Endurance by Duanmu Hongliang

作品原文

端木蕻良 《耐力》

鸽子,在天空飞着。人们把鸽哨拴在它的腿上,从天空里,便飞来悠扬的哨响。

天是晴朗的,只有一两片白云。鸽子在空中盘旋。鸽子的翻腾,从哨子发声的波折中,也可以听出来。

鸽子一群一群地飞着,在罗马的古堡上空飞着,当但丁第一次和碧蒂利采相遇的时候,鸽子就在那儿飞着。

鸽子在天安门前飞着,在北京城刚刚建造起来的时候,它们就在这儿飞着。

鸽子有凤头的,有黑翅的,有纯白的,还有带芝麻点儿的。但,翅膀都同样的矫健。

鸽子的眼睛,透着爱的光。它会把食物用嘴吐出来喂养小鸽子。据说鸽子老了,它孵养的鸽子,也会来喂养它……

鸽子的翅膀,没有海鸥那么长,也没有鹞子那么大,更没有鹰那么会在高空中滑翔……但它的翅膀却比它们的都强……

鸽子是喜欢群居的,但也能单独飞行,在它完成最远的行程的时候,常常是在单独的情况下做到的。

在这个远程的飞行里,它几乎是没有东西吃,也没有水喝,就是不停地飞。不达到目的地不停止。鸽子横渡海洋,白天和黑夜都不停地飞行。在海面上没有什么可吃的,海水也是不能喝的,半途也没有地方歇息,要是有岩石的地方,那已是到了海的那一边了……

骆驼能征服沙漠,鸽子能征服天空……

骆驼不会像马那样奔驰,鸽子也不像海燕那样遨游。但鸽子和骆驼相比,同样都有耐力。它们的耐力是坚强的,漫卷的黄沙和凶猛的台风在它们面前,都为之失色……

它们的耐力,使它们总是能到达它们要去的地方,在沙漠里几乎找不到中途倒在沙里的骆驼,在海洋里,也看不到中途跌落的鸽子。

骆驼和鸽子,同样没有剑拔弩张的样子,它们的眼睛都含着羞怯的光。但是它们的眼睛,从不被沙子迷住,也从不怕狂风的吹打……

骆驼的峰就是一座拱桥,它沟通了东方和西方的文化,驼铃是最可靠的信使,最动人的信息……

鸽子是最忠诚的,它能把军事机密准确无误地带到指挥员的手中……

鸽哨又在我的头上响起来了,我听到它,并不感到它的声音不大,而是觉得整个天空都在它的声音里变小了……

英文译文

Endurance
Duanmu Hongliang

The pigeon flies high. Peopletie a whistle to its leg so that they can enjoy the sweet sound coming from theair.

Whenthe pigeon circles in the clear blue sky with a speck or two of white cloud,the rises and falls of the whistling sound are indicative of the aerialsomersaults performed by the bird.

Pigeonsfly in flocks. They hover over the ancient castles in Rome. In fact, they havebeen hovering over them ever since Dante first met Beatrice.

Theywheel over Tian’anmen Square. In fact, they have been wheeling over it eversince the birth of the City of Beijing.

Somepigeons have a head shaped like that of a phoenix. Their wings are eitherblack, white, or speckled, and invariably strong and vigorous.

Theireyes glisten with love. They use their mouths to pass food to their nestlings.It is said that when the pigeon grows old, it will be fed in the same manner bythe adult pigeons it has hatched and reared.

Thepigeon’s wings are shorter than those of the seagull, smaller than those of thesparrow hawk and less capable of gliding in the air than those of the eagle,but, nevertheless, stronger than all…

Thepigeon is a social bird, but it also flies by itself. It often covers enormousdistances on its own.

Ithas practically nothing to eat or drink while flying long distances non-stopday and night. While in flight over the sea, it finds nothing edible ordrinkable, nor a place for taking a rest until a rocky spot is in sight, whichmeans it is nearing the other side of the sea…

Thecamel conquers the desert while the pigeon conquers the air.

Thecamel cannot run as fast as the horse, the pigeon cannot fly with as muchagility as the petrel. But both camel and pigeon are hardy. Their endurance issuch as to put to shame both the raging sandstorm and the violent typhoon.

Theirgreat endurance enables them to get to any place they want to. Almost no camelsuccumbs to difficulties in the midst of a desert and almost no pigeon fallsdead while halfway over the sea.

Bothcamel and pigeon are very gentle, with eyes always twinkling timidly. But theynever cringe from a blinding dust storm or a furious tempest…

Thecamel’s hump symbolizes an arch bridge linking up the cultures of East andWest. Armed with a jingling bell, it is a most reliable courier delivering mostexciting message…

Thepigeon is a most trustworthy messenger. It does the work of delivering secretintelligence to military commander with unerring accuracy.

Thepigeon whistle is ringing again overhead. To me, however, the whole firmamentseems to pale into insignificance in comparison with the small sound.

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