雅思课外读物--The Man to Send Rain Clouds（英汉对照）

2016年06月23日14:10 来源：互联网

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【导读】莱斯利·马蒙·西尔科(1948-)，美国印第安裔女作家，位列“美国印第安文学四大家”。作为与N·斯科特·莫马戴(N. Scott Momaday, 1934—)、杰拉尔德·维兹诺(Gerald Vizenor, 1934—)和詹姆斯·威尔奇(James Welch, 1940—)齐名的“四大家”中唯一的女性，西尔科凭借其散发强烈印第安民族意识和印第安文化底蕴的杰作在美国文坛享有不容忽视的地位。

They found him under a big cottonwood tree1. His Levis jacket and pants were faded light-blue so that he had been easy to find. The big cottonwood tree stood apart from a small grove of winterbare cottonwoods which grew in the wide, sandy, arroyo2. He had been dead for a day or more, and the sheep had wandered and scattered up and down the arroyo. Leon and his brother-in-law, Ken, gathered the sheep and left them in the pen at the sheep camp before they returned to the cottonwood tree. Leon waited under the tree while Ken drove the truck through the deep sand to the edge of the arroyo. He squinted up at the sun and unzipped his jacket. It sure was hot for this time of year. But high and northwest the blue mountains were still deep in snow. Ken came sliding down the low, crumbling bank about fifty yards down, and he was bringing the red blanket.

他们在一棵高大的棉白杨树下找到了他。他身上的 “李维斯”牌夹克衫和牛仔裤已褪成浅蓝，因此找到他并不难。大棉白杨的旁边，是一小片冬天落叶的棉白杨树林，长在那条宽阔多沙的河谷中。他已死去一两天了，羊群乱跑，游散在河谷的上上下下。里昂和姐夫肯恩把羊群赶到一块，关进牧羊营的羊圈，然后回到那棵大棉白杨树。里昂在树下等，肯恩开着卡车驶过厚厚的沙土，一直到河谷边缘。他眯眼看看太阳，拉开夹克的拉链。就这个时节而言，天气可真够暖和的了，而在西北边的高处，蓝色群山仍有厚厚的积雪。下边大约五十码处，肯恩沿着低矮坍塌的河岸慢悠悠开过来，他带来了那张红色毛毯。

[2] Before they wrapped the old man, Leon took a piece of string out of his pocket and tied a small gray feather in the old man's long white hair. Ken gave him the paint. Across the brown wrinkled forehead he drew a streak of white and along the high cheekbones he drew a strip of blue paint. He paused and watched Ken throw pinches of corn meal and pollen into the wind that fluttered the small gray feather. Then Leon painted with yellow under the old man's broad nose, and finally, when he had painted green across the chin, he smiled.

他俩把老人裹起来之前，里昂从口袋里掏出一段细绳，将一小根灰羽毛系在老人长长的白发中。肯恩把油彩递给他。在老人皱纹密布的棕色前额上，他画了一道白线，然后在老人高高的颧骨上，他画了一条蓝线。他停下来，看着肯恩将一撮撮玉米面和花粉抛向风中，那根小小的灰色羽毛随风颤动。接着，里昂又在老人宽大的鼻子下涂了黄色，最后，当给老人的下颌涂上绿色时，他笑了笑。

[3] "Send us rain clouds, Grandfather." They laid the bundle in the back of the pickup3 and covered it with a heavy tarp before they started back to the pueblo4.

“爷爷，求您给我们送来雨云吧!”他们将尸裹放在卡车后面，盖上一块厚重的油布，然后，他们发动卡车，返回村庄。

[4] They turned off the highway onto the sandy Pueblo road. Not long after they passed the store and post office they saw Father Paul's car coming toward them. When he recognized their faces he slowed his car and waved for them to stop. The young priest rolled down the car window.

下了公路，他们拐上村庄的沙路。经过商店和邮局不一会儿，他们看见神父保罗的车迎面驶来。认出他们后，他放慢车速，招手示意他们停下。年轻的牧师摇下车窗。

[5] "Did you find old Teofilo?" he asked loudly.

Leon stopped the truck. "Good morning, Father. We were just out to the sheep camp. Everything is O.K. now."

"Thank God for that. Teofilo is a very old man. You really shouldn't allow him to stay at the sheep camp alone."

"No, he won't do that any more now."

"Well, I'm glad you understand. I hope I'll be seeing you at Mass this week. We missed you last Sunday. See if you can get old Teofilo to come with you." The priest smiled and waved at them as they drove away.

“你们找到老泰奥菲洛了吗?”他大声问道。

里昂停下卡车。“早上好，神父。我们刚去过牧羊营，现在一切正常了!”

“好，感谢上帝!泰奥菲洛年事已高，你们真不该让他一个人待在牧羊营。”

“对，他现在再也不会那样啦!”

“恩，你们明白了，我很高兴。我希望这周弥撒能见着你们。上周日你们可没去。看你们能否带老泰奥菲洛一块儿去。”神父笑着冲他们挥挥手，他们开车离去。

[6] Louise and Teresa were waiting. The table was set for lunch, and the coffee was boiling on the black iron stove. Leon looked at Louise and then at Teresa.

"We found him under a cottonwood tree in the big arroyo near sheep camp. I guess he sat down to rest in the shade and never got up again." Leon walked toward the old man's bed.

露易丝和特蕾萨在等他们。午餐桌已备好，黑铁炉上正煮着咖啡。里昂看看露易丝，又看看特蕾萨。

“我们在一棵棉白杨树下找到他，牧羊营附近的那条大河谷里。估计他是想坐在树荫下休息会儿，但再也没能站起来。”里昂朝老人的床铺走去。

[7] The red plaid shawl had been shaken and spread carefully over the bed, and a new brown flannel shirt and pair of stiff new Levis were arranged neatly beside the pillow. Louise held the screen door open while Leon and Ken carried in the red blanket. He looked small and shriveled, and after they dressed him in the new shirt and pants he seemed more shrunken.

那条抖过的红色方格布披巾平整地铺在床上，枕边整齐地摆放着一件新棕色法兰绒衬衫和一条笔挺的“李维斯”牌牛仔裤。露易丝把纱门开着，里昂和肯恩将红毯抬进屋内。泰奥菲洛看上去瘦小而干瘪，待他们给他换上新衣新裤后，他似乎愈加瘦瘠了。

[8] It was noontime now because the church bells rang the Angelus5. They ate the beans with hot bread, and nobody said anything until after Teresa poured the coffee.

Ken stood up and put on his jacket.

"I'll see about the gravediggers. Only the top layer of soil is frozen. I think it can be ready before dark."

Leon nodded his head and finished his coffee. After Ken had been gone for a while, the neighbors and clans people came quietly to embrace Teofilo's family and to leave food on the table because the gravediggers would come to eat when they were finished.

教堂的祈祷钟响了起来，时间已到正午。他们吃着豆子和热面包，没有人说话，直到特蕾萨给大家沏上咖啡。

肯恩站起来，穿上夹克。

“我去找挖墓的人。土只是上层结冰。我想天黑前就可以挖好了。”

里昂点点头，喝完咖啡。肯恩走后一会儿，左邻右舍和族人默默前来，拥抱泰奥菲洛的家人，他们在桌上留下吃的，因为挖墓的人完事后要过来吃饭。

[9] The sky in the west was full of pale-yellow light. Louise stood outside with her hands in the pockets of Leon's green army jacket that was too big for her. The funeral was over, and the old men had taken their candles and medicine bags and were gone. She waited until the body was laid into the pickup before she said anything to Leon. She touched his arm, and he noticed that her hands were still dusty from the corn meal that she had sprinkled around the old man.

西边的天空泛满了淡黄的亮光。露易丝站在屋外，身着里昂的绿色军大衣(那衣服对她来说实在过于肥大)，手插在大衣口袋里。葬礼已经结束，老人们带上他们的蜡烛和药袋，回去了。她一直等到遗体放进卡车后，才和里昂说话。她碰了碰里昂的手臂，里昂注意到，她之前在老人遗体周围撒玉米面，现在双手仍沾着粉末。

[10]When she spoke, Leon could not hear her.

"What did you say? I didn't hear you."

"I said that I had been thinking about something."

"About what?"

"About the priest sprinkling holy water for Grandpa. So he won't be thirsty."

她开口说话的时候，里昂都听不清。

“你说什么?我没听清。”

“我说，我一直在想……”

“想什么?”

“我在想，请那牧师来给爷爷洒圣水，这样他就不会口渴了。”

[11] Leon stared at the new moccasins that Teofilo had made for the ceremonial dances in the summer. They were nearly hidden by the red blanket. It was getting colder, and the wind pushed gray dust down the narrow pueblo road. The sun was approaching the long mesa where it disappeared during the winter. Louise stood there shivering and watching his face. Then he zipped up his jacket and opened the truck door. "I'll see if he's there."

里昂紧盯着泰奥菲洛脚上那双新鹿皮鞋，那是他为夏天庆典舞会专门制作的。鹿皮鞋几乎被红毯子完全遮住。天气越发凉了，冷风卷起狭窄的村庄小道上的灰土。太阳正缓缓靠近那座长长的平顶山(冬天，太阳就在那儿下山)。露易丝站在那里，周身发抖，盯着里昂的脸。过了一会，里昂拉上夹克拉链，打开车门。“我去瞧瞧，他在不在。”

[12] Ken stopped the pickup at the church, and Leon got out; and then Ken drove down the hill to the graveyard where people were waiting. Leon knocked at the old carved door with its symbols of the Lamb. While he waited he looked up at the twin bells from the king of Spain with the last sunlight pouring around them in their tower.

肯恩在教堂将卡车停住，里昂下了车;之后肯恩沿山而下，直开到墓地，人们在那儿等着。里昂敲了敲那扇古老的、刻着各种羔羊图标的大门。他一边等人开门，一边抬头打量西班牙国王赠送的那对鸣钟，此刻，它们静待楼塔，任落日余晖洒在身上。

（转第二页）