雙語(yǔ)|現(xiàn)代散文:何為 生命

Life 生命

◎ He Wei ◎ 何為

There are various ways of returning to nature，but people generally respect the last wish made by their parents towards their journey's end．A friend of mine incidentally related to me the following occurrence which，like a little story，is very touching：

如果回歸自然，各有不同的方式，后人總是尊重前輩的人生最后一次選擇。一位朋友偶然講起一件事，有如一篇小小說(shuō)，聽(tīng)者動(dòng)容。

In a newly opened-up forest，a quietly dressed woman walked all by herself on a winding path straight towards one of the trees．There were many trees of varying sizes，and some had just been transplanted，but all were shooting up fast，standing straight and stout and covered with light green young leaves．Evidently，some people had been put in charge of these memorial trees.

在新開(kāi)發(fā)的叢林里，一條蜿蜒的小徑上，一個(gè)衣著素色的女人踽踽獨(dú)行，徑直走向林子里的一棵樹(shù)。這里許多樹(shù)大小參差不一，有的移植不久，不過(guò)都長(zhǎng)得很快。在一個(gè)時(shí)期內(nèi)，都挺直有神。新生的樹(shù)葉嫩綠有生機(jī)。當(dāng)然，有人專(zhuān)門(mén)護(hù)理這些紀(jì)念樹(shù)。

As she had been doing for we don't know how many years，the woman stood silently beside the tree with a bunch of fresh flowers in her hand．She raised her head to fix her eyes on the tree and kept moving her unique small lips as if she were soliloquizing or sharing her innermost feelings with someone．She took a step back to assess how much the tree had grown in height and softly removed the mottled fallen leaves under it．She bent forward to hug and kiss the tree that had been transplanted many years before，and gently stroked its wrinkled bark as if it were something alive．Then she reluctantly turned round and left，vanishing into the last rays of an autumn day in the deepening dusk.

不知多少年，這個(gè)女人總是帶著一束鮮花默默地置于樹(shù)根旁，然后仰起頭來(lái)，對(duì)著樹(shù)身凝視，翕動(dòng)著她獨(dú)有的小小嘴唇，既像獨(dú)語(yǔ)，又像傾訴。她退后一步，打量她這樹(shù)高了多少，細(xì)心地除去樹(shù)下斑斑駁駁的落葉，向這棵移植多年的樹(shù)傾身?yè)肀?，親了一下，輕輕摩挲樹(shù)皮的皺紋，如同面對(duì)一個(gè)有生命的軀體。不久，她依依不舍地轉(zhuǎn)身離去，消失在暮色漸濃的秋天最后一抹余暉里。

At a sudden gust of the autumn wind，the tree rustled like it was whispering secretly and the woman，being the only person capable of understanding the full implications of the whisper，immediately turned round．Then，after mumbling a few words to the tree，she said goodbye to it and set out on her way home with tears in her eyes.

一陣秋風(fēng)吹過(guò)，樹(shù)葉沙沙地響動(dòng)，仿佛隱秘的私語(yǔ)。女人頓時(shí)回過(guò)身來(lái)，惟有她才能聽(tīng)懂私語(yǔ)的全部含意。于是喃喃自語(yǔ)向大樹(shù)告訴。含著淚，走向她的歸途。

As the years went by，the woman，a regular solitary visitor on the path，became older and older.

年復(fù)一年，小徑上的女人孤獨(dú)的背影，顯得越來(lái)越蒼老了。

Several years later，the tree became even taller and was crowned with verdant foliage．It stood erect and became more and more luxuriantly green in the wind．It looked up at the firmament to watch the motions of the sun，moon and stars and thus merged itself with Mother Nature.

若干年后，這棵樹(shù)長(zhǎng)得更高大了，樹(shù)冠綴滿蔥蘢的樹(shù)葉。它屹立在這片土地上，風(fēng)吹來(lái)，滿樹(shù)充滿生命的綠色更繁茂了。它對(duì)著蒼穹，仰望太陽(yáng)、月亮和星星的運(yùn)行，與大自然親密無(wú)間連成一片。

Another period of time afterwards，there appeared close to it a newly transplanted small tree．It was robust and quiet．With the passage of time，the roots of the two trees had become twined together．They each had a delicate small wooden cinerary casket buried underneath them．The ashes in the caskets had gradually turned into organic fertilizer passing into the trees trunks by way of the roots．The two elderly persons had successively chosen the same way of returning to nature so as to have life prolonged in the bosom of nature．Each tender leaf in the trees was pregnant with green hope.

又過(guò)了些時(shí)候，靠近大樹(shù)旁出現(xiàn)了一棵新移植的小樹(shù)。小樹(shù)很壯碩，也很安靜。隨著歲月遞增，年長(zhǎng)日久，大樹(shù)和小樹(shù)埋在泥土下的根莖錯(cuò)節(jié)，相互交織。兩棵樹(shù)下各埋著一個(gè)精致的小木盒，木盒里的骨灰，逐漸化為樹(shù)根下的有機(jī)肥，融入樹(shù)身內(nèi)。兩個(gè)老者相繼以這樣的方式回歸自然，在大自然的懷抱中，生命得以延續(xù)。樹(shù)上每一片小綠葉都孕含著綠色的希望。

It's a true story．It's a poem singing the praises of tree burial．No need to identify the two elderly people though．It could be any person.

這是真的，是一首歌頌樹(shù)葬的詩(shī)篇。不用問(wèn)他們是誰(shuí)，是誰(shuí)，就是誰(shuí)。

何為，散文家，原名何振業(yè)，浙江定海人。二十世紀(jì)四十年代初先后就讀于上海大同大學(xué)和圣約翰大學(xué)，1937年開(kāi)始發(fā)表文學(xué)作品，在上海歷任報(bào)紙記者、刊物編輯和電影文學(xué)編輯。1959年調(diào)至福建電影制片廠任故事片編輯負(fù)責(zé)人，1964年轉(zhuǎn)任福建省作家協(xié)會(huì)專(zhuān)業(yè)作家?，F(xiàn)為中國(guó)作家協(xié)會(huì)全國(guó)委員會(huì)名譽(yù)會(huì)員。何為的散文以其獨(dú)特的情節(jié)著稱。《生命》一文是新作，選自他2003年出版的散文集《近景與遠(yuǎn)景》。文章短雋有味，意境清新，富有詩(shī)情與哲理。