Magpie over the Hill山岗那边的喜鹊

I  llay often that summer on a slope of sand and coarse grass， close to the Cornish sea， trying to catch thoughts; and I was trying very hard when I saw them coming hand in hand.

那年夏天，我经常躺在康沃尔海岸附近一道长着粗草的沙坡上，尽力厘清心中的想法。我正苦思冥想，突然看到他们手拉着手走来。

She was dressed in blue linen， and a little cloud of honey-coloured hair; her small face had serious eyes the colour of the chicory flowers she was holding up to sniff at—a clean sober little maid， with a very touching upward look of trust. Her companion was a strong， active boy of perhaps fourteen， and he， too， was serious—his deep-set， blacklashed eyes looked down at her with a queer protective wonder; the while he explained in a soft voice broken up between two ages， that exact process which bees adopt to draw honey out of flowers. Once or twice this hoarse but charming voice became quite fervent， when she had evidently failed to follow; it was as if he would have been impatient， only he knew he must not， because she was a lady and younger than himself， and he loved her.

女孩身穿蓝色亚麻布衣，蜜色的头发扎成一小团；她的小脸蛋上有一双透着认真的眼睛，颜色就像她举起来闻的菊苣花——她是一个纯洁朴素的小姑娘，抬眼的神情楚楚动人，充满信任。她的同伴是一个强壮活泼的男孩，大概有十四岁。男孩也一脸认真——他垂下睫毛乌黑的深邃双眼，以不解却又关切的目光看着女孩，同时用处于变声期的嗓音轻声解释蜜蜂从鲜花中采蜜的详细过程。有一两次女孩显然没有听懂，于是男孩沙哑却迷人的声音变得相当激动。他好像本来就不耐烦，只是知道自己不能这样，因为对方是一位淑女，年龄比自己小，况且自己又爱她。

They sat down just below my nook， and began to count the petals of a chicory flower， and slowly she nestled in to him， and he put his arm round her. Never did I see such sedate， sweet lovering， so trusting on her part， so guardianlike on his. They were like， in miniature—though more dewy， —those sober couples who have long lived together， yet whom one still catches looking at each other with confidential tenderness， and in whom， one feels， passion is atrophied from never having been in use.

他们在我躺着的隐蔽处的正下方坐下来，开始数一朵菊苣花的花瓣。随后，女孩慢慢地向男孩依偎过去，男孩则伸出胳膊搂住她。我从未见过如此沉着又甜美的爱恋，女孩十分信任男孩，男孩则像极了护花使者。他们如同那种长期生活在一起的稳重夫妻的缩影——不过更加纯洁清新，人们仍会发现他们以私密柔情对视，但也会感觉到他们的激情因从未释放而衰退。

Long I sat watching them in their cool communion， half-embraced， talking a little， smiling a little， never once kissing. They did not seem shy of that; it was rather as if they were too much each other’s to think of such a thing. And then her head slid lower and lower down his shoulder， and sleep buttoned the lids over those chicory-blue eyes. How careful he was， then， not to wake her， though I could see his arm was getting stiff！ He still sat， good as gold， holding her， till it began quite to hurt me to see his shoulder thus in chancery1. But presently I saw him draw his arm away ever so carefully， lay her head down on the grass， and lean forward to stare at something. Straight in front of them was a magpie， balancing itself on a stripped twig of thorn-tree. The agitating bird， painted of night and day， was making a queer noise and flirting one wing， as if trying to attract attention. Rising from the twig， it circled， vivid and stealthy， twice round the tree， and flew to another a dozen paces off. The boy rose; he looked at his little mate， looked at the bird， and began quietly to move toward it; but uttering again its queer call， the bird glided on to a third thorn-tree. The boy hesitated then—but once more the bird flew on， and suddenly dipped over the hill. I saw the boy break into a run; and getting up quickly， I ran too.

我久坐在原地观望着他们淡定传情、半搂半抱，偶尔浅谈几句，偶尔微微含笑，却从未亲吻过一次。他们看起来并不羞于亲吻，更像是彼此过于交融，所以想不起亲吻这件事来。随后，女孩的头沿着男孩的肩膀越滑越低，睡意紧紧合上了她那双蓝如菊苣花的眼睛。男孩当时多么小心，生怕惊醒女孩，我看得出他那条胳膊渐渐变得僵硬！他依然乖乖地坐在那里抱着女孩。我看见他的肩膀如此进退两难，开始心疼不已。但是，过了一会儿，我看到他小心翼翼地抽走了胳膊，把女孩的头放倒在草地上，然后倾身向前凝视着什么。原来在两人的正前方有一只喜鹊，它在一棵山楂树的小秃枝上平衡着身体。这只黑白相间的鸟儿躁动不安，发出一种奇怪的声音，还扇动着一侧翅膀，仿佛在设法引起男孩的注意。它从树枝上飞起，绕着那棵树飞了两圈，动作轻快而不易察觉，然后飞到了十几步开外的另一棵树上。男孩站起身，看看小伴侣，又瞧瞧喜鹊，接着悄悄地朝鸟儿走去。但是，鸟儿又发出奇怪的叫声，轻快地飞到了第三棵山楂树上。这时，男孩举棋不定，而喜鹊再次飞了起来，突然俯冲飞过山岗。我看见男孩猛地拔腿飞奔，于是马上站起身，跟着跑了起来。

When I reached the crest there was the black and white bird flying low into a dell， and there the boy， with hair streaming back， was rushing helter-skelter down the hill. He reached the bottom and vanished into the dell. I， too， ran down the hill. For all that I was prying and must not be seen by bird or boy， I crept warily in among the trees to the edge of a pool that could know but little sunlight， so thickly arched was it by willows， birch-trees， and wild hazel. There， in a swing of boughs above the water， was perched no pied bird， but a young， dark-haired girl with， dangling， bare， brown legs. And on the brink of the black water goldened， with fallen leaves， the boy was crouching， gazing up at her with all his soul. She swung just out of reach and looked down at him across the pool. How old was she， with her brown limbs， and her gleaming， slanting eyes？ Or was she only the spirit of the dell， this elf-thing swinging there， entwined with boughs and the dark water， and covered with a shift of wet birch leaves. So strange a face she had， wild， almost wicked， yet so tender; a face that I could not take my eyes from. Her bare toes just touched the pool， and flicked up drops of water that fell on the boy’s face.

我跑到山顶后，只见那只黑白相间的鸟儿正低飞进入一个小山谷；而男孩跑得头发向后飘扬，也急匆匆地冲下山去。他到达山麓，消失在小山谷里。我也跑下了山，想探个究竟，又不能让鸟儿或男孩看到，于是我蹑手蹑脚地钻进树林，走到一个池塘边。那周围的柳树、桦树和野榛树密密匝匝地形成拱状绿荫，只能让细微的阳光照射进来。池水上方摇晃的大树枝上没有杂色小鸟栖息，只有一个黑发少女悬垂着赤裸的褐色双腿。幽暗池水的边缘因落叶染成了金色，男孩蹲伏在那里，仰头全神贯注地凝望着少女。少女在他探不到的地方一边晃动双腿，一边低头俯视池塘边的他。这个褐色四肢、明眸吊眼的姑娘多大年龄了呢？要么她只是小山谷的精灵？是一个摇晃着双腿，深藏在树枝和幽暗池水之间，身穿湿漉漉桦树叶连衣裙的精灵？她有一张非常奇异的脸庞，狂野、近乎邪恶却又十分温柔；那是一张我无法移开目光的脸庞。她赤裸的脚趾刚好触到水面，轻轻地弹起水珠，落在男孩的脸上。

From him all the sober steadfastness was gone; already he looked as wild as she， and his arms were stretched out trying to reach her feet. I wanted to cry to him： “Go back， boy， go back！” but could not; her elf eyes held me dumb—they looked so lost in their tender wildness.

男孩身上所有的沉着坚定都烟消云散了，他看上去已经像那个少女一样疯狂，他伸出双臂试图去摸她的双脚。我想对他大喊：“回来，孩子，回来吧！”但我喊不出来。少女那双小精灵似的眼睛使我说不出话来——那双眼睛看起来像是陷入了温柔的野性之中。