初升之月的魅力（節選）

［美］Ｐｅｔｅｒ Ｓｔｅｉｎｈａｒｔ

譯/曾慶強

There is a hill near my home that I often climb at night. The noise of the city is a far-off murmur. In the hush of dark I share the cheerfulness of crickets and the confidence of owls. But it is the drama of the moonrise that I come to see. for that restores in me a quiet and clarity that the city spends too freely.

我家附近有一座小山，我常常在夜間爬上去。城市的噪音變成了遠遠的低語。在黑暗的寂靜中，我分享著蟋蟀的歡樂和貓頭鷹的自信。但我來觀看的是月出的活劇。因為，這使我心中重新獲得被城市過于慷慨地消耗掉的寧靜與明澈。

From this hill I have watched many moon rises. Each one had its own mood. There have been broad， confident harvest moons in autumn; shy， misty moons in spring; lonely， white moons in winter， rising into the utter silence of an ink black sky; and smoke-smudged， orange moons over the dry fields of summer. Each， like fine music， excited my heart and calmed my soul.

從這座小山上，我已觀看過多次的月出。每一次月出都有其獨特的情調。有又大又圓、充滿信心的豐收的秋月；有羞澀、朦朧的春月；有升起在濃墨般的天空那完全的寧靜中的孤獨、發白的冬月；有掛在干旱的田野上，被煙霧熏染的桔色的夏月。每一次月出，就像美妙的音樂一樣，激動著我的心弦，然后又撫慰我的心靈。

Moon gazing is an ancient art. To prehistoric hunters the moon overhead was as unerring as a heartbeat. They knew that every 29 days it became full-bellied and brilliant， then sickened and died， and then was reborn. They knew the waxing moon appeared larger and higher overhead after each succeeding sunset. They knew the waning moon rose later each night until it vanished in the sunrise. To have understood the moon抯 patterns from experience must have been a profound thing.

凝望月亮是一門古老的藝術。對于史前時代的獵人們來說，頭頂上的月亮就像心跳一樣準確無誤。他們知道，每隔29天，月亮就會變得豐滿圓潤，光華四射，然后生病消瘦而死去，接著又再次誕生。他們知道，逐漸豐盈的月亮在一天接一天的日落之后會顯得更大，在頭上的位置更高。他們知道，逐漸虧缺的月亮一夜比一夜升起得晚，直到消失在日出之中。能憑經驗懂得月亮的變化模式一定是一件很深奧的事。

Moonlight shows us none of life抯 harder edges. Hillsides seem silken and silvery， the oceans still and blue in its light. In moonlight we become less calculating， more drawn to our feelings.

月光從不向我們顯示生活的任何一道較堅硬的邊緣。月光下，山坡看起來如絲織銀鑄，海洋則顯得靜謐、深藍。在月光中，我們變得不再那樣斤斤計較，而更被我們的感情所吸引。

And odd things happen in such moments. On that July night， I watched the moon for an hour or two， and then got back into the car， turned the key in the ignition and heard the engine start， just as mysteriously as it had stalled a few hours earlier I drove down from the mountains with the moon on my shoulder and peace in my heart.

在這樣的時刻，會發生一些奇跡。在那個七月之夜，我觀賞了一兩個小時的月亮，然后回到汽車中，轉動點火器的鑰匙，接著便聽見發動機開動了起來，正像幾小時前熄火時一樣神秘。我驅車下山，肩上沐浴著月光，心中充滿寧靜。

I return often to the rising moon. I am drawn especially when events crowd ease and clarity of vision into a small corner of my life. This happens often in the fall. Then I go to my hill and wait the hunter抯 moon， enormous and gold over the horizon， filling the night with vision.

我常常回到初升之月的身邊，特別是當各種事務把悠閑和夢幻的清晰擠到我生活的一個小小的角落中去時，我更受到強烈地吸引。這種情況在秋天經常發生。于是我就到我的小山上去，等待那獵人的月亮，巨大、金黃的月亮升起在地平線上，使夜充滿夢幻。

An owl swoops from the ridge top， noiseless but bright as flame. A cricket shrills in the grass. I think of poets and musicians. If Beethoven抯 揗oonlight Sonata攁nd of Shakespeare， whose Lorenzo declaims in The Merchant of Venice， How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!/ Here will we sit and let sounds of music/ Creep in our ears. I wonder if their verse and music， like the music of crickets， are in some way voices of the moon. With such thoughts， my citified confusions melt into the quiet of the night.

一只貓頭鷹從山嶺之巔猝然撲下，無聲無息，但明亮如焰。一只蟋蟀在草叢中尖聲吟唱。我想起詩人和音樂家，想起貝多芬的《月光奏鳴曲》，想起莎士比亞在《威尼斯商人》中創作的羅蘭佐說道：“月光睡眠在這岸上何等美妙！讓我們在這里坐下，讓音樂之聲輕輕注入我們耳中。”我思索著，他們的詩句與音樂是否像蟋蟀的樂曲一樣，在某種意義上正是月亮的嗓音。帶著這樣的思緒，我那城市生活引起的茫然迷亂融化在夜的安謐之中。

Lovers and poets find deeper meaning at night. We are all apt to pose deeper questions-about our origins and destinies. We indulge in riddles， rather than in the impersonal geometries that govern the day-lit world. We become philosophers and mystics.

戀人們和詩人們在夜里找到更深刻的含義。我們也都會情不自禁地提出更深刻的問題——關于我們的起源、我們的命運。我們沉溺這些謎中，而不是那統治著白晝世界的沒有人情味的幾何。我們變成了哲學家和神秘主義者。

At moonrise， as we slow our minds to the pace of the heavens， enchantment steals over us. We open the vents of feeling and exercise parts of our minds that reason locks away by day. We hear， across the distances， murmurs of ancient hunters and see anew the visions of poets and lovers of long ago.

在月亮升起時，當我們按照天空的速度減緩我們大腦的節奏時，魔力就悄悄地籠罩了我們。我們打開感情的閥門，使我們大腦中那些在白晝里被理智鎖住的部分驅動起來。越過遙遠的時空，我們傾聽古代獵人們的喃喃低語，看見久遠以前詩人們和戀人們的幻夢重現。