Elephant Eyes大象之眼

基思·麦克拉克伦 骆海辉

The great bull elephant stands majestically in the hot African sun. Crackling， buzzing bush surrounds it as a ragged mountain range fills the backdrop beyond the dry vegetation and the rolling savanna1.

Slowly the gigantic beast lifts its head and its thick trunk snakes out to delicately curl around the leaves of a nearby acacia tree2， plucking the leaves and politely slipping the bundle into its mouth.

The beasts great grey hide is cracked and aged from the harsh African sun， some mud splatters on one side from its last trip to a nearby river. Coarse hair juts out from all over its hide and two large， white tusks curve elegantly from either side of its mouth.

Its large ears lazily move back and forth， perhaps to cool it down， to chase away the insistent， endless insects or perhaps both. It is a slow， steady action， almost cathartic3 in nature.

The bull elephant appears deep in thought as it slowly chews the leaves in its mouth and reaches out with its trunk to the tree for more.

Somewhere a lion roars and something else shrieks. A vulture drifts over far above this world， barely a black dot in the sky. The buzzing of the countless bush insects seems to collectively shift up in pitch and intensity， almost like the whole of the Savanna was singing some song that only they knew.

I peer through the lens at this scene. The zoom shows almost every detail of the elephant. The three nicks in its left ear from playing as a calf4 around thorn trees. The scar down its front leg where a lioness caught it unaware as a young adult， and the cracks and weathering on its great， valuable tusks from decades of living in this unforgiving5 Eden on a dusty continent.

And then the elephant looks at me.

It looks at me with those immense， eyelashed eyes with a warmth emanating outwards from a vast， hidden depth there. I can suddenly feel its soul， and feel the line of elephants that came before this one， trailing back to the very beginnings of this great savanna. We will never understand what wonders this ancient being and its kind have seen and whispered to each other across the ages on this old， sacred grassland.

It looks at me， and it looks through me and sees me.

The elephant knows I am there. It always did. It is not running away， nor is it fighting.

It accepts and forgives. It loves. But， mostly， it just feels sad. It feels sorry for me.

I cannot do this anymore.

I take my eye off the sights and hand the gun back to the ranger.

“Lets go home，” I mumble， “lets just go home.”

大公象在非洲炽烈的阳光下威严站立。四周的灌木丛噼啪作响，一片嘈杂。干枯的植物和绵延的稀树草原的远处，是一道高低起伏的山脉。

那头巨兽慢吞吞地抬起头，伸出粗壮的长鼻子，灵巧地卷起身旁那棵金合欢树的叶子，将其采下，优雅地把一团叶片塞入嘴里。

那头巨兽暴晒在非洲的烈日底下，灰色的兽皮满是裂纹，苍老无比。它刚从附近的河里出来，躯体一侧还粘着些淤泥。它浑身竖着粗糙的毛发，嘴巴两边各有一根弯弯的白象牙，优雅极了。

巨兽懒洋洋地来回扇着两只大耳朵，可能是给自己降温，也可能是驱赶不断袭扰、无穷无尽的虫子，或许这两个目的都有。这个动作迟缓而平稳，本质上差不多是在宣泄情绪。

看上去大公象正处于沉思中，不紧不慢地咀嚼口中的树叶，不慌不忙地伸出长鼻子，从树上摘下更多的叶片。

某处有一头狮子在咆哮，還有别的动物在尖叫。一只秃鹫在这片世界的高空盘旋，看上去只是天空中的一个黑点。数不清的灌木昆虫嗡嗡叫着，似乎是全体调高了音调和强度，就像整个草原在合唱一首只有它们才听得懂的歌曲。

我透过望远镜凝视着这幅景象。在变焦镜头里，大公象身上的每处细节几乎一览无遗。左耳上有三道划痕，是它幼时在荆棘树旁玩耍时留下的。一条前腿上有道伤疤，那是它年轻时遭遇一头雌狮突袭后落下的。这块尘土飞扬的大陆是它的伊甸园，它在这恶劣的环境里生存了几十年，那一对宝贵的大象牙不仅裂痕斑斑，而且褪色了。

就在那时，大公象看向我。

它看着我，睫毛下两只大眼睛热情温暖，那是从广阔而深邃的眼底流露出来的。我突然能够触碰到它的灵魂，能看到它出生前的一头头大象排成行，一直延伸到这片稀树大草原最初形成的时候。我们将永远不会明白，在这片久远的神圣草原上，这个古老的生物及其同类在漫长的岁月里，都见过、耳语过什么样的奇观。

它看着我，看透了我，也看清了我。

大公象知道我在那儿。它一直都知道。它既没有跑开，也没有战斗。

它接受了，原谅了。它心中有爱，但它多半只是感到悲哀，为我感到难过。

这事儿我再也干不下去了。

我将目光从瞄准器上收了回来，把猎枪递给了管理员。

“回家吧。”我咕哝道，“我们回家吧。”

（译者单位：绵阳师范学院）

Mind Your Own Business & Trouble

Mr. and Mrs. Brown had two sons. One was named Mind Your Own Business and the other was named Trouble. One day the two boys decided to play hide and seek. Trouble hid while Mind Your Own Business counted to one hundred. Mind Your Own Business began looking for his brother behind garbage cans and bushes. Then he started looking in and under cars until a police man approached him and asked， “What are you doing？” “Playing a game，” the boy replied. “What is your name？” the officer questioned. “Mind Your Own Business.” Furious the policeman inquired， “Are you looking for trouble？！” The boy replied， “Why， yes.”