讀點好英文:Rafting Down the Neckar 內(nèi)卡河上木筏行

Rafting Down the Neckar 內(nèi)卡河上木筏行

Mark Twain

When the landlord learned that I and my agents were artists, our party rose perceptibly in his esteem; we rose still higher when he learned that we were making a pedestrian tour of Europe.

He told us all about the Heidelberg road, and which were the best places to avoid and which the best ones to tarry at; he charged me less than cost for the things I broke in the night; he put up a fine luncheon for us and added to it a quantity of great light-green plums, the pleasantest fruit in Germany; he was so anxious to do us honor that he would not allow us to walk out of Heilbronn, but called up Gotz von Berlichingen's horse and cab and made us ride.

I made a sketch of the turnout., It is not a Work, it is only what artists call a "study" —a thing to make a finished picture from. This sketch has several blemishes in it; for instance, the wagon is not traveling as fast as the horse is. This is wrong. Again, the person trying to get out of the way is too small, he is out of perspective, as we say. The two upper lines are not the horse's back, they are the reins; there seems to be a wheel missing — this would be corrected in a finished Work, of course. That thing flying out behind is not a flag, it is a curtain. That other thing up there is the sun, but I didn't get enough distance on it. I do not remember, now, what that thing is that is in front of the man who is running, but I think it is a haystack or a woman. This study was exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1879, but did not take any medal; they do not give medals for studies.

We discharged the carriage at the bridge. The river was full of logs — long, slender, barkless pine logs — and we leaned on the rails of the bridge, and watched the men put them together into rafts. These rafts were of a shape and construction to the. crookedness and extreme narrowness of the Neckar. They were from fifty to one hundred yards long, and they gradually tapered from a nine-log breadth at their sterns, to a "three-log breadth at their bow-ends. The main part of the steering is done at the bow, with a pole; the three-log breadth there furnishes room for only the steersman, for these little logs are not larger around that an average young lady's waist. The connections of the several sections of the raft are slack and pliant, so that the raft may be readily bent into any sort of curve required by the shape of the river.

The Neckar is in many places so narrow that a person can throw a dog across it, if he has one; when it is also sharply curved in such places, the raftsman has to do some pretty nice snug piloting to make the turns. The river is not always allowed to spread over its whole bed — which is as much as thirty, and sometimes forty yards wide — but is split into three equal bodies of water, by stone dikes which throw the main volume, depth, and current into the central one. In low water these neat narrow-edged dikes project f?ur or five inches above the surface, like the comb of a submerged roof, but in high water they are overflowed. A hatful of rain makes high water in the Neckar, and a basketful produces an overflow.

There are dikes abreast the Schloss Hotel, and the current is violently swift at' that point. I used to sit for hours in my glass cage, watching the long, narrow rafts slip along through the central channel, grazing the right-bank dike and aiming carefully for the middle arch of the stone bridge below; I watched them in this way, and lost all this time hoping to see one of them hit the bridge-pier and wreck itself sometime or other, but was always disappointed. One was smashed there one morning, but I had just stepped into my room a moment to light a pipe, so I lost it.

While I was looking down upon the rafts that morning in Heilbronn, the daredevil spirit of adventure came suddenly upon me, and I said to my comrades:

I am going to Heidelberg on a raft. Will you venture with me?

Their faces paled a little, but they assented with as good a grace as they could. Harris wanted to cable his mother — thought it his duty to do that, as he was all she had in this world — so, while he attended to this, I went down to the longest and finest raft and hailed the captain with a heary "Ahoy, shipmate!" which put us upon pleasant terms at once, and we entered upon business. I said we were on a pedestrian tour to Heidelberg, and would like to take passage with him. I said this partly thorough young Z, who spoke German very well, and partly through Mr. X who spoke it peculiarly. I can understand German as well as the maniac that invented it, but I talk it best through an interpreter.

The captain hitched up his trousers, then shifted his quid thoughtfully. Presently he said just what I was expecting he would say — that he had no license to carry passengers, and therefore was afraid the law would be after him in case the matter got noised about or any accident happened. So I chartered the raft and the crew and took all the responsibilities on myself.

With a rattling song the starboard watch bent to their work and hove the cable short, then got the anchor home, and our bark moved off with a stately stride, and soon was bowling along at about two knots an hour.

Our party were grouped amidships. At first the talk was a little gloomy, and ran mainly upon the shortness of life, the uncertainty of it, the perils which beset it, and the need and wisdom of being always prepared for the worst; this shaded off into low-voiced references to the dangers of the deep, and kindred matters; but as the gray cast began to redden and the mysterious solemnity and silence of the dawn to give place to the joy-songs of the birds, the talk took a cheerier tone, and our spirits began to rise steadily.

Germany, in the summer, is the perfection of the beautiful, but nobody has understood, and realized, and enjoyed the utmost possibilities of this soft and peaceful beauty unless he has voyaged down the Neckar on a raft. The motion of a raft is the needful motion; it is gentle, and gliding, and smooth, and noiseless; it calms down all feverish activities, it soothes to sleep all nervous hurry and impatience; under its restful influence all the troubles and vexations and sorrows that harass the mind vanish away, and existence becomes a dream, a charm, a deep and tranquil ecstasy. How it contrasts with hot and perspiring pedestrianism, and dusty and deafening railroad rush, and tedious jolting behind tired horses over blinding white roads!

We went slipping silently along, between the green and fragrant banks, with a railroad rush, and tedious jolting behind tired horsesover blinding white roads!

We went slipping silently along, between the green and fragrant banks, with a sense of pleasure and contentment that grew, and grew, all the time. Sometimes the banks were overhung with thick masses of willows that wholly hid the ground behind; sometimes we had noble hills on one hand, clothed densely with foliage to their tops, and on the other hand open levels blazing with poppies, or clothed in the rich blue of the corn-flower; sometimes we drifted in the shadow of forests, and sometimes along the margin of long stretches of velvety grass, fresh and green and bright, a tireless charm to the eye. And the birds! — they were everywhere; they swept back and forth across the river constantly, and their jubilant music was never stilled.

It was a deep and satisfying pleasure to see the sun create the new morning, and gradually, patiently, lovingly, clothe it on with splendor after splendor, and glory after glory, till the miracle was complete. How different is this marvel observed from a raft, from what it is when one observes it through the dingy windows of a railway-station in some wretched village while he munches a petrified sandwich and waits for the train.

內(nèi)卡河上木筏行

［美］馬克·吐溫

當旅店老板得知我和我的代理人是藝術家時，我們在他心中的地位就提升了一大截，得知我們正在徒步旅行歐洲后，我們的地位就更高了。

他向我們介紹了海德堡的路線情況，告訴我們最好繞過哪些地方，最好在哪些地方多逗留些時日；對那晚我所使用的物品，他只收取了低于成本的費用；還為我們準備了一桌豐盛的午餐，并送了很多德國人最喜愛的嫩綠洋李。為了給我們賞光，他堅決不答應我們步行離開海爾布隆，于是，叫了葛茲·封·貝利欣根的馬車來載我們離開。

我用素描的形式把馬車畫了下來。它算不上是件作品，只是畫家所謂的“習作”——一種能成就完美畫面的東西。這幅素描有幾處敗筆，如：馬車的速度與馬的步伐不一致，這是不正確的。而且，給馬車讓路的人實在太小了，就是我所說的不符合透視畫法。最上邊的兩條線不是馬背的曲線，而是韁繩；似乎還丟了一只車輪——當然完美的畫中，這些敗筆都會被糾正。馬車后面飛舞的不是旗幟，而是車上的蓬簾。畫中還有太陽，不過我沒有空出足夠的空間。現(xiàn)在，我記不清奔跑的那個人前面是什么東西了，不過我想那可一是堆干草，或者是個女人。1879年的巴黎畫廊上，這幅習作被展覽出來，但是并沒有獲得任何獎項，因為展覽不為習作設獎。

車到橋頭的時候，我們付了錢打發(fā)馬車回去了。河面上漂滿了原木——細長的、沒有樹皮的松樹圓木——我們倚靠在橋欄上，看著人們把這些木頭捆成木筏。這些木筏的形狀和結構都適用于內(nèi)卡河道彎曲和極狹窄的特點。它們的長度由100碼逐漸縮為50碼，由尾部9根原木的寬度縮小到頭部3根的寬度。主要的舵是一根撐篙，安裝在木筏的前部。3根原木的寬度，只能容納一個舵手，因為這些小木材的粗細也不過一名普通婦女的腰圍大小。木筏幾部分的連接是松散的，靈活性也較強，以便隨時變向來適應河流任何水流形式的需要。

內(nèi)卡河的很多地方都非常狹窄，以至于你可以把一只小狗扔到對面。當一些地方水流陡變時，撐筏者就不得不使出幾招絕技，引航變向。河流并不總是淹沒整個河床——河床的寬度達到30碼，有些地方甚至達到40碼——但是石堤把注入其中的水流分隔成三等份，并把主要的水量匯集到中心水道中去。在淺水期，這些整齊的、狹窄的石堤會露出水面四五英寸，就像被淹沒的房屋的屋頂。但在深水期，它們就都會被河水淹沒。在內(nèi)卡河，一帽子的雨水就能使水位上漲，一滿筐的雨水就會使水決堤！

舒勞斯旅館與幾條堤壩走向相同，與它并排的那一段，水流湍急。我時常坐在自己的房間，透過玻璃看那長而狹窄的木筏沿著中心水道，順流而下，擦過堤岸的右側邊緣，小心地對準下游石橋的中孔滑下。我就這樣望著它們，在對什么時候能看到它們撞在橋墩，成為殘骸的憧憬中迷失了自我。然而，我總是失望。一天早晨，有一條木筏粉碎在那里，不過卻是在我剛剛踏進房間去點煙時撞擊的，因此我還是錯過了。

在海爾布隆的那個早晨，當我俯瞰著木筏時，蠻勇的冒險精神突然產(chǎn)生，我對我的同伴們說：“我準備乘木筏去海德堡。你們和我一起去冒險嗎？”

他們的臉色嚇得蒼白，不過還是盡可能優(yōu)雅地表示贊同。哈里斯想給他的母親發(fā)一封電報——認為這是他的職責，因為他是母親在這個世界上唯一的親人——因此，他去發(fā)電報了。與此同時，我跑上那條最長、最好的木筏，熱情地向舵手打招呼道：“嗨，你們好??！”這一問候立刻使氣氛活躍起來，接著我們便進入了正題。我說，我們原本是要徒步旅行到海德堡去的，但現(xiàn)在打算乘坐他們的木筏去那里。我的這些話有一部分是通過蔡德先生翻譯的，他的德語說得很好；另一部分則是通過愛克司先生翻譯的，他的德語說得相當?shù)氐?。我能像發(fā)明它的狂人一樣聽明白德語，不過我要通過翻譯才能把它說好。

木筏上的舵手提提褲子，邊嚼著煙草塊，邊思考，正如我所預料的，他說他沒有運送旅客的執(zhí)照，萬一這件事宣揚出去或者出了什么事故，他就會被追查。于是，我租下了這條木筏，雇了他的舵手，一切責任由我承擔。

伴著一陣激昂的號子聲，右舷的舵手們開始忙活了起來，他們收起纜索，升起筏錨，我們的木筏便飛速地向前游去。很快，時速就達到了20海里。

我們一行人聚集在木筏的中央。起初，大家的談話有些低沉，主要圍繞著短暫且難測的，其間危機重重生命，隨時做好最壞的準備是必需的也是明智的。這種交談漸漸變成低語，內(nèi)容都是些海洋的危險之類的。然而，當灰色的東方出現(xiàn)紅霞，在黎明那神秘的莊嚴和靜寂中傳來小鳥歡快的歌聲時，大家的談話也歡快了許多，我們的情緒也逐漸高昂了起來。

夏日的德國是至善至美的。但是，如果不乘木筏從內(nèi)卡河漂流而下，是不可能理解、感知和享受這種至高的溫柔、平和的美妙的。木筏的漂流是不可或缺的運動，它柔美、順滑、流暢、無聲；它平息一切狂躁的行為；緩和所有不安的倉促和急躁情緒。在其寧靜的影響之下，一切影響情緒的煩惱、悲傷都銷聲匿跡，變成一個夢、一種魅力、一種深深的、寧靜的喜悅。炎熱、辛勞的徒步行走，與塵土飛揚、隆隆行駛的火車，還有在炫目的大道路顛簸的疲憊的馬車，形成了鮮明的對比啊！

帶著不斷高漲的愉悅和滿足感，我們在郁蔥芳香的河岸間靜靜地滑行。有的地方，岸邊倒垂下的濃密柳枝，覆蓋了后面所有的土地；有的地方，河岸一側壯麗的山脈，上面植被豐盈，另一側則是一望無際的平原，開放著鮮艷的罌粟花，或是靛藍恰人的矢車菊。我們時而漂流在森林的陰影之下，時而沿著天鵝絨般柔軟的草地邊緣滑行。那映入眼簾的草地是那么碧綠清新，灼灼明亮，蘊涵著無限的魅力。還有那隨處可見的鳥兒。它們頻繁地穿梭于兩岸之間，鳴起的歡歌不絕于耳。

看日出能令人百般回味且愉悅人心。太陽冉冉升起，耐心地、溫柔地鋪上一層又一層光彩，撥撒著一片又一片壯麗。直到一個新的早晨完整地筑就起來。在木筏上觀賞日出與等候在火車站的候車室中，嚼著干巴巴的三明治，透過窗戶眺望破落的小村莊的感覺有著天壤之別。

實戰(zhàn)提升

Practising & Exercise

導讀

馬克吐溫（Mark Twain），美國作家。本名塞謬爾·朗赫恩·克萊門斯。馬克·吐溫是其筆名。他出生于密西西比河畔小城漢尼拔的一個鄉(xiāng)村貧窮律師家庭。他從小在外拜師學徒，當過排字工人，密西西比河水手、南軍士兵，還經(jīng)營過木材業(yè)、礦業(yè)和出版業(yè)，但有效的工作是當記者和寫幽默文學。馬克·吐溫是美國批判現(xiàn)實主義文學的奠基人，世界著名的短篇小說大師。他經(jīng)歷了美國從“自由”資本主義到帝國主義的發(fā)展過程，其思想和創(chuàng)作也表現(xiàn)為從輕快調(diào)笑到辛辣諷刺再到悲觀厭世的發(fā)展階段。

核心單詞

solemnity [s??lemniti] n. 嚴肅，一本正經(jīng)

perfection [p??fek??n] n. 盡善盡美，完美，完成

vexations [vek?sei??s] adj. 傷腦筋的

foliage [?f?ulii?] n. 樹葉，植物

petrified [?petri?fai] v. 石化，嚇呆

翻譯

We went slipping silently along, between the green and fragrant banks, with a railroad rush, and tedious jolting behind tired horsesover blinding white roads!

How different is this marvel observed from a raft, from what it is when one observes it through the dingy windows of a railway-station in some wretched village while he munches a petrified sandwich and waits for the train.