训练方向感

By Dhan Gopal Mukerji

Now that， like a newly trained diver， he had overcome his fear of plunging into the air， Gay-Neck ventured on longer and higher flights. In a weeks time he was able to fly steadily for half an hour， and when he came home to the roof， he swooped down as gracefully as his parents. There was no more of that panicky beating of wings in order to balance himself as his feet touched the roof.

His parents， who had accompanied Gay-Neck in his preliminary flights， now began to leave him behind， and to fly much higher above him. For a while I thought that they were trying to make him fly still higher； for the son always made an effort to reach the level of his parents. Perhaps his elders were setting the little fellow a superb example. But at last， one day early in June， that explanation of mine was shaken by the following fateful incident. Gay-Neck was flying high： he looked half his usual size. Above him flew his parents， almost as small as a mans fist. They were circling above him with the regularity of a merry-go-round. I removed my gaze from them； after all， it is not comfortable to look steadily upwards for long. As I lowered my eyes towards the horizon， they were held by a black spot moving swiftly， and growing larger every second. I wondered what sort of bird he was， coming at such a speed in a straight line， for in India birds are named in Sanskrit， Turyak， or “curve-tracers.”

朝小彩虹鴿飞来的是一只隼。我抬起头，看着这令人惊叹的景象。鸽子们像落剑一样向下俯冲，但隼紧追不舍，每时每刻都在逼近他们。隼落得越来越快：此刻，他和他的猎物之间几乎不到二十英尺了。我的鸽子们该怎么自救？我在极度的痛苦中思考着。

But this one was coming straight， like an arrow. In another two minutes my doubts were dispelled. It was a hawk making for little GayNeck. I looked up and beheld a miraculous sight. His father was tumbling steadily down in order to reach his level， while his mother， bent on the same purpose， was making swift downward curves. Ere the terrible hawk had come within ten yards of the innocent little fellow， both his flanks were covered.1 Now the three flew downwards at a right angle from the path of their enemy. Undeterred by such a move， the hawk charged.2 At once the three pigeons made a dip that frustrated him， but the force with which he had made the attack was so great that it carried him a long distance beyond them. The pigeons kept on circling in the air with an ever-increasing downward trend. In another minute they were halfway to our roof. Now the hawk changed his mind. He went higher and higher into the sky： in fact， he flew so high that the pigeons could not hear the wind whistling in the feathers of his wings； and as he was above them they could not see their foe. Feeling that they were safe， they relaxed. It was evident that they were not flying so fast as before. Just then I saw that above them， way up， the hawk was folding his wings： he was about to drop， and in an instant he fell upon them like a stone. In desperation I put my fingers in my mouth and made a shrill whistle， a cry of warning. The pigeons dived like a falling sword， yet the hawk followed. Inch by inch， moment by moment he was gaining on them. Faster and faster he fell： now there were scarcely twenty feet between him and his prey. There was no doubt that he was aiming at Gay-Neck. I could see his sinister claws.“Wont those stupid pigeons do anything to save themselves？” I thought in an agony. He was so near him now—if they would only keep their heads， and—Just then they made a vast upward circle. The hawk followed. Then they flew on an even but large elliptical3 path. If a bird flies in a circle， he either tends to swing to the centre of that circle or away from it. Now the hawk missed their intention， and tended towards the centre， making a small circle inside their big one. No sooner was his back turned to them than the three pigeons made another dive， almost to our roof， but the sinister one was not to be deterred. He followed like a tongue of black lightning. His prey made a curving dive onto the roof， where they were safe at last under my wide-spread arms！ That instant I heard the shriek of the wind in the air； about a foot above my head the hawk flew by， his eyes blazing with yellow fire and his claws quivering like the tongue of a viper. As he passed I could hear the wind still whistling in his feathers.

After that narrow escape of my pet birds， I began to train Gay-Neck to a sense of direction. One day I took all three birds in a cage towards the east of our town. Exactly at nine in the morning I set them free. They came home safely. The next day I took them and equal distance to the west. Inside a week they knew the way to our house from within a radius of at least fifteen miles in any direction.

Since nothing ends smoothly in this world， the training of Gay-Neck finally met with a check. I had taken him and his parents down the Ganges in a boat. When we started， it was about six in the morning. The sky was littered with stray clouds， and a moderate wind was blowing from the south. Our boat was piled high with rice as white as snow on whose top were heaped mangoes red and golden in colour， like a white peak afire with the sunset.

I should have foreseen that such auspicious weather might turn suddenly into a terrible storm， for after all， boy though I was， I knew something about the freaks of the monsoon in June.4

Hardly had we gone twenty miles before the first rain clouds of the season raced across the sky. The velocity5 of the wind was so great that it ripped off one of the sails of our boat. Seeing that there was no time to be lost， I opened the cage and released the three pigeons. As they struck the wind， they vaulted right over and flew very low， almost falling into the water. They flew thus， close to the surface of the river， for a quarter of an hour， making very little headway against the hard wind. But they persisted， and another ten minutes saw them safely tacking and flying landward. Just about the time they had reached the string of villages on our left， the sky grew pitch black， a torrential cloudburst blotted everything out， and we saw nothing but inky sheets of water through which the lightning zigzagged and danced the dance of death.6 I gave up all hope of finding my pigeons again. We were almost shipwrecked ourselves， but fortunately our boat was beached on the shore of a village. Next morning， when I came home by train， I found two wet pigeons instead of three. Gay-Necks father had perished in the storm. No doubt it was all my fault； and for the few days that followed， our house was given up to mourning. The two pigeons and I used to go up on the roof， whenever the rain left off a bit， in order to scan the sky for a glimpse of the father. Alas， he never returned.

就像一位刚接受过训练的潜水员一样，彩虹鸽已经克服了纵身跳入空中的恐惧，鼓起勇气飞得更久、更高。一个星期之后，他已经能平稳地飞行半个小时了；飞到房顶的时候，他能像父母那样动作优雅地俯冲下来；而当双脚触到房顶的时候，他也不再惊慌失措地拍打翅膀以保持平衡了。

彩虹鸽刚开始飞行的时候，他的父母都会陪伴着他，现在他们则开始把他撇在后面，并且高高地飞在他的上方。有一阵子，我认为他们是设法使他飞得更高，因为小鸽子总是努力想达到父母的水平。也许他的父母是在给小家伙树立一个出色的榜样。但是后来六月初的一天发生的重大事件动摇了我的这种解释。那天，彩虹鸽飞得高高的：他看上去只有平常的一半大。他的父母在他的上方飞行，差不多只有人的拳头那么小。他们在他的上方盘旋，就像旋转木马一样有条不紊。我移开目光，不再看他们，毕竟久久地、定定地抬头仰望并不舒服。在我放低目光望着地平线的时候，他们被一个迅速移动的黑点锁定，那个黑点每一秒钟都在变大。我很好奇以如此速度直线飞行的鸟是哪种鸟，因为在印度，鸟类是以梵文Turyak命名，意思是“曲线追踪者”。

但是，这只鸟就像一支箭一般直飞过来。又过了两分钟，我的种种疑虑都消除了。朝小彩虹鸽飞来的是一只隼。我抬起头，看着这令人惊叹的景象。他的父亲稳稳地翻滚下落，以达到彩虹鸽的飞行高度，而他的母亲也出于同样的目的飞快地曲线下落。还没等可怕的隼飞到距离天真的小家伙十码（三十英尺）之内，彩虹鸽的两翼就被掩护了起来。紧接着，他们三个垂直向下飞行，躲开敌人的飞行路线。隼没有被这种行动吓住，又发起了冲锋。三只鸽子立马同时下降，想借此打击他，但隼进攻的时候用力太猛，把自己带出去了好长一段距离。鸽子们继续在空中盘旋，不断下落。又过了一分钟，他们已经朝我家房顶飞了一半距离了。这时候，隼改变了主意。他向着天空飞去，飞得越来越高：事实上，他飞得很高，鸽子们都听不到他扇动翅膀发出的嗖嗖的风声了；他在他们的上方，他们看不到自己的敌人，觉得自己安全了，于是就放松下来。显然，他们飞得不像先前那样快了。就在这时我看到，在他们的正上方，隼正在收拢翅膀：他正准备下降，刹那间，他像一块石头似的砸向他们。绝望之际，我把手指放在嘴里，吹出一声尖利的口哨，以此大声警告。鸽子们像落剑一样向下俯冲，但隼紧追不舍。每时每刻，他都在一寸寸地逼近他们。他落得越来越快：此刻，他和他的猎物之间几乎不到二十英尺了。毫无疑问，他是在瞄准彩虹鸽。我可以看到他的魔爪。“那些愚蠢的鸽子难道不想做些什么进行自救吗？”我在极度的痛苦中思考着。隼现在距离彩虹鸽如此之近——只要他们保持镇静就行了，而——就在这时，鸽子们兜了一个大圈，改为向上盘旋。隼紧追不放。随后，鸽子们在一个平稳而硕大的椭圆形路线上飞行。如果一只鸟在一个圆圈里飞行，他要么会飞向那个圆圈中央，要么则会远离中央。此刻，隼没有明白鸽子们的意图，飞向了圆圈中央，在他们那个大圆圈里绕起了小圆圈。他的背一转向三只鸽子，他们就又一次俯冲，就快要落到我们的房顶了，但那个阴险的家伙并没有放弃。他像一道黑色闪电随之而来。他的猎物以曲线形路线俯冲到房顶上，终于安全地躲藏在我张开的手臂之下！那个瞬间，我听到空中传来一阵尖锐的风声，大约在我头顶上方一英尺的地方，隼飞了过去，他的眼中燃烧着黄色的火焰，爪子像毒蛇的芯子一般抖动着。他飞过去的时候，我能听到风在他的羽毛中呼啸着。

在我的爱鸟那次九死一生的经历之后，我开始训练彩虹鸽的方向感。有一天，我用笼子装起三只鸽子，向城镇东边走去。上午九点整，我将他们放飞。他们安全回到家里。第二天，我带着他们向西走出相同的距离。一个星期内，在半径至少十五英里内，他们在任何方向都知道回我们家的路线。

然而在这个世界上，任何事情都不会一帆风顺，对彩虹鸽的训练最终遇到了阻碍。我带着他和他的父母坐船顺恒河而下。我们出发的时候，大约是早晨六点钟。天空中飘着一些游云，一阵和风从南面吹来。我们坐的船上高高地堆着雪白的大米，大米顶上堆着一些红色和金黄色的芒果，看上去就像夕阳点燃的一座雪白的山峰一样。

我本来应该预测到，这样的好天气会突然演变成一场可怕的暴风雨，毕竟，虽然我只是一个小男孩，但我对六月雨季的反复无常还是有所了解的。

我们刚走出二十英里，第一片季节雨云就飞快地掠过了天空。风速非常快，刮掉了我们船上的一面帆。看到时间紧迫，我就打开鸽笼，把三只鸽子放了出去。他们遇到了大风，拱身飞行，飞得很低，几乎落进水里。他们这样贴着河面飞行了十五分钟，顶着强风，没有前进多少。但是，他们坚持不懈，又过了十分钟，只见他们安全地顶风转向，向陆地飞行。就在他们大约刚到我们左侧的一排村庄的时候，天空变得一片漆黑，倾盆大雨覆盖了一切，我们只看到一片片黑漆漆的水，闪电曲折，穿过黑水，跳着死亡的舞蹈。我放弃了找回鸽子的所有希望。我们的船也差点儿失事，但幸运的是，船搁浅在了一个村子的岸边。第二天早晨，我坐火车回到家里时，发现了两只湿漉漉的鸽子，而不是三只。彩虹鸽的父亲在暴风雨中遇难了。毫无疑问，这都是我的过错。在接下来的几天里，我们家陷入了哀痛之中。每当雨稍微停息，我和两只鸽子就上到房顶，目的是想细看天空，瞥见彩虹鸽的父亲。可叹的是，他再也没有回来。

1. ere： 在……之前；flank： 侧翼。

2. undeterred： 未被吓住的，不气馁的；charge：进攻，冲锋。

3. elliptical： 椭圆的。

4. auspicious： 吉利的，吉祥的；monsoon：（印度和东南亚的）季风季节，雨季。

5. velocity： 速度，速率。

6. torrential：（雨）倾注的，瓢泼的；cloudburst：骤雨，大暴雨；blot out： 遮住，掩藏；zigzag：曲折地行進。