評論
打印
A walk in the woods-Jastin
林中漫步-詹斯汀
I was puzzled! Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old copse which was of no use to anybody? She had written letters to the local paper, even to a national, protesting about a projected by-pass to her village, and, looking at a map, the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasn't as if the area was attractive. I was more than puzzled, I was intrigued.
我實在不明白！為什么這個年老女士會對一片毫無用處的老灌木林如此緊張呢？她給當地報紙寫了信，甚至給全國性的報紙也寫了信，對擬將在她們村子里修建小路的方案表示抗議。但從地圖上看，這條擬建的小路離她家并不近，那一帶也并非風景優美。這不僅使我感到迷惑，還激起了我的好奇心。
The enquiry into the route of the new by-pass to the village was due to take place shortly, and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her.
很快就要進行對新小路的調查了，我想了解一下她反對的原因。
So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door, being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods.
于是我敲響了小屋的門，一位叫瑪麗·史密斯的女士接待了我，然后她帶我去樹林中走走。
"I've always loved this place," she said, "it has a lot of memories for me, and for others. We all used it. They called it 'Lovers lane'. It's not much of a lane, and it doesn't go anywhere important, but that's why we all came here. To be away from people, to be by ourselves," she added.
“我一直深愛這個地方，”她說，“這里珍藏了我和其他許多人的回憶。我們都曾在這個地方呆過。人們稱它為‘情人路’。它其實并不能算是什么路，也不通往什么重要的地方，但這正是我們來這里的原因。遠離他人，只有我們自己。”她補充說道。
It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard. Squirrels gazed from the branches, quite bold in their movements, obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear.
那天林間實在迷人，小鳥唱著歌，松鼠在樹枝間張望，很自在地活動，顯然這里人跡罕至，它們一點都不害怕。
I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built, so I felt that she probably had something there.
我能想象得出，在小路修好后，汽車通過這片寧靜的樹林將會是怎樣的喧鬧，因此我猜這對她來說可能意味著些什么。
But as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community over-riding the opinions of private individuals, I said nothing. The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children, their safety was more important to me than an old woman's whims.
但我堅持認為社區的需要重于個人的意見，所以我沒說什么。村里目前的交通，特別是對于老人和小孩來說，尤其危險，所以對我來說他們的安全比這個老年女士的怪念頭更重要。
"Take this tree," she said pausing after a short while. "To you it is just that, a tree. Not unlike many others here." She gently touched the bark. "Look here, under this branch, what can you see?"
“拿這棵樹來說吧，”她停了一會兒說，“對你來說它只是一棵普通的樹，與這里其它的樹沒什么區別?！彼p輕地摸著這棵樹的樹皮說：“看這，在這個枝條下面，你看見了什么？”
"It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife," I said after a cursory inspection.
“好像有人用小刀在這里刻過什么東西?！蔽衣月钥戳艘幌潞笳f。
"Yes, that's what it is!" she said softly. "There are letters and a lover's heart."
是的，正是這樣！”她輕輕地說，“是一些字母和一顆愛人的心。”
I looked again, this time more carefully. The heart was still there and there was a suggestion of an arrow through it.
我又看了一下，這回看得認真了一些?？痰哪穷w心還在那，此外還依稀可以看見有支箭穿心而過。
