Country 乡野

奥尔多·利奥波德 译析/曹明伦

There is much confusion between land and country. Land is the place where corn， gullies， and mortgages grow. Country is the personality of land， the collective harmony of its soil， life and weather. Country knows no mortgages， no alphabetical agencies， no tobacco road; it is calmly aloof to these petty exigencies of its alleged owners. That the previous occupant of my farm was a bootlegger mattered not one whit to its grouse; they sailed as proudly over the thickets as if they were guests of a king.

Poor land may be rich country， and vice versa. Only economists mistake physical opulence for riches. Country may be rich despite a conspicuous poverty of physical endowment， and its quality may not be apparent at first glance， nor at all times.

I know， for example， a certain lakeshore， a cool austerity of pines and wave-washed sands. All day you see it only as something for the surf to pound， a dark ribbon that stretches farther than you can paddle， a monotony to mark the miles by. But toward sunset some vagrant breeze may waft a gull across a headland， behind which a sudden roistering of loons reveals the presence of a hidden bay. You are seized with an impulse to land， so set foot on bearberry carpets， to pluck a balsam bed， to pilfer beach plums of blueberries， or perhaps to poach a partridge from out those bosky quietudes that lie behind the dunes. A bay？ Why not also a trout stream？ Incisively the paddies clip little soughing swirls athwart the gunwale， the bow swings sharp shoreward and cleaves the greening depths for camp.

Later， a supper-smoke hangs lazily upon the bay; a fire flickers under drooping boughs. It is a lean poor land， but rich country.

Some woods， perennially lush， are notably lacking in charm. Tall clean-boled oaks and tulip poplars may be good to look at， from the road， but once inside one may find a coarseness of minor vegetation， a turbidity of waters， and a paucity of wildlife. I cannot explain why a red rivulet is not a brook. Neither can I， by logical deduction， prove that a thicket without the potential roar of a quail covey is only a thorny place. Yet every outdoorsman knows that this is true. That wildlife is merely something to shoot at or to look at is the grossest of fallacies. It often represents the difference between rich country and mere land.

There are woods that are plain to look at， but not to look into. Nothing is plainer than a cornbelt woodlot; yet， if it be August， a crushed pennyroyal， or an over-ripe mayapple， tells you here is a place. October sun on a hickory but a whole chain of further sequences： perhaps of oak coals in the dusk， a young squirrel browning， and a distant barred owl hilarious over his own joke.

The taste for country displays the same diversity in aesthetic competence among individuals as the taste for opera， or oils. There are those who are willing to be herded in droves through “scenic” places; who find mountains grand if they be proper mountains with waterfalls， cliffs， and lakes. To such the Kansas plains are tedious. They see the endless corn， but not the heave and the grunt of ox teams breaking the prairie. History， for them， grows on campuses. They look at the low horizon， but they cannot see it， as de Vaca did， under the bellies of the buffalo.

In country， as in people， a plain exterior often conceals hidden riches， to perceive which requires much living in and with. Nothing is more monotonous than the juniper foothills， until some veteran of a thousand summers， laden blue with berries， explodes in a blue burst of chattering jays. The drab sogginess of a March cornfield， saluted by one honker from the sky， is drab on more.

人们往往混淆土地和乡野。土地是玉米生长的地方，沟壑出现的地方，也是抵押契据产生的地方。而乡野是土地的个性特征，是土壤、生命和气候的整体和谐。乡野不知道何谓抵押，何谓贫困，也不知晓形形色色的各类管理机构，因为乡野对自称其主人者的那些微不足道的紧迫琐事从来都超然物外。我那座农场的前主人是个酿私酒的家伙，可这与农场上的松鸡没丝毫关系，松鸡照旧傲然从灌木丛上方飞过，仿佛它们是某位国王的嘉宾。

贫瘠的土地可能是富庶的乡野，而富庶的乡野也可能是贫瘠的土地。只有经济学家才会误将物质丰裕当作富庶。哪怕物质资源明显匮乏，乡野依然可以富庶，不过其富庶并非晃眼可见，也不是任何时候都向人展露。

比如我就知道一片湖岸地区，那里有普普通通的松林，有湖水沖刷过的沙地。一整天你看见的就只是个供浪花拍打的场所，一条伸延到你划船范围之外的黑色丝带，一个只能靠数划桨数来打发时间的无聊去处。然而，接近日落时分，一阵飘忽不定的微风会把一只江鸥送过远处的岬角，随之从岬角后面会突然响起一片喈喈啾啾的潜鸟鸣叫声，告诉你那里藏着一个水湾。于是你会产生一种想弃船登岸的冲动，想双脚踏上熊莓铺成的红红地毯，想伸手从凤仙花丛采下一朵小花，想偷偷攀摘一枝沙滩李浆果，或是去沙丘后面僻静的丛林里偷猎一只山鹑。不是有水湾吗？为什么不会有条鱼翔浅底的小溪？于是船桨飒飒，漩涡卷动，船舷摇摆，船头起伏着朝向宿营地，劈开一湖泱泱绿水。

稍晚，袅袅炊烟懒洋洋地在水湾上方飘浮，熊熊篝火亮闪闪地在树枝下方摇曳。这是一方贫瘠的土地，但却是一片富庶的乡野。

有些树林四季常绿，郁郁葱葱，却明显缺乏吸引人的魅力。从公路上望去，枝少节疏、高大挺拔的橡树和鹅掌楸可能会赏心悦目，可一旦进入树林，你也许会发现林间只有稀疏而粗糙的植被和浑浊的水流或水坑，而且几乎看不见野生动物。我没法解释为何锈红色的水流不是溪流，也没法用逻辑推理证明不可能传出鹌鹑唧唧声的灌木丛只能算是荆丛，但常置身野外者都知道我所言不虚。因此，认为野生动物仅仅是猎物或观赏物的看法是十足的谬误。有无野生动物通常也是富庶乡野和贫瘠土地的区别。

有些树林从外面看去平淡无华，可林间却是另一番光景。最平淡的树林莫过于中西部玉米地带的人工植林，可要是在八月，一株被折断的薄荷或一簇熟透的鬼臼浆果就会告诉你这可真是个地方。挂在山核桃树梢上的十月杲阳不过是整条风景链中的一环，接下来你也许会看到在晚霞中燃烧的橡树、一只呈棕色的小松鼠，还有远方一只正自娱自乐的横斑林鸮。

体验乡野与欣赏歌剧和品鉴油画一样，可反映出每个人不同的审美能力。有些人喜欢被成群结队地赶往“风景区”，因为他们认为，只要山里有瀑布、悬崖和湖泊，那山就称得上雄伟壮丽。堪萨斯平原在这些人眼中肯定会单调乏味，因为他们只看得见无边无际的玉米地，却看不见喘着粗气的耕牛和划破大草原的犁铧。对他们来说，历史是在校园里形成的。他们也会眺望天边的地平线，但却不可能像德巴卡那样躺在草地上从野牛肚子下面看天边。

乡野和人一样，一幅平凡的外表也往往会隐藏丰富的内涵，而要知其内涵，就得如影随形，与之相伴。最显单调沉闷的是生长杜松的丘陵地带，但当某株千年老树挂满蓝色浆果，当满树浆果中倏然蹿出一群蓝羽松鸦，沉闷便会骤然消失;三月的玉米地可谓平淡乏味，可当玉米地上空传来鸿雁噰鸣，平淡也就不再乏味。

【背景知识】此文选自美国生态作家利奥波德的自然随笔《沙乡年鉴》。利奥波德曾批评抱怨农耕生活单调的美国农场主，说他们只会靠土地生存，却不会靠土地生活（live on the land， but not by the land）。这篇散文从欣赏自然乡野的角度为作者的这种批评提供了生动形象的论据，表达了作者热爱自然、天人合一的生态美学思想。

【第一段】英语注重形连，汉语讲究意合，所以第二句中作谓语用的grow被分别译成了“生长”“出现”和“产生”，从而分别与三个主语搭配。

【第二段】注意“富庶”“贫瘠”“丰裕”“匮乏”等词的选用。译者将原文“浓缩”的and vice versa和nor at all times“展开”，目的是为了译文节奏和谐。

【第三段】英语中有一类定语从句既不起修饰限制作用，也没有补充说明功能，而仅仅是为了让句子紧凑而使用的一种语法手段。例如狄更斯的Oliver Twist（《雾都孤儿》）第28章中这个句子：At this point of narrative the cook turned pale， and asked the housemaid to shut the door， who asked Brittles， who asked the tinker， who pretended not to hear.（详见商务印书馆2013年版《英汉翻译二十讲》第247—248页）。本段第三句中由behind which引导的定语从句就属于这种情况。

【第四段】注意译文对原文第一句對偶（抑或排比）手法的再现。

【第五段】不宜像有的译者那样把roar of a quail翻译成“鹌鹑喧闹”甚至“喧闹鸣叫的鹌鹑”。建议上网看视频亲耳听听野生鹌鹑的叫声，然后再选择适当的拟声词。

【第六段】把cornbet翻译成“中西部玉米地带”可谓“隐性深度翻译”，即在不变原意的前提下增加原文所无之词语，从而完全传达原文的意思，同时又不需要加注（详见商务印书馆2019年增订版《英汉翻译二十讲》第240—244页）。

【第七段】末句中提到的人物de Vaca须按西班牙语发音译作“德巴卡”，并加注释：德巴卡（Cabeza de Vaca，约1490—1560），西班牙探险家，曾率寻宝队在美洲探险，先后从南美洲北上到过佛罗里达和得克萨斯沿海地区。

【第八段】第一句中由to perceive which引导的定语从句属于第三段分析的那类。

【小结】以上点滴分析再次说明，要翻译好一个语篇，译者对原文的思想内容需透彻理解，对原文的氛围情调需用心领会，译文行文时不仅要斟词酌句，还要注意节奏和谐，避免生硬牵强的中文。