足下之美

趙云舒 黃湘淇

曾有人說，旅行的意義，不止在于走出熟悉的環境，擺脫瑣碎的日常，邂逅新鮮的事物，更在于開闊視野，鍛煉發現美的眼睛，從而有新的感悟和體驗。天地之間，草木繽紛，飛禽走獸，萬物皆有靈。敞開心扉，用心感受“一沙一世界，一花一天堂”。

The first day on the island of St. John， when I open the sliding door to the deck， a dull brown anole skitters toward me and I jump.2 I know these little lizards are harmless， but I shudder nonetheless.3 I shake my flip-flops4 and hope hell go away. He doesnt. My feet stiffen as I feel the tickle of tiny reptilian toes on mine.5

“Shoo！” I say， but by the time the word is out of my mouth， the creature—no bigger than a mouse—has noiselessly jumped to the belted trunk of a nearby coconut palm， where he hangs upside down， motionless， like a door knocker.6 Is it my imagination， or is his skin growing darker？ He morphs from dull pewter to black in a matter of seconds.7 I feel as if I am watching tea steeping in a glass pot.8

I hurry back inside the rental apartment， remembering to latch the sliding door.9

The next day I go to drape wet towels over the railing， and the anole reappears.10 He seems curious， perhaps tempted by the terry-cloth scaffolding of the beach towels.11 I watch as he climbs up the edge of the laundry， stopping to let the Caribbean sun warm his skin.12 Perhaps were not so different， he and I. Hadnt I spent the afternoon in a similar way， hiking up and down the Reef Bay Trail， resting against the ancient rocks， soaking up warmth as if I could store sunshine in my bones until spring？13

By the fifth day， when the lizard appears， I say， “Oh， its you， again！”

I stay slouched in the deck chair， with a novel spine-split across my knees， as the anole scampers underneath.14 He lingers， checking out my chipped pedicure with his tongue.15 I look down and try to study his face， but he quickly drops one eyelid like a shutter.16 Then hes gone. I see him leap into17 the flower box.

I stare at him， waiting for his next move. Suddenly his neck puffs up and stretches out until it is almost the size of his head， all the while turning a shocking shade of scarlet， like a neon turkey wattle.18

I reach for my cell phone and do a quick search. I learn that a male anole exposes his dewlap when hes marking territory， flirting like a fool，19 or exhibiting a major sign of stress. Sometimes all three conditions occur at once.

I try to look away so I dont stress him further. Suddenly he leaps vertically onto the stucco wall behind my head.20 It turns out that anoles also have adhesive lamellae on their footpads.21 No wonder they can stick to any surface and defy gravity.22

I put on my sunglasses， pick up my novel， and start to read. The anole commutes frenetically back and forth from the wall to the palm tree.23 We give each other space， like strangers on a train， each of us stealing a glance now and then as discreetly as possible.24 His back， I notice， is ridged and translucent，25 as beautiful as a paper fan. His tummy pulses as he breathes.26 I wonder if he is enjoying the fragrances in the air， as I am： the ginger thomas， the frangipani.27

In time， long before I give up the key to the St. John apartment and return to the slush and squirrels back in Connecticut， Ill begin to recognize a whole new arc of animal ancestry； Ill appreciate the haunches and the slinky back， the scurry of adaptation.28 My world will grow wider by a few inches and a tail.

Later， friends will ask me if I enjoyed my time in the Virgin Islands， and Ill nod and say how fortunate I was to have a change of scenery in the depths of winter29. Theyll think sunsets and white sand—postcard beauty at its best. But Ill be thinking of another sort of loveliness， always underfoot.

1. underfoot： 在腳下。

2. island of St. John： 圣約翰島，位于加勒比海，美屬維爾京群島（即下文的Virgin Islands）的一部分，風景優美；sliding door： 拉門，滑動門；deck： 露天平臺；dull brown： 暗棕色；anole： 變色龍；skitter： 蹦跳。

3. lizard： 蜥蜴；shudder： 哆嗦；nonetheless： 盡管如此。

4. flip-flop： 平底人字拖鞋。

5. stiffen： 變僵硬；tickle： 癢感；reptilian： 爬蟲類的；toe： 腳趾，足尖。

6.“噓！”我說，但話剛出口，這個還沒老鼠大的小東西就無聲無息地跳到了附近有帶狀紋的椰子樹枝干上，它倒掛在上面，一動不動，就像個門環。shoo： 噓（用以趕走動物或人）；noiselessly： 無聲無息地； belted： 有帶的，以帶（或條紋）為標志的；trunk： 樹干；coconut palm： 椰子樹；upside down： 上下顛倒地；motionless： 一動不動的；door knocker： 門環。

7. morph： 變化；dull pewter： 深青灰色。

8. steep： 泡，浸；glass pot： 玻璃壺。

9. rental： 租來的；latch： 閂上。

10. drape： 使隨意地懸掛；railing： 欄桿，扶手；reappear： 再次出現。

11. be tempted by： 受……誘惑，對……感興趣；terry-cloth： 毛圈織物，毛巾布；scaffolding： 支架，臺架。

12. laundry： 洗好的衣服；Caribbean： 加勒比海的。

13. 我難道不是就用相似的方式度過了那個下午嗎？在礁石灣步道上下徒步，靠在古老的巖石上休息，盡情汲取溫暖，就像要把陽光都存到骨子里，直到春天來臨。hike： 徒步； Reef Bay Trail： 礁石灣步道；soak up： 吸收，攝取。

14. slouched： 懶散的；deck chair： 折疊式躺椅；spine-split： 沿書脊分開的； scamper： 蹦跳，奔跑； underneath： 在……的下面。

15. linger： 徘徊，逗留；chipped： 有缺口的；pedicure： 修腳趾甲。

16. eyelid： 眼瞼；shutter： 百葉窗。

17. leap into： 跳進。

18. 忽然間它脖子就脹了起來，拉長到差不多和它的腦袋大小，并在整個過程中變成了驚人的猩紅色，就像鮮艷的火雞肉垂一般。puff up： 腫脹；scarlet： 猩紅色，鮮紅色；neon： 顏色鮮艷的；turkey wattle： 火雞肉垂， 指下巴與頸間的贅肉。

19. dewlap： 垂肉； territory： 領地； flirt： 調情。

20. vertically： 垂直地；stucco wall： 手工抹灰墻。

21. adhesive： 帶黏性的；lamellae： 薄片，薄膜；footpad： 足墊。

22. defy： 對抗，違背；gravity： 重力，地心引力。

23. commute： 來回往返于； frenetically： 發瘋般地，極其激動地；back and forth： 反復地，來回地；palm tree： 棕櫚樹。

24. steal a glance： 偷看一眼； discreetly： 小心謹慎地。

25. ridged： 隆起的，皺起的； translucent： 半透明的。

26. tummy： 肚子；pulse： 跳動，搏動。

27. fragrance： 芳香，香氣；ginger thomas： 黃鐘花，美屬維爾京群島的國花；frangipani： 雞蛋花。

28. 后來，早在我交出圣約翰島上那間公寓的鑰匙，回到滿是融雪和松鼠的康涅狄格州之前，我便開始認識了一個新的動物種類分支；我欣賞它們那腰身，那曲線優美的背部，和迅速的適應性。slush： 半融雪； squirrel： 松鼠；Connecticut： 康涅狄格州，位于美國東北部；arc： 弧；haunch：（動物的）腰腿部；slinky： 線條優美的； scurry： 急跑。

29. in the depths of winter： 在深冬。