdfVIP

A Promise of Spring ──Rennicke, Jeff, Reader ’s Digest, March 1998, 152-157. 春之生機──余光中譯 1 Nothing. No tracks but my own are stitched 1 什麼也沒有。昨夜剛下的新雪， into the dusting of fresh snow, white as birch bark, 白得像樺樹皮，只有我自己的足印在遍 that fell during the night. No flittering shadows in the 撒的雪上交織。樹林裏沒有拍翅的鳥 trees, not a sliver of bird song in the air. 影，空中也全無鳥聲。 2 到這種季節，有陽光也很微弱， 2 What sun there is this time of year shines weakly, halfheartedly through the white gauze of 隔着白茫茫的雲層，有氣無力，不帶來 clouds, offering not even the slightest pretense of 一絲暖意。幾乎一個禮拜了，在威斯康 warmth. For nearly a week now the temperatures 辛我的木屋這一帶，氣溫始終不超過零 around my Wisconsin cabin have not risen above 度。水銀像是畫在寒暑表底部一般。我 zero. The mercury seems painted to the bottom of the 跺腳取暖，再細聽有什麼生命的消息， thermometer. A shiver runs through me as I stomp 一面竟感到全身一陣寒顫。唯一的聲響 my feet for warmth and then listen again for any sign 來自空禿的枝頭，像牙齒在打哆嗦。 of life. The only sound is from the bare tips of branches chattering like teeth. 3 一眼看去，造化對這樣的深冬似 3 At first glance nature doesnt seem to have 乎不怎麼照顧。森林簡直像一幅粗略的 invested much in this late-winter day. The forest can 蝕刻板畫──荒涼、死寂、暗淡。雪片 seem like a rough etching — barren, lifeless and 像降落傘一般降在屋前的草地，十二月 gray. The sight of flakes parachuting onto the front 間這樣的景色曾令你感動，現在只意味 lawn, which swept you up in December, now just 著你得把汽車的擋風玻璃刮一下了。含 means you have to scrape your car windshield. There 蓄的美景還是有的──白雪點綴松樹枝 are subtle beauties — pine branches tipped in white, 梢，雪地反映淺藍的月色。但是冬深如 the pale-blue glow of moonlight off the snow. But this deep into winter, you look less for beauty than 此，你所尋找的與其說是美景，不如說 for signs that spring has not been forgotten. 是有什麼徵兆暗示春天未被遺忘。 4 They are not easy to find. Once it was 4 但徵兆不易尋找。從前大家認 believed th