英譯現(xiàn)代散文●鴕鳥(niǎo)·孔雀·老鷹 ◎ 吳冠中

鴕鳥(niǎo)·孔雀·老鷹

Ostrich · Peacock · Eagle

◎　吳冠中

◎　Wu Guanzhong

鴕鳥(niǎo)

The Ostrich

鴕鳥(niǎo)蹣跚地走著，一身的肉真饞人，她之生似乎是為了供人食用。她沒(méi)有防衛(wèi)的手段，敵人來(lái)了就跑，跑得特別快。當(dāng)跑不脫的緊急時(shí)刻，她將頭鉆進(jìn)沙堆，她看不見(jiàn)敵人了，以為已安全，人笑這是鴕鳥(niǎo)心態(tài)。是鴕鳥(niǎo)學(xué)了阿Q，還是阿Q學(xué)了鴕鳥(niǎo)，無(wú)從考證，也不必考證了。

The ostrich hobbles with its tantalizing fleshy body. The bird seems destined to be human food. It has no self-defence means. In the face of an enemy, it just runs away, and that very quickly. At the critical moment when it is hard pressed, it buries its head in the sand, thinking itself safe simply because it can't see the enemy. People, therefore, refer to it in ridicule as ostrichism. It is impossible and also unnecessary to find out if Ah Q is the teacher of the ostrich or vice versa.

孔雀

The Peacock

孔雀陶醉在自己的美麗中，她施施然地散步，側(cè)目看行人，希望人們欣賞她的美，她估計(jì)人們都拜倒于她的艷麗。一個(gè)穿紅衣服的孩子走過(guò)來(lái)了，她怕是與她媲美的，于是趕緊張屏，并左右搖擺，使出渾身解數(shù)。開(kāi)屏后確乎引來(lái)大群觀(guān)賞的人們，人們贊美，歡笑，她似乎全聽(tīng)懂了歌頌的語(yǔ)言，自己十分開(kāi)心。只一句，她永遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)聽(tīng)懂：你是一個(gè)可憐的女人。

The peacock is intoxicated with its own beauty. It struts around with a sidelong glance at the pedestrians, hoping that they will stop to view and admire itself and believing that all people will be infatuated with its gorgeousness. When a little kid in red happens to come near, the peacock, taking her for a potential strong rival, immediately erects and spreads out its tail feathers and sways now to the left and now to the right as best it can. That succeeds in attracting a large group of spectators. They marvel at its beauty and cheer. The big bird looks very happy with all the words of praise, which it seems to understand fully. Nevertheless, there is one sentence it can never understand, that is,“You're a miserable woman.”

老鷹

The Eagle

灰褐色的老鷹從未意識(shí)到打扮自己的羽毛，而且她總離人群遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)的，常盤(pán)旋于高空，遠(yuǎn)看她只是短短的線(xiàn)之一劃。她目力好敏銳，遙遠(yuǎn)處一只奔跑的兔或鼠，一旦落入她的視線(xiàn)，她飛速降落，猛地一撲，便獲取了生命的糧食。她那如鉤的爪和嘴，令人恐懼，也令人欣賞，是強(qiáng)力之美，是尖銳之美，引無(wú)數(shù)畫(huà)家競(jìng)折腰。

The grayish brown eagle never thinks of preening itself. It keeps off from man and often wheels high up in the sky, only to disappear way up like a flash. As soon as it spots a distant hare or rat on the run, the sharp-eyed bird will swoop down on its prey for life-sustaining food. Its hooked claws and beak are scary but admirable. They embody the beauty of strength and sharpness and have been the favorite theme of innumerable painters.

《鴕鳥(niǎo)·孔雀·老鷹》是中國(guó)當(dāng)代著名畫(huà)家兼散文家吳冠中于2000年寫(xiě)的一篇隨筆。