The Cactus 仙人掌

文/歐·亨利 譯/聞春國 By O. Henry

The Cactus 仙人掌

文/歐·亨利 譯/聞春國1By O. Henry

The most notable thing about Time is that it is so purely relative. A large amount of reminiscence is, by common consent, conceded to the drowning man; and it is not past belief that one may review an entire courtship while removing one’s gloves.

[2] That is what Trysdale was doing,standing by a table in his bachelor apartments. On the table stood a singularlooking green plant in a red earthen jar.The plant was one of the species of cacti,and was provided with long, tentacular leaves that perpetually swayed with the slightest breeze with a peculiar beckoning motion.

[3] Trysdale’s friend, the brother of the bride, stood at a sideboard complaining at being allowed to drink alone. Both men were in evening dress. White favors like stars upon their coats shone through the gloom of the apartment.

時間最顯著的特點就是其純粹的相對性。一般而言，消沉的人最容易沉溺于對往事的回憶，而一個人能在脫手套這會兒工夫重溫一下求婚的整個過程也不是什么難以置信的事情。

[2]特里斯戴爾佇立在他單身公寓的桌子旁，做的正是此事。桌子上放著一個紅色的陶罐，里面栽著一株形狀奇特的綠色植物。它屬于仙人掌的一種，長長的葉子宛如觸手一般，微風拂來，不停地搖曳，似乎在向人招手致意。

[3]特里斯戴爾的朋友，也是新娘的哥哥，站在餐具柜的旁邊，抱怨沒人陪著，只好一個人在那兒自斟自飲。兩個人穿著晚禮服。禮服上佩戴的白色花結宛如天上的星星，在昏暗的房間里閃爍著光芒。

[4] As he slowly unbuttoned his gloves, there passed through Trysdale’s mind a swift, scarifying retrospect of the last few hours. It seemed that in his nostrils was still the scent of the flowers that had been banked in odorous masses about the church, and in his ears the low pitched hum of a thousand well-bred voices, the rustle of crisp garments, and,most insistently recurring, the drawling words of the minister irrevocably binding her to another.

[5] From this last hopeless point of view he still strove, as if it had become a habit of his mind, to reach some conjecture as to why and how he had lost her. Shaken rudely by the uncompromising fact, he had suddenly found himself confronted by a thing he had never before faced—his own innermost, unmitigated, arid unbedecked self. He saw all the garbs of pretence and egoism that he had worn now turn to rags of folly. He shuddered at the thought that to others, before now, the garments of his soul must have appeared sorry and threadbare. Vanity and conceit?These were the joints in his armor. And how free from either she had always been—But why—

[4]特里斯戴爾慢慢地脫著手套，幾個小時前發生的那令人揪心的一幕仍在他的腦海里閃現。教堂四周，那一簇簇鮮花的芳香，絲絲縷縷，依稀可聞；賓客們彬彬有禮的低聲交談言猶在耳。他仿佛聽到了禮服窸窸窣窣的響動，而牧師那拖長語調的話語一直縈繞在他的耳邊，揮之不去。它宣告了一個無可挽回的事實，她與另一個男人結合了。

[5]這最后的一擊讓他陷入絕望，但他仍想弄清楚自己為什么會失去她，又是怎么失去的。這似乎已經成了他的一種習慣。眼前這個不可改變的事實強烈地震撼了他，他突然發現自己正面對著以前從未正視過的東西——一個潛藏在他內心深處，純粹的、真實的自我。他看到，以前穿在他身上那虛偽自負的華麗外衣如今破爛不堪，貽笑大方。在別人眼里，自己靈魂的外衣想必已經一文不值。想到這，他不寒而栗。是虛榮與自負？這些正是他盔甲上的關節。而她卻從來都不曾虛榮或自負。可這是為什么？

[6] As she had slowly moved up the aisle toward the altar he had felt an unworthy, sullen exultation that had served to support him. He had told himself that her paleness was from thoughts of another than the man to whom she was about to give herself.But even that poor consolation had been wrenched from him. For, when he saw that swift, limpid, upward look that she gave the man when he took her hand, he knew himself to be forgotten. Once that same look had been raised to him, and he had gauged its meaning. Indeed, his conceit had crumbled; its last prop was gone. Why had it ended thus? There had been no quarrel between them,nothing—

[6]當她緩緩走過教堂的過道，走向圣壇，他的心中突然涌出一絲不應有的竊喜。他告訴自己，她臉色的蒼白是因為她心里想著另一個男人，而不是眼前這個即將托付終身的人。這個念頭支撐著他。然而，這可憐的自我安慰隨即便破滅了。因為他看到，當那個男人牽著她的手時，她很快抬起頭來，凝望著他，目光里流露出的是幸福和安詳。他知道自己很快就要被遺忘了。這種目光，他也曾領略過，其中的意味，他自然心領神會。的確，他的自負已經崩潰了，因為支撐它的那最后一根支柱已經不復存在。為什么會是這樣的結局？他們之間從來沒有發生過爭吵，一次也沒有……

[7] For the thousandth time he remarshalled in his mind the events of those last few days before the tide had so suddenly turned.

[8] She had always insisted upon placing him upon a pedestal, and he had accepted her homage with royal grandeur. It had been a very sweet incense that she had burned before him;so modest (he told himself); so childlike and worshipful, and (he would once have sworn) so sincere. She had invested him with an almost supernatural number of high attributes and excellencies and talents, and he had absorbed the oblation as a desert drinks the rain that can coax from it no promise of blossom or fruit.

[7]可是，局面突然變得不可收拾。前幾天發生的事件又在他的腦海里一遍又一遍地回放起來。

[8]她一直把他當作偶像，而他每每帶著高貴氣派接受她的膜拜。她為他點燃香燭，香煙繚繞，沁人心脾。瞧，她是多么謙遜（他告訴自己），多么純真，多么虔誠，多么純潔（他曾經為此發誓）。她把他奉為天神，用很多溢美之詞稱贊他的品行和才華。他接受她的供奉，猶如沙漠吮吸雨露，卻拿不出花朵和果實施以回報。

[9]特里斯戴爾惡狠狠地將最后一只手套的接縫扯開，他那愚昧透頂、隨之又后悔莫及的狂妄表現再一次淋漓盡致地浮現在他的腦海中。那天晚上，他把她請到自己的住處，向她炫耀自己非凡的經歷。如今，他痛苦不堪，簡直不敢回憶那天晚上呈現在他面前那真真切切的美——她的秀發如波浪一般自然卷曲，她的美貌，她的言語溫柔而清純。此情此景，他不禁打破沉默，跟她攀談起來。在交談中，她問道：

“卡拉瑟斯船長告訴我，你會說一口地地道道的西班牙語。你怎么沒跟我提起過？你怎么會懂得那么多？”

[9] As Trysdale grimly wrenched apart the seam of his last glove, the crowning instance of his fatuous and tardily mourned egoism came vividly back to him. The scene was the night when he had asked her to come up on his pedestal with him and share his greatness. He could not, now, for the pain of it, allow his mind to dwell upon the memory of her convincing beauty that night—the careless wave of her hair, the tenderness and virginal charm of her looks and words. But they had been enough, and they had brought him to speak. During their conversation she had said:

“And Captain Carruthers tells me that you speak the Spanish language like a native. Why have you hidden this accomplishment from me? Is there anything you do not know?”

[10] Now, Carruthers was an idiot.No doubt he (Trysdale) had been guilty(he sometimes did such things) of airing at the club some old, canting Castilian proverb dug from the hotchpotch at the back of dictionaries. Carruthers, who was one of his incontinent admirers,was the very man to have magnified this exhibition of doubtful erudition.

[10]唉，卡拉瑟斯真是個白癡。那是他（特里斯戴爾）從詞典的旮旮旯旯里搜集的一些古老而隱晦的西班牙諺語，然后拿到俱樂部向人賣弄。毫無疑問，他為此感到過內疚（他偶爾也會如此）。卡拉瑟斯是他的一位崇拜者，可就是管不住自己的嘴巴。也正是這樣的人，把特里斯戴爾所謂的博學多才傳得神乎其神。

[11] But, alas! the incense of her admiration had been so sweet and flattering. He allowed the imputation to pass without denial. Without protest, he allowed her to twine about his brow this spurious bay of Spanish scholarship. He let it grace his conquering head, and,among its soft convolutions, he did not feel the prick of the thorn that was to pierce him later.

[11]哎呀，她的崇拜是多么令人愉快，多么令人舒暢。所以，對于她的贊美，他來者不拒，也不予辯解，任由她將虛妄的西班牙語學者的稱號加封在自己頭上。他滿腦子裝的都是溢美之詞，其柔軟的腦回溝并沒有感覺到荊棘的存在，而這些荊棘后來深深地刺痛了他。

[12]當他放下高傲，跪在她的腳下，向她求婚時，她多么像一只掉進羅網的小鳥！瞧，她是多么快活，多么羞澀，多么緊張！無論是那時，還是現在，他都可以發誓，她的眼神中分明包含了毋庸置疑的允諾。可是，出于女孩的羞怯，她卻沒有給他一個明確的答復。“明天，我會給你答復的。”她說。于是，他，這位寬容而自信的勝利者，微笑地答應再等她一天。第二天，他在房間焦急地等待著她的回音。中午時分，她的仆人來到他的門口，送來了一盆奇特的栽在紅色陶罐里的仙人掌。沒有字條，也沒有口信，只是在那株仙人掌里掛了一個標簽，上面寫著一個古怪的外國名字或植物學名。他一直等到了夜晚，卻沒有等到她的回音。他那膨脹的自傲和受傷的虛榮心不允許他去找她。兩天后，他們在一個晚宴上碰面了。一陣寒暄過后，她注視著他，一臉的緊張、疑問和關切；而他卻彬彬有禮，漠然相對，一心就等她開口解釋。她以女人的敏感，從他的態度上得到了某種暗示，隨即也變得冷若冰霜。就這樣，他們開始疏遠；最后，分道揚鑣。他的過錯在哪兒？該怪誰呢？此時此刻，謙卑的他在自負的廢墟中尋找答案。假如……

[12] How glad, how shy, how tremulous she was! How she fluttered like a snared bird when he laid his mightiness at her feet! He could have sworn, and he could swear now, that unmistakable consent was in her eyes,but, coyly, she would give him no direct answer. “I will send you my answer tomorrow,” she said; and he, the indulgent,confident victor, smilingly granted the delay. The next day he waited, impatient,in his rooms for the word. At noon her groom came to the door and left the strange cactus in the red earthen jar.There was no note, no message, merely a tag upon the plant bearing a barbarous foreign or botanical name. He waited until night, but her answer did not come.His large pride and hurt vanity kept him from seeking her. Two evenings later they met at a dinner. Their greetings were conventional, but she looked at him, breathless, wondering, eager. He was courteous, adamant, waiting her explanation. With womanly swiftness she took her cue from his manner, and turned to snow and ice. Thus, and wider from this on, they had drifted apart.Where was his fault? Who had been to blame? Humbled now, he sought the answer amid the ruins of his self-conceit.If—

[13] The voice of the other man in the room, querulously intruding upon his thoughts, aroused him.

“I say, Trysdale, what the deuce is the matter with you? You look unhappy as if you yourself had been married instead of having acted merely as an accomplice.Look at me, another accessory, come two thousand miles on a garlicky, cockroachy banana steamer all the way from South America to connive at the sacrifice—please to observe how lightly my guilt rests upon my shoulders. Only little sister I had, too, and now she’s gone.Come now! take something to ease your conscience.”

“I don’t drink just now, thanks,” said Trysdale.

[13]房間里，另一個人的抱怨聲打斷了他的思緒，把他又拉回到現實之中。

“我說，特里斯戴爾，你究竟是怎么啦？看你這一副悶悶不樂的樣子，好像是你結了婚似的。你不過是這樁婚姻的一個同謀而已；而我呢，是另外一個幫兇。你看我，乘坐了一艘滿是大蒜和蟑螂氣味的香蕉船，千里迢迢地從南美洲一路趕來，為的就是在這奉獻儀式上當個幫兇——你說說，我心中的內疚會輕嗎？我可只有這么一個妹妹啊。現在，她卻嫁人了。來吧！喝點酒，澆澆愁。”

“謝謝，我現在不想喝酒。”特里斯戴爾說道。

[14]“你的白蘭地可不怎么樣。”另一位走到了他的身邊，接著說道，“哪一天到蓬塔雷東達看我，嘗嘗老加西亞走私過來的那玩意兒。保證你不虛此行。嘿，這兒還有一位老相識呢！特里斯戴爾，你從哪兒弄來的這盆仙人掌？”

[14] “Your brandy,” resumed the other, coming over and joining him, “is abominable. Run down to see me some time at Punta Redonda, and try some of our stuff that old Garcia smuggles in.It’s worth the, trip. Hallo! here’s an old acquaintance. Wherever did you rake up this cactus, Trysdale?”

“A present,” said Trysdale, “from a friend. Know the species?”

“Very well. It’s a tropical concern.See hundreds of ’em around Punta every day. Here’s the name on this tag tied to it. Know any Spanish, Trysdale?”

“No,” said Trysdale, with the bitter wraith of a smile—“Is it Spanish?”

“Yes. The natives imagine the leaves are reaching out and beckoning to you.They call it by this name—Ventomarme.Name means in English, ‘Come and take me.’”

“一個朋友送的禮物。”特里斯戴爾說道，“知道是什么品種嗎？”

“當然知道。這是一種熱帶仙人掌。在潘塔，每天見到的仙人掌有成百上千。嗨，掛在里面的標簽上還有名字呢。特里斯戴爾，你會西班牙語嗎？”

“不會。”特里斯戴爾苦澀地笑了笑，“標簽上寫的是西班牙語嗎？”

“是的。當地人想象，這種仙人掌的葉子是在向人伸手召喚。所以，他們把它叫作‘喚人掌’，英語的意思就是‘請把我帶走’。”

西南科技大學外國語學院外聘教授。

10 Fascinating Extinct Animals (II)

2. Pyrenean Ibex比利牛斯山羊

The Pyrenean ibex was a subspecies of the Iberian wild goat that went extinct in 2000.

Once found throughout the French,Spanish and Andorran Pyrenees, the population was severely thinned by hunting.

In 2009, scientists were able to clone a female Pyrenean ibex using DNA from preserved skin samples. Due to lung defects, the ibex died shortly after birth, according to The Telegraph.