Glories of the Storm

 

暴风雨的荣光

It begins when a feeling of stillness creeps into my consciousness.Everything has suddenly gone quiet.

起初，有一种平静的感觉悄然爬上我的心头。

Birds do not chirp. Leaves donot rustle.

世间万物，顿趋沉寂。鸟儿不再啁啾，树叶不再飒飒，

Insects do not sing.

昆虫不再吟唱。

The air that has been hot all day becomes heavy.

整天灼热的空气格外沉闷，

It hangs over thetrees, presses the heads of the flowers to the ground, sits on myshoulders.

笼罩着树木，逼迫花朵低下了头，还好像坐压于我的双肩。

With a vague feeling of uneasiness I move to the window.

怀着茫然的不安，我走到窗前。

There, in the west, lies the answer-cloud has piled on cloudto form a ridge of mammoth white towers, rearing against bluesky.

原来，答案就在西边天际-云层重重叠叠，就像一排嵯峨的白塔，高耸于蓝天。

Their piecing whiteness is of brief duration.

承前启后的白色，稍瞬即逝。

Soon themarshmallow rims flatten to anvil tops, and the clouds revealtheir darker nature.

顷刻间，葵花状的云边变得像铁砧一样平展，云层也露出了更黑的本色。

They impose themselves before thelate-afternoon sun, and the day darkens early.

它们强行遮住西斜的红日，天色早暗。

Then a gust of windwhips the dust along the road, chill warning of what is tocome.

接着，劲风骤起，鞭挞道路，尘土飞扬。冷飕飕的，警示着即将发生的一切。

In the house a door shuts with a bang, curtains billow into theroom.

“砰”的一声，风关上了一扇房门，窗帘随风扬起，向屋内翻飞。

I rush to close the windows, empty the clothesline, securethe patio furnishings.

我小跑去关窗，收下晒衣绳上的衣物，收拾好院子里的家什。

Thunder begins to grumble in thedistance.

此刻，远处开始响起隆隆的雷声。

The first drops of rain are huge.

最初的雨点很大，

They splat into the dust andimprint the windows with individual signatures.

扑扑地打在尘土里，在玻璃窗上留下了一个个印记。

They plink on thevent pipe and plunk on the patio roof.

雨点把排气管敲得叮叮当当，把院子顶棚打得噼噼啪啪。

Leaves shudder under theirweight before rebounding, and the sidewalk wears a coat of shinyspots.

树叶被砸得瑟瑟发抖，抬不起头来。人行道披上了一层亮闪闪的水珠。

The rhythm accelerates; plink follows plunk faster and faster untilthe sound is a roll of drums and the individual drops become anarmy marching over fields and rooftops.

雨点加快节奏，叮叮当当，噼噼啪啪，一阵紧似一阵，最终，似密集的鼓点，连成了一片。

Now the first bolt oflightning stabs the earth. It is heaven’s exclamation point.

一个个雨点，居然汇成一支大军，铺天盖地，横扫田野，直扑屋顶。

Thestorm is here.

此刻，一道闪电直刺大地– 苍天划出惊叹号。暴风雨来了！

In spite of myself, I jump at the following crack of thunder.

又是一声霹雳，不由自主地，我跳将起来。

It rattles the windowpane and sends the dog scratching to get underthe bed.

窗玻璃被雷声震地格格作响，连狗都吓得三抓两爬地钻入床底。

The next bolt is even closer.

又是一闪，更近了。

It raises the hair on theback of my neck, and I take an involuntary step away from thewindow.

惊得我寒毛倒竖，不由得从窗边后退一步。

The rain now becomes a torrent,flung capriciously by a rising wind.

暴雨倾盆而下，狂风助长雨势，雨柱飘忽不定。

Together they batter the trees and level the grasses.

风雨交加，恣意猛击树木，淹没草地。

Water streams off roofs and out of rain spouts.

雨水从房顶，从排水管奔流而下，

It pounds against the window in such a steady wash that I am sightless.

如同瀑布不停地瓢泼重击在窗户上，使我什么也看不清楚。

There is only water.

眼前只有水。

How can so much fall so fast?

怎么有这么多雨水？怎么下得这么急？

How could the clouds have supported this vast weight?

云层怎么承受得住如此巨大的雨水重量？

How ran the earth endure beneath it?

大地如何又承受得了？