第8章 美丽人生(2)

‘ll weave a hammocky nest from tufts of Usnea，or Old Man’s Beard，pale green lichen that d****s the trees in these foggy woods.This is a beginning.But what else calls the Parnlas back to this very spot from their wintering grounds thousands of miles south？How do they find their way？

    不远处，卡车沿着村庄的主干道轰隆隆驶过，麻雀停止了呜叫。我转身回家，看见一只雪屐兔蹿入灌木丛中。在它发现我之前，最好放轻脚步。

    “叽叽！”我用双筒望远镜看见一只北极鸟，在柳枝上欢叫。这是一只漂亮的鸣禽．灰绿的脑袋，黄色的身躯，胸前一抹殷红。一旦有了伴儿，它们就会筑一个悬吊式巢穴．用白毛青苔做材料，那是一种随处可见的浅绿色地衣。筑巢也只是刚开始。但怎样把它们从千里之外的南方召回来呢？它们又是如何识路的呢？

    In the late 1960s，Stephen Emlen，a behavioral ecologist at Cornell，set out to test the theory that some migratory birds navigate by the stars.He used young Indigo Buntings in a planetarium to show that the birds actually learned to recognize the stationary point in the sky marked by Polaris，the celestial center around which the constellations spin.While we dream on these soft summer nights，young birds in their nests learn the wheeling of stars.

    20世纪60年代后期，康奈尔州的一位行为生态学家史蒂芬．爱默仑进行了一项实验，用以证实一个学说：迁徙鸟类依照星座辨别方位。他在天文馆用小颊鸟作实验。证明鸟类是通过南北极来识别方位的，两极是宇宙的中心，星座围绕其飞速转动。当夏日的夜晚，人们还沉浸在梦乡时，幼鸟就在巢穴中研究着天体的运行。

    Knowing this，who can sleep？

    The light is rich，igniting the moss and illuminating every tree as I walk back to the house.Once when I was out walking in light like this，I couldn‘t resist resting my cheek against the cool，translucent bark of a yellow birch，the same way I press my lips to my husband’s forehead and breathe in his scent.It is a blessing when the familiar and the beloved are one，and when I realize that I thought I knew is still a mystery.This is what brings me back，again and again；to the man I love，to these profound and ordinary woods.

    知道这些，人们还能安然入睡吗？

    回家路上，光线很好，照亮了每根草、每棵树。在这样美好的夜里漫步，我总会情不自禁地把脸颊贴在凉凉的、半透明的黄色桦树皮上，就像用双唇亲吻丈夫的额头，感受着他的气息。当这熟悉的一切和爱融为一体，明白自己的所感所知还是个谜时，是多么的美妙啊！正是它，一次次地把我召唤到爱人的身旁，带到这深奥而平常的丛林中。（未完待续）