第25章 英国的农村生活

    Rural Life in England

    英国的农村生活

    Washington Irving/华盛顿·欧文

    Nothing can be more imposing than the magnificence of English park scenery.Vast lawns that extend like sheets of vivid green，with here and there clumps of gigantic trees，heaping up rich piles of foliage：the solemn pomp of groves and woodland glades，with the deer trooping in silent herds across them；the hare，bounding away to the covert；or the pheasant，suddenly bursting upon the wing：the brook，taught to wind in natural meanderings or expand into a glassy lake：the sequestered pool，reflecting the quivering trees，with the yellow leaf sleeping on its bosom，and the trout roaming fearlessly about its limpid waters；while some rustice temple or sylvan statue，grown green and dank with age，gives an air of classic sanctity to the seclusion.

    没有任何景物能比英国公园壮丽的景色更吸引人。广阔的草地就像一块鲜明的绿毯伸展开来，到处都是巨树丛林，它们聚成一簇簇丰厚的树叶：矮树林壮观严肃的盛景，林中空地，有鹿群静静走过；野兔跳进藏身之所；或是雉鸟突然振翅高飞；小溪流顺着天然曲折的道路蜿蜒前行或延展成平镜般的湖泊：退隐的水塘映出颤动树影，黄叶静静地躺在塘心，鳟鱼无惧地悠游于清水中；而一些乡间的庙宇及森林中的雕像，则因时间长远的原因变绿阴湿，给这种隐蔽蒙上了一层古典淡雅的气氛。

    These are but a few of the features of park scenery；but what most delights me，is the creative talent with which the English decorate the unostentatious abodes of middle life.The rudest habitation，the most unpromising and scanty portion of land，in the hands of an Englishman of taste，becomes a little paradise.

    The sterile spot grows into loveliness under his （an Englishman）hands，andyet the operations of art which produce the effect are scarcely to be perceived.The cherishing and training of some trees；the cautious pruning of others；the nice distribution of flowers and plants of tender and graceful foliage；the introduction of a green slope of velvet turf；the partial opening to a peep of blue distance，or silver gleam of water：all these are managed with a delicate tact，a pervading yet quiet assiduity，like the magic touchings with which a painter finishes up a favorite picture.

    这只不过是公园景观特色一个很小的部分；最令我欣赏的还是英国人装饰他们朴实无华的中产阶级生活时的那种创造性才智。在有品味的英国人手中，最粗陋的住宅，前景不好而又贫乏的土地，也能成为一个小小天堂。

    在他（英国人）的手中，再贫瘠的土地也会变成可爱之地，而产生这种效果的艺术操作，几乎看不出什么迹象。对某些树要精心爱护和培育；对另一些树要谨慎地修剪；很好地分配花朵及长满娇嫩而优雅叶子的植物，引进一片天鹅绒似的绿色斜地；给出一个空隙，从那可以瞥见远处蔚蓝且银光闪烁的水色；这一切都是以精巧的机智、无处不在又不露痕迹的勤勉来安排的，就像一位画家以神来之笔完成一幅心爱的画作。

    The residence of people of fortune and refinement in the country has diffused a degree of taste and elegance in rural economy that descends to the lowest class.The very laborer，with his thatched cottage and narrow slip of ground，attends to their embellishment.The trim hedge，the grass-plot before the door，the little flower-bed bordered with snug box，the woodbine trained up against the wall，and hanging its blossoms about the lattice，the pot of flowers in the window，the holly，providently planted about the house，to cheat winter of its dreariness，and to throw in a semblance of green summer to cheer the fireside：all these bespeak the influence of taste，flowing down from high sources，and pervading the lowest levels of the public mind.If ever Love，as poets sing，delights to visit a cottage，it must be the cottage of an English peasant.

    在乡间经济中，富有且教养良好的乡绅居处散发出的某一程度的品味及优雅，已经下传至最低的阶层。即使是只拥有茅顶小屋及狭长空地的工人，也注意装饰的问题。整洁的篱笆，门前的绿草地，环绕着温暖盒子的小花床，修过枝的墙上忍冬将花朵缀满了格子窗以及窗台上的花盆，冬青则被巧妙地种植在房子周围。即使到了冬天，也满是夏天的样子，充满温暖，鼓舞着屋内围炉而坐的人们，这都是品味的影响力在起作用。它从高处汩汩下流，一直流到公众认为是最低的阶层中。如果诗人所歌颂的爱，愿意拜访农舍的话，则非英国农人的村舍莫属。（未完待续）