-
The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed
off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all
the rest
of the world. On every side it
sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the
great valley a closed
pot. On the
broad, level land floor the gang plows bit deep
and left the black earth shining like
metal
where
the
shares
had
cut.
On
the
foothill
ranches
across
the
Salinas
River,
the
yellow
stubble fields seemed to be bathed in
pale cold sunshine, but there was no sunshine in
the valley
now in December. The thick
willow scrub along the river flamed with sharp and
positive yellow
leaves.
飘荡在半
空中的冬雾呈现出灰法兰绒色,
将萨利纳斯山谷严实地罩了起来;
同时也把它与外
界分隔开。
雾气锁着山头,四面象顶盖子,而
山谷则成了一口盖得严严实实的深锅。农民在
宽阔平坦的土地上深耕,
< br>犁铧过处,
黑色的土地闪着金属的光泽。
在横卧萨利纳斯
河的丘陵
地上,农场里的茬地泛着黄色,象是沐浴在冷冷的苍白日光下;不过,现在时至
腊月,山谷
里没什么阳光。河边上密密麻麻的柳丛上的黄叶颜色鲜浓,象着了火似的。<
/p>
It was a time of
quiet and of waiting. The air was cold and tender.
A light wind blew up from the
southwest
so that the farmers were mildly hopeful of a good
rain before long; but fog and rain do
not go together.
这是一个安静,叫人等待
的季节。空气凉凉的,柔柔的。从西南方向吹来一阵轻风,农民们
隐隐地感到不久会有一
场及时雨,但雨和雾是不
一起来的。
Across the river, on Henry
Allen's foothill ranch there was little work to be
done, for the hay was
cut and stored
and the orchards were plowed up to receive the
rain deeply when it should come.
The
cattle on the higher slopes were becoming shaggy
and rough-coated.
河对岸亨利?埃伦家位于丘陵上的农场里已经没
什么活计了:干草都收割过并存放了起来,
果园业已深翻过,好等到有雨的时候浇个透底
墒。高处山坡上的牛变得毛皮杂乱粗糙。
Elisa
Allen,
working
in
her
flower
garden,
looked
down
across
the
yard
and
saw
Henry,
her
husband, talking to two
men in business suits. The three of them stood by
the tractor shed, each
man
with
one
foot
on
the
side
of
the
little
Fordson.
They
smoked
cigarettes
and
studied
the
machine as they talked.
伊利莎?
埃伦正在花园里干活儿,穿过院子朝远处望时,她看见丈夫亨利正在与两个身着工
作服的
人交谈。
三个人都站在拖拉机棚边上,
一只脚蹬在那辆小型福特
牌拖拉机的一侧。
说
话的时候,他们边抽着烟,边打量拖拉机。
Elisa watched
them for a moment and then went back to her work.
She was thirty-five. Her face
was lean
and strong and her eyes were as clear as water.
Her figure looked blocked and heavy in
her gardening costume, a man's black
hat pulled low down over her eyes, clod-hopper
shoes, a
figured print dress almost
completely covered by a big corduroy apron with
four big pockets to
hold
the
snips,
the
trowel
and
scratcher,
the
seeds
and
the
knife
she
worked
with.
She
wore
heavy leather gloves to
protect her hands while she worked.
伊利莎
看了他们一会儿,
又继续忙自己的活儿。她今年三十五岁,
脸庞
瘦俏并透着坚毅,一
双眼睛清澈如水。由于穿着园艺工作服,
她
显得鼓囊囊的、有点儿笨拙。她头上戴着一顶男
式的黑帽子,拉得很低,
直到她的眼睛。
脚上是一双粗笨的鞋子。
下面穿的印花
裙子几乎全
给那个大号的灯心绒围裙遮盖了起来。
围裙上有四个
大口袋,
用来放她干活时用的剪刀、
泥
铲、刮管器、种子和刀。干活时她戴着厚厚的皮手套,免得弄伤手。
She
was
cutting
down
the
old
year's
chrysanthemum
stalks
with
a
pair
of
short
and
powerful
scissors. She
looked down toward the men by the tractor shed now
and then. Her face was eager
and mature
and handsome; even her work with the scissors was
over-eager, over-powerful. The
chrysanthemum stems seemed too small
and easy for her energy.
她这会儿正用一把锋利的小剪子
把去年的菊花枝剪短,
还不时朝站在拖拉机棚边上的三个男
人望
一望。
她的脸上充满着渴望,
看起来成熟漂亮——甚至连她拿着
剪刀干活的样子都显得
那么有力,饱含期待,以至于那些菊花的枯杆相比之下都显得纤细
柔弱,容易收拾了。
She
brushed a cloud of hair out of her eyes with the
back of her glove, and left a smudge of earth
on
her
cheek
in
doing
it.
Behind
her
stood
the
neat
white
farm
house
with
red
geraniums
close-banked
around
it
as
high
as
the
windows.
It
was
a
hard-swept
looking
little
house
with
hard-polished windows, and a clean mud-
mat on the front steps.
她用手套的背部将眼前的一绺乌发
抹开,
一点污渍就留在了她的脸颊上。
她身后是整洁的白
色农舍,红色的天竺葵紧紧地簇拥着,直到窗户附近。看得出这座不大的屋子好好打扫过,
p>
窗户也曾细心地擦拭过,就连前面台阶上的擦鞋垫都收拾得干干净净。
Elisa
cast
another
glance
toward
the
tractor
shed.
The
strangers
were
getting
into
their
Ford
coupe.
She
took
off
a
glove
and
put
her
strong
fingers
down
into
the
forest
of
new
green
chrysanthemum
sprouts
that
were
growing
around
the
old
roots.
She
spread
the
leaves
and
looked
down
among
the
close-growing
stems.
No
aphids
were
there,
no
sowbugs
or
snails
or
cutworms. Her terrier
fingers destroyed such pests before they could get
started.
伊利莎又朝拖拉机棚的方向看了一眼,
那些
陌生人正钻进他们的福特牌小客车里。
她脱掉一
只手套,
将自己有力的手指伸到从老的菊花根部新生的一丛幼苗里,
然后分开叶
子,
在长得
郁郁葱葱的幼苗里查看。里面蚜虫、潮虫、蜗牛、毛
虫什么的都没有。如果真有的话,她那
犀利无比的手指也会在这些害虫逃跑之前就将它们
消灭。
Elisa
started at the sound of her husband's voice. He
had come near quietly, and he leaned over
the wire fence that protected her
flower garden from cattle and dogs and chickens. <
/p>
听到丈夫的声音,
伊利莎吃了一惊。
原来
他已经悄悄地走到了她的旁边,
从铁丝栅栏那边俯
过身来。铁丝
栅栏把她的花园圈了起来,免得牛呀,狗呀,鸡呀这些家畜糟蹋。
it
again,
he
said.
got
a
strong
new
crop
coming.
Elisa
straightened
her
back
and
pulled
on the gardening glove again:
her face
there was a little smugness.
those
yellow chrysanthemums you had this year were ten
inches across. I wish you'd work out in
the orchard and raise some apples that
big.
gift with things, all right. My
mother had it. She could stick anything in the
ground and make it
grow. She said it
was having planters' hands that knew how to do
it.
flowers,
came
to
tell
you.
They
were
from
the
Western
Meat
Company.
I
sold
those
thirty
head
of
three-year-old steers.
Got nearly my own price, too.
“又侍弄你的花儿啦,
”他说,
“它们今年长势好啊。
”听到
丈夫搭话,伊利莎直起身,顺手
把那只手套又戴上:
“对,
p>
今年长势会很好。
”
不管是言语中还是脸上
都洋溢着得意。
“你
干活儿很有一手,
”
亨利
说,
“你今年种的黄菊花中有的有十英寸那么大,
真希望你去侍
弄果
园,也结出那么大的苹果来。
”她的眼睛一亮。
“或许我也能。我的确在种植方面有一手,我
妈妈也是那样。
她随便把什么东西往地下一插,
就能活。
她说是因为
有了庄稼人的手才知道
怎么去种植。
”
“嗯,
种花也是这样的,
”
他说。
p>
“亨利,
刚才同你说话的那些人是谁呀?”
“啊,
对了,
我正要跟你说呢。
他们是
西部肉制品公司的。我把那三十头三岁的菜牛卖给他们,差
不多是我要的价格。
”
afternoon, and we might go
into Salinas for dinner at a restaurant, and then
to a picture show
-
to
celebrate,
you
see.
she
repeated.
yes.
That
will
be
good.
Henry
put
on
his
joking
tone.
fights
tonight.
How'd
you
like
to
go
to
the
fights?
no,
she
said
breathlessly.
now. I'm going to take Scotty and bring
down those steers from the hill. It'll take us
maybe two
hours. We'll go in town about
five and have dinner at the Cominos Hotel. Like
that?
I'll like it. It's good to eat
away from home.
said,
“太好了,
p>
”她说,
“真有你的。
”
< br>
“我想,
”他接着说,
“现在
是周六下午,我们可以去萨利
纳斯的一家饭店吃顿饭,再去看场电影,庆祝一下,你看怎
么样。
”
“太好了,
”她重复道。
p>
“真是好极了。
”亨利接着开玩笑说,
“今
天晚上有拳击赛,你愿意看吗?”
“不,
”她紧张地
说,
“我可不喜欢拳击赛。
”
“骗你哪,伊利莎。我们去看电影。让我想一下,现在是下午两
点,我去叫斯哥迪,
把牛赶下山。这大概要两个钟头。我们会在五点钟到城里,去克民诺斯
酒店吃晚饭。
p>
你觉得怎么样?”
“当然可以,
在外面吃饭
好。
”
“那好,
我去准备几匹马。
p>
”
“我
想我会有充裕的时间把这些苗儿种上
的。
”伊利莎说。
She heard her husband calling Scotty
down by the barn. And a little later she saw the
two men
ride up the pale yellow
hillside in search of the steers. There was a
little square sandy bed kept
for
rooting
the
chrysanthemums.
With
her
trowel
she
turned
the
soil
over
and
over,
and
smoothed it and patted
it firm. Then she dug ten parallel trenches to
receive the sets. Back at the
chrysanthemum bed she pulled out the
little crisp shoots, trimmed off the leaves of
each one
with her scissors and laid it
on a small orderly pile.
继而,
她听到丈夫在谷仓那儿叫斯哥迪。
又过了一会儿,
她看见他们两
个骑着马,
走上灰黄
的山坡找菜牛。
花
园里有一块四四方方的沙地,
是用来种菊花幼苗的。
她用泥铲把
土翻了又
翻,又弄平,再拍结实。然后又挖了十道平行的小沟,好栽种菊苗。她从菊花园
里拔了些脆
嫩的幼苗,用剪刀剪掉叶子,然后整齐地放在一起。
A squeak of wheels and plod
of hoofs came from the road. Elisa looked up. The
country road ran
along the dense bank
of willows and cottonwoods that bordered the
river, and up this road came
a curious
vehicle, curiously drawn. It was an old spring-
wagon, with a round canvas top on it like
the cover of a prairie schooner. It was
drawn by an old bay horse and a little grey-and-
white burro.
A
big
stubble-bearded
man
sat
between
the
cover
flaps
and
drove
the
crawling
team.
Underneath the wagon, between the hind
wheels, a lean and rangy mongrel dog walked
sedately.
Words were painted on the
canvas, in clumsy, crooked letters.
mowers. Fixed.
paint had run
down in little sharp points beneath each letter. <
/p>
路边这时传来了车轮的吱嘎声和马蹄的声响。
伊利莎抬起了头。<
/p>
河边上密密麻麻的柳树和杨
树旁是条乡间小路,
< br>沿着这条路来了一辆奇怪的车,
走的样子很怪。
那是一辆
老式的带弹簧
的四轮马车,
上面的帆布圆顶子象是拓荒者用的大
篷车的顶篷。
拉着它的是匹栗色的马和一
头灰白的小毛驴。
p>
在车顶盖的下面坐着个胡子拉碴的人,
赶着这辆车往前爬行。
在马车后轮
之间,一条瘦骨嶙峋的长腿杂种狗不声不响地跟着。车蓬的
上面歪歪扭扭地写着“修理锅、
罐、刀、剪子、割草机”
。修理
的器皿写了两行,
“修理”两个字在下面,显得很自信。写字
用
的黑色颜料在每个字母下面都流成了一个
个小尖头。
Elisa,
squatting
on
the
ground,
watched
to
see
the
crazy,
loose-
jointed
wagon
pass
by.
But
it
didn't pass. It turned into the farm
road in front of her house,
crooked old
wheels skirling and
squeaking.
The
rangy
dog
darted
from
between
the
wheels
and
ran
ahead.
Instantly
the
two
ranch
shepherds flew out at him. Then all three stopped,
and with stiff and quivering tails, with
taut
straight
legs,
with
ambassadorial
dignity,
they
slowly
circled,
sniffing
daintily.
The
caravan
pulled
up
to
Elisa's
wire
fence
and
stopped.
Now
the
newcomer
dog,
feeling
out-numbered,
lowered his tail and retired under the
wagon with raised hackles and bared teeth.
伊利莎蹲在地上,
看着这辆怪模怪样、
松松垮垮的马车
驶过去。
但它并没有从她的眼前过去,
而是弯上了经过她家门前
的农场小路,
破旧的车轮吱嘎吱嘎尖厉地响着。
车下面轮子间的
那
条瘦骨嶙峋的长腿狗冲到了马车的前面,
马上,两条牧羊犬朝
着它冲了上去。于是,三条狗
都站住了,
尾巴直竖着、
颤抖着,
绷紧了腿,
带着外交官般的庄重神情。
它们互相围着打转,
挑剔地嗅着对方。
大篷车在伊利莎家的铁丝栅栏边上停了下来。
那条初来乍到的狗这时感觉
到数量上的众寡悬殊,垂下尾巴,退回到车下,脖子上的毛竖着,牙齿露在外面。
The man on the wagon seat
called out,
laughed.
and
echoed it heartily.
over the wheel. The
horse and the donkey drooped like unwatered
flowers. Elisa saw that he was
a very
big man. Although his hair and beard were greying,
he did not look old. His worn black suit
was wrinkled and spotted with grease.
The laughter had disappeared from his face and
eyes the
moment his laughing voice
ceased. His eyes were dark, and they were full of
the brooding that
gets in the eyes of
teamsters and of sailors. The calloused hands he
rested on the wire fence were
cracked,
and every crack was a black line. He took off his
battered hat.
坐在车上的男人喊道,
“这条狗
打架受惊时不是条好狗。
”伊利莎笑道,
“我看是的,它一般<
/p>
要多久就会受惊?”
那人被伊利莎的笑声感染,
< br>也大声地笑了起来。
“
有时好
几周也不会,
”
他说。说着,他生硬地从车轮上爬下车。那匹马
和那头毛驴耷拉着脑袋,象缺了水的花。伊
利莎看得出他是个大块头,
< br>虽然头发胡子都白了,
却并不显老。
褴褛的黑色西装皱皱
巴巴的,
还有星星点点的油渍。笑声一停,他眼角眉梢的笑容也顿时没了。他双眼乌黑,
充满忧郁,
这种眼神通常只出现在卡车司机或水手的眼里。
他放
在铁丝栅栏上的手打满了老茧,
裂着一
条条黑乎乎的口子。他脱
下了那顶破烂的帽子。
Angeles
highway?
does, but it winds around and
then fords the river. I don't think your team
could pull through the
sand.
they
get
started?
she
asked.
He
smiled
for
a
second.
When
they
get
started.
said
Elisa,
think
you'll
save
time
if
you
go
back
to
the
Salinas
road
and
pick
up
the
highway there.
ma'am. I go
from Seattle to San Diego and back every year.
Takes all my time. About six months
each way. I aim to follow nice weather.
“夫人,我走岔路了,
”他说,
“沿这
条土路过河上得了去洛山矶的公路吗?”
伊利莎站了起
来,把那
把大剪子放到围裙口袋里。
“啊,上得了。不过,这条路要绕很远,然后还要从水
中蹚过河,
我想你很难走过那片沙滩。
”
p>
他粗暴地回答,
“要是你知道这些家伙都走过什么样
的地方,
或许会吃惊的。
”
“
一旦它们受惊吗?”
她问。
他笑了一
笑。
“是的,
一旦它们受惊。
”
“嗯,
”
伊利莎说,
“我想,
要是你拐回去到萨利纳斯的路,
再从那儿上公路,
p>
会省些时间。
”
他用一个大手指弹了一下栅
栏,它响了起来。
“我一点儿都不着急,夫人。我每年从西雅图
走到圣地亚哥,
再回来,
总是不慌不忙。
一趟大概半年光景,
哪儿的天气好我就往哪儿走。
”
Elisa took off her
gloves and stuffed them in the apron pocket with
the scissors. She touched the
under
edge of her man's hat, searching for fugitive
hairs.
live,
wagon. I mend
pots and sharpen knives and scissors. You got any
of them things to
do?
no,
she
said
quickly.
like
that.
Her
eyes
hardened
with
resistance.
is
the
worst thing,
I
got a special tool. It's a little bobbit kind of
thing, and patented. But it sure does the
trick.
My scissors are all
sharp.
pot with a hole. I can make it
like new so you don't have to buy no new ones.
That's a saving for
you.
伊利莎脱
下手套,把它们放在装着剪子的围裙口袋里。她碰了碰自己那顶男式帽子的底沿,
看有没
有头发从里面跑出来。
“听起来很不错的活法,
”她说。他把身
子弯向栅栏里面,显出
很亲密的样子,说,
“或许你看到了我马
车上的那些字,我修理锅,磨剪子磨菜刀。你有什
么东西要修吗?”
“哦,没有,
”她忙说。
“没什么要修的。
”她的眼神坚定起来,透出拒绝的
神情。
“剪子是最难
对付的东西,
”
他解释说。
“大部分人
只知道拼命磨它,
结果却糟蹋了它,
可我知道怎么能把剪子磨快
又不糟蹋它。
我有专门的工具,
是一件小玩意儿,
还取得了专利,
好用得很。
”
“不过,我的剪子都很快。
”
“那好吧。
”他继续劝说着,
“拿口锅修修吧,不管是
瘪了的还是有洞
的,
我都能修得象新的一样,
这样你就不用买新锅了。
这你不是省钱了吗?”
“不用,
”她简短地答道
。
“我告诉过你我没什么要修的东西。
”
His face fell to an
exaggerated sadness. His voice took on a whining
undertone.
to do today. Maybe I won't
have no supper tonight. You see I'm off my regular
road. I know folks
on
the
highway
clear
from
Seattle
to
San
Diego.
They
save
their
things
for
me
to
sharpen
up
because
they
know
I
do
it
so
good
and
save
them
money.<
/p>
sorry,
Elisa
said
irritably.
haven't
anything
for
you
to
do.
His
eyes
left
her
face
and
fell
to
searching
the
ground.
They
roamed about until they came to the
chrysanthemum bed where she had been working.
them
plants,
ma'am?
The
irritation
and
resistance
melted
from
Elisa's
face.
those
are
chrysanthemums, giant
whites and yellows. I raise them every year,
bigger than anybody around
here.
of
a
long-stemmed
flower?
Looks
like
a
quick
puff
of
colored
smoke?
he
asked.
it.
What
a
nice
way
to
describe
them.
smell
kind
of
nasty
till
you
get
used
to
them,
quickly.