《凱爾特的薄暮》是愛爾蘭著名詩人葉芝的代表作之一，這是一部特殊的作品。之所以說它特殊，原因有二：第一，這是詩人葉芝以詩歌的筆法寫出，卻又并非詩集的作品。第二，這是詩人用來表達他對愛爾蘭永恒的熱愛的一部重要作品。實際上，這是葉芝滿懷激情整理出的一部文字優(yōu)美的愛爾蘭神話傳說集。詩人浸淫在愛爾蘭文化中多年，對于愛爾蘭傳說中的仙女等魔幻力量的存在深信不疑，這種浪漫信仰給他的詩歌創(chuàng)作增添了特殊光彩。為了回報愛爾蘭民族文化這個給他提供了無限靈感的美的母體，葉芝用詩人的筆觸，記錄下他喜愛的凱爾特風(fēng)土人情。本書集結(jié)了或綿延數(shù)頁，或寥寥幾句的鄉(xiāng)人閑談和神話傳說，風(fēng)格和形式有點類似我國蒲松齡的《聊齋志異》。不過，與《聊齋志異》不同的是，本書更多的是強調(diào)詩人本人對于魔幻世界的思索與感激。

本文節(jié)選自其中的一篇，因篇幅所限，有刪節(jié)。

Last summer， whenever I had finished my day’s work， I used to go wandering in certain 2)roomy woods， and there I would often meet an old countryman， and talk to him about his work and about the woods. He had spent all his life 3)lopping away the 4)witch elm and the 5)hazel and the 6)privet and the 7)hornbeam from the paths， and had thought much about the natural and supernatural creatures of the wood. He has heard the hedgehog—he calls him—“grunting like a Christian，” and is certain that he steals apples by rolling about under an apple tree until there is an apple sticking to every 8)quill. He is certain too that the cats， of whom there are many in the woods， have a language of their own—some kind of old Irish. He says， “Cats were 9)serpents， and they were made into cats at the time of some great change in the world. That is why they are hard to kill， and why it is dangerous to 10)meddle with them. If you annoy a cat it might claw or bite you in a way that would put poison in you， and that would be the serpent’s tooth.” Sometimes he thinks they change into wild cats， and then a nail grows on the end of their tails; but these wild cats are not the same as the 11)marten cats， who have been always in the woods. The foxes were once tame， as the cats are now， but they ran away and became wild. He talks of all wild creatures with what seems an affectionate interest， though at times his eyes will twinkle with pleasure as he remembers how he made hedgehogs unroll themselves when he was a boy， by putting 12)a wisp of burning straw under them.

I am not certain that he distinguishes between the natural and supernatural very clearly. He told me the other day that foxes and cats like to be in the “13)forths” after nightfall; and he will certainly pass from some story about a fox to a story about a spirit with less change of voice than when he is going to speak about a marten cat—a rare beast nowadays. Many years ago he used to work in the garden， and once they put him to sleep in a garden-house where there was a 14)loft full of apples， and all night he could hear people 15)rattling plates and knives and forks over his head in the loft. Once， at any rate， he has seen an 16)unearthly sight in the woods. He says， “One time I was out cutting timber over in Inchy， and about eight o’clock one morning when I got there I saw a girl picking nuts， with her hair hanging down over her shoulders， brown hair， and she had a good， clean face， and she was tall and nothing on her head， and her dress no way 17)gaudy but simple， and when she felt me coming she 18)gathered herself up and was gone as if the earth had swallowed her up. And I followed her and looked for her， but I never could see her again from that day to this， never again.”

Others too have seen spirits in the Enchanted Woods. A labourer told us of what a friend of his had seen in a part of the woods that is called Shanwalla， from some old village that was before the weed. He said， “One evening I parted from Lawrence Mangan in the yard， and he went away through the path in Shanwalla， 19)an’ 20)bid me goodnight. And two hours after， there he was back again in the yard， an’ bid me light a candle that was in the 21)stable. An’ he told me that when he got into Shanwalla， a little fellow about as high as his knee， but having a head as big as a man’s body， came beside him and led him out of the path an’ 22)round about， and at last it brought him to the 23)limekiln， and then it vanished and left him.”

…

I often entangle myself in argument more complicated than even those paths of Inchy as to what is the true nature of 24)apparitions， but at other times I say as Socrates said when they told him a learned opinion about a 25)nymph of the 26)Illissus， “The common opinion is enough for me.” I believe when I am in the mood that all nature is full of people whom we cannot see， and that some of these are ugly or 27)grotesque， and some 28)wicked or foolish， but very many beautiful beyond any one we have ever seen， and that these are not far away when we are walking in pleasant and quiet places. Even when I was a boy I could never walk in a wood without feeling that at any moment I might find before me somebody or something I had long looked for without knowing what I looked for. And now I will at times explore every little 29)nook of some poor 30)coppice with almost anxious footsteps， so deep a hold has this imagination upon me. You too meet with a like imagination， doubtless， somewhere， wherever your ruling stars will have it， 31)Saturn driving you to the woods， or the Moon， it may be， to the edges of the sea. I will not of a certainty believe that there is nothing in the sunset， where our forefathers imagined the dead following their shepherd the sun， or nothing but some vague presence as little moving as nothing. If beauty is not a gateway out of the net we were taken in at our birth， it will not long be beauty， and we will find it better to sit at home by the fire and fatten a lazy body or to run 32)hither and thither in some foolish sport than to look at the finest show that light and shadow ever made among green leaves. I say to myself， when I am well out of that 33)thicket of argument， that they are surely there， the divine people， for only we who have neither simplicity nor wisdom have denied them， and the simple of all times and the wise men of ancient times have seen them and even spoken to them. They live out their passionate lives not far off， as I think， and we shall be among them when we die if we but keep our natures simple and passionate. May it not even be that death shall unite us to all 34)romance， and that some day we shall fight dragons among blue hills.

去年夏天，我只要一完成每天的工作，就習(xí)慣去一個空地兒多的樹林散步。在那里，我經(jīng)常遇見一位老農(nóng)夫，跟他聊聊他的活計和這片樹林。他一輩子都忙著修剪小路上的榆樹、榛樹、女貞樹和角樹枝條，對樹林里的自然和超自然生物也有過不少思考。他聽說過那只刺猬，說它“呼嚕叫著，像個基督徒在發(fā)牢騷”，他相信那家伙偷蘋果的辦法是在一棵蘋果樹下打滾，直到每根刺兒上都穿了一個蘋果。他也確信樹林里的眾多貓群有它們獨有的語言——像某種古愛爾蘭語。他認為，“貓都是大毒蛇變的，它們在世界發(fā)生的某次巨變中變成了貓。所以殺它們不容易，也正是因為這個原因，惹到它們，就危險了。要是你把貓惹怒了，它會抓你咬你，讓你中毒，就像大毒蛇用牙施毒一樣?！庇袝r，他又認為它們變成了野貓，尾巴末端長爪子；不過野貓和松貂可不一樣，后者自古就住在樹林里。狐貍曾一度被馴服，像現(xiàn)在的家貓那樣，但是它們后來逃走又變野了。他說到各種野生動物時，總是滿心愛意，興致盎然，不過，有時說起小時候的惡作劇——丟一束燃燒的稻草到刺猬身下，逼它們攤開身體——他的雙眼會得意地放光。

我不確定他能否清楚地區(qū)分自然和超自然的生物。有一天，他告訴我，狐貍和貓都特別喜歡在夜幕降臨之后，跑到“山寨”里。他經(jīng)常從一個關(guān)于狐貍的故事，講著講著就跳到一個鬼故事去，語調(diào)幾乎沒有變化，就好像只是換到一個關(guān)于松貂的故事似的——現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)很少見到這種動物了。許多年前，他在一個花園干活，有次人家吩咐他到園里的一間屋子里睡，看守閣樓上的蘋果。整晚，他都聽到頭頂上的閣樓里傳來叮叮當當擺弄碟子和刀叉的聲音。不管怎么說，他還真有一次在樹林里看到過神奇的一幕。他說，“有一陣，我在茵奇一帶砍柴，一天早上8點，我在那兒看到一個拾堅果的女孩，她的棕色秀發(fā)下垂過肩，小臉清秀潔凈，個兒高高，頭上沒戴什么，身上穿著非常簡樸。她察覺我的到來，蜷縮身子，突然消失了，好像地面開了個口子把她吸走那樣。我往她的方向一路走去，想找她，但是從那天起到現(xiàn)在，我再也沒有見過她，再也沒有。”

也有其他人在這魔幻森林里見過精靈鬼怪。有個工人告訴我們，他有個朋友在樹林里一個叫珊瓦拉的地方看到過一些“東西”，那兒曾經(jīng)是個古老的村莊，后來才荒廢掉的。他說：“有天晚上，我在院子里和勞倫斯·曼根道別，我倆說過晚安，他便從珊瓦拉的小路走了，兩個小時以后，他又跑了回來，讓我從馬廄里找根蠟燭點起來。他告訴我，他走進珊瓦拉時，有個只到他膝蓋高而腦袋卻有常人軀干那么大的小家伙走在他身邊，引他離開小路，掉轉(zhuǎn)頭，最后帶他走到石灰窯，就突然不見了。”

……

關(guān)于魂靈的真實本質(zhì)是什么這個問題，我經(jīng)常陷入比茵奇的小路還要錯綜復(fù)雜的思考。不過，有時我會像蘇格拉底那樣說。那時，有人向蘇格拉底提到關(guān)于依利索斯河仙女的某些學(xué)術(shù)見解，他回答道：“對我來說，普遍的看法就夠了?！备杏X來了，我就會相信，自然界充滿我們看不到的人，其中，或丑陋或怪異，或邪惡或愚笨，但也有很多擁有著我們從未見識過的超凡之美。當我們在靜謐怡人的地方漫步時，這些美麗精靈離我們不過咫尺。即使當我還是個孩子的時候，每次走在樹林里，都會覺得，我渴慕已久，卻不知其所以然的什么人或者什么事物，隨時會翩然出現(xiàn)在我面前。這種想象深深影響了我，到現(xiàn)在我還是會不時急切地跑到某片不怎么茂盛的矮樹林里，徹底搜尋每個小角落。你的主星所指之處，你多半也有過這樣一些幻想。也許，土星把你領(lǐng)進森林，月亮將你帶向海邊。我可不能斷信落日中沒有什么特別之物，我們的祖先曾想象過，死者就是在落日中，追隨他們的牧人——太陽而去的；我也不能斷言落日中只有一些模糊不清，如幻如無的東西。我們自出生便深陷網(wǎng)中，“美”一定是其出口，否則，“美”便不復(fù)為美。而且，倘非如此，我們想必只愿安坐家中，爐火暖身，任慵懶身軀日增贅肉，或者只知愚鹵追逐，狼奔豕突，而不懂欣賞光與影在綠葉叢間上演的絕妙演出。從爭論裹纏中走出來，我告訴自己，仙人們確確實實存在，只有我們這些既沒有單純心靈，也缺乏智慧的人才會否認這一點。而自古以來，純真之人、古時智者皆對仙家神人有所見聞，甚至和它們有過交談。我覺得，仙人們就在離我們不遠的地方，充滿激情地過著自己的日子，我們只要能讓自己保持單純本性、不失激情，死后就定將成為其中一員。但愿死亡把我們與一切傳奇相聯(lián)，但愿將來有一天，我們能在黛綠群山中與巨龍作戰(zhàn)。