21天读英文《海鸥乔纳森》-Day 20

所谓的爱是什么？你应该通过练习去认识真正的海鸥，要看到每只海鸥的美德，并帮助他们去认识自己的美德。

Day 20

① “Very well, Fletcher. Remember what we were saying about one’s bodybeing nothing more than thought itself....?”

“很好，弗莱契。我们不是一向说，身体与思想是一码事，你还记得吗？”

·        ②Fletcher shook his head and stretched his wings and opened hiseyes at the base of the cliff, in the center of the whole Flock assembled.There was a great clamor/'klæmə/

 ofsquawks and screes from the crowd when first he moved.

在聚集找来的整个鸥群的中央，在悬崖脚下，弗莱契摇摇头，展开双翅，睁开眼睛。他刚一动弹，鸥群中就嘎嘎、嘎嘎地嚷起来。

③“He lives! He that was dead lives!”

“他活啦！他死而复生啦！”

 “Touched him with a wingtip! Broughthim to life! The Son of the Great Gull!”

“只用翼梢碰他一下！把他救活了！真是鸥神之子！”

 “No! He denies it! He’s a devil!DEVIL! Come to break the Flock!”

“不！他不承认！他是魔鬼！魔鬼！他是来破坏鸥群的！”

④ There were four thousand gulls in the crowd, frightened at what hadhappened, and the cry DEVIL! Went through them like the wind of an ocean storm.Eyes glazed, beaks sharp, they closed in to destroy.

这一群海鸥共四千只，都被刚才发生的事吓得目瞪口呆；一霎时，一片喊“魔鬼”的声音在他们中间爆发，声势浩大，犹如大海上起了风暴。他们目露凶光，伸出利嘴，围上来要啄死乔纳森。

 ⑤“Would you feelbetter if we left, Fletcher?” asked Jonathan.

“你是不是觉得咱们还是离开这儿好些，弗莱契？”乔纳森问

 “I certainly wouldn’t object toomuch if we did...”

“我当然不会反对，只要办得到。……”

 Instantly they stood together ahalf-mile away, and the flashing beaks of the mob closed on empty air.

转瞬间，他们俩已站在半英里外的地方了。暴怒的鸥群间亮的尖嘴扑了个空。

⑥“Why is it,” Jonathan puzzled, “that the hardest thing in the world is toconvince a bird that he is free, and that he can prove it for himself if he’djust spend a little time practicing? Why should that be so hard?”

“怎么搞的，”乔纳森觉得纳闷，“世界上最难办的事怎么倒是使一只鸟儿确信他自己是自由的，而且可以亲自加以证明，只要他肯略微花费点时间练习练习？这样的事为什么竟会这样难呢？”

 Fletcher still blinked from thechange of scene. “What did you just do? How did we get here?”  “You didsay you wanted to be out of the mob, didn’t you?”

弗莱契还在那里眨巴眼睛，弄不明白怎么会一下子换了地方，‘你刚才干什么来着？咱们怎么来到这儿的？”“你刚才不是说，你希望离开那群暴徒吗？”

⑦ “Yes! But how did you...”

“不错……不过你怎么……”

 “Like everything else, Fletcher. Practice.”

 “和干其他事儿一样，弗莱契．多练习。”

⑧By morning the Flock had forgotten its insanity, but Fletcher had not.“Jonathan, remember what you said a long time ago, about loving the Flockenough to return to it and help it learn?”

到了早晨，鸥群已经忘记了自己那阵疯狂劲儿，但弗莱契没忘。“乔纳森，好久前你不是说过，要热爱鸥群；要回到他们之中去，帮助他们学习，你还记得吗？”

⑨ “Sure.”

“当然记得。”

“I don’t understand how you manage to lovea mob of birds that has just tried to kill you.”

“我真不理解，你怎么能去热爱一群想啄死你的暴徒呢？”

 “Oh, Fletch, you don’t love that! You don’t love hatred andevil, of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in everyone of them, and to help them see it in themselves. That’s what I mean by love.It’s fun, when you get the knack /næk/ of it.

“噢，弗莱契，你爱的当然不是那个！你当然不爱仇恨与邪恶。你应该通过练习去认识真正的海鸥，要看到每只海鸥的美德，并帮助他们去认识自己的美德。这就是我所谓的爱。等你精通此道以后，就会觉得很有意思。

⑩ “I remember a fierce young bird for instance, Fletcher Lynd Seagull,his name. Just been made Outcast, ready to fight the Flock to the death,getting a start on building his own bitter hell out on the Far Cliffs. And herehe is today building his own heaven instead, and leading the whole Flock inthat direction.”

“举个例子说吧，我记得有一只挺凶的的年轻海鸥，名叫弗莱契·林德，当时他刚成弃儿，打算与鸥群决一死战，开始在远崖为自己建造痛苦的地狱。可是今天呢，他正在建造自己的天堂，并领导整个鸥群朝着这个方向前进。”