The Smell of Smells气味的气味

克里斯托弗·莫利　林羽竹/译

I Smelt it this morning—I wonder if you know the smell I mean？

今天早晨我闻到了——不知你是否知道我所说的气味？

It had rained hard during the night， and trees and bushes twinkled in the sharp early sunshine like ballroom chandeliers. As soon as I stepped out of doors I caught that faint but unmistakable musk in the air; that dim， warm sweetness. It was the smell of summer， so wholly different from the crisp tang of spring.

夜里雨下得很大，大树和灌木在清晨耀眼的阳光下闪闪发光，就像舞厅里的枝形吊灯。一走出家门，我就察觉到了空气中那隐隐约约但确定无疑的麝香味。那是种淡淡的、温暖的甜味。它是夏天的味道，与春天干冷的刺鼻气味完全不一样。

It is a drowsy， magical waft of warmth and fragrance. It comes only when the leaves and vegetation have grown to a certain fullness and juice， and when the sun bends in his orbit near enough to draw out all the subtle vapors of field and woodland. It is a smell that rarely if ever can be discerned in the city. It needs the wider air of the unhampered earth for its circulation and play.

这是一股让人昏昏欲睡的、奇妙的温暖和芬芳。它只在叶子和草木稍稍成熟而流出些许汁液时，还有当太阳沿着运行轨道拐到离地球足够近，近到可以吸出田野和林地的稀薄水汽时，才会出现。在城里很少闻到这个气味（如果人们能察觉到的话）。要想散播开来、发挥作用，它需要畅行无阻的大地之上更为广阔的天空。

I dont know just why， but I associate that peculiar aroma of summer with woodpiles and barnyards. Perhaps because in the area of a farmyard the sunlight is caught and focused and glows with its fullest heat and radiance. And it is in the grasp of the relentless sun that growing things yield up their innermost vitality and emanate their fragrant essence. I have seen fields of tobacco under a hot sun that smelt as blithe as a room thick with blue Havana smoke. I remember a pile of birch logs， heaped up behind a barn in Pike County， where that mellow richness of summer flowed and quivered like a visible exhalation in the air. It is the goodly soul of earth， rendering her health and sweetness to her master， the sun.

我不知道為什么，但我将这种特殊的夏日芬芳同柴火堆和谷仓旁的空地联系到了一起。也许是因为照进农家场院里的阳光聚焦之后温度最高、光辉最亮。正是在无情太阳的照耀下，生长着的万物才能展现出它们最深处的活力，散发出它们的香气。我曾经见过烈日下的烟草田，闻上去就像一间充满蓝色哈瓦那雪茄烟雾的房间一样令人欢乐。我记得有一堆桦树原木，堆在派克县的一个谷仓后面，夏天醇美丰厚的气息在那里飘散、颤抖，如同在空气中呼出一口看得见的气。这是大地的美丽灵魂，她将自己的生机和芬芳献给她的主人——太阳。

Every one， I suppose， who is a fancier of smells， knows this blithe perfume of the summer air that is so pleasant to the nostril almost any fine forenoon from mid-June until August. It steals pungently through the blue sparkle of the morning， fading away toward noon when the moistness is dried out. But when one first issues from the house at breakfast time it is at its highest savor. Irresistibly it suggests worms and a tin can with the lid jaggedly bent back and a pitchfork turning up the earth behind the cow stable. Fishing was first invented when Adam smelt that odor in the air.

我想，每一个对气味有着特别爱好的人，都了解这夏日空气令人快乐的芳香。这气味闻上去非常讨人喜欢，从六月中旬到八月，几乎每个晴朗的上午都能闻得到。清晨它浓厚强烈，偷偷地穿透蓝色晨光，临近中午，潮气干了，它便逐渐消失。但当人们在早餐时间第一次从房子里走出来时，它的气味最强烈。它让人们忍不住联想到虫子、盖子歪歪扭扭向后弯折的罐头和叉起牛棚后泥土的干草叉。钓鱼就是亚当在空气中闻到那个气味后发明的第一项活动。

The first fishing morning—cant you imagine it！ Has no one ever cele-brated it in verse or oils？ The world all young and full of unmitigated sweetness; the Garden of Eden bespangled with the early dew; Adam scrabbling up a fistful of worms and hooking them on a bent thorn and a line of twisted pampas grass; hurrying down to the branch or the creek or the bayou or whatever it may have been; sitting down on a brand-new stump that the devil had put there to tempt him; throwing out his line; sitting there in the sun dreaming and brooding....

第一个去钓鱼的清晨——你能想象吗？难道没有人用诗歌或油画歌颂过它吗？世界创立之初，充满纯粹的芬芳，亮闪闪的晨露装点了伊甸园。亚当胡乱抓起一把虫子，将它们钩到一根弯曲的刺和一排扭曲的蒲苇草上。他匆忙地奔向小河或者小溪，亦或河口或者任何可能的地方。他坐在一個新出现的木桩上，那是魔鬼为了引诱他而摆在那里的。他抛出钓线，坐在太阳下面，做着梦，想着事……

And then a tug， a twitch， a flurry in the clear water of Eden， a pull， a splash， and the First Fish lay on the grass at Adams foot. Can you imagine his sensations？ How he yelled to Eve to come—look—see， and， how annoyed he was because she called out she was busy....

然后，在伊甸园清澈的水下，有什么东西狠狠地拉了一下，又急急地抽了一下，引起一阵忙乱。亚当拉了一下，水花四溅，接着第一条上钩的鱼便躺在了他脚边的草地上。你能想象他激动的心情吗？想象他是怎样朝夏娃大喊，让她过来看一看，瞧一瞧；想象他有多气愤，因为夏娃喊道她自己很忙……

Probably it was in that moment that all the bickerings and back-talk of husbands and wives originated; when Adam called to Eve to come and look at his First Fish while it was still silver and vivid in its living colors; and Eve answered she was busy. In that moment were born the mens clubs and the womens clubs and the pinochle parties and being detained at the office and Kelly pool and all the other devices and stratagems that keep men and women from taking their amusements together.

很可能就在那一刻，所有夫妻间的争吵和顶嘴产生了；当亚当喊夏娃来看他钓到的第一条鱼时，那条鱼还闪着银光，颜色还鲜亮，夏娃却回话说她忙。那一刻，男人社团和女人社团诞生了，还有皮纳克尔牌聚会、有事耽搁在办公室、弹子游戏等花招和诡计，使得男人和女人不能一起娱乐。

Well， I didnt mean to go back to the Garden of Eden; I just wanted to say that summer is here again， even though the almanac doesnt vouch for it until the 21st. Those of you who are fond of smells， spread your nostrils about breakfast time tomorrow morning and see if you detect it.

啊，我可不打算回到伊甸园。我只想说，夏天又到来了，尽管年历要等到21号才会宣告此事。喜欢气味的人们，明天早上吃早饭的时候，张开你们的鼻孔到处闻闻，试试能否闻出这气味。