在树上读书、恋爱

By+Italo+Calvino

From this period in the brigands（强盗）company Cosimo had acquired a passion for reading and study which remained with him for the rest of his life. The attitude in which we now usually found him was astride（两腿分开跨在……上）a comfortable branch with a book open in his hand， or his back against a fork（枝杈）as if on a school bench， with a sheet of paper on a plank（厚木板）and an inkstand（墨水瓶）in a hole of the tree， writing with a long quill pen（羽管筆）.

Now it was he who would go and look for the Abbé（神父）Fauchelefleur to give him lessons， to explain Tacitus or Ovid and the celestial bodies（天体）and the laws of chemistry.1 But the old priest， apart from a bit of grammar and a scrap of theology（神学）， was foundering （沉没）in a sea of doubts and rifts（裂缝）， and at his pupils questions he would open his arms and raise his eyes to the sky.

“Mon Abbé（my priest）， how many wives can one have in Persia？” “Mon Abbé， who is the Savoyard Vicar2？” “Mon Abbé， can you explain the systems of Linnaeus3？” “Alors…Maintenant…Voyons…（那么……现在……瞧……）” would begin the Abbé， then hesitate and go no further.

But Cosimo， who was devouring（如饥似渴地读）books of every kind， and spending half his time in reading and half in hunting to pay the booksellers bills， always had some new story to tell him. Of Rousseau（卢梭，法国启蒙思想家）botanizing（采集、研究植物）on his walks through the forests of Switzerland， or Benjamin Franklin（本杰明·富兰克林，美国政治家及科学家）trying to capture lightning with an eagle， of the Baron de la Hontan（拉洪坦男爵，一位法国士兵、旅行家）living happily among the Indians of America.

Old Fauchelefleur seemed to listen to all this with surprised attention， whether from real interest or only from relief at not having to teach himself， I dont know； and he would nod and interject（突然插话）a “Non！ Dites-Moi！（不！你告诉我！）”when Cosimo turned to him and asked “Do you know how it is that…？” or with a“Tiens！ Cest bien epatant！”（啊！太棒了！）when Cosimo gave him a reply； and sometimes a “Mon Dieu！（我的上帝啊！）” which could be either from exultation（狂喜）at this new revelation（启示）of the greatness of God， or from regret at the omnipresence（无处不在）of Evil still rampant（猖獗的）in the world under so many guises（表现形式）.

To these sudden about-turns（观点和看法交替转换）of the Abbé， Cosimo did not dare say a word， for fear of being criticized for incoherence（无条理）and lack of rigor（严谨）， and his proliferating（激增的）thoughts would go arid（贫瘠的）as if they had suddenly wandered into some marble cemetery（墓地）. Luckily the Abbé would soon tire of these tensions of the will， and sit there looking exhausted， as if this whittling away（削弱）of every concept to its pure essence left him the prey（受害者）of impalpable（感触不到的）shadows； he would blink， give a sigh， turn the sigh to a yawn（哈欠）， and go back into his nirvana（涅槃，这里指入睡）.

But between one and other of these habits of mind he was now spending his entire days following the studies being pursued by Cosimo， shuttlecocking（往返递送）between the trees where Cosimo was perched（盘踞于树枝上的）and Orbecches shop， ordering books from Amsterdam or Paris， and taking out those newly arrived. And thus came his disaster. For the rumor reached the Ecclesiastical Tribunal（教会法庭）that there was a priest at Ombrosa（翁布罗萨）who read all the most forbidden books in Europe. One afternoon the police appeared at our house with orders to inspect the Abbés cell. Among his breviaries（每日祈祷书）they found the works of Bayle4， still uncut（未拆封的）， but this was enough for them to put him between them and take him away.

Anyway， the Abbés arrest had no effects on the progress of Cosimos education. And from that period dates his correspondence with the major philosophers and scientists of Europe， to who he wrote in the hope of their resolving his queries（解决他的困惑）and objections， or perhaps just for the pleasure of discussion with superior minds and also the practice of foreign languages. It was a pity that all his papers， which he kept in a hollow（空心的）tree trunk known only to himself， have never been found and must certainly by now be mouldy（发霉的）or nibbled away（一点一点地被咬）by squirrels； there would be letters among them in the handwriting of the most famous scholars of the century.

On the strongest of these bookcases were ranged the tomes（大部头的书）of Diderot and DAlemberts Encyclopaedia5 as they reached him from a bookseller at Leghorn（意大利港口城市里窝那）. And though recently all his living with books had put his head rather in the clouds and made him less interested in the world around him， now on the other hand reading the Encyclopaedia， and beautiful words like Abeille（蜜蜂）， Arbre（树）， Bois（树林）， Jardin（花园）， made him rediscover everything around him as if seeing them for the first time.

This last story shows that the people of Ombrosa， who before had been teeming with（充满）gossip about my brothers love life， now， faced with this passion exploding as it were right above their heads， maintained a dignified reserve（有尊嚴的缄默）， as towards something bigger than themselves. Not that they did not criticize the Marchesas（公爵夫人，即指贵族女孩薇莪拉，她曾嫁给公爵，但很快成了寡妇）conduct； but more for its exterior（外表的）aspects， such as that breakneck（极快的，非常危险的）galloping（疾驰）of hers （“Where can she be going， at such a pace？”） and that continual hoisting（抬升）of furniture on to tree-tops. There was already an air among them of considering it all just as one of the nobles（贵族）ways， one of their many extravaganzas（张扬的言行）.（“All up trees， nowadays； women， men. Whatll they think of next？”） In fact， times were coming that were to be more tolerant， but also more hypocritical（虚伪的）.

Now the Baron would only show himself at rare intervals on the ilexes（冬青樹）in the square， and when he did it was a sign that she had left. For Viola was sometimes away months seeing to her properties scattered all over Europe， though these departures of hers always corresponded to moments of shock in their relationship， when the Marchesa had been offended with Cosimos not understanding what she wanted him to understand about love. Not that Viola left in this state of mind： they always managed to make it up before， though there remained the suspicion in him that she had decided on this particular journey from tiredness with him， because he could not prevent her going， perhaps she was already breaking away from him， perhaps some incident on the journey or a pause for reflection would decide her not to return. So my brother would live in a state of anxiety. He would try to go back to the habitual life he led before meeting her， to hunt and fish， follow the work in the fields， his studies， the gossip in the square， as if he had never done anything else （there persisted in him the stubborn youthful pride of refusing ever to admit himself under anyone elses influence）； and at the same time he would congratulate himself on how much love was giving， the alacrity（敏捷）， the pride； but on the other hand he noticed that so many things no longer mattered to him， that without Viola life had no savor（滋味）， that his thoughts were always following her. The more he tried， away from the whirlwind（一片忙乱）of Violas presence， to reacquire command of passions and pleasures in a wise economy of mind， the more he felt the void（空虚）left by her or the fever for her return. In fact his love was just what Viola wanted it to be， not as he pretended it was； it was always the women who triumphed， even from a distance， and Cosimo， in spite of himself， ended by enjoying it.

Suddenly the Marchesa would return. Once again the season of love on the trees began but also that of jealousy. Where had Viola been？ What had she done？ Cosimo was longing to know but at the same time afraid of how she answered his inquiries all by hints， and every hint seemed to insinuate（含沙射影）itself as a suspicion and he realized that though she was doing this to torment（折磨）him， it could all be quite true； and in this uncertain state of mind he would mask his jealousy at one moment then let it break out violently the next， and Viola would reply in a way that was always different and always unforeseeable（不可预见的）， and at one moment seem more tied to him than ever， at another to be beyond any fanning of the flame（把爱情之火扇得更旺）.

1. Tacitus： 塔西佗（55—AD120），古罗马元老院议员、历史学家，曾任行政长官，“塔西佗陷阱”（Tacitus Trap）即得名于此，指当政府部门失去公信力时，无论说真话还是假话，做好事还是坏事，都会被认为是说假话、做坏事；Ovid： 奥维德（43BC—AD17/18），古罗马诗人，代表作有《变形记》、《爱的艺术》和《爱情三论》，后因得罪奥古斯都（古罗马开国皇帝）而遭流放。

2. Savoyard Vicar： 萨瓦牧师，出自法国启蒙思想家卢梭代表作《爱弥儿》中的“一个萨瓦牧师的信仰自白”。忘记宗教、逃离异乡的少年卢梭被萨瓦省一个品格高尚的牧师搭救，牧师向他讲述了自己的宗教与信仰观念。

3. Linnaeus： 卡尔·冯·林奈（1707—1778），瑞典生物学家，奠定了现代生物学命名法“二名法”的基础，是现代生物分类学之父。他首先提出界、门、纲、目、科、属、种的物种分类法，至今被人们采用。

4. Bayle： 皮尔·拜尔（Pierre Bayle， 1647—1706），法国哲学家和评论家，主张把信仰和理性完全分开，被认为是18世纪理性主义的先驱。

5. Diderot and DAlemberts Encyclopaedia： 18世纪法国启蒙思想家编纂的《百科全书》，由狄德罗和达朗贝尔主编。他们反对封建特权制度和天主教会，向往合理的社会，认为迷信、成见、愚昧无知是人类的大敌，主张一切制度和观念要在理性的审判庭上受到批判和衡量。