一平方英寸的寂靜

by Gordon Hempton Joyce 譯

一平方英寸的寂靜

by Gordon Hempton Joyce 譯

“寂靜”不是指沒有聲音，而是沒有人類制造出來的噪聲。“寂靜”指的是大自然發出的各種聲音，是風聲、雨聲、雷聲；是松濤拍浪、是流水潺潺、是鳥叫蟲鳴……這是本文作者戈登·漢普頓心中的“寂靜”。在高速發展的現代社會中，“寂靜”無疑是一種極度稀缺的資源。為此，戈登獨自開展了一個名為“一平方英寸的寂靜”的靜謐保護計劃。而《一平方英寸的寂靜》一書，則是他為了該計劃橫跨美國大陸，背著錄音器材和音量計記錄下“寂靜之音”的全實錄。該書敘事語言優美，引人深思，讓我們先睹為快。

When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments; tenderness for what he is, and respect for whathe may become. —Louis Pasteur

I n the fall of 1980 I was on that path, driving from Seattle to Madison, Wisconsin, to graduate school, when I pulled off and slipped down a side road until I found a place to rest for the night, a recently harvested cornfeld. Hands behind my head and ready for a deep rest, I lay between rows of1)stubby, shorn stalks. I heard a wonderful2)chorus of chanting crickets and began to smell the dampness of an approaching storm. There, on the3)prairie, the thunder rolled in from far away, signaling rain long before it arrived. Again and again this thunder boomed and echoed, growing ever louder—magnifcent, deep,4)primordial, soul-shaking sounds. I’d never heard thunder like this before.

Hours later and thoroughly soaked, I thought, “How could I be 27 years old and never have listened before?”

My life changed that night in the cornfield, though I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time. It took me a few months to realize that graduate study at the University of Wisconsin was not the path I wanted to pursue. I felt a new yearning, one I understood better after reading5)John Muir describe his life-changing6)epiphany as “soul hunger”. Since then I’ve been around the globe three times, recording the sounds and silences of nature. My hearing had become my life, my livelihood. My hearing was everything.

1980年秋天，我從西雅圖開車前往位于威斯康星州麥迪遜市的研究所，開到一條小路時，我剎車停下，沿著路邊的一條小徑走下去，直到找到過夜安歇的地方，那是一片剛被收割的玉米田。我把手枕在頭后，準備好好睡上一覺。我躺在一排排被割過的粗硬莖稈上。我聽到一場美妙的蟋蟀大合唱，聞到暴風雨來臨前空氣中潮濕的味道。陣陣雷鳴從遠方傳至田野里，早早地預示著即將來臨的大雨。雷聲不斷地轟隆回蕩，越來越大聲——這是一種宏偉、深沉、原始、撼動靈魂的聲音。我從未聽過這樣的雷聲。

幾個小時后，我全身都濕透了，我想：“為什么我都27歲了，卻從未聽過這樣的聲音？”

我的人生在那晚的玉米田里徹底改變了，雖然當時我并未完全意識到這點。我花了幾個月的時間才明白在威斯康星大學讀研究生不是我要追尋的人生道路。我感到一種新的渴望，在讀過約翰·繆爾的描述后，我對這種渴望有了更深一層的理解，他把這種改變人生的頓悟稱為“靈魂的渴望”。