瓦尔登湖:The Ponds2

　　Sometimes， after staying in a village parlor till the family had all retired， I have returned to the woods， and， partly with a view to the next day's dinner， spent the hours of midnight fishing from a boat by moonlight， serenaded by owls and foxes， and hearing， from time to time， the creaking note of some unknown bird close at hand. These experiences were very memorable and valuable to me ―― anchored in forty feet of water， and twenty or thirty rods from the shore，surrounded sometimes by thousands of small perch and shiners，dimpling the surface with their tails in the moonlight， and communicating by a long flaxen line with mysterious nocturnal fishes which had their dwelling forty feet below， or sometimes dragging sixty feet of line about the pond as I drifted in the gentle night breeze， now and then feeling a slight vibration along it， indicative of some life prowling about its extremity， of dull uncertain blundering purpose there， and slow to make up its mind.  At length you slowly raise， pulling hand over hand， some horned pout squeaking and squirming to the upper air.  It was very queer， especially in dark nights， when your thoughts had wandered to vast and cosmogonal themes in other spheres， to feel this faint jerk， which came to interrupt your dreams and link you to Nature again.  It seemed as if I might next cast my line upward into the air， as well as downward into this element， which was scarcely more dense.  Thus I caught two fishes as it were with one hook.

　　The scenery of Walden is on a humble scale， and， though very beautiful， does not approach to grandeur， nor can it much concern one who has not long frequented it or lived by its shore； yet this pond is so remarkable for its depth and purity as to merit a particular description.  It is a clear and deep green well， half a mile long and a mile and three quarters in circumference， and contains about sixty-one and a half acres； a perennial spring in the midst of pine and oak woods， without any visible inlet or outlet except by the clouds and evaporation.  The surrounding hills rise abruptly from the water to the height of forty to eighty feet，though on the southeast and east they attain to about one hundred and one hundred and fifty feet respectively， within a quarter and a third of a mile.  They are exclusively woodland.  All our Concord waters have two colors at least； one when viewed at a distance， and another， more proper， close at hand.  The first depends more on the light， and follows the sky.  In clear weather， in summer， they appear blue at a little distance， especially if agitated， and at a great distance all appear alike.  In stormy weather they are sometimes of a dark slate-color.  The sea， however， is said to be blue one day and green another without any perceptible change in the atmosphere.  I have seen our river， when， the landscape being covered with snow， both water and ice were almost as green as grass. Some consider blue "to be the color of pure water， whether liquid or solid."  But， looking directly down into our waters from a boat，they are seen to be of very different colors.  Walden is blue at one time and green at another， even from the same point of view.  Lying between the earth and the heavens， it partakes of the color of both. Viewed from a hilltop it reflects the color of the sky； but near at hand it is of a yellowish tint next the shore where you can see the sand， then a light green， which gradually deepens to a uniform dark green in the body of the pond.  In some lights， viewed even from a hilltop， it is of a vivid green next the shore.  Some have referred this to the reflection of the verdure； but it is equally green there against the railroad sandbank， and in the spring， before the leaves are expanded， and it may be simply the result of the prevailing blue mixed with the yellow of the sand.  Such is the color of its iris. This is that portion， also， where in the spring， the ice being warmed by the heat of the sun reflected from the bottom， and also transmitted through the earth， melts first and forms a narrow canal about the still frozen middle.  Like the rest of our waters， when much agitated， in clear weather， so that the surface of the waves may reflect the sky at the right angle， or because there is more light mixed with it， it appears at a little distance of a darker blue than the sky itself； and at such a time， being on its surface，and looking with divided vision， so as to see the reflection， I have discerned a matchless and indescribable light blue， such as watered or changeable silks and sword blades suggest， more cerulean than the sky itself， alternating with the original dark green on the opposite sides of the waves， which last appeared but muddy in comparison.  It is a vitreous greenish blue， as I remember it， like those patches of the winter sky seen through cloud vistas in the west before sundown. Yet a single glass of its water held up to the light is as colorless as an equal quantity of air.  It is well known that a large plate of glass will have a green tint， owing， as the makers say， to its "body，" but a small piece of the same will be colorless.  How large a body of Walden water would be required to reflect a green tint I have never proved.  The water of our river is black or a very dark brown to one looking directly down on it， and， like that of most ponds， imparts to the body of one bathing in it a yellowish tinge；but this water is of such crystalline purity that the body of the bather appears of an alabaster whiteness， still more unnatural，which， as the limbs are magnified and distorted withal， produces a monstrous effect， making fit studies for a Michael Angelo.

　　有时，在村中一个客厅里待到他们一家子都要休息时，我就回到了森林里；那时，多少是为了明天的伙食，我把子夜的时辰消耗在月光之下的垂钓之上，坐在一条船里，听枭鸟和狐狸唱它们的小夜曲，时时我还听到附近的不知名的鸟雀发出尖厉的啸声。这一些经验对我是很值得国忆和很宝贵的，在水深四十英尺的地方抛了锚，离岸约二三杆之远，有时大约有几千条小鲈鱼和银鱼围绕着我，它们的尾巴给月光下的水面点出了无数的水涡；用了一根细长的麻绳，我和生活在四十英尺深的水底的一些神秘的夜间的鱼打交道了，有时我拖着长六十英尺的钓丝，听凭柔和的夜风把我的船儿在湖上漂荡，我时不时地感到了微弱的震动，说明有一个生命在钓丝的那一端徘徊，却又愚蠢地不能确定它对这盲目撞上的东西怎样办，还没有完全下决心呢。到后来，你一手又一手，慢慢地拉起钓丝，而一些长角的鳘鱼一边发出咯吱咯吱的声音，一边扭动着身子，给拉到了空中。特别在黑暗的夜间，当你的思想驰骋在广大宇宙的主题上的时候，而你却感到这微弱的震动，打断了你的梦想，又把你和大自然联结了起来，这是很奇怪的。我仿佛会接着把钓丝往上甩，甩到天空里去，正如我同时把钓丝垂人这密度未必更大的水的元素中去的情况一样。这样我像是用一只钓钩而捉住了两条鱼。

　　瓦尔登的风景是卑微的，虽然很美，却并不是宏伟的，不常去游玩的人，不住在它岸边的人未必能被它吸引住：但是这一个湖以深邃和清澈著称，值得给予突出的描写。

　　这是一个明亮的深绿色的湖，半英里长，圆周约一英里又四分之三，面积约六十一英亩半；它是松树和橡树林中央的岁月悠久的老湖，除了雨和蒸发之外，还没有别的来龙去脉可寻。四周的山峰突然地从水上升起，到四十至八十英尺的高度，但在东南面高到一百英尺，而东边更高到一百五十英尺，其距离湖岸，不过四分之一英里及三分之一英里。

　　山上全部都是森林。所有我们康科德地方的水波，至少有两种颜色，一种是站在远处望见的，另一种，更接近本来的颜色，是站在近处看见的。第一种更多地靠的是光，根据天色变化。在天气好的夏季里，从稍远的地方望去，它呈现了蔚蓝颜色，特别在水波荡漾的时候，但从很远的地方望去，却是一片深蓝。在风暴的天气下，有时它呈现出深石板色。海水的颜色则不然，据说它这天是蓝色的，另一天却又是绿色了，尽管天气连些微的可感知的变化也没有。我们这里的水系中，我看到当白雪覆盖这一片风景时，水和冰几乎都是草绿色的。有人认为，蓝色“乃是纯洁的水的颜色，无论那是流动的水，或凝结的水”。可是，直接从一条船上俯看近处湖水，它又有着非常之不同的色彩。甚至从同一个观察点，看瓦尔登是这会儿蓝，那忽儿绿。置身于天地之间，它分担了这两者的色素。从山顶上看，它反映天空的颜色，可是走近了看，在你能看到近岸的细砂的地方，水色先是黄澄澄的，然后是淡绿色的了，然后逐渐地加深起来，直到水波一律地呈现了全湖一致的深绿色。却在有些时候的光线下，便是从一个山顶望去，靠近湖岸的水色也是碧绿得异常生动的。有人说，这是绿原的反映；可是在铁路轨道这儿的黄沙地带的衬托下，也同样是碧绿的，而且，在春天，树叶还没有长大，这也许是太空中的蔚蓝，调和了黄沙以后形成的一个单纯的效果。这是它的虹色彩圈的色素。也是在这一个地方，春天一来，冰块给水底反射上来的太阳的热量，也给土地中传播的太阳的热量溶解了，这里首先溶解成一条狭窄的运河的样子，而中间还是冻冰。在晴朗的气候中，像我们其余的水波，激湍地流动时，波平面是在九十度的直角度里反映了天空的，或者因为太光亮了，从较远处望去，它比天空更蓝些；而在这种时候，泛舟湖上，四处眺望倒影，我发现了一种无可比拟、不能描述的淡蓝色，像浸水的或变色的丝绸，还像青锋宝剑，比之天空还更接近天蓝色，它和那波光的另一面原来的深绿色轮番地闪现，那深绿色与之相比便似乎很混浊了。这是一个玻璃似的带绿色的蓝色，照我所能记忆的，它仿佛是冬天里，日落以前，西方乌云中露出的一角晴天。可是你举起一玻璃杯水，放在空中看，它却毫无颜色，如同装了同样数量的一杯空气一样。众所周知，一大块厚玻璃板便呈现了微绿的颜色，据制造玻璃的人说，那是“体积”的关系，同样的玻璃，少了就不会有颜色了。瓦尔登湖应该有多少的水量才能泛出这样的绿色呢，我从来都无法证明。一个直接朝下望着我们的水色的人所见到的是黑的，或深棕色的，一个到河水中游泳的人，河水像所有的湖一样，会给他染上一种黄颜色；但是这个湖水却是这样地纯洁，游泳者会白得像大理石一样，而更奇怪的是，在这水中四肢给放大了，并且给扭曲了，形态非常夸张，值得让米开朗琪罗来作一番研究。

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