Chasing After Flowing Clouds追云

周領順/文、譯

Clouds are still-life paintings created by the God of Heaven at His will. To the cloud-lover， the sky covered by clouds looks like a beautiful painting.

云是靜物畫，天公隨意抹。喜云者，常把云天當畫作。

Clouds are iridescent， and can appear in shades more nuanced than the seven visible hues of the rainbow， as has been portrayed in poetic lines like “The dawn clouds are an eye-dazzling spectacle” （by Wu Jun） and “The sun sets in molten gold; / The evening clouds form a jade disk.” （by Li Qingzhao）， not to mention the magnificent view described by Wang Bo： “The rainbow clouds with lonely bird together fly; / The autumn water blends with the endless blue sky.”

云有彩，七彩1顏色不為多。“朝云亂人目”（吳均），“落日熔金，暮云合璧”（李清照），更莫說王勃所描繪的“落霞與孤鶩齊飛，秋水共長天一色”的壯麗景觀了。

We tend to describe beautiful sky and clouds as “blue sky and white clouds”. However， it is a bit too stereo-typical. The phrase “blue sky and white clouds” can only be used to refer to sunny days. How about red clouds？ “The clouds turn bright-red again in the waning glow of the setting sun.” （by Shi Yan） And yellow clouds？ “Yellow clouds have been carried along by winds for thousands of miles.” （by Li Bai） In “rainbow-colored clouds spread out for miles” （by Jiang Yan）， “rainbow-colored” is used to describe the strike beauty of iridescent clouds.

人說天美、云美，常以“藍天白云”相稱，但若僅限于天之藍、云之白，未免單調了些。“藍天白云”只是對于晴好天氣的形容。紅云如何？“彤云又吐，一竿殘照”（時彥）；黃云怎樣？“黃云萬里動風色”（李白）。“云漫漫而奇色”（江淹），用“奇色”狀述云之美，則是在無奈中表現云之多彩給人的震撼之感。

Clouds appear in a variety of forms， as in the sea of clouds conjured by Li Bai： “A bright clear moon rises over the Mountain of Heaven upon a boundless hazy sea of clouds.” Or they appear thin and wispy as depicted by Han Yu：? “Then， clouds drifting， willow catkins floating， / The land is vast， the sky is high.” The characteristics of clouds change along with seasons. The poet Tao Yuanming celebrates the wondrous shapes of clouds in the summer： “Clouds in the summer are continually changing and often appear in the form of grotesque mountain peaks.” The poet Liu Che describes the grace of clouds in the autumn： “Autumn wind rises; white clouds sail across a blue sky.”

云是有形的，或壯觀如海，所以有了李白“明月出天山，蒼茫云海間”的印象，或柔細如絲，所以有了韓愈“浮云柳絮無根蒂，天地闊遠隨飛揚”的感觸。季節不同，云各有特點，陶淵明“夏云多奇峰”，描繪的是夏云的秀姿；劉徹“秋風起兮白云飛”，描繪的是秋云的灑脫。

Clouds are flowing. “Looking up I see flying clouds turn to dragons and snakes， swirling and dancing gracefully before melting in the azure sky.” （by Qin Guan） They are flowing all day long and at any moment， sometimes apparent， and sometimes unseeable. The high clouds seem to be motionless， but the low clouds are flowing like water. As a child， at summer time， looking up at the rain clouds in the sky， I would always recite the old saying： “Clouds travel southward， rains would follow; clouds travel northward， no rain comes down; clouds travel eastward， strong winds swirl; clouds travel westward， rains drown chickens.” The words are still ringing in my ears today.

云是流動的。“飛云當面化龍蛇，夭矯轉空碧”（秦觀）。云之流動，不消于一天之中、一時一刻之中，要么顯而易見，要么隱而不察。高層的云巋然不動，低層的云如行云流水2。小時候一到夏季，仰望欲雨之云都要喊上幾句“云向南，水漣漣；云向北，干研墨；云向東，刮大風；云向西，淹死雞”，至今聲猶在耳。

There are even changes in clouds that appear static. When you make a slight movement， or look away for a few seconds， the clouds look different as if they were forever changing in forms， colors and heights. The flowing clouds， aided by human imagination， produce wonderful phenomena in the sky.

即使靜景的云，也有靜中之變。只要你身子稍動，眼光就那么轉上一圈，云可就有了不一樣的觀感，形狀啊、色彩啊、高低啊，就都在變化之中。云，加上想象，不就有了魔幻般的體驗嘛。

Taking clouds as a kind of source material， you may become a master of collage art， a painter or a photographer. I often take photos of clouds and show them to people：

拿云做材料，足可成就你個拼圖大師、畫家或攝影家。我常拍些云圖給人看：

Look， what kind of buildings， or trees should be arranged with what kind of clouds—

你看，這樣的樓房、樹木和這樣的云一搭配——

Look， when you place streets， traffic lights with this kind of clouds—

你看，這樣的街道、紅綠燈和這樣的云一搭配——

Look， when you place fields， rivers with that kind of clouds—

你看，這樣的田野、小河和這樣的云一搭配——

Such arrangements work wonders！ Beautiful photo collages can be kept for a long time so the fond memories they capture can be revisited at any time.

奇妙可就來了！美圖一旦拼好，便能長久存放，時時欣賞。

I have made cloud-themed collages as such：

我拼過：

The auspicious clouds with a reddish glow come from the east，

祥瑞紅云日邊來，

Golden beams of light burst through clouds at the Heaven Gate.

云后金光射天界。

The evening clouds are like hundreds of boats racing back，

百舸爭流暮云歸，

A white curtain of rain falls out of clouds turning dark.

墨云帶雨雨幕白。

White clouds above the vast grassland， the looming cumulus clouds over the face of the waters， the magnificent red clouds behind high-rise buildings， and the fantastical sea of undulating clouds being traversed by hikers halfway up the mountain： one couldnt help but be captivated by the picturesque beauty of all these natural wonders.

草地上白云襯托的遼闊，水面上團云壓來的陣勢，樓房后紅云噴薄的瑰麗，山腰里云與游人共現的仙境，無不讓人流連再三。

The brightly-shining sun evokes romantic feelings， while low-hanging dark clouds are often associated with disaster films. When you find your life to be dull， look up at the sky where clouds are changing in certain ways; when you feel confined in your living quarters， look up at the sky where clouds are moving in unstrained ways.

艷陽高照，讓人想到了風花雪月；黑云壓城，讓人想到了災難大片。當你感到生活單調了，那就不妨看看云吧，因為云有變化；當你感到區域受限，那就不妨看看云吧，因為云天馬行空。

The beauty of clouds fleets away before you realize it， especially at sunset. When standing in open fields， you see red clouds dissipate at lofty heights. When the dark-colored curtains of night are closed， only sparsely-scattered red and yellow clouds stay high up in the sky. Here， as you are crossing downtown streets and looking up at the sky， youll see high-rise buildings rising through colorful clouds， which then gradually evaporate.

云之美有時稍縱即逝，特別在日落時分。站在空曠的原野，看紅云從萬丈之高3慢慢淡出視野，及至夜幕合攏，只剩下漂浮于高天之上的幾抹黃紅。此時，穿行在鬧市中，但見彩色的云就在樓宇間、在大樓后慢慢消失于無形。

Clouds are to be chased after in a romantic way， not only with your eyes， but your heart. Dynamically-changing clouds fill your life with a spectrum of flowing colors. Look， the gathering clouds at the seaside， the misty clouds on mountains， and the freely-floating clouds over the desert. Each kind of them is endowed with a uniquely enchanting personality. But we should also cherish the clouds around us in our daily lives—over the narrow alleys， the apartment complex we live and the spaces we work in， for these kinds of clouds can carry us on a spiritual journey. To chase after clouds is to chase after romance.

云是要追的。追云，不僅用眼，更要用心4。有了動感的云，生活中就有了動感的色彩。你瞧，海邊的云，風起云涌；山里的云，云霧縹緲；戈壁上的云，閑云野鶴5，它們無不個性十足，令人心馳神往。但我們也要珍惜身邊的云——狹小胡同的云，生活小區的云，工作區間的云，因為一樣能帶我們作心情之游。追云，追的就是浪漫的感覺。

Try to be a master of collage art， a painter or a photographer. Clouds could be a great source of inspiration for your writing if you choose to be a writer.

當個拼圖大師、畫家或攝影家吧，即使當個作家，素材也可云中來。

*博士，教授，博導，中國英漢語比較研究會常務理事，“譯者行為批評”理論原創者（理論詞條被收入《中國大百科全書》第三版），本刊編委。曾獲獎項：教育部高校科研優秀成果獎二等獎、三等獎；省政府哲學社會科學優秀成果獎一等獎（兩屆）；省優秀教學成果獎一等獎、二等獎；揚州大學人文社科突出貢獻獎；等等。

1“七彩”即常說的“赤橙黃綠青藍紫”。

2關于成語的虛實，本文均根據語境做了處理。除了“行云流水”外，還有“風花雪月”“黑云壓城”“天馬行空”“風起云涌”“云霧縹緲”“閑云野鶴”等。

3“萬丈之高”是虛用，故用虛指的lofty heights代之。

4“追”用chase表示是沒有問題的，但因為有“追云，不僅用眼，更要用心”這樣的浪漫表達，所以在翻譯第一句的“追”時加上了隱藏的in a romantic way。? 5“風起云涌”“云霧縹緲”“閑云野鶴”都是四字結構，表現為整飭美，譯文則使用了可表現平行對稱的三個形容詞（gathering、misty、freely-floating），實現了相似的美學功能。