Unit8
像大山一样思考 奥尔多?利奥波德
A deep chesty bawl echoes from rimrock to rimrock,rolls down the mountain,and fades into the blackness of the night.It is an outburst of wild defiant sorrow,an of contempt for all the adversities of the world.
1一个发自肺腑的低沉而又尖厉的号叫在悬崖之间回荡，最后划过大山，消逝在远方深沉的夜色中。这声号叫爆发出一种充满野性和反抗的哀愁，爆发出对世界上一切逆境的蔑视。
Every living thing(and perhaps many a dead one as well)pays heed to that call.To the deer it is a reminder of the way of flesh,to the pine a forecast of midnight scuffles and of blood upon the snow,to the coyote a promise of gleaning to come,to the cowman a thread of red ink at the bank,to the hunter a challenge of fang against bullet.Yet behind these obvious and immediate hopes and fears there lies a deeper meaning,known only to the mountain itself.Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf.
2大山中所有的生物(可能也包括许多死去的生物)都侧耳倾听着这声号叫。对鹿而言，它提醒了众生之道，意味着死亡近在咫尺。对松树而言，它预见了午夜的混战和雪上的血迹。对郊狼而言，它意味着有残肉可食的许诺;对牧牛者而言，它意味着银行透支的威胁;对猎人而言，它意味着撩牙对子弹的挑战。然而，在这些比较容易察觉的希望与恐惧的背后，号叫还隐藏着更深层的含义，但是只有大山自己才能领会。因为只有大山才有沧海桑田的岁月与见识，能够客观地聆听狼的号叫所隐藏的深意。
Those unable to decipher the hidden meaning know nevertheless that it is there,for it is felt in all wolf country,and distinguishes that country from all other land.It tingles in the spine of all who hear wolves by night,or who scan their tracks by day.Ever without sight or sound of wolf,it is implicit in a hundred small events:the midnight whinny of pack horse,the rattle of rolling rocks,the bound of a fleeing deer,the way shadows lie under the spruces.Only the ineducable tyro can fail to sense the presence or absence of wolves,or the fact that mountains have a secret opinion about them.
3而那些无法领会其中深意的，也能感觉到它的存在，而且在所有的狼出没的地方都能感受得到。这种异样的感觉也使那些地区与其他地区区别开来。所有在夜晚听到狼号或是白天看到狼的踪迹的人，都会不自觉地背部发毛，脊部发冷。即使没有听到狼号或是看到狼迹，也可以从许多异样的情景中感知一二。比如说一只驮马半夜的嘶叫、石头刺耳的滚动声、逃亡之鹿奔跑的慌张以及云杉树下诡异的阴影等。只有那些不堪造就的新手才无法感知狼的存在，也无法理解只有大山才能体会的那种深奥。
My own conviction on this score dates from the day I saw a wolf die.Were eating lunch on a high rimrock,at the foot of which a turbulent river elbowed its way.We saw what we thought was a doe fording the torrent,her breast awash in white water.When she climbed the bank toward us and shook out her tail,we realized our error:it was a wolf.A half dozen others,evidently grown pups,sprang from the willows and all joined in a welcoming melee of wagging tails and playful maulings.What was literally a pile of wolves writhed and tumbled in the center of a open flat at the foot of our rimrock.
4我对上面的说法深信不疑，是源自于我曾亲眼看到一只狼死去。那日，我们正在一个高高的悬崖上吃午餐，悬崖脚下有一条汹涌澎湃的河流。我们看到了一个东西在急流中挣扎跋涉，胸部浸在白色的水花中。我们原以为是只鹿，但等它朝我们的方向爬上岸，抖落身上的河水时，我们才发现原来它是只狼。这时，六只显然已经长大的狼息欢快地摇着尾巴，相互打斗嬉闹着从柳树丛中跳跃出来，以示它们的欢迎。的的确确，在我们所处的山崖脚下的空地上，我们看到一群狼在那里翻滚打闹。
In those days we had never heard of passing up a chance to kill a wolf.In a second we were pumping lead into the pack,but with more excitement than accuracy:how to aim a steep downhill shot is always confusing.When our riles were empty,the old wolf was down,and a pup was dragging a leg into impassable slide-rocks.
5在那段日子里，没有人会错过射杀狼的机会。很快，一发发子弹射入狼群。但是由于我们太兴奋了，再加上我们都不知道怎样才能瞄准向陡峭的山下射击，所以我们的枪法都不是很准。结果在我们的子弹消耗殆尽时，只有那只老狼倒下了，还有一只小狼拖着受伤的腿躲进了山崩造成的人们无法通行的岩石堆。
We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes.I realized then,and have known her since,that there was something new to me in those eyes-something known only to her and to the mountain.I was young then,and full of trigger-itch;I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer,that no wolves would mean a hunters’ paradise.But after seeing the green fire die,I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.
6我们接近那只狼的时候，它眼中那绿色的充满仇恨的目光还没有完全消逝。正是在那时，并且从那时起，我意识到了，在那双眼睛里，有我未曾领会的道理—某种只有狼和大山才知晓的道理。但是当时我太年轻气盛，总有扣动扳机的冲动。我认为狼群的减少就意味着鹿群的增加。而狼群的消失则意味着猎人天堂的到来。但是自从我看到那只老狼眼中渐渐消逝的仇恨的绿光时，我才意识到，无论是狼还是大山，肯定不会认同我这样一种看法。
Since then I have lived to see state after state extirpate its wolves.I have watched the face of many a newly wolfless mountain,and seen the south-facing slopes wrinkle with a maze of new deer trails.I have seen every edible bush and seeding browsed,first to anemic desuetude,and then to death.I have seen every edible tree defoliated to the height of a saddle horn.Such a mountain looks as if someone had given God a new a pruning shears,and forbiddien Him all other exercise.In the end the starved bones of the hoped-for der herd,dead of its own too-much,bleach with the bones of the dead sage,or molder under the high-lined junipers.
7自那以后，我看到各州都在相继扑灭自己的狼群。我眼睁睁看到了一座座刚刚扑灭狼群的大山的面貌;看到了山的南坡被鹿群踩出的纷乱的小径;看到了所有能吃的灌木、甚至是细枝嫩芽都被啃光，而这些植物因而也很快衰弱不振，不久便告死亡;我也看到了所有能吃的树叶，在马鞍高度以下的部位全都被吃得精光。看到这样的一座山，你会感觉是有人给了上帝一把剪刀，让他整夭除了剪除树木以外，什么都不许做。后来，鹿群由于数量过于庞大，再加上草木供不应求，便大批量地饿死了。(此文来自袁勇兵博客)它们的白骨与死去的鼠尾草一起变白，或是在高大的杜松树下腐朽。
I now suspect that just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves,so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer.And perhaps with better cause,for while a buck pulled down by wolves can be replaced in two or three years,a range pulled down by too many fail of replacement in as many decades.
8现在我想，就像鹿群生活在狼群的阴影和恐怖中一样，大山也生活在鹿群的阴影和恐怖中，也许这种恐怖有着更充分的理由。因为一只鹿被狼吃掉，两三年后很快就会有新的小鹿出生繁衍，但是，一旦一座大山被鹿群毁灭，恐怕几十年也无法恢复原貌。
So also with cows.The cowman who clear his range of wolves does not realize that he is taking over the wolf’s job of trimming the herd to fit the range.He has not learned to think like a mountain.Hence we have dust bowls,and river washing the future into the sea.
9牛也是这样，牧牛人在清除狼群的时候，没有意识到其实他正在做着本质上如同狼吃牛一样的工作—削减牛群数量以适应山的承受能力。牧牛人还没有学会像大山那样去思考。其结果，沙尘暴出现了，河流将我们的未来无情地冲入大海。
We all strive for safety,prosperity,comfort,long life,and dullness.The deer strives with his supple legs,the cowman with trap and poison,the statesman with pen,the most of us with machines,votes,and dollars,but it all comes to the same thing:peace in our time.A measure of success in this is all well enough,and perhaps is a requisite to objective thinking,but too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run.Perhaps this is behind Thoreau’s dictum；In wildness is the salvation of the world.Perhaps this is the hidden meaning in the howl of the wolf,long known among mountains ,but seldom perceived among men.
10我们都在努力追求安全、繁荣、舒适、长寿和徽散的生活。鹿用它柔韧的双腿去追求;牧牛人用陷阱和毒药去追求;政治家用口诛笔伐去追求;大多数人则是用机器、选票和金钱去追求。但不管形式如何迥异，目的只有一个，那就是追求时代的和平。在这些方面取得某种程度的成功是件好事，客观地说也是必要的。但是从长远来看，太多的安全似乎只能适得其反。也许这正验证了梭罗的一句话，“野地里蕴含着对于世界的救赎”。也许，这就是隐藏在狼的哀号背后的深层含义。大山早已明白，而人类却知之甚少。