Logan Pearsall Smith

作者介紹

洛根·皮爾索爾·史密斯(1865——1946)。生于美國(guó)費(fèi)城，但大半生在英國(guó)度過(guò)，主要致力于英國(guó)語(yǔ)言的研究。主要作品有《亨利·沃頓爵士傳記》、《讀莎士比亞》、《彌爾頓和他的現(xiàn)代評(píng)論家》、《難忘的年代》等：本文是一篇圍繞玫瑰展開(kāi)的一個(gè)觸動(dòng)人心的愛(ài)情故事。

The old lady had always been proud of the great rose-tree in her garden， and was fond of telling how it had grown from a cutting she had brought years before from Italy， when she was first married. She and her husband had been travelling back in their carriage from Rome (it was before the time of railways)， and on a bad piece of road south of Siena they had broken down， and had been forced to pass the night in a little house by the roadside. The accommodation was wretched of course; she had spent a sleepless night， and rising early had stood， wrapped up， at her window， with the cool air blowing on her face， to watch the dawn. She could still， after all these years， remember the blue mountains with the bright moon above them， and how a far-off town on one of the peaks had gradually grown whiter and whiter， till the moon faded， the mountains were touched with the pink of the rising sun， and suddenly the town was lit as by an illumination， one window after another catching and reflecting the sun's beams， till at last the whole little city twinkled and sparkled up in the sky like a nest of stars.

That morning， finding they would have to wait while their carriage was being repaired， they had driven in a local conveyance up to the city on the mountain， where they had been told they would find better quarters; and there they had stayed two or three days. It was one of the miniature Italian cities with a high church， a pretentious piazza， a few narrow streets and little palaces， perched， all compact and complete， on the top of a mountain， within an enclosure of walls hardly larger than an English kitchen garden. But it was full of life and noise，echoing all day and all night with the sounds of feet and voices.

The Cafe of the simple inn where they stayed was the meeting-place of the notabilities of the little city; the Sindaco， the avvocato， the doctor， and a few others; and among them they noticed a beautiful， slim， talkative old man， with bright black eyes and snow-white hair ---tall and straight and still with the figure of a youth， although the waiter told them with pride that the Conte was molto vecchio--would in fact be eighty in the following year. He was the last of his family， the waiter added--they had once been great and rich people-- but he had no descendants; in fact the waiter mentioned with complacency， as if it were a story on which the locality prided itself， that the Conte had been unfortunate in love， and had never married.

The old gentleman， however， seemed cheerful enough; and it was plain that he took an interest in the strangers， and wished to make their acquaintance. This was soon effected by the friendly waiter; and after a little talk the old man invited them to visit his villa and garden which were just outside the walls of the town. So the next afternoon，when the sun began to descend， and they saw in glimpses through dorrways and windows， blue shadows beginning to spread over the brown mountains， they went to pay their visit. It was not much of a place， a small， modernized， stucco villa， with a hot pebbly garden， and in it a statue of Diana and her hounds against the wall. But what gave a glory to it was a gigantic rose-tree which clambered over the house ，almost smothering the windows， and filling the air with the perfume of its sweetness. Yes， it was a fine rose ，the Conte said proudly when they praised it， and he would tell the Signora about it. And as they sat there， drinking the wine he offered them， he alluded with the cheerful indifference of old age to his love affair，as though he took for granted that they had heard of it already.

\"The lady lived across the valley there beyond that hill. I was a young man then， for it was many years ago. I used to ride over to see her; it was a long way， but I rode fast， for young men， as no doubt the Signora knows， are impatient. But the lady was not kind， she would keep me waiting， oh， for hours; and one day when I had waited very long I grew very angry， and as I walked up and down in the garden where she had told me she would see me， I broke one of her roses， broke a branch from it; and when I saw what I had done， I hid it inside my coat——so——; and when I came home I planted it， and the Signora sees how it has grown. If the Signora admires it， I must give her a cutting to plant also in her garden; I am told the English have beautiful gardens that are green， and not burnt with the sun like ours.\"

The next day， when their mended carriage had come up to fetch them， and they were just starting to drive away from the inn， the Conte's old servant appeared with the rose- cutting neatly wrapped up， and the compliments and wishes for a buon viaggio from her master. The town collected to see them depart， and the children ran after their carriage through the gate of the little city. They heard a rush of feet behind them for a few moments， but soon they were far down toward the valley; the little town with all its noise and life was high above them on its mountain peak.

She had planted the rose at home， where it had grown and flourished in a wonderful manner; and every June the great mass of leaves and shoots still broke out into a passionate splendour of scent and crimson colour， as if in its root and fibres there still burnt the anger and thwarted desire of that Italian lover. Of course the old Conte must have died many years ago; she had forgotten his name， and had even forgotten the name of the mountain city that she had stayed in， after first seeing it twinkling at dawn in the sky， like a nest of stars.

這位老太太總以她花園中那棵巨大的玫瑰樹(shù)為榮。她會(huì)津津有味地告訴你她頭一次結(jié)婚時(shí)，從意大利帶回來(lái)的一根插條，是怎么樣長(zhǎng)成參天大樹(shù)的。回想當(dāng)年她和丈夫乘馬車從羅馬旅行歸來(lái)(那時(shí)還未通鐵路)，途經(jīng)錫耶納南部的一段路時(shí)，道路很難走以至于馬車都?jí)牧耍?/p>

沒(méi)有辦法他們只好就夜宿于路邊的一間小店。住宿條件的惡劣致使她徹夜無(wú)眠，很早就起身穿好衣服，站在窗前等待黎明。涼風(fēng)不時(shí)從窗外襲來(lái)。事隔多年，她依然記得一輪明月掛在那青色的群山上，遠(yuǎn)山上的小城一點(diǎn)一點(diǎn)地變白，直到月亮漸漸落下，初升的太陽(yáng)為群山抹上一層淡淡的粉色。突然，小城像是被一盞明燈照亮了，一扇扇窗戶明亮地反射出耀眼的光芒，最后，小城如滿天繁星般在天空中熠熠生光。

那天上午，得知必須等一段時(shí)間馬車才能修好，他們便乘當(dāng)?shù)氐慕煌ㄜ嚿狭四莻€(gè)山頂小城，聽(tīng)說(shuō)在那可以找到好一點(diǎn)的住處。之后，他們?cè)谏缴隙毫袅藘扇?。那是個(gè)意大利小城，有一個(gè)高高的教堂，一個(gè)虛華的市場(chǎng)，一些窄窄的街道，幾座小小的宮殿，稠密而完美地立于山頂。被城墻圍著的城區(qū)并不比英國(guó)人的菜園子大多少，但這里生機(jī)勃勃，喧鬧嘈雜，晝夜回蕩著腳步聲和話語(yǔ)聲。

他們居住在當(dāng)?shù)匾粋€(gè)名流云集的小酒店里，有市長(zhǎng)、律師、醫(yī)生，還有其他一些人。其中一位英俊、高個(gè)兒而又健談的老人引起了他們的注意。他烏黑的眼睛，雪白的頭發(fā)，腰板挺直，像年輕人一樣。但是酒店的侍者卻自豪地告訴他們實(shí)際上這位伯爵已屆高齡，明年是他的八十壽辰。侍者還說(shuō)到伯爵是這個(gè)家族的最后一員，他們家曾是豪門大戶，但一生無(wú)子 嗣。但事實(shí)上，這個(gè)侍者還甚是得意地說(shuō)，伯爵情場(chǎng)失意，終生未娶，似乎是一件本地值得炫耀的事情。

不過(guò)幸好，這位老先生看起來(lái)活得還挺開(kāi)心；顯然對(duì)陌生人很感興趣，愿意與之結(jié)交。很快這位好心的侍者促成了他們之間的認(rèn)識(shí)。剛聊一會(huì)兒，老人就邀請(qǐng)他們參觀他郊外的別墅和花園。因此，第二天下午，日落之時(shí)，當(dāng)他們從門口和窗口瞥見(jiàn)藍(lán)色的陰影覆蓋了褐色的山巒時(shí)，就動(dòng)身去造訪這位老伯爵了。其實(shí)別墅比較一般，只是一座拉毛粉飾的現(xiàn)代小別墅，鋪有石子的花園里有些熱，石盆中的魚(yú)兒無(wú)精打采，狄安娜和獵犬的雕像倚墻而立。然而，一棵巨大的玫瑰樹(shù)為這個(gè)花園增色不少，它高過(guò)房頂，幾乎蓋住了窗戶，散發(fā)出誘人的花香。嗯!確實(shí)是棵美麗的玫瑰樹(shù)，在人們的贊美聲中老先生很自豪地說(shuō)，而且他很樂(lè)意為這位女工講述玫瑰樹(shù)的故事。當(dāng)大家坐在那兒，喝著老人拿出的葡萄酒時(shí)，老伯爵忘卻了自己已屆高齡，向大家娓娓道起自己當(dāng)年的愛(ài)情故事，就好像他們?cè)缫呀?jīng)聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)似的。

“多年以前，當(dāng)我還是個(gè)年輕人時(shí)，那個(gè)小姐住在那座山背后的山谷對(duì)面。我常騎馬去與她約會(huì)；雖然路很長(zhǎng)，但年輕人性子急———這位女士無(wú)疑是知道的，所以我騎得很快。但那位小姐很不友善，總是讓我等啊等，一等就是幾個(gè)小時(shí)吧。一天，久候不來(lái)之后，我勃然大怒。在我們約會(huì)的那個(gè)花園里不停地踱步，借著怒火折斷她的一棵玫瑰樹(shù)，把上面的一根樹(shù)枝折走了。清醒之后，我立馬將它藏進(jìn)外套。事情就是這樣?；丶抑笪野阉N到花園里，它現(xiàn)在的情形這位女士已經(jīng)看到了。當(dāng)然這位女士要是喜歡的話，我愿意送根插條讓她種在她家的花園里。聽(tīng)說(shuō)英國(guó)人的花園很漂亮，到處綠油油的，不像我們的園子都被太陽(yáng)烤焦了?！?/p>

翌日，馬車已修好，上山來(lái)接他們。正要乘車離開(kāi)小酒店時(shí)，伯爵的老仆人來(lái)了。送了他們一根包扎好的玫瑰插條，并轉(zhuǎn)達(dá)了老伯爵的問(wèn)候與祝辭，祝他們旅途愉快。全城人都出來(lái)目送他們離去，孩童們追隨馬車一直到小城門外。開(kāi)始還能聽(tīng)到身后陣陣的腳步聲，但不久馬車就駛?cè)肷焦?，喧鬧的小城依然在他們上面高高立于山巔。

她將玫瑰插條種在家里，長(zhǎng)勢(shì)良好，枝繁葉茂。每年的六月，枝繁葉茂的玫瑰樹(shù)都會(huì)開(kāi)出深紅的花兒，花香四溢。就好像它的根須中依然燃燒著那個(gè)意大利愛(ài)人的憤怒和愛(ài)情中沒(méi)有實(shí)現(xiàn)的愿望。當(dāng)然，老伯爵肯定已經(jīng)辭世多年；她也忘記了老伯爵的名字，連曾經(jīng)住過(guò)的小城名字也遺忘了。只記得初見(jiàn)時(shí)，它猶如滿天的繁星在黎明的薄幕中熠熠生光。