Singing, Each to Each1

By

Dawn is best, when sight joins sound. First, the whisper of waves shows a glimmer, a sheen2sheen光泽；光辉。, becoming a whiteness that edges the sand; then the rocks sigh and gently free their forms from the surrounding dark; the air starts to quiver and murmur with light;and the blur3blur模糊不清的东西（声音）。of a bird sounds a single envious trill.

[2] We are there, we are ready. We greet the day and the dawn, feeling the hushed4hushed宁静的；轻的。heartbeat of the world gathering strength for the effort to come. And then we sing. Perhaps one of us will find a fragment of refrain55 refrain〈音〉副歌。, some old golden song belonging to legend that has always existed and only needs finding again, and we take it, caress6caress抚爱；宠爱。it, give it wings and send it phoenix-like away.

[3] Evening has its time too though.Then, mellowness7mellowness醇厚；成熟。deepens to dusk;the waves whisper of rest; stars gently chime8chime鸣响；敲响。; the moon has a deeper note.Sound becomes scent, spicy thyme9thyme百里香（一种植物，叶小，有香味，可作烹饪调味品）。yielding to fragrance of fern10fern蕨类。, sunwarmed rocks to coolness of earth. And our song, our celebration, changes in tone.

黎明时分，美景和自然之声在此刻交会，这是最美的时刻。起初，海浪呢喃低语，晶莹闪烁的浪花在沙滩的边缘形成一抹泛白的亮色；渐渐，礁石轻叹着，在周边的一片黑暗中一点点显露出轮廓；空气开始微微颤动，和着光一起喃喃低语；还有孤鸟那一声啁啾，羡意其中，若隐若现，鸣声轻颤，惹人艳羡。

[2]我们就在那里，等待黎明。我们迎接黎明，迎来白昼，感受这世界沉静的心跳，它在为新一天的辛劳积蓄力量。我们禁不住歌唱起来。也许有人会找到一首歌的副歌片段，那是一首已成传奇的古老金曲，始终存于世间，只待重新发现。我们找到它，呵护它，予其双翼，令其凤凰涅槃般重生。

[4] It must be the celebration, the feeling of joy that maddens them. When they hear it, they feel excluded, futile, their heroics11heroics英雄壮举；豪壮行为。reduced to posturing12posturing做作的举止。, their words exposed as senseless noise, and...they try to reach it. They beat their way through the waves, while we watch and sing and will not help; we suspect it is not joy but our particular joy they want to reach and conquer. Perhaps they want what we found long ago.

[5] Of course they fail, and of course the stories start, and the fear and the hatred and the hard words, so that truth is made mute13mute沉默的。in a babble14babble胡言乱语；含混不清的话。of lies.Sometimes we sing of that as well, but never willingly, never with pleasure,even though we know the song must include all things. No joy can exist without sorrow, and no song without silence either.

[3]然而，黄昏亦有其辉煌的时刻。过了一会，白日的热闹渐渐坠入黄昏；海浪哼唱，繁星轻和，月儿低吟。声响让位于气味，蕨类植物的芳香将辛辣的百里香香味掩盖，阳光炙烤的礁石跟随大地逐渐冷却。我们的歌声，我们的欢庆啊，开始变调。

[4]一定是这欢庆、这喜悦的感觉使他们抓狂。耳听狂欢之乐，却不能身在其中，多么沮丧、多么徒劳啊！ 因为在这歌声的狂欢之中，他们的英雄壮举不过是装腔作势，他们的豪言壮语只是莫名的噪音而已……可是，他们想要加入这狂欢。看着他们破浪前行，我们却袖手旁观，继续欢歌。因为我们怀疑，他们想要得到并征服的不是欢乐本身，而是我们的欢乐。也许他们想要的正是我们早已拥有的。

[5]当然他们没有找到。于是开始有了各种杜撰的故事，恐惧之声、憎恨之语、刺耳之言不绝于耳，因而真理在一大堆谎言之中哑然失语。有时，我们也歌颂谎言，纵然不情不愿，毫无乐趣可言。即使我们知道，那首歌必定包容万物。没有悲伤，何来快乐；没有静默，何来歌声？

[6] There was one man who heard and understood—now so far in the past we wonder if we dreamed him.The ship passed,sleek and swift in the water, the sailors bent double over their oars as though in agony, their faces ugly with fear and loathing. We knew they could not hear us: they laboured and strained15strain竭力；使劲。and did not even look, did not try and dash their lives away.

[7] We watched and sang and the ship became our song. And then that one man—he had heard the tales no doubt and made provision16make provision预作安排；为……作好准备。, bound as he was to the mast—suddenly listened.He struggled and shouted to be freed,and then suddenly listened, listened and smiled.

[8] The ship went its way, skimming over the waves in a tumult of foam, our song now urging it on. ■

[6]有个男人听懂了我们的歌声，但已经过去了太久，我们怀疑这是不是一个梦。船儿在海水中飞快地滑过，水手们使劲地划桨，蜷缩着的身子似乎痛苦不堪，脸部因恐惧和憎恶变得甚是难看。我们知道，他们听不见我们的歌声：他们拼命划呀，划呀，甚至都没抬头看一眼，他们压根就没想过虚度生命。

[7]我们注视着，歌唱着，船儿上歌声飞扬。然后有个男人——无疑他曾听过那些传说，也有所准备。尽管他被绑在桅杆上，在那里挣扎、叫嚷放开他，却突然聆听起来。听着听着，他笑了起来。

[8]船儿在泡沫汹涌的海中破浪疾行。我们的歌啊，开始为它壮行。 □