雙語散文:飄過童年的雪(下) Snowfall in Childhood

I headed for the school, jumping like a clumsy rabbit in and out of snowbanks. It seemed wrong to spoil the smooth outlines of these snowdrifts and I hoped that nobody else would pass this way after me. In that case the thick falling snow would soon restore the damage. Reassured by this hope I continued on my devastations like some wanton explorer. I began to feel that no one would dare the dangers of a snowstorm. I stopped worrying altogether about the marring of the new and glowing world. Other snows had melted and been shoveled away, but this snow would never disappear. The sun would never shine again and the little Wisconsin town through which I plunged and tumbled to school on this dark storm-filled morning was from now on an arctic land full of danger and adventure.

我直奔學校，像一隻笨拙的兔子，在雪堆間跳上跳下。這樣做好像是不對的，會破壞這些雪堆流暢的線條，我希望後面不會有別人也走這條路，好讓大雪很快就能把我造成的破壞掩蓋起來。想到這裏我放下心來，像一個莽撞的探險家，繼續大肆破壞。我開始想，哪會有人敢冒暴風雪的危險。因此我完全不再擔心這個閃亮的新世界會遭受破壞。其他的雪已經融化，被鏟走，但這次的雪永遠不會消失，太陽永遠不會再閃耀。在這個漆黑一片、颳着暴風雪的清晨，我跌跌撞撞地朝學校奔去。我穿過的這座地處威斯康星州的小鎮，從現在開始變成了一塊充滿了危險和奇遇的極地。

When eventually, encased in snow, I arrived at the school, I found scores of white-covered figures already there. The girls had taken shelter inside, but the boys stayed in the storm. They jumped in and out of the snowdrifts and tumbled through the deep unbroken white fields in front of the school.

最終到達學校的時候，我已經被雪裹得嚴嚴實實。我發現那兒已經有許多白色的人影了。女孩子已經躲進屋裏，男孩子卻呆在風雪裏頭。他們在學校門前的雪堆裏蹦上跳下，在尚未破壞的深深的白色雪原裏打滾。

When we were finally seated in our classroom, we continued to watch the snowstorm through the windows. The morning had grown darker as we had all hoped it would, and it was necessary to turn on the electric lights in the room. This was almost as thrilling as the pale storm still floating outside the windows. In this yellow light the school seemed to disappear and in its place a picnic spread around us. The teachers themselves seemed to change. Their eyes kept turning toward the windows and they kept looking at us behind our desks as if we were strangers. We grew excited and even the sound of our lessons—the sentences out of geography and arithmetic books—made us tremble. My eagerness to get out into the world of wind, gloom, and perpetual snow, kept lifting me out of my seat.

我們最後在教室裏坐下來的時候，還在看窗外的風雪。這個早晨像大家希望的一樣天色愈加昏暗，非得要打開教室裏的電燈不可。這幾乎跟窗外還在飄灑的白茫茫的暴風雪一樣讓我們興奮。在昏黃的燈光裏，學校似乎消失了，大家彷彿在原地搞起了野餐。老師好像也變了，他們不時把眼光投向窗外，還從我們的課桌後一直觀察我們，就好像原本不認識我們一樣。我們越來越興奮，連我們上的課——地理和算術課本上的句子聽起來都讓我們激動。我渴望衝到外面這個陰暗的、颳着風、永遠在下雪的世界，這種渴望總是讓我躍躍欲試。

At three o’clock we rushed into the storm. Our screams died as we reached the school entrance. What we saw silenced us. Under the dark sky the street lay piled in an unbroken bank of snow. And above it the snowfall still hung in a thick and moving cloud. Nothing was visible but snow. Everything else had disappeared. Even the sky was gone.

到了三點鐘，我們直衝進風雪裏。當我們來到學校大門時，尖叫聲消失了。眼前的一切把我們震住了。在陰暗的天空之下，那一層層的街道都鋪上了不見一絲褶皺的雪被。雪被之上，大雪還在不停地下着，如同一團移動的濃雲。除了雪，什麼都看不見。除了雪，一切都消失了。就連天空也不見影蹤。

I plunged into the storm and vanished fearlessly into it. After an hour I found myself alone. My legs were tired with jumping and my face burned. It had grown darker and the friendliness seemed to have gone out of the storm. The wind bit with a sharper edge and I turned toward my home.

我不顧一切地一頭扎進風雪裏，消失在衆人的視野中。過了一個小時，我發現只有我一個人了。我的雙腿蹦得累極了，臉也凍得火辣辣的。天色越來越暗，風雪也似乎不再友善。風颳如刀割，我開始掉頭回家。

I arrived at the house that now looked like a snowdrift and ploughed my way up to its front door. My heart was beating violently. I stopped to take a last look at the storm. It was hard to leave it. But for the first time in my life an adult logic instructed me. There would be even more snow tomorrow. And in this wind and snow-filled gloom, and even in the marvelously buried street, there was something now unplayful.

我一路艱難跋涉回家，走到大門前。房子現在看起來就像一個雪堆。我的心還在激烈地跳動。我停下來最後看了一眼這風雪，戀戀不捨。不過我還是平生第一次信服了成年人的邏輯：明天的雪會更大呢，而且在這樣風雪交加的陰暗天氣裏，即使在那被大雪神奇地掩蓋着的街道上，有些東西現在也沒什麼好玩的。