艾腾伯格作品

◎董继平 译

翠 鸟

自从童年时代起，翠鸟就成了我最喜爱的鸟儿。

“精致的鸟” 和“冬天的严寒” 之间的这一对比！

它的顶端闪烁着蓝绿的色调，就像是热带森林中的蜂鸟！冬天的蜂鸟！

它那尖锐的嘴喙像长矛一样把小鱼从水中刺出来，就像刺戳鲸鱼的鱼叉！

它连续好几天都栖息在瞭望台上，栖息在池塘旁边的一截树桩上。突然，它向前疾速地射出，潜入水中，刺戳。一个优雅的杀手。

它把鲤鱼池中的鱼掠夺得精光。没有人会对此感到惊讶。它连续几天等待在树桩上，身披蓝绿的色调，嘴喙像长矛、刀剑、匕首、致命的针！

一个用蓝绿色的闪光铠甲来装扮的“浪漫仆人”！大自然的一个童话故事的英雄！

莉莉在她祖父的庄园地面上挖掘了一口池塘，在周边种上柳树、桤木、榛子丛、胡颓子。她把整口池塘都用精细的金属网罩起来。她还把一只翠鸟放进去。现在她连续好几个时辰观察它栖息着等待。那池塘的主人！

结果，那些绅士来访者希望征服它那脆弱的灵魂，他们的赞美之词听起来完全乏味而且可笑。

它被自然法则和自然的神秘消耗了，消耗了——

每个人与它形成对比，显得渺小而可怜。他只是一只“笨手笨脚地摸索、残忍、不美观的” 翠鸟。他也连续几天、连续几个时辰等待诱捕猎物。他用长矛刺戳、吞食。但他吞食、杀戮的不是“少得可怜的小鱼”！他杀戮“灵魂”！

THE KINGFISHER

The kingfisher was already ever since childhood my favorite bird.

This contrast between “delicate bird” and “stark winter chill”!

On top of which he's iridescently tinged blue -green like a hummingbird in the tropical forests! The winter hummingbird!

His sharp pointed beak spears little fish out of the water;like harpoons spear whales!

He sits on the lookout for days on end，perched on a tree stump beside a pond.Suddenly he shoots forward，dives under，and spears.An elegant killer.

He robs the carp ponds clean of fish.Nobody would put it past him.For days on end he waits on a tree stump，tinged green-blue，his beak a lance，a sword，a dagger，a fatal needle!

A “romantic retainer” decked out in blue-green iridescent armor!A fairy-tale hero of nature!

Lilly had a pond dug on the grounds of her grandfather's estate，had it bordered with willow，alder，hazel shrubs，oleaster.She had the whole thing caged in by a fine chain-link fence.And she put in a kingfisher.And now she watches him for hours on end roosting and waiting.The master of the pond!

Consequently，the compliments of the gentlemen callers who hope to subdue her delicate soul all sound vapid and laughable.

She is consumed，consumed by the laws of nature and by its mysteries—

In contrast to which，every man appears petty and pitiful.He's nothing but a “ fumbling，brutal，uncomely” kingfisher.He too waits hours，days on end，to trap his prey! He spears and devours.But it isn' t “measly minnows” that he devours，slays!He slays “souls”!

旅 行

我知道，有一种极为便宜的快乐完全摒除了失望，从五月中旬开始研究火车时刻表，挑选出那趟火车，但愿你会……这样，比如在8:45 分，你就已经起床走动，甚至刮了胡子（不刮胡子旅行只是一半的快乐，如果需要，最好不盥洗就出去）；因此，在8:45 分登上开往派尔巴赫①的南行特快列车，再从那里乘坐由一匹马拉的马车（我最喜欢让小迈克尔·鲁伯特来赶车），前往那天国一般、田园诗一般的塔尔霍夫旅馆。一旦到了那里，你就暂时什么也不会去做了，觉得自己的确还坐在你那位于维也纳的房间里面，仔细研读你的旅行计划。够了，万物都一如既往地好，面对着森林、牛棚、马厩、冒泡的鳟鱼溪、洗衣场地、柴房——三十年前，你和安娜·卡尔德曼在那里收集木柴，远方，靠近派尔巴赫格拉本的山丘，我的父亲曾经想获得一小块种植着欧洲酸樱桃树的地皮，作为逃往大自然的神圣庇护所，而我的母亲则说：“亲爱的，要到两个女儿结婚了才去拥有吧！” 因此你在那里，坐在自己的旅行计划前面，8:45 分为出发时间，做着那摆脱了现实负担的惬意之梦，保守地说，你正好节省了至少二十克朗②。因为每一次改变地方，都会增加你停留的成本负担！

注：①奥地利城镇。②从1892 年到1918 年奥匈帝国解体期间发行的货币。

TRAVELING

There's one dirt cheap pleasure I know that's altogether free of disappointments，to study the train schedule from mid-May on and pick out the very train with which you would，if only … So，for instance，at 8:45，you're already up and about and even shaved(to travel unshaven is only half a pleasure，better，if need be，to go without washing) ;so at 8:45 with the southbound express to Payerbach，and from there by one -horse carriage (my favorite driven by Michael Ruppert，Jr.) to the heavenly idyllic Thalhof Hotel.Once there you do nothing at all for the moment，seeing as you're actually still seated in your room in Vienna poring over your travel plans.Enough，everything's fine as it is，facing the forest，the cowshed，the horse stable，the bubbling trout brook，the laundry yard，the woodshed，where once，thirty years ago，with Anna Kaldermann—you gathered wood，and in the distance the hills near the Payerbachgr?ben where my father wanted to acquire a plot of land planted with sour cherry trees to flee to the holy refuge of nature，while my mother said: “Not until our two daughters are wed，my dear!” So there you sit before your travel plans，8:45 departure time，dreaming sweet dreams free of the burdens of reality，and you just saved，conservatively speaking，at least twenty Crowns.For every change of place taxes the cost of your stay!