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白杨礼赞（矛盾）
Praise of White
Poplar
白杨树实在是不平凡的，我赞美白杨树！
White poplar is remarkable, I salute
it!
汽车在望不到边际的高原
上奔驰，
扑入你的视野的，
是黄绿错综
的一条大毡子。
When
your
trunk
bowls
along
the
pathway
on
the
seemingly vast plateau,
a
yellow-green patchwork rug flashes
into your
view.
黄的是土，未开垦的荒地，几
十万年前由伟大的自然力堆积成
功的黄土高原的外壳；
绿的呢，
是人类劳力战胜自然的成果，
是麦田，
和风吹送，
翻起了一轮一轮的绿波，
——这时你会真心佩服昔人
所造
的两个字“麦浪”
，若不是妙手偶得，便确是经过锤炼的语
言精华。
The yellow is soil, virgin soil
heaped up millions of years ago by natural
force to form the very crust of this
steppe; while the green is the result of
human labor to conquer nature, wheat
fields blown by breeze to surge in
green
waves
——
at
this
moment,
you
just
cannot
help
thinking
of
two
words
“
wheat
wave.
”
If
not
coined
by
a
genius,
it
demonstrates
how
meticulously our
language of art has been refined.
黄与绿主宰着
，
无边无
垠，
坦荡如砥，
这时如果不是宛若并肩的远山的连峰提醒了你
（这些
山峰凭你的肉眼来判断，就知道是在你脚底下的）
，你会忘记了汽车
是在高原上行驶。
The yellow and green take the
reign here,
stretching
out
toward
the
horizon
as
smooth
and
broad
as
a
whetstone.
If
not
for
those
mountain
peaks
in
the
distance
ranging
abreast
with
one
another,
which appear to the naked eye beneath
your feet, you might forget that
you
are riding on a highland.
这时你涌起来的感想也许是
“雄壮”
，
也许
是
“伟大”
，诸如此类的形容词；然而同时你的眼睛也许觉得有点倦
怠，你对当前的“雄壮”或“伟大”闭了眼，而另一种的味儿在你心
头潜滋暗长了——
“单调”
。
可不是？单调，
有一点儿吧？
Such epithets
as
“
magnificent
”
or
“great”
may rush
swarming to your mind; however,
your
eyes
get somehow
tired to the scene.
Closing
your
eyes
then,
you
may find another
sensation bubbling underneath
——
< br>“
monotony
”
.
Isn
’
t it?
Monotonous. A wee bit,
right?
< br>然而刹那间，
要是你猛抬眼看见了前面远远有一排——不，
或者
只是三五株，一株，傲然地耸立，像哨兵似的树木的话，那你的恹恹
欲睡的情绪又将如何？我那时是惊奇地叫了一声的。
In
a
trice,
looking
up, you catch the sight of a
row
——
no, a few or a couple
of trees
standing
erectly
with
pride
in
front
like
sentries,
what
will
become
of
your
lethargic
mood?
I
indeed
exclaimed
with
astonishment
at
the
moment.
那就是白杨树，
西北极普通的一种树
，
然而实在是不平凡的一种
树。
The
se
are
white
poplar
trees,
a
very
common
flora
species
in
Northwest, but not at all mediocre.
那是力
争上游的一种树，
笔直的干，
笔直的枝。
White poplars are
aspiring
trees,
armed
with
straight
trunk
and
branches.
它的干通
常是丈把高，
像加过人工似的，
一丈以
内绝无旁枝。
它所有的丫枝
一律向上，而且紧紧靠拢，也像加过
人工似的，成为一束，绝不旁
逸斜出。
The trunk,
usually ten feet high, bears no lateral branches
as if
man-made while its main branches
cluster closely as one bunch, also as
if
man-made.
它的宽大的
叶子也是片片向上，几乎没有斜生的，更
不用说倒垂了。
Its
broad
leaves
all
rise
up
skywards
without
any
shooting
sideways,
let
alone
drooping
down.
它的皮
光滑而有银色的
晕圈，
微微泛出淡青色。
这是虽在北方风雪的压迫下却保持着倔强
挺立的一种树。
It
s skin has a glossy silver halo, tinged with light
green.
哪怕只有碗那样粗细，它却努力向上发展，高到丈许，两丈，参天
耸立，不折不挠，对抗着西北风。
Even though only
measured to the
size
of
a
bowl,
it
keeps
striving
upwards
to
the
height
of
ten
feet,
double ten feet,
standing towering to the sky and braving against
the
harsh northwest wind.
这就是白杨树，西北极普通的一种树，然而决不是平凡的树。
This is poplar tree, a very common
flora species in Northwest,
but
not at all mediocre.
它没有婆娑的姿态，没有屈曲盘旋
的虬枝。也许你要说它不美。
如果美是专指“婆娑”或“旁逸斜出”之类而言，那么，白
杨树算不
得树中的好女子。
Y
et
it has got no attractive frontage or twisted or
entangled
braches.
You
may
call
it
unattractive,
if
your
definition
means the
graceful carriage and disposition of a dancer.
但是它伟岸，
正直，朴质，严肃，也不缺乏温和，更不用提它的坚强不屈
与挺拔，