05城市与记忆三

Cities and Memory 3.

城市和记忆3

In vain徒劳的, great-hearted 宽宏大量Kublai, shall I attempt to describe Zaira, city of high bastions[ˈbæstʃənz]堡垒. I could tell you how many steps make up the streets rising like stairways[ˈstɛrˌweɪz] 阶梯, and the degree of thearcades' curves拱廊曲线, and what kind of zinc scales cover the roofs; but I already know this would be the same as telling you nothing. 

宽宏大量的忽必烈汗啊，无论我怎样描述扎伊拉这个高堡林立之城，都是徒劳的。我可以告诉你，像楼梯一样升起的街道有多少级台阶，拱廊弧度有多大，屋顶上铺着怎样的锌片；可我知道，那等于什么都没有告诉你。

The city does not consist of this, but of relationships between the measurements [ˈmɛʒərmənts] 度量of its space and the events of its past: the height of a lamppost[ˈlæmpˌpoʊst] 路灯柱 and the distance from the ground of a hanged usurper's [juːˈzɜːrpər] 篡位者 swaying[ˈsweɪɪŋ]摇晃 feet; the line strung from the lamppost to the railing [ˈreɪlɪŋ]金属栏杆 opposite and the festoons [feˈstuːnz] 张灯结彩 that decorate[ˈdekəreɪt]装饰 the course of the queen's nuptial [ˈnʌpʃl]婚礼 procession [prəˈseʃn]队列; the height of that railing and the leap [liːp]跳跃 of the adulterer [əˈdʌltərər] 奸夫 who climbed over it at dawn; the tilt [tɪlt]倾斜 of a guttering [ˈɡʌtərɪŋ]檐槽and a cat's progress along it as he slips into the same window; thefiring range有效射程 of a gunboat炮艇 which has suddenly appeared beyond the cape [keɪp]海峡 and the bomb that destroys the guttering; the rips撕裂 in the fish net and the three old men seated on the dock[dɑːk] 码头 mending nets and telling each other for the hundredth time the story of the gunboat of the usurper, who some say was the queen's illegitimate [ˌɪləˈdʒɪtəmət]私生的 son, abandoned in his swaddling [ˈswɑːdlɪŋ]包裹（婴儿）的 clothes there on the dock.

构成这座城市的并非这些，而是其空间度量与历史事件之间的关系：灯柱的高度，与被绞死的篡位者摆动的脚离地面的距离；系在灯柱与对面铁栅栏之间的绳索，是如何在女王大婚游行时张灯结彩的；栅栏有多高，偷情的男子又是如何 在黎明时分艰难的跃起并爬过它；檐槽的斜度，与一只猫 怎样沿着它走过并滑进同一扇窗户的；突然在海峡外出现的炮艇射程有多远，与炮弹是怎样轰掉檐槽的；鱼网的裂口，与码头上的三个老人怎样一面补网一面第一百次说起篡位者的故事，有人说他是女王的私生子，在襁褓时就给遗弃在这码头上。

As this wave from memories flows in, the city soaks it up like a sponge [spʌndʒ]海绵 and expands. A description of Zaira as it is today should contain all of Zaira's past. The city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand, written in the corners of the streets, the gratings[ˈgreɪtɪŋz] 格栅 of the windows, the banisters[ˈbænɪstərz]扶手 of the steps, the antennae [ænˈtɛni]触须  ofthe lightning rods避雷针, the poles [poʊlz]杆子 of the flags, every segment段、部分 marked in turn with scratches [ˈskrætʃɪz]划痕, indentations[ɪnˌdɛnˈteɪʃənz]凹痕, scrolls[skroʊlz]卷轴 .

当记忆的潮水涌入时，这座城市像海绵一样吸收膨胀。今天对扎伊拉的描述应该包含扎伊拉的所有过去。然而这座城市并不会述说自己的过去，而是像掌纹一样将它藏起来，如同一段段斑驳的文字，依次写在街角、窗框、台阶的扶手、高处的避雷针，还有天空下的旗杆上……