威廉·黑尔·怀特(William Hale White)
It was a day by itself, coming after a fortnight's storm and rain.The sun did not shine clearly, but it spread through the clouds a tender, diffused light, crossed by level cloud-bars, which stretched to a great length, quite parallel. The tints in the sky were wonderful, every conceivable shade of blue-grey, which contrived to modulate into the golden brilliance in which the sun was veiled. I went out in the afternoon.It was too early in the year for a heavy fall of leaves, but nevertheless the garden was covered. They were washed to the sides of the roads, and lay heaped up over the road-gratings, masses of gorgeous harmonies in red, brown, and yellow. The chestnuts and acorns dropped in showers, and the patter on the gravel was a little weird . The chestnut husks split wide open when they came to the ground, revealing the polished brown of the shy fruit.
The lavish, drenching downpour in extravagant excess had been glorious. I went down to the bridge to look at the floods. The valley was a great lake, reaching to the big trees in the fields which had not yet lost the fire in their branches. The river-channel could be discerned only by the boiling of the current. It has risen above the crown of the main stone arch, and swirled and plunged underneath it. A furious backwater, repulsed from the smaller arch, aided the tumult. The wind had gone and there was perfect silence, save for the agitation of the stream, but a few steps upwards the gentle tinkle of the little runnels could be heard in their deeply-cut, dark, and narrow channels. In a few minutes they were caught up, rejoicing, in the embrace of the deep river which would carry them with it to the sea.They were safe now from being lost in the earth.
I went a little further up the hill:a flock of about fifty sheep grazing on the grass, birds flying here and there, up and down, singing their merry song. There is enough in a very common object to satisfy all our hunger — more than enough. I never leave the curve which limits the tops of the trees round that field without feeling that there is in it something which I cannot exhaust. The attraction is not the same as that of the “view” seen in passing. The “view” of a mountain peak or a waterfall is a surprise. I stay along with my field for an hour or two and it begets, in addition to a growing sense of loveliness, a religious peace, victorious over trouble and doubt.
- modulate [ˈmɒdjʊleɪt] v. 调整，调节
- gorgeous [ˈɡɔːdʒəs] a. 灿烂的，极好的
- acorn [ˈeɪkɔːn] n. 橡树果实
- weird [wɪəd] a. 超自然的，神秘的
- downpour [ˈdaʊnpɔː] n. 倾盆大雨
一夜的暴风雨过后进入白天，太阳透过柔和的云层，渗透出光来，光柱平等四射，万里长空，五彩斑斓，好看极了。天空中的色彩美轮美奂，各种浓淡不同的蓝灰色，变幻多姿，融进遮天蔽日的一片金光之中。下午我出去看看，一年当中此时还不应当有那么多落叶，可花园里已落叶满地。落叶被水冲到路边，堆在路边拦挡的地方，一堆堆非常协调好看的红色、棕色、黄色的落叶。板栗和橡果纷纷落下，落在砾石上的啪哒声，带着点神秘感。板栗落在地上，外壳裂开了，露出光滑的含羞般的棕色果实。
豪雨如注，铺天盖地，蔚为壮观。我下到桥上观洪水。河谷成了大湖，水漫到田野的大树前，这些树还有火红的树叶留在树枝上面。识别河床只有看翻滚的湍流。河水涨到了主石拱门的顶部，在拱门下面汹涌着，横冲直撞。从较小的拱门击回的狂怒的逆流，更使洪水喧闹肆虐。风止了，沉寂一片，唯有水流的激越响声。但是向上走几步，可以听到一条小水沟在又深又黑的狭窄河床里发出轻柔的叮咚声，几分钟后就被水卷走冲入大河，欢快地流向大海。此刻，它们融入了大地、安然回家了。
我漫步往小山上走了一小段，举目四望，但见一群五十只左右的羊在吃草，鸟儿飞来飞去，忽上忽下，欢快地鸣唱着。这里，每一个普通的景物都足以满足我们的渴望——绰绰有余。每当我注目环抱田野四周的树木顶端的弧线时，都不禁感到那里有我享受不尽的东西。这种吸引力不同于路过时偶然所见“景色”的吸引力。山峰或瀑布的“景色”给人的是惊奇。我在这里待一两个小时，除了不断增强的愉悦感，还产生了宗教般的平静感，战胜烦恼疑虑的胜利感。
威廉·黑尔·怀特(1831—1913)，英国作家，出生于贝德福德。作品有《马克·路斯福德自传》(The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford ，1881)，《马克·路斯福德的解脱》(Mark Rutherford's Deliverance ，1885)等。