《火星紀事》──〈火箭之夏〉（英漢對照）

《火星紀事》（The Martian Chronicles）
雷‧布萊伯利（Ray Bradbury）著，林翰昌（Daneel Lynn）譯


January 1999 Rocket Summer
1999 年元月　火箭之夏

One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets.
一分鐘前，俄亥俄州還籠罩在冰天雪地的寒冬之下。大門深鎖，窗戶緊閉，塊塊窗格也因霜雪的覆蓋而失去了光彩；細長的冰柱如珠簾般自屋簷垂下；孩童在山坡上滑雪嬉戲；主婦們則在冰凍的街道上踽踽而行，身上厚重的衣物，像極了緊緊裹著毛皮的黑熊。

And then a long wave of warmth crossed the small town. A flooding sea of hot air; it seemed as if someone had left a bakery door open. The heat pulsed among the cottages and bushes and children. The icicles dropped, shattering, to melt. The doors flew open. The windows flew up. The children worked off their wool clothes. The housewives shed their bear disguises. The snow dissolved and showed last summer's ancient green lawns.
倏地，一股綿長的暖意穿過了這座小鎮。熱風如海水般恣意氾濫奔流，彷彿有人忘了將麵包烘坊的大門關上。熱浪驚動了小屋，喚醒了樹叢，直往小孩身上招呼。冰柱墜落、粉碎，隨即化為一灘清水。門扉打開，窗戶拉起，孩子們紛紛褪去毛織服飾，主婦也卸下她們熊一般的偽裝。地上霜雪初融，現出昨夏青蔥的草地。

Rocket summer. The words passed among the people in the open, airing houses. Rocket summer. The warm desert air changing the frost patterns on the windows, erasing the art work. The skis and sleds suddenly useless. The snow, falling from the cold sky upon the town, turned to a hot rain before it touched the ground.
火箭之夏。話語在開敞、通風的房舍間口耳相傳。火箭之夏。溫暖、乾燥的空氣改變了窗上冰霜所構成的圖案，拭去冬季特有的自然藝術。突然間，雪橇與滑雪板完全失去作用。雪，原本欲從寒冷天空下落至鎮上的土壤，也在墜地之前就變成熱呼呼的雨滴。

Rocket summer. People leaned from their dripping porches and watched the reddening sky.
火箭之夏。人們倚靠在滴水溼漉的門廊，仰望著泛紅的蒼穹。

The rocket lay on the launching field, blowing out pink clouds of fire and oven heat. The rocket stood in the cold winter morning, making summer with every breath of its mighty exhausts. The rocket made climates, and summer lay for a brief moment upon the land....
火箭矗立在發射場，大口大口地噴出粉紅色的火光和熱氣。在這個寒冬的早晨，它卻直挺挺地站在那兒，每一次呼吸都帶著夏日的信息。火箭，改變了時節；夏，就在短短的剎那，駐足於這片冰封的土地……