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AnnieDillardtellsofhervisittotheNapoRiverintheheartoftheEcuadorianjungle,oneofnature'smostunspoiledplaces.Shedescribesthebeautyoftheforestandheradmirationforthepeoplewholivethere.安妮?迪拉德讲述了自己游览厄瓜多尔丛林深处的纳波河的经历。那是大自然遭受人为破坏最少的地区之一。她描述了森林之美以及对生活在那里的土著人的歆慕之情。IntheJungle在丛林中AnnieDillard安妮?迪拉德1Likeanyout-of-the-wayplace,theNapoRiverintheEcuadorianjungleseemsrealenoughwhenyouarethere,evencentral.Outofthewayofwhat?Iwassittingonastumpattheedgeofabanksidepalm-thatchvillage,inthemiddleofthenight,ontheheadwatersoftheAmazon.Outofthewayofhumanlife,tenderness,ortheglanceofheaven?如同所有僻远之地，当你身临其境时，厄瓜多尔丛林深处的纳波河就显得那么真实，甚至有中心要地的感觉。那么僻远之地远离什么呢?夜半时分，在亚马逊河的源头，我坐在一个树墩上，身后是傍水的棕榈叶作屋顶的小村落。远离人类活动，远离脉脉温情。或者说远离天堂的扫视?2Anightjarindeep-leavedshadowcalledthreelongnotes,andhushed.Themenwithmetalkedsoftly:threeNorthAmericans,fourEcuadorianswhowereshowingusthejungle.Wewereholdingcooldrinksandidlywatchingahand-sizedtarantulaseizemothsthatcametothelonebulbonthegeneratorshedbesideus.一只欧夜鹰在密密的树叶间发出三声长啼，旋即静默无声。和我一起的那些男人轻声交谈着：3个北美人，4个为我们在丛林中带路的厄瓜多尔人。我们手里拿着清凉的饮料，悠闲地看着一只有手那么大小的狼蛛捕捉纷纷扑向我们身旁发电机棚屋上一个灯泡的飞虫3ItwasFebruary,themiddleofsummer.Greenfirefliesspatteredlightsacrosstheairandilluminedforseconds,nowhere,nowthere,thepaletrunksofenormous,solitarytrees.BeneathusthebrownNapoRiverwasrising,inallsilence;itcoiledupthesandybankandtangleditsfoaminvinesthattrailedfromtheforestandrootsthatloopedtheshore.时值2月，正当仲夏。绿莹莹的萤火虫在空中闪出光亮，一会儿这里照亮一下、一会儿那里照亮一下幽木巨树暗淡的树干。在我们下方，褐黄色的纳波河水正在涨潮。万籁俱寂：唯见河水沿着沙岸婉蜒流过，水沫裹挟在蔓生在森林里的藤蔓间以及盘绕岸边的树根上4Eachbreathofnightsmelledsweet.EachstarinOrionseemedtotrembleandstirwithmybreath.Allatonce,inthethatchhouseacrosstheclearingbehinduscamethesoundofarecorder,playingatunethattwinedoverthevillageclearing,mutedourtalkonthebankside,andwanderedovertheriver,dissolvingdownstream.夜晚吸入的每口气都沁人心脾。猎户星座里的每一颗星星似乎都因了我的呼吸而颤动。突然，我们身后空地旁的茅屋里，传出了录音机的声音，一首乐曲在村子空地之上缭绕，减弱了我们在河畔谈话的声音，然后又传至河面，顺流飘去。5Thiswilldo,Ithought.Thiswilldo,foraweekend,oraseason,orahome.人生遇此情景足矣，我暗想。在此度过周末足矣，在此小住数月足矣，在此安家足矣。6LaterthatnightIloosedmyhairfromitsbraidsandcombeditsmooth——notformyself,butsothevillagegirlscouldplaywithitinthemorning.夜半时分，我散开辫子，把头发梳理得平平整整——不是为我自己，而是为了村里那些姑娘早上可以玩我的头发7Wehaddisembarkedatthevillagethatafternoon,andIhadslumpedonsomeshadedsteps,wishingIknewsomeSpanishorsomeQuechuasoIcouldspeakwiththeringoflittlegirlswhowerealternatelystaringatmeandsmilingattheirtoes.Ispokeanyway,andfooledwithmyhair,whichtheywereobviouslydyingtogettheirhandson,andlaughed,andsoontheywereallbraidingmyhair,allfiveofthem,allfiftyfingers,allmyhair,evenmybangs.Andthentheytookitapartanddiditagain,laughing,andteachingmeSpanishnouns,andmeetingmyeyesandeachother'swithopendelight,whiletheirsmallbrothersinbluejeansclimbeddownfromthetreesandbegankickingavolleyballaroundwithoneoftheNorthAmericanmen.我们是那天下午在这个小村卜岸的，我垂着头坐在树荫下的踏级上，真希望自己会说几句西班牙语或盖丘亚语，好跟围成一圈的小女孩说说话，她们一会儿看看我，一会儿又低头看着自己的脚趾窃笑。我还是开口了，笑着抚弄自己的头发，她们显然也都非常想碰碰我的头发。没过一会儿，她们就给我编辫子了，她们5个人，50个手指，我是一头辫子，连留海也编成了辫子。她们拆了编，编了拆，一边笑一边教我西班牙语单词，望望我，又相互对望，个个喜形于色。她们那些穿着牛仔服的小弟弟们都爬下树来，跟一个北美人踢排球玩耍。8Now,asIcombedmyhairinthelittletent,anotherofthemen,afree-lancewriterfromManhattan,wastalkingquietly.Hewastellingusthetaleofhislife,describinghisworkinHollywood,hisapartmentinManhattan,hishouseinParis....Itmakesmewonder,hesaid,whatI'mdoinginatentunderatreeinthevillageofPompeya,ontheNapoRiver,inthejungleofEcuador.Afterapauseheadded,ItmakesmewonderwhyI'mgoingback.此刻，我在低矮的帐篷里梳理着头发，另一个北美人，一位来自曼哈顿的自由作家，正在轻声说话。他在向我们讲述他人生的故事，讲述他在好莱坞的工作、在曼哈顿的公寓、在巴黎的家……“我不由纳闷，”他说，“在厄瓜多尔的丛林里，在纳波河上，在庞培亚小村，在树下的帐篷里，自己在干什么。”他顿了顿，接着说：“我不由寻思，自己为什么要回去。”9ThepointofgoingsomewhereliketheNapoRiverinEcuadorisnottoseethemostspectacularanything.Itissimplytoseewhatisthere.Wearehereontheplanetonlyonce,andmightaswellgetafeelfortheplace.Wemightaswellgetafeelforthefringesandhollowsinwhichlifeislived,fortheAmazonbasin,whichcovershalfacontinent,andforthelifethat--there,likeanywhereelse--isalwaysandnecessarilylivedindetail:onthetributaries,intheriversidevillages,suckingthisparticularwhite-fleshedguavainthisparticularpatternofshade.去厄瓜多尔纳波河这种地方不是为了观赏什么世界奇观，而只是去看一看那里有些什么。人生在世，唯有一次，我们不妨去感受一下那个地方。我们不妨去感受一下有生命生活其间的远方水乡山谷，去感受覆盖了半个大陆的亚马逊河流域，去感受那样一种生活——在那里，一如在别的地方——那种必定总是琐碎的生活：在各条支流上，在临水的村落里，在有着独特形状的阴凉处吮吸着有白色浆果的独特的番石榴。10Whatisthereisinteresting.TheNapoRiveritselfiswideandbrown,opaque,andsmearedwithfloatingfoamandlogsandbranchesfromthejungle.Parrotsinflocksdartinandoutofthelight.Underthewaterintheriver,unseen,areanacondas--whicharereputedtotakeafewvillagetoddlerseveryyear--andwaterboas,crocodiles,andsweet-meatedfish.那里的一切都趣味盎然。纳波河河面宽阔，河水混浊，呈褐黄色，浮沫以及丛林里来的木段和树枝翻浮其上。成群的鹦鹉忽而飞进树荫里，忽而飞入阳光里。水下潜伏着南美蟒蛇——据说每年都要吞吃几名村童——还有水蟒、鳄鱼，以及肉质鲜美的鱼类。11Lowwaterbaresgraystripsofsandbaronwhichthenativesbuildtinypalm-thatchsheltersforovernightfishingtrips.Youseetheseextraordinarilycleanpeople(whobathetwiceadayintheriver,andwhosestraightblackhairisalwaysfreshlywashed)paddlingdowntheriverindugoutcanoes,huggingthebanks.水浅的地方露出灰茫茫的狭长沙洲，土著人在沙洲上为过夜的渔夫搭建了小小的棕榈茅舍。你能见到这些清洁得出奇的人(他们在河里一天沐浴两次，满头直挺的黑发更是刚刚洗过)在独木舟里紧贴着河岸荡桨。12SomeoftheIndiansofthisregion,earlierinthecentury,usedtosleepna