美文欣賞:Love of Life 熱愛生命

 

杰克·倫敦的《熱愛生命》講述的是這樣一個故事：一個美國西部的淘金者在返回的途中被朋友拋棄了， 獨自跋涉在廣袤的荒原上。冬天逼近了，寒風夾著雪花向他襲來……

That day he decreased the distance between him and the ship by three miles; the next day by two－for he was crawling now as Bill had crawled; and the end of the day found the ship still seven mailes away and him unable to make even a mile a day. Still the indian summer held on, and he continued to crawl and faint ,turn and turn about; and ever the sick wolf coughed and wheezed at his heels. His knees had become raw meat like his feet, and though he paddled them with the shirt from his back it was a red track he left behind him on the moss and stones. Once , glancing back, he saw the wolf licking hungrily his bleeding trail, and he saw sharply what his own end might be－unless－unless he could get the wolf. Then began as grim a tragedy of existence as was ever played－a sick man that crawled, a sick wolf that limped, two creatures dragging their dying carcasses across the desolation and hunting each other’s lives.

這一天，他和那條船之間的距離又縮短了三英里，到了第二天，他又繼續(xù)縮短了兩英里－因為他現(xiàn)在就和比爾先生先前一樣在地上匍匐前進，到了第五天晚上的時候，他發(fā)現(xiàn)那條船依然離他還有七英里的距離，而他每天的進程還不到一英里。幸好深秋的天氣依然晴朗，他繼續(xù)爬，一次又一次地暈死過去，可是醒來他又繼續(xù)地往前爬，不停地回頭張望著；而那頭病狼也在不停地咳嗽著，發(fā)出艱難的喘息聲，可依然緊緊尾隨其后。他的膝蓋－就和他的雙腳一樣－早給磨得血肉模糊，其實他一早就脫下了身上的襯衣裹住了膝蓋，可都沒有用，他一路爬下來，他身后的苔蘚和巖石上也就留下了一道觸目驚心的血漬。有一次他回頭的時候，他看見那頭餓狼正貪婪地舔著他的血漬，一時間他清楚地意識到自己的結(jié)局－除非－除非他把那頭狼解決掉。就這樣，一幕從來沒有上演的求生悲劇開始了－病人在前面爬，瘸腿的病狼尾隨其后，兩個生靈就這樣在荒漠里拖著垂死的軀殼，隨時準備獵取對方的生命。

Had it been a well wolf, it would not have mattered so much to the man; but the thought of going to feed the maw of that loathsome and all but dead thing was repugnant to him. He was finicky. His mind had begun to wander again, and to be perplexed by hallucinations, while his lucid intervals grew rarer and shorter.

如果這是頭健康的狼，他也覺得沒什么；可是一想到自己要葬身狼腹，尤其是眼前這頭令人作惡、病怏怏的餓狼，他就覺得非常厭惡。要知道他可是一個非常講究的人。他又開始胡思亂想起來，人也因幻覺影響而變得迷糊。他神智清醒的時間越來越少，越來越短。

He was awaken once from a faint by a wheeze close in his ear.The wolf leaped lamely back, losing its footing and falling in its weakness. It was ludicrous, but he was not amused. Nor was he even afraid. He was too far gone for that. But his mind was for the moment clear, and he lay and considered.

有一次他從昏迷中被耳邊傳來的喘息聲驚醒；那只狼很快一跛一跛地跳開，由于身體虛弱，那頭狼還失足摔了一跤，那樣子可笑極了，可是他卻笑不出來。倒不是因為他害怕，事情到了這田地他早就不害怕了。不過，在這瞬間他的腦子很清醒，他躺在地上仔細地思考起來。

The ship was more than four miles away. He could see it quite distinctly when he rubbed the mists out of his eyes. But he could never crawl those four miles. He knew that, and was very calm in the knowledge. He knew that he could not crawl half a mile. And yet he wanted to live. It was unreasonable that he should die after all he had undergone. Fate asked too much of him. And , dying, he declined to die. It was stark madness, perhaps, but in the very grip of Death he defied Death and refused to die.

那艘船就在離他還不到四英里的地方。他使勁揉了揉眼睛，那艘船清晰的出現(xiàn)在他眼前?？墒牵僖才啦煌赀@四英里的路程了，這點他很清楚，因為就算是半英里的路程他也爬不了?？赏瑫r他也非常鎮(zhèn)靜，因為他想活下去。他已經(jīng)經(jīng)歷了千辛萬苦，他不想就這樣死掉。命運對他實在太苛刻了，可他就是不愿俯身受死。這是一種近乎瘋狂的想法，可就算他無法逃脫死神的魔掌，他仍然要抗爭下去，要讓自己活下去。

He closed his eyes and composed himself with infinite precaution. He steeled himself to keep above the suffocating languor that lapped like a rising tide through all the wells of his being. It was very like a sea, this deadly languor, that rose and rose and drowned his consciousness bit by bit. Sometimes he was all but submerged, swimming through oblivion with a faltering stroke;and again, by some strange alchemy of soul, he would find another shred of will and strike out more strongly.

他閉上眼睛，設(shè)法使自己平靜下來，不敢有絲毫的松懈。令人窒息的疲倦像漲潮一樣，從他的身體各處涌來，他還是頑強地打醒精神，不讓自己被疲倦淹沒。這種要命的疲倦，就像大海一樣，一浪又一浪地漲過來，一點一點地吞噬著他的意識。有時候，他被完全淹沒其中，就這樣默默地漂游；而有時候，憑借一種奇異的心靈作用，他又找回了些許精神力量，更加堅毅地前進。

Without movement he lay on his back, and he could hear, slowly drawing near and nearer, the wheezing intake and output of the sick wolf’s breath. It drew closer, ever closer, through infinitude if time, and did not move. It was his ear. The harsh dry tongue grated like sandpaper against his cheek. His hands shot out －or at least he willed them to shoot out. The fingers were curved like talons, but they closed on empty air. Swiftness and certitude require strength, and the man had not this strength.

他一動不動的躺著，耳邊傳來病狼一呼一吸的喘氣聲，并且這聲音正慢慢地向他逼近。狼愈走愈近，好像過了很久一樣，但是他始終躺著沒有動。這時狼已經(jīng)到了他的耳邊，那條粗糙的狼舌頭就像砂紙一樣蹭著他的兩腮。他的雙手一下子就抓了過去——或者說是他的意志力迫使他的雙手抓過去。他的手指彎曲得就像鷹爪一樣，可是他卻抓了一個空，敏捷和準確是需要力氣的，而他偏偏就沒有力氣。

The patience of the wolf was terrible. The man’s patience was no less terrible.

那頭狼的耐心真是令人可怕，而他的耐心同樣令人可怕。

For half a day he lay motionless, fighting off unconsciousness and waiting for the thing that was to feed upon him and upon which he wished to feed. Sometimes the languid sea rose over him and he dreamed longs dreams; but ever through it all, waking and dreaming, he waited for the wheezing breath and the harsh caress of the tongue.

這一天，有一大半的時間他就這樣靜靜地躺著，努力不讓自己昏迷過去，靜靜地等著那只想一口吃掉他，他也想一口一口吃掉的動物。有時候當疲倦襲來，他會昏昏沉沉地做起長長的夢。然而，不管他是醒著還是做著夢，他一直在等待著那陣喘息的聲音，還有舔過來的粗糙舌頭。

He did not hear the breath, and he slipped slowly from some dream to the feel of the tongue along his hand. He waited. The fangs pressed softly; the pressure increased; the wolf was exerting its last strength in an effort to sink teeth in the food for which it had waited so long. But the man had waited too long, and the lacerated hand closed on the jaw. Slowly, while the wolf struggled feebly and the hand clutched feebly, the other hand crept across to a grip. Five minutes later the whole weight of the man was on top of the wolf. The hands han not sufficient strength to choke the wolf, but the face of the man was pressed colse to the throat of the wolf and the mouth of the man was full of hair. At the end of half an hour the man was aware of a warm trickle in his throat. It was not pleasant. It was like molten lead being forced into his stomach, and it was forced by his will alone. Later the man rolled over on his back and slept.

他并沒有聽見那陣喘息聲，當他從夢中慢慢蘇醒過來的時候，他感覺那頭狼正在舔著他的一只手。他依然靜靜地等著。狼牙已經(jīng)輕輕地扣在他的手上，壓力感漸漸加強，那頭狼正在盡最后一點力量把牙齒咬進它等待很久的獵物上。可是他也同樣等了很久，那只撕裂的手扳住了狼的下顎。就這樣，狼在微弱地掙扎著，那只手也無力地扳著，慢慢地，另一只手也騰了過來掐了過去。在爭斗了五分鐘后，那人已經(jīng)把狼死死地按在下面。他雙手的力量不足以掐死那頭狼，可是他的臉已經(jīng)緊緊地貼在了狼的咽喉上，一堆狼毛也緊緊扎進了他的嘴里。半個小時后，他感到了一股暖和的液體某某某地流進了他的喉嚨，那感覺可真難受，就好像鉛液被灌進了他的胃里一樣，完全是靠他的意志給硬灌下去的。后來，他翻了個身，仰面睡著了。

There were some members of a scientific expedition on the whale－ship Bedford. From the deck they remarked a strange object on the shore. It was moving down the beach toward the water. They were unable to classify it, and,being scientific men, they climbed into the whale－boat alongside and went ashore to see. And they saw some thing that was alive but which could hardlu be called a man. It was blind, unconscious. It squirmed along the ground like some monstrous worm. Most of its efforts were ineffectual, but it was persistent, and writhed and twisted and went ahead perhaps a score of feet an hour.

“貝德富號”捕鯨船有幾個科學考察隊的隊員，他們從甲板上望見岸上有一個奇怪的物體。他正在沙灘朝著海面挪動。他們沒有分清到底屬于哪類動物，可是他們都是研究科學的人，因此就劃了個捕鯨船到岸上察看。接著，他們就發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個活著的動物，可是很難把他稱之為人。因為他已經(jīng)瞎了，并且喪失了神智，可是就是這樣，他就像一條大蟲子一樣在地上不斷地蠕動。他用的力氣大半都不起作用，但是他卻始終沒有放棄，只見他不停地扭動著身子，蜿蜒前行，或許一個小時下來，他就能爬個二十英尺的距離。

Three weeks afterward the man lay in bunk on the whale－ship beford, and with tears streaming down his wasted cheeks told who he was and what he had undergone. He also babbled incoherently of his mother, of sunny southen california, and a home among the orange groves and flowers.

三個星期后，這個人躺在“貝德福號”捕鯨船的一個鋪位上，眼淚順著消瘦的面頰淌了下來，他說起了他的身份，還有他經(jīng)歷過的一切。同時，他口齒不清地談到了他的母親，談到了陽光燦爛的加利福尼亞，以及在橘樹和花叢中的家園。