【双语有声阅读】七月之美Beauty of July

 英国女诗人艾丽丝·梅内尔(Alice Meynell)这段关于夏日的描绘虽然写于上百年前，然而，四季更迭的自然之美，可以越过悠远的年代，在任何时候都能够捕捉住人的视线。诗人优美的文字及其中对季节变换，人生从激情绚烂转至平淡宁静的沉思，读起来让人不禁反复咀嚼，细细品尝依然回味无穷。

 

Beauty of July

By Alice Meynell

 

One has the leisure of July for perceiving all the differences of the green of leaves. It is no longer a difference in degrees of maturity¹, for all the trees have darkened to their final tone, and stand in their differences of character and not of mere² date. Almost all the green is grave, not sad and not dull. It has a darkened and a daily colour, in majestic³ but not obvious harmony with dark grey skies, and might look, to inconstant eyes, as prosaic⁴ after spring as eleven o’clock looks after the dawn.

 

Gravity is the word — not solemnity as towards evening, nor menace as at night. The daylight trees of July are signs of common beauty, common freshness, and a mystery familiar and abiding⁵ as night and day. In childhood we all have a more exalted⁶ sense of dawn and summer sunrise than we ever fully⁷ retain or quite recover; and also a far higher sensibility for April and April evenings — a heartache for them, which in riper years is gradually and irretrievably consoled. But, on the other hand, childhood has so quickly learned to find daily things tedious, and familiar things importunate⁸, that it has no great delight in the mere middle of the day, and feels weariness of the summer that has ceased to change visibly.

 

The poetry of mere day and of late summer becomes perceptible to mature eyes that have long ceased to be sated, have taken leave of weariness, and cannot now find anything in nature too familiar; eyes which have, indeed, lost sight of the further awe⁹ of midsummer daybreak, and no longer see so much of the past in April twilight¹⁰ as they saw when they had no past; but which look freshly at the dailiness of green summer, of early afternoon, of every sky of any form that comes to pass, and of the darkened elms.

 

七月间，人们有余暇观察树叶绿翠的千差万别。这不再是成熟上的差异，因为所有的树木，或转苍翠，或呈墨绿，色调均已固着定格，从而展现出来的，并非时节上的不同，而是各自品格上的差异。几乎各种绿色，品味凝重，既不流于悒郁，也不失之沉闷，它具有一种深沉、日常的色泽，与灰暗的苍穹浑然一体，构成庄重却非一眼可见的和谐，故而在游览扫掠的目光看来，可能会有阳春繁景过后的平淡之感。一如黎明之后11点的光景。

 

凝重，乃是最贴切的字眼——不是时近黄昏的阴沉，亦非黑夜之中的森然。七月白昼的葱郁树木，体现出普通的美，常见的清新，是一种如同黑夜白昼般惯常而又永恒不变的不解之谜。童年时代，我们看到黎明和夏天日出盛景，会油然生出一股日后无法充分保留、也难以完全恢复的奋激狂喜；同时，对四月和四月的日暮黄昏，还产生一种陶然忘情的欣赏共鸣——一种为之怦然心动的神驰向往，进入壮年之后，又无可挽回地逐渐淡化平息。

 

只有阅历丰富的慧眼，才能感受到白昼本身的夏末时令固有的诗意——这双慧眼已久未获满足矣，同时也摆脱了厌倦感，此刻发现在自然界，即使最常见的景物也另有一番情趣；诚然，面对仲夏红日的喷薄欲出，已不再萌发敬畏之情；凝望四月的苍茫暮色，也不会比一无阅历的童年，引发更多的联想，然而，对司空见惯的日常景象——树木葱茏的盛夏，日过中天的午后，来而复去、变幻不定的每一片云天，还有幽暗的榆树——反倒会投以新的目光。

 

1 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

4 prosaic   

adj.单调的，无趣的

参考例句：

• The truth is more prosaic.真相更加乏味。
• It was a prosaic description of the scene.这是对场景没有想象力的一个描述。

5 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

6 exalted   

adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的

参考例句：

• Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
• He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 importunate   

adj.强求的；纠缠不休的

参考例句：

• I would not have our gratitude become indiscreet or importunate.我不愿意让我们的感激变成失礼或勉强。
• The importunate memory was kept before her by its ironic contrast to her present situation.萦绕在心头的这个回忆对当前的情景来说，是个具有讽刺性的对照。

9 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

10 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。