20 I Cooperate With the Ending

In Which I Cooperate with the Ending By the middle of March I could have told you it was spring without looking. Jessie did not come around any more, she was fishing the rewarding waters of the open stream, she was returning to a tree hollow full of babies. The Baron Weasel did not come by. There were salamanders and frogs to keep him busy. The chickadees sang alone, not in a winter group, and the skunks and minks and foxes found food more abundant in the forest than at my tree house. The circumstances chat had brought us all together in the winter were no more. There was food on the land and the snow was slipping away.

我来给故事收尾，三月中旬，我不用看都知道春天已经来了 杰西再也不来这儿了，她去开阔的河湾钓鲜美的鱼，还要回住满宝宝的树洞 黄鼠狼男爵也不再来访了 蝾螈和青蛙已经够让他忙个不停了 山雀不再结着冬群，各自独自歌唱，臭鼬、水貂和狐狸也发现森林里的食物比我树屋这儿充足多了 冬天把我们聚拢到一起的缘分已经散去了 大地长出了食物，积雪也渐渐消融了

By April 1 was no longer living off my storehouse. There were bulbs, tubers, and greens to be had. Meals were varied once more. There were frogs" legs, eggs, and turtle soup on my table. I took my baths in the spring again rather than in the turtle shell with warmed-over snow. I plunged regularly into the ice water of the spring– shouting as my breath was grabbed from my lungs. I scrubbed, ran for my tree. I dried myself before the fire, shouting as I stepped into my clothes. Then I would sing. I made up a lot of nice songs after my bath, one of which I taught to a man who was hiking along the top of the gorge one day.

到四月一日，我已经不再靠储存的粮食过活了 地里已经能挖到球茎、块茎和新鲜野菜了 餐食又变得丰富多样起来 我的餐桌上已经能吃到蛙腿、鸟蛋和海龟汤了 我又重新去泉里洗澡，不用再待在龟壳里用温过的雪水擦身 我常常一头扎进冰凉的泉水里——冻得喘不上气，忍不住大呼小叫 我搓洗干净，跑回我的树屋 我在火堆边烤干身子，穿衣服的时候还嚷嚷着 接着我就会唱歌 洗完澡后我编了好多好听的歌，有一首我教给了一位在峡谷顶徒步的男人

He said his name was Aaron, and he was quiet and tall. I found him sitting on the edge of the cliff, looking across the valley. He was humming little tunes. He had a sad smile that never went away. I knew I would not have to hide from him just by looking at him, so I walked up and sat down beside him. I taught him my "cold water song". I learned he wrote songs and that he was from New York. He had come to the Catskills for the Passover festivities and had wandered off for the day. He was about to go back when I sat down and said, "I heard you humming." "Yes," he said. "I hum a good deal. Can you hum?" "Yes," I replied, "I can hum. I hum a good deal, too, and even sing. especially when I get out of the spring in the morning. Then I really sing aloud."

他说他叫亚伦，个子高高的，性子很安静 我发现他坐在悬崖边，眺望着对面的山谷 他一直在哼着小曲儿 他脸上总带着一抹挥不去的愁容 我只看一眼就知道不用躲着他，于是走过去坐在他身旁 我教他我那首《冷水歌》 我得知他会写歌，他来自纽约 他来卡茨基尔过逾越节，这天出来散步闲逛 他正打算回去，我坐下来说：“我听见你哼歌了” “是啊，”他说 “我经常哼歌， 你会哼吗？” “我会，”我回答，“我会哼， 我也经常哼，还会唱歌呢， 尤其是早上从泉水里出来的时候， 我真的会放声大唱。”

"Lets hear you sing aloud." So I said, feeling very relaxed with the sun shining on my head. "All right. I'll sing you my cold water song." "I like that," Aaron said. "Sing it again." So I did. "Let me suggest a few changes." He changed a few words to fit the tune and the tune to fit the words, and then we both sang it. "Mind if I use the hum hum hum dee dee, part?" he asked presently. "You can use it all," I said. "Tunes are free up here. I got that from the red-eyed vireo." He sat up and said, "What other songs are sung up here?" I whistled him the "hi-chickadee" song of the black-capped Mr Bracket; and the waterfall song of the wood thrush. He took out a card,

“那你唱给我们听听吧。” 太阳晒着我的脑袋，我觉得格外放松，于是开口答应 “没问题， 我给你唱我的冷水歌。” “我很喜欢，”亚伦说， “再唱一遍吧。” 于是我又唱了一遍 “要不我改几个地方好不好？” 他改了几个词适配调子，又改了调子适配歌词，之后我们俩一起唱了这首歌 没过多久他问我：“你介意我用那段嗯哼嗯哼嗯哼嘀嘀的部分吗？” “你全都可以用，”我说， “这儿的调子都是免费的， 这段我还是从红眼绿鹃那儿学来的呢。” 他坐直身子问道：“山上还有别的什么歌呀？” 我给他吹口哨，吹了黑顶山雀布雷克特先生的“嗨山雀”歌，还有画眉的瀑布歌 他掏出一张卡片，

lined it with five lines, and wrote in little marks. I stretched back in the sun and hummed the song of the brown thrasher and of Barometer, the nuthatch. Then I boomed out the song of the great horned owl and stopped. "That's enough. isn't it?" I asked. "I guess so." He lay back and stretched, looked into the leaves, and said, "If I do something with this, I'll come back and play it to you. I'll bring my portable organ." "Fine," I said. Then after a drowsy pause, he said, "Will you be around these pans this summer?" "I'll be around," I said. Aaron fell asleep, and I rolled over in the sun. I liked him. He hadn't asked me one personal question. Oddly enough, I wasn't sure whether that made me glad or not. Then I thought of the words

在上面画了五条线，写下了小小的记号 我舒展开身子躺在太阳下，哼起了褐嘲鸫的歌，还有海雀“气压计”的歌 接着我吼出了大角猫头鹰的歌，然后停了下来 “够了， 对不对？” 我问道 “我觉得够了。” 他往后躺下伸了个懒腰，望着树叶说：“要是我把这些做成作品，我会回来弹给你听， 我还会带上我的便携风琴。” “好呀，”我说 昏昏欲睡歇了一会儿后，他问道：“今年夏天你还会在这一带吗？” “我会在这儿的，”我说 亚伦睡着了，我在太阳下翻了个身 我挺喜欢他 他一个私人问题都没问过我 说也奇怪，我也说不清这件事到底让我开心还是不开心 接着我想起了那句话

Frightful had spoken in my head. "You want to be found," and I began to wonder. I had sought out a human being. This would not have happened a year ago. I fell asleep. When I awoke Aaron was gone and Frightful was circling me. She saw me stir, swooped in, and sat on a rock beside me. I said, "Hi," but did not get up, just lay still listening to the birds, the snips and sputs of insects moving in the dry leaves, and the air stirring the newly leafing trees. Nothing went on in my head. It was comfortably blank. I knew the pleasures of the lizard on the log who knows where his next meal is coming from. I also knew his boredom. After an hour I did have a thought. Aaron had said that he was up in the Catskills for Passover. Then it must also he near Easter, and Matt would be coming soon. I had not counted notches in weeks. A cool shadow crossed my face and I arose, whistled for Frightful to come to my hand,

福莱特曾在我脑海里说过的话 “你其实想要被找到，”我不由得开始琢磨 是我主动找上这个人类的 放在一年前，这种事根本不会发生 我也睡着了 我醒来的时候亚伦已经走了，福莱特正在我头顶盘旋 她看见我动了，猛地俯冲下来，落在我身边的石头上 我说了声“嗨”，但没起身，就静静躺着，听鸟儿鸣唱，听昆虫在枯叶里活动的细碎声响，听风吹过刚长新叶的树林 我脑子里什么都没想 一片舒服的空白 我懂了趴在圆木上的蜥蜴，知道下一餐在哪的快乐 我也懂了它的无聊 一个小时后，我冒出了一个念头 亚伦说他来卡茨基尔过逾越节 那肯定也快到复活节了，马特马上就要来了 我已经好几周没在树上刻痕记日子了 一片凉影子落在我脸上，我站起身，吹口哨叫福莱特飞到我手上，