The Chrysanthemums 菊花--約翰?斯坦貝克（1）

Elisa is a young married lady working on an isolated farm and proud of her skills in growing flowers. One day, she suddenly feels a desire to communicate with the outside world. What happens to her? Please read the following story.

年輕媳婦伊利莎住在一家偏僻的農(nóng)場，一手高超的種花技能令她自豪。一天，她突然有了與外界交流的愿望。有什么故事發(fā)生呢?請您往下看。

The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot. On the broad, level land floor the gang plows bit deep and left the black earth shining like metal where the shares had cut. On the foothill ranches across the Salinas River, the yellow stubble fields seemed to be bathed in pale cold sunshine, but there was no sunshine in the valley now in December. The thick willow scrub along the river flamed with sharp and positive yellow leaves.

飄蕩在半空中的冬霧呈現(xiàn)出灰法蘭絨色，將薩利納斯山谷嚴(yán)實地罩了起來;同時也把它與外界分隔開。霧氣鎖著山頭，四面象頂蓋子，而山谷則成了一口蓋得嚴(yán)嚴(yán)實實的深鍋。農(nóng)民在寬闊平坦的土地上深耕，犁鏵過處，黑色的土地閃著金屬的光澤。在橫臥薩利納斯河的丘陵地上，農(nóng)場里的茬地泛著黃色，象是沐浴在冷冷的蒼白日光下;不過，現(xiàn)在時至臘月，山谷里沒什么陽光。河邊上密密麻麻的柳叢上的黃葉顏色鮮濃，象著了火似的。

It was a time of quiet and of waiting. The air was cold and tender. A light wind blew up from the southwest so that the farmers were mildly hopeful of a good rain before long; but fog and rain do not go together.

這是一個安靜，叫人等待的季節(jié)?？諝鉀鰶龅?，柔柔的。從西南方向吹來一陣輕風(fēng)，農(nóng)民們隱隱地感到不久會有一場及時雨，但雨和霧是不 一起來的。

Across the river, on Henry Allen's foothill ranch there was little work to be done, for the hay was cut and stored and the orchards were plowed up to receive the rain deeply when it should come. The cattle on the higher slopes were becoming shaggy and rough-coated.

河對岸亨利•埃倫家位于丘陵上的農(nóng)場里已經(jīng)沒什么活計了：干草都收割過并存放了起來，果園業(yè)已深翻過，好等到有雨的時候澆個透底墑。高處山坡上的牛變得毛皮雜亂粗糙。

Elisa Allen, working in her flower garden, looked down across the yard and saw Henry, her husband, talking to two men in business suits. The three of them stood by the tractor shed, each man with one foot on the side of the little Fordson. They smoked cigarettes and studied the machine as they talked.

伊利莎•埃倫正在花園里干活兒，穿過院子朝遠(yuǎn)處望時，她看見丈夫亨利正在與兩個身著工作服的人交談。三個人都站在拖拉機(jī)棚邊上，一只腳蹬在那輛小型福特牌拖拉機(jī)的一側(cè)。說話的時候，他們邊抽著煙，邊打量拖拉機(jī)。

Elisa watched them for a moment and then went back to her work. She was thirty-five. Her face was lean and strong and her eyes were as clear as water. Her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume, a man's black hat pulled low down over her eyes, clod-hopper shoes, a figured print dress almost completely covered by a big corduroy apron with four big pockets to hold the snips, the trowel and scratcher, the seeds and the knife she worked with. She wore heavy leather gloves to protect her hands while she worked.

伊利莎看了他們一會兒，又繼續(xù)忙自己的活兒。她今年三十五歲，臉龐瘦俏并透著堅毅，一雙眼睛清澈如水。由于穿著園藝工作服，她顯得鼓囊囊的、有點兒笨拙。她頭上戴著一頂男式的黑帽子，拉得很低，直到她的眼睛。腳上是一雙粗笨的鞋子。下面穿的印花裙子幾乎全給那個大號的燈心絨圍裙遮蓋了起來。圍裙上有四個大口袋，用來放她干活時用的剪刀、泥鏟、刮管器、種子和刀。干活時她戴著厚厚的皮手套，免得弄傷手。