家之歌與蠍子

“In the town they tell the story of the great pearl—how it was found and how it was lost again.

「鎮上的人講著那顆大珍珠的故事——它怎麼被找到，又怎麼再次失去。

They tell of Kino, the fisherman, and of his wife, Juana, and of the baby, Coyotito.

他們講漁夫奇諾，講他的妻子胡安娜，還有嬰兒柯尤提托。

And because the story has been told so often, it has taken root in every man’s mind.

因為這個故事被講了太多次，它已經在每個人心裡生了根。

And, as with all retold tales that are in people’s hearts, there are only good and bad things and black and white things and good and evil things and no in-between anywhere.

而就像所有留在人們心中、被一講再講的故事一樣，裡面只有好事和壞事、黑的和白的、善的和惡的，任何地方都沒有中間地帶。

“If this story is a parable, perhaps everyone takes his own meaning from it and reads his own life into it.

「如果這個故事是一則寓言，也許每個人都會從中取出自己的意義，把自己的人生讀進去。

In any case, they say in the town that . . .”

無論如何，鎮上的人是這麼說的……」

Kino awakened in the near dark.

奇諾在近乎全黑中醒來。

The stars still shone and the day had drawn only a pale wash of light in the lower sky to the east.

星星還亮著，白晝只在東方低空抹上一層淡淡的光。

The roosters had been crowing for some time, and the early pigs were already beginning their ceaseless turning of twigs and bits of wood to see whether anything to eat had been overlooked.

公雞已經啼了好一陣子，早起的豬已經開始沒完沒了地翻動細枝和木屑，看看有沒有遺漏什麼可吃的。

Outside the brush house in the tuna clump, a covey of little birds chittered and flurried with their wings.

樹枝屋外的仙人掌叢裡，一群小鳥吱吱喳喳，撲騰著翅膀。

Kino’s eyes opened, and he looked first at the lightening square which was the door and then he looked at the hanging box where Coyotito slept.

奇諾睜開眼睛，先看那個漸漸亮起來的方框，那是門；再看吊著的木箱，柯尤提托睡在裡面。

And last he turned his head to Juana, his wife, who lay beside him on the mat, her blue head-shawl over her nose and over her breasts and around the small of her back.

最後他轉頭看胡安娜，他的妻子；她躺在他身邊的草蓆上，藍色頭巾蓋過鼻子、蓋過胸口，繞到腰後。

Juana’s eyes were open too.

胡安娜的眼睛也睜著。

Kino could never remember seeing them closed when he awakened.

奇諾不記得自己醒來時，曾經看過她閉著眼。

Her dark eyes made little reflected stars.

她深色的眼睛映著小小的星光。

She was looking at him as she was always looking at him when he awakened.

她看著他，就像他每次醒來時她看著他那樣。

Kino heard the little splash of morning waves on the beach.

奇諾聽見早晨的小浪拍上沙灘的聲音。

It was very good—Kino closed his eyes again to listen to his music.

這很好——奇諾又閉上眼睛，聽他的音樂。

Perhaps he alone did this and perhaps all of his people did it.

也許只有他這樣做，也許他的族人都這樣做。

His people had once been great makers of songs so that everything they saw or thought or did or heard became a song.

他的族人曾經是偉大的造歌者，他們看到的、想到的、做的、聽到的一切，都會變成一首歌。

That was very long ago.

那是很久很久以前的事了。

The songs remained; Kino knew them, but no new songs were added.

那些歌留了下來；奇諾都會，可是再也沒有新歌加進來。

That does not mean that there were no personal songs.

這不表示就沒有屬於個人的歌。

In Kino’s head there was a song now, clear and soft, and if he had been able to speak of it, he would have called it the Song of the Family.

此刻奇諾腦中就有一首歌，清澈而柔和，要是他說得出來，他會叫它「家之歌」。

His blanket was over his nose to protect him from the dank air.

他的毯子蓋過鼻子，擋住陰濕的空氣。

His eyes flicked to a rustle beside him.

身邊一陣窸窣，他的眼睛飛快地瞥過去。

It was Juana arising, almost soundlessly.

是胡安娜起身了，幾乎沒有聲音。

On her hard bare feet she went to the hanging box where Coyotito slept, and she leaned over and said a little reassuring word.

她赤著結實的雙腳走到柯尤提托睡的吊箱邊，彎下身說了一句安撫的小話。

Coyotito looked up for a moment and closed his eyes and slept again.

柯尤提托抬眼看了一下，又閉上眼睛睡了。

Juana went to the fire pit and uncovered a coal and fanned it alive while she broke little pieces of brush over it.

胡安娜走到火坑邊，撥開一塊炭，把它搧旺，一邊把小段的枯枝折斷撒在上面。

Now Kino got up and wrapped his blanket about his head and nose and shoulders.

這時奇諾起身，把毯子裹住頭、鼻子和肩膀。

He slipped his feet into his sandals and went outside to watch the dawn.

他把腳套進涼鞋，走到外面看黎明。

Outside the door he squatted down and gathered the blanket ends about his knees.

他在門外蹲下，把毯子的下襬攏在膝蓋四周。

He saw the specks of Gulf clouds flame high in the air.

他看見海灣上空一點點的雲在高處燃燒。

And a goat came near and sniffed at him and stared with its cold yellow eyes.

一隻山羊走近，嗅了嗅他，用冷冷的黃眼睛盯著他。

Behind him Juana’s fire leaped into flame and threw spears of light through the chinks of the brush-house wall and threw a wavering square of light out the door.

他身後，胡安娜的火竄起火焰，從樹枝屋牆壁的縫隙射出一根根光矛，又從門口投出一方搖晃的光。

A late moth blustered in to find the fire.

一隻遲歸的飛蛾莽莽撞撞地闖進來找火。

The Song of the Family came now from behind Kino.

家之歌此刻從奇諾身後傳來。

And the rhythm of the family song was the grinding stone where Juana worked the corn for the morning cakes.

家之歌的節奏，是胡安娜磨玉米做早餐餅的石磨聲。

The dawn came quickly now, a wash, a glow, a lightness, and then an explosion of fire as the sun arose out of the Gulf.

黎明此刻來得很快：一抹、一片光暈、一陣明亮，然後太陽從海灣升起，像一場火的爆炸。

Kino looked down to cover his eyes from the glare.

奇諾低下頭，躲開刺眼的光。

He could hear the pat of the corn-cakes in the house and the rich smell of them on the cooking plate.

他聽得見屋裡拍打玉米餅的聲音，聞得到餅在烤盤上濃郁的香氣。

The ants were busy on the ground, big black ones with shiny bodies, and little dusty quick ants.

地上的螞蟻很忙，有身體發亮的大黑蟻，也有灰撲撲、動作很快的小螞蟻。

Kino watched with the detachment of God while a dusty ant frantically tried to escape the sand trap an ant lion had dug for him.

奇諾以神一般的超然，看著一隻灰螞蟻拚命想逃出蟻獅為牠挖的沙坑陷阱。

A thin, timid dog came close and, at a soft word from Kino, curled up, arranged its tail neatly over its feet, and laid its chin delicately on the pile.

一隻瘦瘦的、膽小的狗走近，奇諾輕輕說了一句話，牠就蜷起身子，把尾巴整齊地蓋在腳上，下巴優雅地擱在那堆東西上。

It was a black dog with yellow-gold spots where its eyebrows should have been.

那是一隻黑狗，眉毛的位置長著兩個金黃色的斑點。

It was a morning like other mornings and yet perfect among mornings.

這是一個和其他早晨一樣的早晨，卻又是早晨之中最完美的一個。

Kino heard the creak of the rope when Juana took Coyotito out of his hanging box and cleaned him and hammocked him in her shawl in a loop that placed him close to her breast.

奇諾聽見繩子嘎吱一響，胡安娜把柯尤提托從吊箱裡抱出來，替他擦乾淨，用披巾兜成一個圈，像吊床一樣把他兜在胸前。

Kino could see these things without looking at them.

奇諾不用看也看得見這些。

Juana sang softly an ancient song that had only three notes and yet endless variety of interval.

胡安娜輕輕唱著一首古老的歌，只有三個音，音程卻變化無窮。

And this was part of the family song too.

這也是家之歌的一部分。

It was all part.

全都是它的一部分。

Sometimes it rose to an aching chord that caught the throat, saying this is safety, this is warmth, this is the Whole.

有時它升成一個令人心痛的和弦，揪住喉嚨，說：這是安全，這是溫暖，這是全部。

Across the brush fence were other brush houses, and the smoke came from them too, and the sound of breakfast, but those were other songs, their pigs were other pigs, their wives were not Juana.

樹枝圍籬那頭是別的樹枝屋，也冒著煙，也傳來早餐的聲音，可是那些是別的歌，他們的豬是別人的豬，他們的妻子不是胡安娜。

Kino was young and strong and his black hair hung over his brown forehead.

奇諾年輕而強壯，黑髮垂在褐色的額頭上。

His eyes were warm and fierce and bright and his moustache was thin and coarse.

他的眼睛溫暖、兇猛而明亮，鬍子又稀又硬。

He lowered his blanket from his nose now, for the dark poisonous air was gone and the yellow sunlight fell on the house.

他這時把毯子從鼻子上拉下來，因為陰暗有毒的空氣已經散去，黃色的陽光落在屋上。

Near the brush fence two roosters bowed and feinted at each other with squared wings and neck feathers ruffed out.

圍籬邊兩隻公雞彎下身，互相虛晃試探，翅膀張成方形，頸毛蓬起。

It would be a clumsy fight.

那會是一場笨拙的打鬥。

They were not game chickens.

牠們不是鬥雞。

Kino watched them for a moment, and then his eyes went up to a flight of wild doves twinkling inland to the hills.

奇諾看了牠們一會兒，然後他的目光往上，追著一群野斑鳩閃閃爍爍地往內陸的山丘飛去。

The world was awake now, and Kino arose and went into his brush house.

世界醒了，奇諾站起來，走進他的樹枝屋。

As he came through the door Juana stood up from the glowing fire pit.

他一進門，胡安娜就從發亮的火坑邊站起來。

She put Coyotito back in his hanging box and then she combed her black hair and braided it in two braids and tied the ends with thin green ribbon.

她把柯尤提托放回吊箱，然後梳她的黑髮，編成兩條辮子，用細細的綠緞帶綁住髮尾。

Kino squatted by the fire pit and rolled a hot corn-cake and dipped it in sauce and ate it.

奇諾蹲在火坑邊，捲起一張熱玉米餅，沾了醬吃。

And he drank a little pulque and that was breakfast.

他又喝了一點普逵酒（pulque，龍舌蘭發酵酒），這就是早餐。

That was the only breakfast he had ever known outside of feast days and one incredible fiesta on cookies that had nearly killed him.

除了節慶日，還有一次不可思議的節日差點讓他吃餅乾吃到撐死之外，這是他所知道唯一的早餐。

When Kino had finished, Juana came back to the fire and ate her breakfast.

奇諾吃完，胡安娜才回到火邊吃她的早餐。

They had spoken once, but there is not need for speech if it is only a habit anyway.

他們說過一次話，不過，如果說話只是一種習慣，那就沒有必要了。

Kino sighed with satisfaction—and that was conversation.

奇諾滿足地嘆了一口氣——那就是交談。

The sun was warming the brush house, breaking through its crevices in long streaks.

陽光暖著樹枝屋，從縫隙中一道道長長地穿進來。

And one of the streaks fell on the hanging box where Coyotito lay, and on the ropes that held it.

其中一道落在柯尤提托躺著的吊箱上，落在吊著木箱的繩子上。

It was a tiny movement that drew their eyes to the hanging box.

是一個極細微的動靜，把他們的目光引到吊箱上。

Kino and Juana froze in their positions.

奇諾和胡安娜僵在原地。

Down the rope that hung the baby’s box from the roof support a scorpion moved slowly.

一隻蠍子正沿著那條從屋樑垂下、吊著嬰兒木箱的繩子，慢慢往下爬。

His stinging tail was straight out behind him, but he could whip it up in a flash of time.

牠那帶刺的尾巴直直伸在身後，可是一眨眼就能甩起來。

Kino’s breath whistled in his nostrils and he opened his mouth to stop it.

奇諾的呼吸在鼻孔裡嘶嘶作響，他張開嘴，止住那聲音。

And then the startled look was gone from him and the rigidity from his body.

接著他臉上的驚愕不見了，身上的僵硬也不見了。

In his mind a new song had come, the Song of Evil, the music of the enemy, of any foe of the family, a savage, secret, dangerous melody, and underneath, the Song of the Family cried plaintively.

他心裡響起一首新的歌——惡之歌，敵人的音樂，一切與家為敵者的音樂，一段野蠻、隱密、危險的旋律；而在它底下，家之歌哀哀地哭著。

The scorpion moved delicately down the rope towards the box.

蠍子小心翼翼地沿著繩子往木箱爬去。

Under her breath Juana repeated an ancient magic to guard against such evil, and on top of that she muttered a Hail Mary between clenched teeth.

胡安娜低聲重複一段抵禦這種邪惡的古老咒語，又咬緊牙關在上面加唸了一遍聖母經。

But Kino was in motion.

可是奇諾已經動了。

His body glided quietly across the room, noiselessly and smoothly.

他的身體靜靜地滑過房間，無聲而流暢。

His hands were in front of him, palms down, and his eyes were on the scorpion.

他雙手伸在前面，掌心朝下，眼睛盯著蠍子。

Beneath it in the hanging box Coyotito laughed and reached up his hand towards it.

蠍子底下的吊箱裡，柯尤提托笑著伸手去抓牠。

It sensed danger when Kino was almost within reach of it.

奇諾快要搆到牠的時候，牠察覺到了危險。

It stopped, and its tail rose up over its back in little jerks and the curved thorn on the tail’s end glistened.

牠停住，尾巴一抽一抽地翹過背脊，尾端那根彎刺閃著光。

Kino stood perfectly still.

奇諾一動也不動地站著。

He could hear Juana whispering the old magic again, and he could hear the evil music of the enemy.

他聽得見胡安娜又在低聲念那段古老的咒語，也聽得見敵人邪惡的音樂。

He could not move until the scorpion moved, and it felt for the source of the death that was coming to it.

蠍子不動，他就不能動，而蠍子正在探尋那個朝牠逼近的死亡從哪裡來。

Kino’s hand went forward very slowly, very smoothly.

奇諾的手非常慢、非常平穩地往前伸。

The thorned tail jerked upright.

帶刺的尾巴猛地豎直。

And at that moment the laughing Coyotito shook the rope and the scorpion fell.

就在這一刻，笑著的柯尤提托搖動了繩子，蠍子掉了下來。

Kino’s hand leaped to catch it, but it fell past his fingers, fell on the baby’s shoulder, landed and struck.

奇諾的手撲過去要接，可是牠從他指間落下，落在嬰兒的肩上，一落下就螫了。

Then, snarling, Kino had it, had it in his fingers, rubbing it to a paste in his hands.

接著，奇諾咆哮著抓住了牠，抓在手指間，在手裡把牠搓成了漿。

He threw it down and beat it into the earth floor with his fist, and Coyotito screamed with pain in his box.

他把牠丟到地上，用拳頭把牠捶進泥土地裡，柯尤提托在木箱裡痛得尖叫。

But Kino beat and stamped the enemy until it was only a fragment and a moist place in the dirt.

可是奇諾還在捶、還在踩那個敵人，直到牠只剩一點碎片，和泥土上一塊濕痕。

His teeth were bared and fury flared in his eyes and the Song of the Enemy roared in his ears.

他齜著牙，眼裡燃著怒火，敵人之歌在他耳中轟鳴。

But Juana had the baby in her arms now.

可是胡安娜已經把嬰兒抱在懷裡。

She found the puncture with redness starting from it already.

她找到那個刺孔，周圍已經開始泛紅。

She put her lips down over the puncture and sucked hard and spat and sucked again while Coyotito screamed.

她把嘴唇貼上刺孔，用力吸，吐掉，再吸，柯尤提托一直尖叫。

Kino hovered; he was helpless, he was in the way.

奇諾在旁邊打轉；他無能為力，他還礙手礙腳。

The screams of the baby brought the neighbours.

嬰兒的尖叫引來了鄰居。

Out of their brush houses they poured—Kino’s brother Juan Tomás and his fat wife Apolonia and their four children crowded in the door and blocked the entrance, while behind them others tried to look in, and one small boy crawled among legs to have a look.

他們從各自的樹枝屋湧出來——奇諾的哥哥胡安．托馬斯、他胖胖的妻子阿波洛妮亞，還有他們的四個孩子擠在門口，堵住了入口；後面的人想往裡看，一個小男孩從一堆腿中間爬進來看。

And those in front passed the word back to those behind—“Scorpion. The baby has been stung.”

前面的人把話往後傳——「蠍子。孩子被螫了。」

Juana stopped sucking the puncture for a moment.

胡安娜暫時停止吸吮刺孔。

The little hole was slightly enlarged and its edges whitened from the sucking, but the red swelling extended farther around it in a hard lymphatic mound.

那個小孔稍微變大了，邊緣因為吸吮而發白，可是紅腫從周圍擴散得更遠，鼓成一個硬硬的淋巴腫塊。

And all of these people knew about the scorpion.

這些人都知道蠍子的厲害。

An adult might be very ill from the sting, but a baby could easily die from the poison.

大人被螫了可能會病得很重，嬰兒卻很容易被毒死。

First, they knew, would come swelling and fever and tightened throat, and then cramps in the stomach, and then Coyotito might die if enough of the poison had gone in.

他們知道，先是腫、發燒、喉嚨緊縮，接著肚子抽筋，然後，要是毒液進去得夠多，柯尤提托就可能會死。

But the stinging pain of the bite was going away.

可是被螫的刺痛正在消退。

Coyotito’s screams turned to moans.

柯尤提托的尖叫變成了呻吟。