观察夜晚的自然主义者

Susan著 小哭译

昨天晚上（或者我应该说今天早晨？）我在四点就醒了，下了床后，来到了外面。天还黑着，是那种伸手不见五指的黑，我根本看不到月亮的影子。我的父母还没有醒来。隔壁的房子全黑着，除了刚打开用来照亮的门廊灯外到处不见光亮。后院的草是湿的，我可以闻到空气中雨水的清新味儿。我想“我在屋里睡觉的时候天一定下过雨”。

然后，我开始在外面支帐篷。天冷，但还没有冷到让我缩回到屋里。门廊的灯还亮着，所以我能够看清一点点草。我能感觉到冷气经过我凉鞋上的孔洞钻进我的脚踝。我静悄悄地干着活，既是因为我不想影响任何人睡觉，也是因为黑得让人害怕。我试着呆在门廊灯能够照亮的地方。我的四周非常地安静，由于紧张我也更加静悄悄地，似乎只要这样，那些存在于我的想像中的隐藏在黑暗中的怪物就不会发现我了。过了一阵子，天更冷了，我快速地搭好了帐篷，抓了一个手电和一些毯子枕头之类的，就爬进我那与这个黑夜如此格格不入的粉红色的凯蒂猫城堡帐篷中了。

我在干活时，顾不得去关注大自然的宝贝，就顾着关心帐篷的钩子和夹子了。但等我在帐篷里安顿下来后，我便开始欣赏它们了。我打开了网状窗口的布片，以便在我感受泥土气味的同时还能更多地感受到穿过帐篷的雨水的湿润的气味儿。我喜欢雨的味道——很新鲜、干净和潮湿，总是让我觉得快乐地想跳舞。我不知道这是为什么，但就是这样。我也能感受到另一种味道——离地这么近，我能闻到草的味道。草闻起来和雨有点相似（可能是因为草被雨彻底地浸泡了吧），但更具泥土味。除了雨和草，也有一些我不能分辨出来的味道。可能是泥土，叶子，还有……一些其它别的什么。我坐回去，让黑夜的气味在帐篷的窗口间流动。

就算躺在那堆毯子下面，我的感官还是和平时一样地敏感。除了味道，我还能听到很多声音，它们并不都令人愉快。有蟋蟀在我帐篷后面响亮地的高声鸣叫着，“啁啾！”“啁啾！”还有不知道是哪种昆虫发出的我所熟悉的夜晚中的低音。这种声音像是“啁啾”与“嗡嗡”声的混合，听起来比蟋蟀那高音的叫声要低，与背景更为协调。虽然没有蟋蟀的叫声好听，但是叫声较长并且连续不断。第三种声音则来来去去的。听起来像是蟋蟀声，但是更吵，也不停顿（直到它彻底地停止鸣叫，然后又开始几分钟）。因为声音尖锐刺耳，让我想到了青蛙的叫声。因为好像声音就在我的窗外传来的似的，所以非常地烦人，尽管我什么也看不见。过了一会儿，这个声音停了下来，并且再也没有响起来。一阵大风吹过树木，院子里发出了柔和（或说毛骨悚然，看你怎么理解吧）的“哗哗”的声音。不久，我就在这些重复着的声音中一点点地睡着了。

但在我又睡着以前（记住现在是凌晨五点左右，所以我肯定是非常地累），我注意到了另一种烦人的声音。外面还是黑漆漆的，一旦我停止关注愉悦的声音，我就意识到天有多么地黑。在我爬进帐篷里之前，我已经把门廊的灯给关了，只留了车道上的一个非常非常暗的灯亮着。那点灯光没有什么用，只是带来了令人恐怖的阴影和吓人的形状。尽管我努力回避，可是我的耳朵自己却非要坚持工作，去听一些代表着“危险”的声音！！当然，一旦我去听那些声音，我就肯定能听到。

在我的右边，一片混乱。然后，出现了嫩枝损坏的声音。脚步声？不，听起来太小太安静了，不像是人的声音。动物的？可能是也可能不是。搞不清这声音是从哪里来的，比仅仅听到声音更为糟糕。然后，在我脑袋这个方向，我听到另外几个嫩枝断裂的声音，和几声小小的呼噜。那仅仅是我的想像？还是一个小动物在我的院子里拖脚而行呢？第一次听到这个声音时，我吓得要死。我是一个很容易受到惊吓的人，特别是当我一个人在这种伸手不见五指的黑夜里时。小心翼翼地，我往外看了看，但是除了草和黑暗之外我什么也看不见。几分钟后，有更多的细小的呼噜声和一些摩擦草地的声音，我认为那可能是一个松鼠或是那两只经常到我们院子里来的兔子中的一个。在我知道这个声音是什么之后（或以为我知道），我就感觉好多了，可以安静地去睡觉了。

但是不！有什么别的东西正在靠近我。天很冷，我把一条毯子放在了帐篷底面上，因为帐篷底面非常地薄，把另一条毯子盖在了身上。但还是很冷，窗户搞得我更冷了。我发誓墙是湿的，虽然他们应该是防水的。又吹来一阵风，我觉得帐篷在摇晃。这样反而更好，我想。不管怎么说，我不应该睡觉。当我一个人在黑夜里呆满一个小时后，就应该写我的另一个作业了。然而，我太累了。所以，大概一个半小时后，昆虫的鸣叫声，伴着树木哗哗作响的声音，再夹杂着黑夜的味道，最后把我送到梦乡了。

夜里呆在外面，一点都不是梭罗在他所写的《夜与月光》中所看到的那样愉快。这事儿其实很吓人，很恐怖，还把我冻得半死（那可能是我的错儿。我应该选择一个更暖和的夜晚或更多的毯子）。一些人可能会说我应该选择一个月圆的夜晚，但是我的理由是：月圆的夜晚在30天中只有两或三天，如果我选择月圆的夜晚的话，我体验的可能只是大自然的夜晚中少于10%的部分。因此，为了更好地体验自然，完全随机地选择一个夜晚更好（实际上这是我在体验完大自然的夜晚之后找的理由，我只是不想让自己看起来太傻而已）。

如前所述，我在户外的夜晚并非如梭罗所谈论的那种，特别是因为还没有月亮。虽然有星星，它们还相当地漂亮。梭罗应该非常清楚的一件事儿是加强的感官能力。因为我无法看得清楚，实际上我就不得不依赖于我的感官去弄清楚正在发生着什么。比如气味、声音和感觉/触觉，但味觉没什么用。

我赞同梭罗所说的另一件事儿，就是早晨醒来的那个特殊时刻。在我整个自然体验中最好的部分，就是醒来时闻到清晨空气中的新鲜味儿，看到淡蓝色的天空中闪耀着一弯白色的峨嵋月。清晨的微风与夜晚的风是如此地不同。清晨的风更为柔和，它通过新鲜的绿草把我叫醒；夜晚的风则非常强劲，它能穿越树木，像要把人撞倒一样。甚至连声音在清晨都有所不同。那个不知是什么昆虫所发出来的低低的嗡嗡声也消失了。蟋蟀的叫声还在，响亮而欢快。清晨里更多的叫声是鸟叫，鸟儿们在这里叫叫又在那里叫叫，欢乐的歌声让我精神大振，带给我的快乐和自信，让我觉得没有什么做不了的事情似的。直到我这次亲身体验之前，我一直都不相信梭罗所描述的这种大自然的清晨。现在人们还没有醒来，一会儿我将不得不重新地忙碌起来，于是我决定在这个温和的清晨里暂且休息一会儿。

总体来说，这是一次愉悦的经历。我喜欢成为自然的一部分，喜欢被大自然中的夜晚和清晨的气味和声音所包围。事实上，我是如此地喜欢，我甚至已经在想着要在某天再来体验一次了！梭罗是对的。在户外待些时间，成为自然的一部分，真的是一种特别与宝贵的经历。

【小哭介绍背景】我一边翻译，一边查找梭罗的资料！我一边看着梭罗的资料，一边想着应该把梭罗的资料也整理出来一篇小文，做为这篇小文的补充。最近老是听Susan说Walden，开始我一直不知道她说的到底是什么！后来才搞清楚，原来是梭罗的大作啊！从她的只言片语中得知，那是威尔基女士下达的阅读硬指标！Susan认为威尔基女士让他们读了太多有关哲学与宗教主题的书了，她觉得太难了，太枯燥了，不爱读。可我却觉得这挺好！近两年来，我越来越接受不了Susan总是沉浸在那些虚幻的书目中，我认为她应该开始花些时间去读一些和“现实生活”更相关的书。可是，青春期的孩子，如Susan这种，凭着我这点三脚猫的功夫，根本无法在这一点上说服她。高兴时她嘴上会说个好，不高兴时当场就会把我噎个半死，直问我她活在现实生活中的时间还不够多吗？

真的是庆幸她遇到了威尔基女士，一个让她崇拜并喜欢的老师，非常地有威严，又让她特别地服气。她为了当个好学生，一页页地读起了梭罗的书了。记得她在前面关于家庭作业的文章中曾经说过，这书读起来进度相当地缓慢。那是！需要动脑筋的书，当然和听故事的书不可同日而语了。

我喜欢她在这篇文章中对梭罗的一些看法的验证。对比于她读完书就去评论，她去亲自体验过了之后再评，那不管她是同意还是反对梭罗的观点，我都觉得她的态度是真诚的。在我眼里，威尔基女士想要培养学生们的，应该不仅仅是他们阅读的能力、思考的能力、体验的能力、验证的能力，还有一种做事的态度！我想Susan跟着她能够学到的，最宝贵的应该就是这种做事的态度了。要想自己说的话能够掷地有声，需要的不仅仅是表达的能力、思考的能力，还需要一种踏踏实实地行事风格。总之，想别人相信你，就得拿出来令人信服的理由。

这篇小文威尔基女士给的分数并不高，Susan解释说是文中低级错误太多。但我对这篇小文的评价还是相当不错的。Susan说威尔基女士在这篇小文上写的批阅意见是——“下次在前一个晚上天黑前把帐篷先搭好。”

我真为Susan在八年级中有诸多这类大作业和经历感到欣慰。何谓给孩子更好的教育？威尔基女士带来的教学，就是我眼里更好的教育！好老师千金不换。对于明年就退休的威尔基女士，能够成为她的学生需要十足的运气，而Susan，就这么好运。感谢上帝吧。遇到与孩子合拍的老师，其实是一件相当不容易的事情！

附上英文原文：

Nocturnal Naturalist

Last night (or should I say this morning?) I woke up at 4:00 AM, got out of bed, and went outside. It was still dark, the pitch-black-I-can’t-see-anything kind of of dark, and I could see no sign of the moon. My parents were not awake yet. The houses next to mine were all dark, there was no light on anywhere save the porch light I had just turned on to light my path. The grass in my backyard was wet, and I could smell the fresh scent of rain in the air. It must’ve rained earlier tonight while I was sleeping inside I thought.

Then, I went back outside to set up my tent. It was cold, but not cold enough to drive me back inside. The porch light was still on, so I could see the grass a little bit, and I could feel its coldness against my ankles and through the holes in my sandals. I worked quitely, partly because I did not want to disturb anyone from their sleep, and also partly because I was afriad of the dark. I also tried to stay within the spot that was lighted by the porch light. It was very quiet all around me, and I strained to be even quieter, so that the nonexistent monsters lurking in the darkest parts of my imagination would not find me. After a while, it seemed to get colder, so I quickly finished up with the tent, grabbed a flahslight and some blankets and pillows, and crawled inside my pink hello-kitty castle that seemed so out of place in the dark night.

As I worked, I had not been focusing on the treasures of nature, just on the hooks and clips of the tent. After I settled down in the tent, though, I decided enjoy them. I opened the flaps on the mesh windows so that the wet scent of rain could flood through the tent, making me feel more in synch with the earth. I like the smell of rain. It’s fresh and clean and wet, and it always make me feel like dancing around in joy. I have no idea why, but it does. I could also detect another smell—being so close to the ground, I could also smell the grass. The grass smelled a bit similar to the rain (probably because it had been thoroughly soaked by it), but more earthy. Aside from the rain and grass, there were a few other smell I couldn’t place. Maybe dirt, and leaves, and…. some other stuff.. I sat back and let the scents of the night flow through my tent, in one window and out the other.

Lying underneath that pile of blankets, my senses were as sensitive as ever. Aside from the smells, I could also hear many things, not all of them pleasant. There was the chirping of crickets, loud and clear outside my tent. Chirp! Chirp! There was also a lower noise I’m familiar with in a night scene, but I have no idea what kind of insects make it. It was a cross between a chirp and a buzz, and it was lower in pitch than the high chrips of a cricket, and blends in more with the background. It didn’t sound as good as a cricket’s chirp, but wwas longer and just as constant. A third noise came and went. It sounded like a cricket, but louder, and doesn’t pause (until it just stops chirping entirely, and starts again after a few minutes). It was also shriller, and reminds me of a frog’s croak. It sounded like it was coming from right outside my window. I couldn’t see anything, though. It was very annoying. After a while, it stopped and didn’t sound again. A big wind came and blew through the trees, making a gentle (or creepy, depends on how you intepret it) swwsssshhh around the yard. Soon, bit by bit, the repeatative sounds began to rock me to sleep.

Before I fell asleep again, though (remember that it was around five in the morning, so I was bound to be tired), I noticed another sounds that was a bit disturbing. It was still dark outside, and once I stopped paying attention to the pleasant sounds, I start noticing just how dark it was. I had turned the porch light off before I crawled into the tent, and left another very very dim light on in the driveway. That light doesn’t help, it only creates creepy shadows and scary shapes. As much as I tried not to, my ears acted on their own and started listening for noises that meant danger!! Of course, once I start listening for those noises, I was guaranteed to find some.

To my right, there was a scuffle. Then, sounds of twigs breaking. Footsteps? No, it sounded too small and quiet for a human. An animal? Maybe maybe not. Not knowing what was making that noise was worse than just hearing it. Then, in the direction of my head, I heard another few twigs snapping, and a few tiny little grunting sounds. Was it just my imagination, or was a small animal scuffling around my yard that night? When I first heard the noises, I was scared to death. I’m a very jumpy person, expecially when I’m alone outside in the pitch-black night. Timidly, I looked outside, but couldn’t see anything but grass and darkness. After a few minutes and more tiny grunts and sounds of something rubbing against the grass, I decided that it was probably a squirrel or one of those two bunnies that comes to our yard frequently. After I knew what the noise was (or thought I knew), I felt much better, and could go to sleep peacefully.

But no! Something else was getting to me. It was cold. I had a blanket laided out on the tent bottom because the bottom was very thin, and another piece of blanket over me. But it was still cold. The windows made it cooler. I swear the walls were wet, even though they’re supposed to be waterproof. Another gust of wind blew, and I felt the tent shake. All the better. I thought. I’m not supposed to be sleeping anyway. I’m supposed to be working on my other homeworks when my one hour outside at night is finished. However, I was too tired. So after about an hour and a half, the chirps of the insects, the swooshes of the trees, and the smells of the night finally lulled me to sleep.

Spending my night outside was nowhere as pleasant as Thoreau had made it seen in his writing “Night and Moonlight”. It was scary, it was creepy, and it froze me half to death (that may be my fault. I should’ve picked a warmer night and more blankets). Some people say I probably should’ve done my night outside during a full moon, but my reasoning was: A night with a round moon is only roughly two or three nights out of 30, so if I did my night outside on a full moon, I would only be experiencing less than 10% of what most nights in nature are like. Therefore, to experience nature better, it was better to do this on a completely random night (I actually made this reason up after I did my night in nature so I wouldn’t seem too foolish).

As I was saying, my night outside was not what Thoreau talked about. Especially since there was no moon. The stars were out, though, and they were really pretty. One thing that Thoreau got right was the hightened senses. Since I couldn’t see that well, I really had to rely on my senses to figure out what was going on. Smell, sound, and feeling/touch. Taste didn’t help much.

Another thing I agree with Thoreau on that special moment in mornings, when I first wake u. The best part of my whole nature experience was waking up to the fresh smell of morning, to the pale blue sky shining with a white, glowing creasant moon. The morning breeze felt so different from the night’s, gentler, a cool wake-up call through the fresh green grass insead of a strong giant running through the trees, threatening to knock me down. Even the sounds are diffferent. The low buzzing of the anonymous insect was gone. The chirping of the crickets were still there, bright and happy. Most abundant was the birds, calling this way and that, and their bright songs lifted up my spirit, and made me feel happy and positive that I can do anything. I hadn’t believe what Thoreau said about morning in nature until I experienced it myself. Nobody was awake yet, so I rested for a while in the gentleness of the morning before I finally had to get busy again.

All in all, it was a pleasant experience. I enjoyed being part of nature, and being enveloped by the scents and sounds of a night and morning in nature. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I think I might do it again someday! Thoreau was right. Spening time outside and being a part of nature truly was a special and precious experience.