美国语文第五册 第292期:野鸽过客(1)

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　　Indeed, after having viewed them so often, and under so many circumstances, 我的确经常在不少地方见过大批野鸽，即便现在，

　　I even now feel inclined to pause and assure myself that what I am going to relate is a fact. 也坚持认为不要轻率做出结论，以确保自己陈述皆为事实。

　　Yet I have seen it all, and that, too, in the company of persons who, like myself, were struck with amazement¹. 我和同伴都见过大批野鸽，彼此感受心同，那种形容毋庸说是身心震撼，难以言说的刻骨铭心。

　　In the autumn of 1813 I left my house at Henderson, on the banks of the Ohio, on my way to Louisville. 1813年秋天，离开坐落于俄亥俄河岸汉德森的家，我前去路易斯维尔。

　　In passing over the Barrens, a few miles beyond Hardinsburgh, 途中，当马车穿越一片荒原，驶过哈丁斯博格数英里后，

　　I observed the pigeons flying, from northeast to southwest, in greater numbers than I thought I had ever seen them before, 我看到天空中由东北往西南方向飞来的黑压压的鸽群，眼见鸽群数量愈来愈多，甚至超过我有生以来所见总和，

　　and feeling an inclination² to count the flocks that might pass within the reach of my eye in one hour, 我心血来潮，突然想做次统计，计算一小时内目力所及范围内飞过的鸽群数，

　　I dismounted, seated myself on an eminence³, and began to mark with my pencil, making a dot for every flock that passed. 于是我便走下车，找处高坡坐下，开始用铅笔做记号，每见一个鸽群飞过就用圆点做个标注。

　　In a short time, finding the task which I had undertaken impracticable, as the birds poured in in countless⁴ multitudes, I rose, 不一会儿，我便发现我的记录完全无济于事，鸽群铺天盖地不断涌来，成片成队委实难计其数。

　　and, counting the dots then put down, found that one hundred and sixty-three had been made in twenty-one minutes 我站立起来，数了数刚记下的标记，短短21分钟里，竟有163个鸽群在我眼前呼啸而过。

　　I traveled on, and still met more the farther I proceeded. 我接着往前走，愈发见到更多，

　　The air was literally⁵ filled with pigeons; the light of noonday was obscured as by an eclipse; 整座天空完全成为鸽子的飞翔世界。鸽群掠飞，宛如日食遮天蔽日，正午阳光亦随即黯淡起来。

　　and the continued buzz of wings had a tendency to lull⁶ my senses to repose⁷. 鸽群翼翅发出的嗡嗡翕动声，竟然让我产生昏昏欲睡的时空错觉。

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