海鸥乔纳森-4

“Set aside,” came a voice from the multitude, “even if it be the Law of the Flock?”“予以清除，”鸥群中有一个声音问道，连鸥群的法律也不例外吗？”“The only true law is that which leads to freedom,” Jonathan said. “There is no other.”“只有通向自由的法律才是唯一的真正法律，”乔纳森说，“此外没有别的法律。”“How do you expect us to fly as you fly?” came another voice. “You are special and gifted and divine, above other birds.”“你怎么能指望我们飞得像你那样好呢？”另一个声音问，“你是特殊的、天才的、神圣的，比其他的鸟高一等。”“Look at Fletcher! Lowell! Charles-Roland! Judy Lee! Are they also special and gifted and divine? No more than you are, no more than I am. The only difference, the very only one, is that they have begun to understand what they really are and have begun to practice it.”“瞧弗莱契！还有罗维尔！查理士?罗兰德！朱迪?李！难道他们也是特殊的、天才的、神圣的？不，不比你们强，也不比我强。唯一的不同，仅有的唯一不同，是他们已经开始认识到自己的潜能，并且已经开始发挥。”His students, save Fletcher, shifted uneasily. They hadn’t realized that this was what they were doing.他的学生们除弗莱契外，都不安地挪动一下身子。他们还不曾认识到自己原来是这么回事呢The crowd grew larger every day, coming to question, to idolize, to scorn.聚集拢来的鸥群一天天扩大，有来问问题的，有来膜拜的，有来嘲弄的，不一而足。“They are saying in the Flock that if you are not the Son of the Great Gull Himself,” Fletcher told Jonathan one morning after Advanced Speed Practice, “then you are a thousand years ahead of your time.”他们在鸥群中说，你准是鸥神之子下凡，”一天早晨在高速训练之后，弗莱契告诉乔纳森说，“要不就是你跑在时代之前一千年。”Jonathan sighed. The price of being misunderstood, he thought. They call you devil or they call you god. “What do you think, Fletch? Are we ahead of our time?”乔纳森叹了口气。他想。这就是被误解的代价。他们要么叫你魔鬼，要么称你上帝。“你是怎么想的，弗莱契？我们是跑在时代前面吗？”A long silence. “Well, this kind of flying has always been here to be learned by anybody who wanted to discover it; that’s got nothing to do with time. We’re ahead of the fashion, maybe, Ahead of the way that most gulls fly.”沉默了半晌。“呃，这一类飞行不是什么稀奇事儿，谁想学都可以学会。它跟时间没有关系。也许我们的式样先进一些。比大多数海鸥飞行的方式先进一些。”“That’s something,” Jonathan said rolling to glide inverted for a while. “That’s not half as bad as being ahead of our time.”“说得有点道理，”乔纳森说着，打了个滚地，倒着身子滑翔了一会儿，“这比说跑在时代前面好一些。”It happened just a week later. Fletcher was demonstrating the elements of high-speed flying to a class of new students. He had just pulled out of his dive from seven thousand feet, a long gray streak firing a few inches above the beach, when a young bird on its first flight glided directly into his path, calling for its mother. With a tenth of a second to avoid the youngster, Fletcher Lynd Seagull snapped hard to the left, at something over two hundred miles per hour, into a cliff of solid granite.一周以后，弗莱契对一班新学员讲授高速飞行的原理时在作示范动作。他从七千英尺高空俯冲下来，立即改变飞行姿势，像白光一闪，贴着海滩离地几英寸掠过。这时，有一只初次学飞的小鸟飞着叫妈妈，正好挡住他的去路。要在十分之一秒内避开这只小鸟。弗莱契只好以每小时二百多英里的高速使劲儿向左急转，一下子接到一个花岗岩峭壁上。It was, for him, as though the rock were a giant hard door into another world. A burst of fear and shock and black as he hit, and then he was adrift in a strange strange sky, forgetting, remembering, forgetting; afraid and sad and sorry, terribly sorry.他觉得那岩石像是通往另外世界的一扇坚实大门。他撞上去的时候，心中爆发出一阵恐惧和惊慌，眼前一阵发黑，跟着他好像在一个十分奇怪的太空中飘浮，失去了记忆，恢复了记忆，恢复了又失去；他又是害怕，又是发愁，心里很难过，非常难过。The voice came to him as it had in the first day that he had met Jonathan Livingston Seagull, “The trick Fletcher is that we are trying to overcome our limitations in order, patiently, We don’t tackle flying through rock until a little later in the program.”和他第一天遇到乔纳森?利文斯顿时一样，那个声音又对他说了。“弗莱契，诀窍是，我们要一步步克服我们的局限，要有次序，有耐心。在我们的课程表里，穿岩飞行这一课还要稍稍靠后一些哩。”“Jonathan!”.“乔纳森！”。“Also known as the Son of the Great Gull “ his instructor said dryly,“也叫作鸥神之子。”他的导师于巴巴地说。“What are you doing here? The cliff! Haven’t I didn’t I.., die?”“你在这儿干什么？这个悬崖！我是不是…已经……死了？”“Oh, Fletch, come on. Think. If you are talking to me now, then obviously you didn’t die, did you? What you did manage to do was to change your level of consciousness rather abruptly. It’s your choice now. You can stay here and learn on this level - which is quite a bit higher than the one you left, by the way - or you can go back and keep working with the Flock. The Elders were hoping for some kind of disaster, but they’re startled that you obliged them so well.”“啊，弗莱契，来吧。想一想。你这会儿正跟我说着话，那你显然没有死，对不对！你刚才干的事儿，只不过把你的意识水平改变得太快了点儿。现在你选择吧。你可以留下来，在这一水平上学习，——附带说一声，比起你原来的水平要高得多了——要不，你也可以回去，继续做鸥群的工作。长者们一直希望发生什么祸事，但他们万万没想到你会帮他们这么个大忙。”“I want to go back to the Flock, of course. I’ve barely begun with the new group!”“我当然要回到鸥群里去。那群新生，我才刚开始教他们呢！”“Very well, Fletcher. Remember what we were saying about one’s body being nothing more than thought itself....?”“很好，弗莱契。我们不是一向说，身体与思想是一码事，你还记得吗？”Fletcher shook his head and stretched his wings and opened his eyes at the base of the cliff, in the center of the whole Flock assembled. There was a great clamor of squawks and screes from the crowd when first he moved.在聚集找来的整个鸥群的中央，在悬崖脚下，弗莱契摇摇头，展开双翅，睁开眼睛。他刚一动弹，鸥群中就嘎嘎、嘎嘎地嚷起来。“He lives! He that was dead lives!”“他活啦！他死而复生啦！”“Touched him with a wingtip! Brought him to life! The Son of the Great Gull!”“只用翼梢碰他一下！把他救活了！真是鸥神之子！”“No! He denies it! He’s a devil! DEVIL! Come to break the Flock!”“不！他不承认！他是魔鬼！魔鬼！他是来破坏鸥群的！”There were four thousand gulls in the crowd, frightened at what had happened, and the cry DEVIL! Went through them like the wind of an ocean storm. Eyes glazed, beaks sharp, they closed in to destroy.这一群海鸥共四千只，都被刚才发生的事吓得目瞪口呆；一霎时，一片喊“魔鬼”的声音在他们中间爆发，声势浩大，犹如大海上起了风暴。他们目露凶光，伸出利嘴，围上来要啄死乔纳森。“Would you feel better if we left, Fletcher?” asked Jonathan.“你是不是觉得咱们还是离开这儿好些，弗莱契？”乔纳森问“I certainly wouldn’t object too much if we did...”“我当然不会反对，只要办得到。……”Instantly they stood together a half-mile away, and the flashing beaks of the mob closed on empty air.转瞬间，他们俩已站在半英里外的地方了。暴怒的鸥群间亮的尖嘴扑了个空。“Why is it,” Jonathan puzzled, “that the hardest thing in the world is to convince a bird that he is free, and that he can prove it for himself if he’d just spend a little time practicing? Why should that be so hard?”“怎么搞的，”乔纳森觉得纳闷，“世界上最难办的事怎么倒是使一只鸟儿确信他自己是自由的，而且可以亲自加以证明，只要他肯略微花费点时间练习练习？这样的事为什么竟会这样难呢？”Fletcher still blinked from the change of scene. “What did you just do? How did we get here?”“You did say you wanted to be out of the mob, didn’t you?”弗莱契还在那里眨巴眼睛，弄不明白怎么会一下子换了地方，‘你刚才干什么来着？咱们怎么来到这儿的？”“你刚才不是说，你希望离开那群暴徒吗？”“Yes! But how did you...”“不错……不过你怎么……”“Like everything else, Fletcher. Practice.”“和干其他事儿一样，弗莱契．多练习。”By morning the Flock had forgotten its insanity, but Fletcher had not. “Jonathan, remember what you said a long time ago, about loving the Flock enough to return to it and help it learn?”到了早晨，鸥群已经忘记了自己那阵疯狂劲儿，但弗莱契没忘。“乔纳森，好久前你不是说过，要热爱鸥群；要回到他们之中去，帮助他们学习，你还记得吗？”“Sure.”“当然记得。”“I don’t understand how you manage to love a mob of birds that has just tried to kill you.”“我真不理解，你怎么能去热爱一群想啄死你的暴徒呢？”“Oh, Fletch, you don’t love that! You don’t love hatred and evil, of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves. That’s what I mean by love. It’s fun, when you get the knack of it.“噢，弗莱契，你爱的当然不是那个！你当然不爱仇恨与邪恶。你应该通过练习去认识真正的海鸥，要看到每只海鸥的美德，并帮助他们去认识自己的美德。这就是我所谓的爱。等你精通此道以后，就会觉得很有意思。“I remember a fierce young bird for instance, Fletcher Lynd Seagull, his name. Just been made Outcast, ready to fight the Flock to the death, getting a start on building his own bitter hell out on the Far Cliffs. And here he is today building his own heaven instead, and leading the whole Flock in that direction.”“举个例子说吧，我记得有一只挺凶的的年轻海鸥，名叫弗莱契?林德，当时他刚成弃儿，打算与鸥群决一死战，开始在远崖为自己建造痛苦的地狱。可是今天呢，他正在建造自己的天堂，并领导整个鸥群朝着这个方向前进。”Fletcher turned to his instructor, and there was a moment of fright in his eye. “Me leading? What do you mean, me leading? You’re the instructor here. You couldn’t leave!”弗莱契转向他的导师，眼里流露出吃惊的神情。“我领导？你这话是什么意思？我领导？你是这儿的领导，你不能走！”“Couldn’t I? Don’t you think that there might be other flocks, other Fletchers, that need an instructor more than this one, that’s on its way toward the light?”“我不能走？你可想到世界上还有可能有其他的鸥群和其他弗莱契们，他们比这个已经走上光明大道的鸥群更需要导师？”“Me? Jon, I’m just a plain seagull and you’re... ““我？乔，我只是只平凡的海鸥，而你……”“ ...the only Son of the Great Gull, I suppose?” Jonathan sighed and looked out to sea. “You don’t need me any longer. You need to keep finding yourself, a little more each day, that real, unlimited Fletcher Seagull. He’s your instructor. You need to understand him and to practice him.”“……是鸥神的独子，对不对？”乔纳森叹了口气，眺望着大海。“你已不再需要我了，你只需要不断寻找你自己，每天找一点，要找到那只真正的、无限的弗莱契。他就是你的导师。你只需要理解他，拿他来实践。”A moment later Jonathan’s body wavered in the air, shimmering, and began to go transparent. “Don’t let them spread silly rumors about me, or make me a god. O.K., Fletch? I’m a seagull. I like to fly, maybe...”转眼间，乔纳森的身体已在空中摆动，全身闪亮，开始变成透明。“别让他们瞎造我的谣言，别让他们把我奉为神明，成不成，弗莱契？我是海鸥，我喜欢飞行，或许……”“JONATHAN!”“乔——纳——森！”“Poor Fletch. Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you’ll see the way to fly.”“可怜的弗莱契，别相信你肉眼看见的东西，它们看到的一切都是有限的。要用你的智慧去观察，去寻找你已经领悟的东西，那样你就会看出飞行之道。”The shimmering stopped. Jonathan Seagull had vanished into empty air.闪光不见了。乔纳森消失在空荡荡的天空中。After a time, Fletcher Gull dragged himself into the sky and faced a brand-new group of students, eager for their first lesson.过了一会儿，弗莱契自己也飞入高中，面对着一群新学员，他们正迫不及待的等着上第一课。“To begin with “ he said heavily, “you’ve got to understand that a seagull is an unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull, and your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip, is nothing more than your thought itself.”“首先，”他说，心情有点沉重，“你们必须懂得，一只海鸥是关于自由的无限观念，是鸥神的表象。而你们的整个身体，从一翼到另一翼，就是你们的思想本身。”The young gulls looked at him quizzically. Hey, man, they thought, this doesn’t sound like a rule for a loop.年轻的海鸥们不解地望着他。嘿，伙计。他们想，这听起来可不像是翻斤斗的规则。Fletcher sighed and started over. “Hm. Ah... very well,” he said, and eyed them critically. “Let’s begin with Level Flight.” And saying that, he understood all at once that his friend had quite honestly been no more divine than Fletcher himself.弗莱契叹了口气，又接着说下去，“哼。啊……好吧，”他说，用批评的目光端详着他。“咱们从水平飞行开始。”说着，他恍然大悟，真的，他的朋友确确实实不比他弗莱契自己更神圣。No limits, Jonathan? he thought. Well, then, the time’s not distant when I’m going to appear out of thin air on your beach, and show you a thing or two about flying!无限，乔纳森？他心想。那么，好，过不多久，我就要飞出稀薄的空气，出现在你的沙滩上，露一两手飞行本领给你看看！！And though he tried to look properly severe for his students, Fletcher Seagull suddenly saw them all as they really were, just for a moment, and he more than liked, he loved what he saw. No limits, Jonathan? he thought, and he smiled. His race to learn had begun.尽管他在学生面前装的非常严肃，可是刹那间，弗莱契突然看出他们真正的本质。他不只是喜欢，而是热爱他所看到的一切。无限，乔纳森？他心里想，脸上露出笑容。他的学习航程开始了。