足下之美

赵云舒 黄湘淇

曾有人说，旅行的意义，不止在于走出熟悉的环境，摆脱琐碎的日常，邂逅新鲜的事物，更在于开阔视野，锻炼发现美的眼睛，从而有新的感悟和体验。天地之间，草木缤纷，飞禽走兽，万物皆有灵。敞开心扉，用心感受“一沙一世界，一花一天堂”。

The first day on the island of St. John， when I open the sliding door to the deck， a dull brown anole skitters toward me and I jump.2 I know these little lizards are harmless， but I shudder nonetheless.3 I shake my flip-flops4 and hope hell go away. He doesnt. My feet stiffen as I feel the tickle of tiny reptilian toes on mine.5

“Shoo！” I say， but by the time the word is out of my mouth， the creature—no bigger than a mouse—has noiselessly jumped to the belted trunk of a nearby coconut palm， where he hangs upside down， motionless， like a door knocker.6 Is it my imagination， or is his skin growing darker？ He morphs from dull pewter to black in a matter of seconds.7 I feel as if I am watching tea steeping in a glass pot.8

I hurry back inside the rental apartment， remembering to latch the sliding door.9

The next day I go to drape wet towels over the railing， and the anole reappears.10 He seems curious， perhaps tempted by the terry-cloth scaffolding of the beach towels.11 I watch as he climbs up the edge of the laundry， stopping to let the Caribbean sun warm his skin.12 Perhaps were not so different， he and I. Hadnt I spent the afternoon in a similar way， hiking up and down the Reef Bay Trail， resting against the ancient rocks， soaking up warmth as if I could store sunshine in my bones until spring？13

By the fifth day， when the lizard appears， I say， “Oh， its you， again！”

I stay slouched in the deck chair， with a novel spine-split across my knees， as the anole scampers underneath.14 He lingers， checking out my chipped pedicure with his tongue.15 I look down and try to study his face， but he quickly drops one eyelid like a shutter.16 Then hes gone. I see him leap into17 the flower box.

I stare at him， waiting for his next move. Suddenly his neck puffs up and stretches out until it is almost the size of his head， all the while turning a shocking shade of scarlet， like a neon turkey wattle.18

I reach for my cell phone and do a quick search. I learn that a male anole exposes his dewlap when hes marking territory， flirting like a fool，19 or exhibiting a major sign of stress. Sometimes all three conditions occur at once.

I try to look away so I dont stress him further. Suddenly he leaps vertically onto the stucco wall behind my head.20 It turns out that anoles also have adhesive lamellae on their footpads.21 No wonder they can stick to any surface and defy gravity.22

I put on my sunglasses， pick up my novel， and start to read. The anole commutes frenetically back and forth from the wall to the palm tree.23 We give each other space， like strangers on a train， each of us stealing a glance now and then as discreetly as possible.24 His back， I notice， is ridged and translucent，25 as beautiful as a paper fan. His tummy pulses as he breathes.26 I wonder if he is enjoying the fragrances in the air， as I am： the ginger thomas， the frangipani.27

In time， long before I give up the key to the St. John apartment and return to the slush and squirrels back in Connecticut， Ill begin to recognize a whole new arc of animal ancestry； Ill appreciate the haunches and the slinky back， the scurry of adaptation.28 My world will grow wider by a few inches and a tail.

Later， friends will ask me if I enjoyed my time in the Virgin Islands， and Ill nod and say how fortunate I was to have a change of scenery in the depths of winter29. Theyll think sunsets and white sand—postcard beauty at its best. But Ill be thinking of another sort of loveliness， always underfoot.

1. underfoot： 在脚下。

2. island of St. John： 圣约翰岛，位于加勒比海，美属维尔京群岛（即下文的Virgin Islands）的一部分，风景优美；sliding door： 拉门，滑动门；deck： 露天平台；dull brown： 暗棕色；anole： 变色龙；skitter： 蹦跳。

3. lizard： 蜥蜴；shudder： 哆嗦；nonetheless： 尽管如此。

4. flip-flop： 平底人字拖鞋。

5. stiffen： 变僵硬；tickle： 痒感；reptilian： 爬虫类的；toe： 脚趾，足尖。

6.“嘘！”我说，但话刚出口，这个还没老鼠大的小东西就无声无息地跳到了附近有带状纹的椰子树枝干上，它倒挂在上面，一动不动，就像个门环。shoo： 嘘（用以赶走动物或人）；noiselessly： 无声无息地； belted： 有带的，以带（或条纹）为标志的；trunk： 树干；coconut palm： 椰子树；upside down： 上下颠倒地；motionless： 一动不动的；door knocker： 门环。

7. morph： 变化；dull pewter： 深青灰色。

8. steep： 泡，浸；glass pot： 玻璃壶。

9. rental： 租来的；latch： 闩上。

10. drape： 使随意地悬挂；railing： 栏杆，扶手；reappear： 再次出现。

11. be tempted by： 受……诱惑，对……感兴趣；terry-cloth： 毛圈织物，毛巾布；scaffolding： 支架，台架。

12. laundry： 洗好的衣服；Caribbean： 加勒比海的。

13. 我难道不是就用相似的方式度过了那个下午吗？在礁石湾步道上下徒步，靠在古老的岩石上休息，尽情汲取温暖，就像要把阳光都存到骨子里，直到春天来临。hike： 徒步； Reef Bay Trail： 礁石湾步道；soak up： 吸收，摄取。

14. slouched： 懒散的；deck chair： 折叠式躺椅；spine-split： 沿书脊分开的； scamper： 蹦跳，奔跑； underneath： 在……的下面。

15. linger： 徘徊，逗留；chipped： 有缺口的；pedicure： 修脚趾甲。

16. eyelid： 眼睑；shutter： 百叶窗。

17. leap into： 跳进。

18. 忽然间它脖子就胀了起来，拉长到差不多和它的脑袋大小，并在整个过程中变成了惊人的猩红色，就像鲜艳的火鸡肉垂一般。puff up： 肿胀；scarlet： 猩红色，鲜红色；neon： 颜色鲜艳的；turkey wattle： 火鸡肉垂， 指下巴与颈间的赘肉。

19. dewlap： 垂肉； territory： 领地； flirt： 调情。

20. vertically： 垂直地；stucco wall： 手工抹灰墙。

21. adhesive： 带黏性的；lamellae： 薄片，薄膜；footpad： 足垫。

22. defy： 对抗，违背；gravity： 重力，地心引力。

23. commute： 来回往返于； frenetically： 发疯般地，极其激动地；back and forth： 反复地，来回地；palm tree： 棕榈树。

24. steal a glance： 偷看一眼； discreetly： 小心谨慎地。

25. ridged： 隆起的，皱起的； translucent： 半透明的。

26. tummy： 肚子；pulse： 跳动，搏动。

27. fragrance： 芳香，香气；ginger thomas： 黄钟花，美属维尔京群岛的国花；frangipani： 鸡蛋花。

28. 后来，早在我交出圣约翰岛上那间公寓的钥匙，回到满是融雪和松鼠的康涅狄格州之前，我便开始认识了一个新的动物种类分支；我欣赏它们那腰身，那曲线优美的背部，和迅速的适应性。slush： 半融雪； squirrel： 松鼠；Connecticut： 康涅狄格州，位于美国东北部；arc： 弧；haunch：（动物的）腰腿部；slinky： 线条优美的； scurry： 急跑。

29. in the depths of winter： 在深冬。