3-8 爱尔兰日记

Diaries in Ireland

 

Feb. 9, 2003 Sunday

 

My Stay with Lough Gill

 

When I woke up, it was broad day, with sunshine. Outside the windows was a row of dense¹ green trees, outside the green trees were a lot of fine foreign roofs, in the distance lied the grass-green Ben Bulben. I was very glad to have in my view such fine landscapes, such a pleasant mountain.

 

At 10∶ 30 a.m. I attended Professor Patrick Crotty’ s lecture “Yeats’s Men.” It was the last lecture of Yeats Winter School, a lecture of novelty¹, for people usually concerned the women in Yeats’s life. Wearing business suit and shoes, walking up and down in the platform, bearded Patrick spoke² eloquently³, eyes shining with wit. The lecture was followed by a thanking speech of Patrick and warm applause from the audience. The 2003 Yeats Winter School came to an end.

 

At 1 p.m. I said farewell to Siné ad and Patrick and left Sligo Park Hotel. I intended to seek for the statue of Yeats and then have a random⁴ walk in the city. Soon after my departure, I saw a sign in a diverged² road:

　　

View Isle⁶ of Innisfree on

Water Bus

 

All of a sudden I heard the water of that lake isle lapping³ with low sounds by my ears and the young Yeats singing his dreamy song: “I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree...” I was told that there was no bus going there and it would take me several hours to walk. What shall I do? It doesn’t matter. I can walk, and I can stay for another night. I was persuading myself at my heart. So at the last moment I set foot on the way to Lough Gill. Less than half an hour later, Lough Gill came into sight. I stood long on the lakeshore, which was a small corner of the lake and at the edge of the small city Sligo. In the blue lake were two house-sized, tree-grown isles⁷. They were not Innisfree, which was far away from here and needed a water bus to get there. In the lake water were a lot of grey-feathered seagulls and green-headed mandarin⁸ ducks⁴, and two red-beaked, black-eyed, white swans. At the edge of the lake grew slight yellow reeds. Ever and again, the seagulls flew and fell; ever and again, they chased one another and made merry cries; they were obviously the most lively creatures in the lake. Pointing at the lake swans, I asked a local girl by my side: “Are they swans? Why don’t they fly?” “They are and they can,” said she. She took with her two big dogs: one was black; the other was golden. Suddenly the golden dog ran into the lake water and began swimming. I was tickled⁵ by the dog’s show.

 

Then turning to the left, I walked along the lakeshore that had a small road covered with trodden leaves in the dense trees. I directed my steps towards the Lake Isle of Innisfree in the hope that I would reach there. After a 25-minute walk in the lonely trees, I got to the end of the path and turned back. Then I sat down on the wooden bench, viewing carefully the landscapes near and far. The lake was surrounded by woods; the lake water was blue as if it had been painted; the waves were rippling¹⁰; the sea-gulls cried merrily now and then. Yeats’s swans and reeds were here still, though today there were only two swans and no wind among the reeds. In the blue sky were grey clouds; in the far distance was the green mountain. Lying calmly in front of me, Ben Bulben didn’t show a height of 525 meters. Shining behind me, the sun warmed my back. I felt a poetic¹¹ tranquility although from behind sometimes came the noises of cars and sports field.

 

At 3∶30 p.m. a breeze was gently blowing cold. I rose up and left for the city center. Unknowingly, I came to the Yeats Memorial Building. Beside the building was a 5-arch stone bridge, under which was a dark river flowing loudly. It was called the Garavogue River. On the other side of the bridge was an Ulster bank building that had arch gates and arch windows. In front of the building was the bronze statue of Yeats that I was looking for. The bronze head was slightly upward, the eyes looking up, the body being a round, flat wing and covered with verses. Meditator¹²⁶, dream-seeker, where are you flying? All of a sudden a flutter⁷ was heard from the sky. Two big white swans were flying above the river towards Lough Gill, head long stretched.

 

At 6∶03 p.m. the wheels of the bus moved for departure. Now it was dark, the bright moon was hanging in the sky that was dark blue. Slowly the bus left the lights of Sligo and drove into darkness. In the moon was reflected the light and color of Lough Gill.

 

注释：

1. novelty [5nCvElti] n. 新颖；新奇

2. diverge⁵ [dai5vE:dV] vi.（道路、线条等）分叉；叉开

3. lap [lAp] vi.（波浪等）拍打；发出拍打声

4. mandarin [5mAndErin] duck [鸟] 鸳鸯

5. tickle⁹ [5tikl] vt. 使欢娱；使发笑

6. meditator [mediteitE] n. 沉思者

7. flutter [5flQtE(r)] n.（鸟的）振翼；拍翅而飞

 

爱尔兰日记

 

2003年2月9日 星期日

流连吉尔湖

 

一觉醒来，天已大亮，丽日晴空。窗外是一排茂密的绿树，绿树外一大片别致的洋屋顶，远景中横卧着浅绿色的本•布尔本山。我很高兴视野中有这么好的景色，这么中意的山峦。

10点半钟，我去听帕特里克•克罗蒂教授的讲座“叶芝的男人”。这是叶芝冬日学校的最后一课，别具新意的一讲，因为人们一般都只关注叶芝生活中的女人。留着络腮胡子的帕特里克西装革履，在台上走来走去，口若悬河，两眼闪着智慧之光。讲座之后是帕特里克的感谢辞和听众的热烈掌声：2003届叶芝冬日学校宣告结束了。

下午1点，我辞别西内德和帕特里克，离开了斯莱戈花园酒店。我打算去寻找叶芝塑像，然后在市内兜一圈。出发不久，我看到岔路旁有一标志：

乘坐汽艇

参观茵尼斯弗利岛

这时，我耳畔倏地荡漾起那湖心岛的低沉水声，同时响起了青年叶芝满怀憧憬的歌声：“我现在就要动身走了，去茵尼斯弗利岛……”据说，没有车往，步行需要几个小时。怎么办呢？没关系，走吧，大不了多住一夜。我这样在心中劝说自己。于是，我临时改变主意，踏上了去吉尔湖的路。不到半个小时，吉尔湖映入眼帘。我站在岸边观看许久。这是吉尔湖的一角，与小城斯莱戈相接。蓝色的湖水中有两座房屋大小、长满树木的小岛。这不是茵尼斯弗利岛，还远着呢，不坐汽艇到不了的。湖中有许多灰羽海鸥和绿头鸳鸯，还有两只红嘴黑眼的白天鹅；湖边长有纤细的黄色芦苇。海鸥时而飞翔，时而停落，时而追逐，时而欢叫，显然是湖上最活跃的一群生命。我指着湖里的天鹅，问身旁一位当地姑娘：“那是天鹅吗？怎么不飞？”“是天鹅，会飞的，”她答道。她带着两条大狗，一黑色，一金黄。突然，那黄狗跃进湖中游起泳来，把我一下子逗乐了。

然后向左，沿着湖岸，我在稠密的树丛间，踏着一条铺满落叶的小路，朝茵尼斯弗利岛的方向行走，期望能到达那儿。在幽寂的林间小径穿行了25分钟之后，我走到了路的尽头，只好原路折回。于是，我坐在岸边的长木凳上，细细品味起湖景山色来。湖在树木环抱之中，水蓝如画，波光粼粼，鸥鸣阵阵。叶芝笔下的天鹅和芦苇依然在此，只是今日的天鹅仅见两只，芦苇不在风中摇曳。蓝天上灰云朵朵，极目处青山横卧。本•布尔本山安详地躺在前方，看不出有525米高。阳光照在背上，暖意融融。我感到诗意般的宁静，尽管身后不时传来公路上的车声和运动场的喧哗。

3点半钟，微风习习，凉意骤起。我起身离开，去市中心。不知不觉地，我来到了叶芝纪念楼。楼旁是一座五拱石桥，桥下訇然流过一条深色的河。它叫加拉佛格河。石桥的另一头是带拱门拱窗的乌尔斯特银行大楼，楼前则是我正在寻找的叶芝铜像。但见：铜头微仰，目光向上，身躯化作扁圆的羽翼，载着满身诗句。沉思者，寻梦人，你要飞向何方？这是，天空忽然传来拍翅声。两只硕大的白色天鹅，伸长着脖子沿河飞翔，朝着吉尔湖的方向。

6点零3分，巴士启动了离别的车轮。这时，天色已暗，深蓝的天空挂着一弯明月。渐渐地，汽车远离了斯莱戈的灯火，驶入了茫茫夜色，月光里却映照出吉尔湖的湖光水色来。

 

 

 

 

1 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 eloquently   

adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地)

参考例句：

• I was toasted by him most eloquently at the dinner. 进餐时他口若悬河地向我祝酒。
• The poet eloquently expresses the sense of lost innocence. 诗人动人地表达了失去天真的感觉。

4 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

5 diverge   

v.分叉，分歧，离题，使...岔开，使转向

参考例句：

• This is where our opinions diverge from each other.这就是我们意见产生分歧之处。
• Don't diverge in your speech.发言不要离题。

6 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

7 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

8 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

9 tickle   

v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒

参考例句：

• Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
• I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。

10 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

11 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

12 meditator   

沉思者，冥想者

参考例句：

• The meditator who realises this also realises death and birth. 了悟这些的行者也了悟死与生。
• At that time, the meditator will generally experience many different painful feelings arising in his body. 这时候，禅者通常会经历很多不同的苦受，它们不断在身中生起。