The spell of the rising moon

The spell of the rising moon月亮升起的魔力

1There is a hill near my home that I often climb at night.The noise of the city is a far-off murmur.In the hush of dark I share the cheerfulness of crickets and the confidence of owls.But it’s the drama of the moonrise that I come to see.For that restores in me a quiet and clarity that the city spends too freely.

我家附近有一座小山，晚上，我经常爬山去。此时，城市的喧嚣仿佛成了遥远的呢喃。在黑夜的静谧中，我可以分享着蟋蟀的欢快，感受猫头鹰的自信。可我上山是来看月出的，因为这可以让我重拾在城市中被肆意挥霍掉的久违的宁静与清新。

2From this hill I have watched many moon rise.Each one had its own mood.There have been broad,confident harvest moons in autumn;shy ,misty moons in spring;lonely,winter moons rising into the utter silence of an ink-black sky and smoke-smudged orange over the dry fields of summer.Each ,like fine music,excited my heart and then calmed my soul.

在这山上，我看过很多次月出。每一尊月亮的姿容都不相同。秋季，满月如轮，傲然大方；春宵，月意朦胧，娇倩含羞；冬日，孤月高悬、暗夜无声，清冷孤寂孤寂；夏夜，月出旱田，橘色如熏。每一种月亮，都像美妙的音乐，激荡着我的心灵，而后又让人神定魂安。

3Mon gazing is an ancient art.To prehistoric hunters the moon overhead was as unerring as heartbeat.They knew that every 29days it became full-bellied and brilliant,then sickened and died,and then was reborn.They knew the waxing moon appeared larger and higher overhead after each succeeding sunset.They knew the waning moon rose later each night until it vanished in the sunrise.To have understood the moon’s patterns from experience must be a profound thing.

观月自古有之。在远古的猎人眼里，头顶的月亮更迭就像心跳一样准确。他们知道每29 天， 月亮都要变得明亮饱满，然后萎缩、消失，然后再复活；他们知道，月盈期间，每经一次日落，头顶的月亮就会显得更高更大；他们还知道月亏期间，月亮每晚都要迟迟升起，待到日出才落。他们竟能从经验中了解到月亮的行踪变化，真可谓心深意广。

4But we,who live indoors,have lost contact with the moon.The glare of street lights and the dust of pollution veil the night sky.Though men have walked on the moon,it grows less familiar.Few of us can say what time the moon will rise tonight.

但我们这些久惯深居的人，已与月亮失去了联系。耀眼的街灯、污浊的烟尘笼罩了夜空。虽然人类已经涉足过月球，但月亮对于我们却更加陌生了。很少有人能说出今夜月亮会何时升起。

5Still,it tugs at our minds,if we unexpectedly encounter the full moon,huge and yellow over the horizon,we are helpless but to stare back at its commanding presence.And the moon has gifts to bestow upon those who watch.

但无论怎样，月亮依然牵动着你我心弦。倘若我们偶尔遇见一轮黄灿灿的满月高悬中天，谁都会禁不住停下来凝神仰望她尊贵的姿容。而月亮也会向那些注视她的人赐予厚礼。

6I learned about its gifts one July evening in the mountains.My car had mysteriously stalled,and I was stranded and alone.The sun had set,and I was watching what seem to be the bright-orange glow of a forest fire beyond a ridge to the east.Suddenly,the ridge itself seemed to burst into flame.Then,the rising moon,huge and red and grotesquely misshapen by the dust and sweat of the summer air,loomed up out of the woods

我获得她的馈赠是在七月里一个山间的夜晚。我的车突然熄火，将我孤身一人困在山中。太阳已经西沉，我看见东边山头涌出一团橘红色的明光，好像森林起火一般，忽而山头自己也似乎迸出火焰，一会儿，大大的月亮涨红着脸，从密林中鬼魅似地钻了出来， 夏天空气中弥漫的尘雾与汗气把它变得丑陋不堪。

7Distorted thus by the hot breath of earth ,the moon seemed ill-tempered and imperfect.Dogs at nearby farmhouses barked nervously,as if this strange light had wakened evil spirits in the weeds.

月亮于是被大地灼热的气息扭曲了面目，它变得格外暴躁，不再完美。附近农舍的狗紧张地狂吠起来，以为这团奇怪的光亮叫醒了野草中的魔鬼。

8But as the moon lifted off the ridge it gathered firmness and authority.Its complexion changed from red,to orange,to gold,to impassive yellow.It seemed to draw light out of the darkening earth,for as it rose,the hills and valleys below grew dimmer.By the time the moon stood clear of the horizon,full-chested and round and the color of ivory,the valleys were deep shadows in the landscape.The dogs,reassured that this was the familiar moon,stopped barking.And all at once I felt a confidence and joy close to laughter.

但当月亮缓缓升起离开山头，她变得坚定、威严。它的面孔也由红变成了橘红， 又变成金色，最后是平静的明黄色。它似乎从渐暗的大地中吸取了光明，因为随着它的升起，下面的丘陵山谷愈来愈黯淡朦胧。待到皓月当空，满月如盘，闪烁着象牙般乳白的清辉，山谷便成了风景中一片片幽深的阴影。那些狗明白了那团光原是它们熟悉的月亮，也安定下来，停止了吼叫。霎时间，我也觉得信心倍增，心情舒畅，近乎笑了起来。

9The drama took an hour.Moonrise is slow and serried with subtleties.To watch it,we must slip into an older,more patient sense of time.To watch the moon move inexorably higher is to find an unusual stillness within ourselves.Our imaginations become aware of the vast distances of space ,the immensity of the earth and huge improbability of our own existence.We feel small but privileged.

这奇特的景观持续了一个小时。月出是缓慢的，充满微妙变化。观看月出，我们得回到从前那种对时间的耐心中去。观看月亮义无反顾地越升越高，就如同找到自己内心异乎寻常的宁静。我们的神思能让我们看到宇宙的广袤和大地的宽阔，能让我们意识到我们自身的存在是多么不可思议。我们觉得自身渺小，却又深受大自然的厚待。

10Moonlight shows us none of life’s harder edges.Hillsides seem silken and silvery ,the oceans still and blue in its light.I moonlight we become less calculating,more dawn to our feelings.

月色下，我们看不到生活中坚硬的棱角。山坡在月光中如同笼上了柔和的轻纱，一片银白；海水在月光下碧蓝而静谧；我们在月光下也不再像白日那般精于算计，而是更加沉醉于情感中。

11And odd things happen in such moments.On that July night,I watch the moon for an hour or two,and then got back into the car,turned the key in the ignition and heard the engine start,just as mysteriously as it had stalled a few hours earlier,.I drove down the mountains with the moon on my shoulder and peace in my heart.

这种时候往往会发生奇特的事情。在那个七月的夜晚，我看了一两个小时的月景后，回到车中，转动钥匙点火，发动机居然响了起来，就像几个小时前熄火那般突然而神秘。我驱车沿着山路回家，肩上披着明月，心灵一片宁静。

12I return often to the rising moon.I am drawn especially when events crowd ease and clarity of vision into a small corner of my life.This happens often in the fall.Then I go to my hill and await the hunter’s moon,enormous and gold over the horizon,filling the night with vision.

后来我常回到山上观月，尤其是在接踵而来的事使我身心疲惫、头晕眼花时。这种境况经常发生在秋天，这时我就登上那座小山，守候猎人的月亮出现，等着那金色的圆月俯照大地，为黑夜带来光明。

13An owl swoops from the ridge top,noiseless but bright as flame.A cricket shrills in the grass.I think of poets and musicians .Of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata,and of Shakespeare,whose Lorenzo declaims in the Merchant of Venice,“How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this blank/Here will we sit and let the sounds of music/creep in our ears”I wonder if their verse and music,like the music of crickets are in some way voices of the moon.With such thoughts,my citified confusions melt into the quiet of the night.

一只猫头鹰自山头俯冲下来，静悄悄地如一团火焰闪过，一只蟋蟀在草丛长鸣。我想起了诗人和音乐家，想起了贝多芬的“月光奏鸣曲”和莎士比亚笔下《威尼斯商人》中洛伦佐的话：“月光沉睡在这岸边多么轻柔 !/ 我们要坐在这里让音乐之声 / 潜入我们的耳内。”我不知道他们的诗篇与音乐，连同蟋蟀的歌声，是否都可算作月的声音。想到这些， 我那些城市化的昏乱心绪也融化在了夜的幽静之中。

14Lovers and poets find deeper meaning at night.We are all apt to pose deeper questions-about our origins and destinies.We indulge in riddles,rather that in the impersonal geometries that govern the day-lit world.We become philosophers and mystics.

我们都倾向于问一些关于生命的起源和命运的深刻问题，恋人和诗人往往在夜里能找到生活更深刻的意义。在夜里，我们沉溺于难解的谜团中，而不是那些统治着白天世界的无关个人的几何学理论。在夜里，我们都成了哲学家和神秘主义者。

15At moon rise,as we slow our minds to the pace of the heavens,enchantment steals over us.We open the vents of felling and exercise parts of our minds that reason locks away by day.We hear,across the distances,murmurs of ancient hunters and see anew the visions of poets and lovers of long ago.

　月出之时，当我们放慢自己的思想，让它跟天国的节奏同步，一种心醉神迷的感觉会流遍全身。我们会打开情感的窗口，会让白天被理智锁住的那部分思绪尽情奔涌。我们能穿越时空，听见远古猎人的低语，再次看到很久以前的诗人与恋人眼中的景象。