Summer Sunrises on the Mississippi

 

密西西比河上夏天的日出

One can never see too many summer sunrises on the Mississippi.

夏天，密西西比河上的日出奇美无比，

They are enchanting.

令人百看不厌。

First, there is the eloquence of silence;for a deep hush broods everywhere.

日出伊始，河面一片宁静，仿佛世界都陷入了沉思当中。

Next, there is the haunting sense of loneliness, isolation,remoteness from the worry and bustle of the world.

随后，孤寂、隔绝的气息弥漫四周，丝毫没有尘世的烦恼与喧嚣。

The dawn creeps in stealthily;

跟着黎明悄然而至；

the solid walls of the black forest soften to grey,and vast stretches of the river open up and reveal themselves;

那一片黑压压的森林，如城垣一般坚不可摧，也缓缓地被日光融化成灰色，广阔的水域也渐渐清晰，映入眼帘；

the water is smooth,gives off spectral little wreaths of white-mist,there is not the faintest breath of wind, nor stir of leaf;

河水如玻璃一般明净，在光谱的映照下泛出一圈一圈的白晕，河面上风平浪静，落叶仿佛也受到感染，纹丝不动；

the tranquility is profound and infinitely satisfying.

一切是如此的静谧，如此的赏心悦目！

Then a bird pipes up, another follows,and soon the pipings develop into a jubilant riot of music.

接着，一只鸟儿叫出声来，其它鸟儿也陆续鸣叫，很快，鸟儿们的叫声俨然变成一首欢快的歌曲。

You see none of the birds,you simply move through an atmosphere of song which seems to sing itself.

但你丝毫见不着它们的身影；你只感觉动听的歌声如天籁般从四处传来。

When the light has become a little stronger,you have one of the fairest and softest pictures imaginable.

当光线稍微变强时，一切如梦如幻，柔和淡雅，美不胜收。

You have the intense green of the massed and crowded foliage near by;you see it paling shade by shade in front of you;

河的附近，树木枝繁叶茂，郁郁葱葱；放眼望去，一排厚似一排，直至暗无踪影；

upon the next projecting cape,a mile off or more,the tint has lightened to the tender young green of spring;

沿着河岸走一英里左右，来到下一个河岬，这周围的色调比之前稍淡，宛似春天的翠绿色；

the cape beyond that one has almost lost colour,and the furthest one, miles away under the horizon,sleeps upon the water a mere dim vapour,and hardly separable from the sky above it and about it.

再前一处的河岬更淡，若有似无，最远的那个河岬，低于地平线数尺，朦朦胧胧，依稀可见，仿佛枕在水面上，与天相接，不分彼此。

And all this stretch of river is a mirror,and you have shadowy reflections of the leafage and the curving shores and the receding capes pictured in it.

广阔的河面好似一面明镜，淡淡地映照着丛集的枝叶、蜿蜒的河岸和渐行渐远的河岬。

Well, this is all beautiful; soft and rich and beautiful;

一切都是那么美；或淡雅、或浓郁，无一不美；

and when the sun gets well up,and distributes a pink flush here and a powder of gold yonder and a purple haze where it will yield the best effect,you grant that you have something that is worth remembering.

太阳高高升起时，从此处看，它的周围泛着粉红色的晕围，从彼处看，它又洒着一粒粒的金光，最妙不可言的，是它周围若隐若现的紫色。这一切，能不令人怀想？