世上最大的珍珠

The town lay on a broad estuary, its old yellow plastered buildings hugging the beach.

小鎮躺在寬闊的河口上，一棟棟抹著黃灰泥的老房子緊挨著海灘。

And on the beach the white and blue canoes that came from Nayarit were drawn up, canoes preserved for generations by a hard shell-like waterproof plaster whose making was a secret of the fishing people.

沙灘上拖著一艘艘從納亞里特來的藍白獨木舟，這些獨木舟靠著一種像貝殼一樣硬的防水灰泥保存了好幾代，那種灰泥的做法是漁民的祕密。

They were high and graceful canoes with curving bow and stern and a braced section midships where a mast could be stepped to carry a small lateen sail.

它們高聳而優雅，船首船尾彎彎翹起，船身中段有一處加固的地方，可以立起桅杆，掛一面小小的三角帆。

The beach was yellow sand, but at the water’s edge a rubble of shell and algæ took its place.

海灘是黃沙，但到了水邊，就換成一片碎貝殼和海藻。

Fiddler crabs bubbled and sputtered in their holes in the sand, and in the shallows little lobsters popped in and out of their tiny homes in the rubble and sand.

招潮蟹在沙洞裡咕嘟咕嘟地冒泡，淺水裡小龍蝦在碎石和沙子間的小窩裡鑽進鑽出。

The sea bottom was rich with crawling and swimming and growing things.

海底滿是爬的、游的、生長的東西。

The brown algæ waved in the gentle currents and the green eel grass swayed and little sea horses clung to its stems.

褐色的海藻在柔和的水流中擺動，綠色的鰻草搖曳著，小海馬攀在草莖上。

Spotted botete, the poison fish, lay on the bottom in the eel-grass beds, and the bright-coloured swimming crabs scampered over them.

有斑點的波提特——那種有毒的魚——躺在鰻草床的海底，顏色鮮豔的梭子蟹從牠們身上竄過。

On the beach the hungry dogs and the hungry pigs of the town searched endlessly for any dead fish or sea bird that might have floated in on a rising tide.

沙灘上，鎮上飢餓的狗和飢餓的豬沒完沒了地搜尋著，看有沒有漲潮時漂上來的死魚或死海鳥。

Although the morning was young, the hazy mirage was up.

雖然還是清晨，朦朧的海市蜃樓已經升起。

The uncertain air that magnified some things and blotted out others hung over the whole Gulf so that all sights were unreal and vision could not be trusted; so that sea and land had the sharp clarities and the vagueness of a dream.

那層捉摸不定的空氣把有些東西放大、把有些東西抹去，籠罩著整個海灣，讓一切景象都不真實，眼睛不能信任；讓海與陸地都帶著夢一般的尖銳清晰與朦朧模糊。

Thus it might be that the people of the Gulf trust things of the spirit and things of the imagination, but they do not trust their eyes to show them distance or clear outline or any optical exactness.

也許正因如此，海灣的人相信心靈的事、想像的事，卻不相信眼睛能告訴他們距離、清楚的輪廓，或任何視覺上的精確。

Across the estuary from the town one section of mangroves stood clear and telescopically defined, while another mangrove clump was a hazy black-green blob.

河口對岸，有一片紅樹林清清楚楚，像透過望遠鏡看一樣分明，另一叢紅樹林卻是一團模糊的墨綠。

Part of the far shore disappeared into a shimmer that looked like water.

遠岸有一部分消失在一片看起來像水的閃光裡。

There was no certainty in seeing, no proof that what you saw was there or was not there.

看見並不確定，沒有證據證明你看見的東西在那裡，或不在那裡。

And the people of the Gulf expected all places were that way, and it was not strange to them.

海灣的人以為所有地方都是這樣，一點也不覺得奇怪。

A copper haze hung over the water, and the hot morning sun beat on it and made it vibrate blindingly.

一層銅色的霧靄懸在水面上，炎熱的晨陽打在上面，讓它刺眼地顫動著。

The brush houses of the fishing people were back from the beach on the right-hand side of the town, and the canoes were drawn up in front of this area.

漁民的樹枝屋在小鎮右側、離海灘稍遠的地方，獨木舟就拖在這一帶的前面。

Kino and Juana came slowly down to the beach and to Kino’s canoe, which was the one thing of value he owned in the world.

奇諾和胡安娜慢慢走下海灘，走到奇諾的獨木舟邊——那是他在世上唯一擁有的值錢東西。

It was very old.

它非常老。

Kino’s grandfather had brought it from Nayarit, and he had given it to Kino’s father, and so it had come to Kino.

奇諾的祖父從納亞里特把它帶來，傳給奇諾的父親，就這樣傳到了奇諾手上。

It was at once property and source of food, for a man with a boat can guarantee a woman that she will eat something.

它既是財產，也是食物的來源，因為一個有船的男人，可以保證一個女人有東西吃。

It is the bulwark against starvation.

它是對抗飢餓的堡壘。

And every year Kino refinished his canoe with the hard shell-like plaster by the secret method that had also come to him from his father.

每年奇諾都用那種像貝殼一樣硬的灰泥重新塗一遍他的獨木舟，用的也是從父親那裡傳下來的祕法。

Now he came to the canoe and touched the bow tenderly as he always did.

這時他走到獨木舟邊，像往常一樣溫柔地摸了摸船首。

He laid his diving rock and his basket and the two ropes in the sand by the canoe.

他把潛水用的石頭、籃子和兩條繩子放在獨木舟旁的沙地上。

And he folded his blanket and laid it in the bow.

他把毯子摺好，放在船首。

Juana laid Coyotito on the blanket, and she placed her shawl over him so that the hot sun could not shine on him.

胡安娜把柯尤提托放在毯子上，用披巾蓋住他，不讓熱辣的太陽曬到他。

He was quiet now, but the swelling on his shoulder had continued up his neck and under his ear and his face was puffed and feverish.

他現在安靜了，可是肩上的腫一直蔓延到脖子、到耳朵下面，他的臉腫腫的，發著燒。

Juana went to the water and waded in.

胡安娜走到水邊，涉水進去。

She gathered some brown seaweed and made a flat damp poultice of it, and this she applied to the baby’s swollen shoulder, which was as good a remedy as any and probably better than the doctor could have done.

她採了一些褐色海藻，做成一塊扁平濕潤的敷料，敷在嬰兒腫脹的肩上——這跟任何療法一樣好，大概比醫生能做的還好。

But the remedy lacked his authority because it was simple and didn’t cost anything.

可是這個療法缺乏醫生的權威，因為它很簡單，又不花錢。

The stomach cramps had not come to Coyotito.

柯尤提托沒有出現肚子抽筋。

Perhaps Juana had sucked out the poison in time, but she had not sucked out her worry over her first-born.

也許胡安娜及時把毒吸出來了，可是她吸不出她對頭生子的擔憂。

She had not prayed directly for the recovery of the baby—she had prayed that they might find a pearl with which to hire the doctor to cure the baby, for the minds of people are as unsubstantial as the mirage of the Gulf.

她沒有直接祈求孩子痊癒——她祈求的是他們能找到一顆珍珠，好請醫生來治好孩子，因為人的心思就跟海灣的幻象一樣虛幻。

Now Kino and Juana slid the canoe down the beach to the water, and when the bow floated, Juana climbed in, while Kino pushed the stern in and waded beside it until it floated lightly and trembled on the little breaking waves.

奇諾和胡安娜把獨木舟沿著沙灘推進水裡，船首一浮起來，胡安娜就爬上去，奇諾把船尾推進水中，在旁邊涉水，直到整艘船輕輕浮起，在碎浪上微微顫動。

Then in co-ordination Juana and Kino drove their double-bladed paddles into the sea, and the canoe creased the water and hissed with speed.

然後胡安娜和奇諾協調一致地把雙葉槳插進海裡，獨木舟劃開水面，嘶嘶地快速前進。

The other pearlers were gone out long since.

其他採珠人早就出海了。

In a few moments Kino could see them clustered in the haze, riding over the oyster bed.

不一會兒，奇諾就看見他們聚在霧靄裡，在珠床上方漂著。

Light filtered down through the water to the bed where the frilly pearl oysters lay fastened to the rubbly bottom, a bottom strewn with shells of broken, opened oysters.

光線穿過海水滲下去，照到珠床上；有褶邊的珠母貝附著在碎石般的海底，海底散滿了被撬開、打碎的牡蠣殼。

This was the bed that had raised the King of Spain to be a great power in Europe in past years, had helped to pay for his wars, and had decorated the churches for his soul’s sake.

過去就是這片珠床，讓西班牙國王成為歐洲的強權，替他支付戰爭的費用，也為了他靈魂的緣故裝飾了一座座教堂。

The grey oysters with ruffles like skirts on the shells, the barnacle-crusted oysters with little bits of weed clinging to the skirts and small crabs climbing over them.

灰色的牡蠣，殼上有像裙襬一樣的褶邊；長滿藤壺的牡蠣，裙襬上黏著一點點海草，小螃蟹在上面爬。

An accident could happen to these oysters, a grain of sand could lie in the folds of muscle and irritate the flesh until in self-protection the flesh coated the grain with a layer of smooth cement.

這些牡蠣可能會遇上一場意外：一粒沙子落進肌肉的皺褶，刺激著肉，直到肉為了自保，在沙粒外面包上一層光滑的膠質。

But once started, the flesh continued to coat the foreign body until it fell free in some tidal flurry or until the oyster was destroyed.

可是一旦開始，肉就會一直包裹那個異物，直到它在某次潮水翻騰中脫落，或直到牡蠣被毀掉。

For centuries men had dived down and torn the oysters from the beds and ripped them open, looking for the coated grains of sand.

幾百年來，人們潛下去，把牡蠣從珠床上扯下來，撬開，尋找那些被包裹起來的沙粒。

Swarms of fish lived near the bed to live near the oysters thrown back by the searching men and to nibble at the shining inner shells.

成群的魚住在珠床附近，靠那些被搜尋的人丟回海裡的牡蠣過活，啃著發亮的內殼。

But the pearls were accidents, and the finding of one was luck, a little pat on the back by God or the gods or both.

可是珍珠是意外，找到一顆是運氣，是上帝、或眾神、或兩者一起，在你背上輕輕拍了一下。

Kino had two ropes, one tied to a heavy stone and one to a basket.

奇諾有兩條繩子，一條綁著一塊重石頭，一條綁著一個籃子。

He stripped off his shirt and trousers and laid his hat in the bottom of the canoe.

他脫掉襯衫和褲子，把帽子放在船底。

The water was oily smooth.

海水平滑得像油一樣。

He took his rock in one hand and his basket in the other, and he slipped feet first over the side and the rock carried him to the bottom.

他一手拿石頭，一手拿籃子，腳先從船邊滑下去，石頭把他帶到了海底。

The bubbles rose behind him until the water cleared and he could see.

氣泡在他身後升起，直到海水清澈下來，他才看得見。

Above, the surface of the water was an undulating mirror of brightness, and he could see the bottoms of the canoes sticking through it.

上方，水面是一面起伏的明亮鏡子，他看得見一艘艘獨木舟的船底穿過鏡面。

Kino moved cautiously so that the water would not be obscured with mud or sand.

奇諾小心地移動，免得泥沙把海水弄混。

He hooked his foot in the loop on his rock and his hands worked quickly, tearing the oysters loose, some singly, others in clusters.

他把腳勾在石頭的繩圈裡，雙手飛快地工作，把牡蠣扯下來，有的一個一個，有的一串一串。

He laid them in his basket.

他把牠們放進籃子。

In some places the oysters clung to one another so that they came free in lumps.

有些地方的牡蠣互相黏在一起，一扯就是一大塊。

Now, Kino’s people had sung of everything that happened or existed.

奇諾的族人曾經為發生的、存在的一切事物歌唱。

They had made songs to the fishes, to the sea in anger and to the sea in calm, to the light and the dark and the sun and the moon, and the songs were all in Kino and in his people—every song that had ever been made, even the ones forgotten.

他們為魚造歌，為發怒的海、平靜的海造歌，為光、為暗、為太陽、為月亮造歌，這些歌全都在奇諾和他的族人身上——每一首曾經造出來的歌，連被遺忘的也在。

And as he filled his basket the song was in Kino, and the beat of the song was his pounding heart as it ate the oxygen from his held breath, and the melody of the song was the grey-green water and the little scuttling animals and the clouds of fish that flitted by and were gone.

他裝滿籃子的時候，那首歌就在奇諾身上：歌的節拍是他怦怦跳的心臟，正一點一點吃掉他憋住的那口氣裡的氧；歌的旋律是灰綠色的海水，是急急爬走的小動物，是一群群倏忽游過、轉眼不見的魚。

But in the song there was a secret little inner song, hardly perceptible, but always there, sweet and secret and clinging, almost hiding in the counter-melody, and this was the Song of the Pearl That Might Be, for every shell thrown in the basket might contain a pearl.

可是在這首歌裡，還有一首祕密的、內在的小歌，幾乎察覺不到，卻一直都在，甜美、隱密、纏綿，幾乎藏在對位旋律裡——這就是「可能之珠之歌」，因為每一個丟進籃子的貝殼，都可能藏著一顆珍珠。

Chance was against it, but luck and the gods might be for it.

機率對它不利，可是運氣和眾神也許站在它這邊。

And in the canoe above him Kino knew that Juana was making the magic of prayer, her face set rigid and her muscles hard to force the luck, to tear the luck out of the gods’ hands, for she needed the luck for the swollen shoulder of Coyotito.

奇諾知道，在他上方的獨木舟裡，胡安娜正在施展祈禱的魔法，她的臉繃得僵硬，肌肉繃緊，要逼出運氣，要從眾神手裡把運氣搶過來，因為柯尤提托腫脹的肩膀需要這份運氣。

And because the need was great and the desire was great, the little secret melody of the pearl that might be was stronger this morning.

因為需要很大、渴望很大，那首可能之珠的祕密小旋律，今天早上格外強烈。

Whole phrases of it came clearly and softly into the Song of the Undersea.

它一整句一整句，清楚而輕柔地傳進了海底之歌裡。

Kino, in his pride and youth and strength, could remain down over two minutes without strain, so that he worked deliberately, selecting the largest shells.

奇諾憑著他的驕傲、年輕和力氣，可以毫不費力地在水下待兩分鐘以上，所以他從容地工作，挑最大的貝殼。

Because they were disturbed, the oyster shells were tightly closed.

因為被驚動了，牡蠣殼都緊緊閉著。

A little to his right a hummock of rubbly rock stuck up, covered with young oysters not ready to take.

他右邊不遠處突起一座碎石小丘，上面覆滿了還不能採的幼牡蠣。

Kino moved next to the hummock, and then, beside it, under a little overhang, he saw a very large oyster lying by itself, not covered with its clinging brothers.

奇諾移到小丘旁邊，就在旁邊一塊小小的突岩下，他看見一顆非常大的牡蠣獨自躺著，身上沒有黏著牠那些兄弟。

The shell was partly open, for the overhang protected this ancient oyster, and in the lip-like muscle Kino saw a ghostly gleam, and then the shell closed down.

殼微微開著，因為突岩保護著這顆古老的牡蠣；在那唇一般的肌肉裡，奇諾看見一道幽靈似的微光，接著殼就閉上了。

His heart beat out a heavy rhythm and the melody of the maybe pearl shrilled in his ears.

他的心臟重重地打著節拍，可能之珠的旋律在他耳中尖聲響起。

Slowly he forced the oyster loose and held it tightly against his breast.

他慢慢地把那顆牡蠣撬下來，緊緊抱在胸前。

He kicked his foot free from the rock loop, and his body rose to the surface and his black hair gleamed in the sunlight.

他把腳從石頭的繩圈裡踢開，身體升到水面，黑髮在陽光下閃閃發亮。

He reached over the side of the canoe and laid the oyster in the bottom.

他把手伸過船舷，把牡蠣放到船底。

Then Juana steadied the boat while he climbed in.

然後胡安娜穩住船，讓他爬上來。

His eyes were shining with excitement, but in decency he pulled up his rock, and then he pulled up his basket of oysters and lifted them in.

他的眼睛因為興奮而發亮，可是他還是規規矩矩地先把石頭拉上來，再把那籃牡蠣拉上來，提進船裡。

Juana sensed his excitement, and she pretended to look away.

胡安娜感覺到他的興奮，她假裝把眼睛轉開。

It is not good to want a thing too much.

太想要一樣東西是不好的。

It sometimes drives the luck away.

有時候會把運氣嚇跑。

You must want it just enough, and you must be very tactful with God or the gods.

你只能想要得剛剛好，而且對上帝、或眾神，你得非常圓融。

But Juana stopped breathing.

可是胡安娜屏住了呼吸。

Very deliberately Kino opened his short strong knife.

奇諾非常慢地打開他那把短而結實的刀。

He looked speculatively at the basket.

他若有所思地看著籃子。

Perhaps it would be better to open the oyster last.

也許最後再開那顆牡蠣比較好。

He took a small oyster from the basket, cut the muscle, searched the folds of flesh, and threw it in the water.

他從籃子裡拿出一顆小牡蠣，割斷肌肉，在肉的皺褶裡找了找，就丟回水裡。

Then he seemed to see the great oyster for the first time.

然後他好像才第一次看見那顆大牡蠣。

He squatted in the bottom of the canoe, picked up the shell and examined it.

他蹲在船底，拿起那個殼仔細端詳。

The flutes were shining black to brown, and only a few small barnacles adhered to the shell.

殼上的棱紋從發亮的黑漸漸變成褐色，只有幾個小藤壺附在殼上。

Now Kino was reluctant to open it.

這時奇諾反而不想打開了。

What he had seen, he knew, might be a reflection, a piece of flat shell accidentally drifted in or a complete illusion.

他知道，他看到的也許只是一道反光，一片碰巧漂進去的扁貝殼，或完全是一場幻覺。

In this Gulf of uncertain light there were more illusions than realities.

在這個光線捉摸不定的海灣，幻象比真實還多。

But Juana’s eyes were on him and she could not wait.

可是胡安娜的眼睛盯著他，她等不及了。

She put her hand on Coyotito’s covered head.

她把手放在柯尤提托蓋著的頭上。

“Open it,” she said softly.

「打開它。」她輕聲說。

Kino deftly slipped his knife into the edge of the shell.

奇諾熟練地把刀插進殼緣。

Through the knife he could feel the muscle tighten hard.

透過刀子，他感覺得到肌肉猛地收緊。

He worked the blade lever-wise and the closing muscle parted and the shell fell apart.

他把刀刃當槓桿撬動，緊閉的肌肉斷開，殼裂成兩半。

The lip-like flesh writhed up and then subsided.

那唇一般的肉扭動了一下，然後平息下來。

Kino lifted the flesh, and there it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon.

奇諾掀起那塊肉，它就躺在那裡——那顆大珍珠，完美如月。

It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in silver incandescence.

它捕捉光線、淬煉光線，再以銀色的熾亮把光還回來。

It was as large as a seagull’s egg.

它像海鷗蛋一樣大。

It was the greatest pearl in the world.

它是世上最大的珍珠。

Juana caught her breath and moaned a little.

胡安娜倒抽一口氣，輕輕呻吟了一聲。

And to Kino the secret melody of the maybe pearl broke clear and beautiful, rich and warm and lovely, glowing and gloating and triumphant.

而對奇諾來說，那首可能之珠的祕密旋律清晰而美麗地迸發出來，豐厚、溫暖、可愛，光芒四射、洋洋得意、凱旋高歌。

In the surface of the great pearl he could see dream forms.

在大珍珠的表面上，他看得見夢的形影。

He picked the pearl from the dying flesh and held it in his palm, and he turned it over and saw that its curve was perfect.

他從垂死的肉裡拾起珍珠，托在掌心，翻過來看，看見它的弧線完美無瑕。

Juana came near to stare at it in his hand, and it was the hand he had smashed against the doctor’s gate, and the torn flesh of the knuckles was turned greyish white by the sea water.

胡安娜湊近，盯著他手裡的珍珠；那就是他砸在醫生門上的那隻手，指節上撕裂的肉被海水泡得灰白。

Instinctively Juana went to Coyotito where he lay on his father’s blanket.

胡安娜本能地走到躺在父親毯子上的柯尤提托身邊。

She lifted the poultice of seaweed and looked at the shoulder.

她掀起海藻敷料，看他的肩膀。

“Kino,” she cried shrilly.

「奇諾！」她尖聲大叫。

He looked past his pearl, and he saw that the swelling was going out of the baby’s shoulder, the poison was receding from its body.

他的目光越過珍珠看過去，看見嬰兒肩上的腫正在消退，毒正從他身上退去。

Then Kino’s fist closed over the pearl and his emotion broke over him.

奇諾的拳頭握住了珍珠，情緒像浪一樣朝他撲來。

He put back his head and howled.

他仰起頭嚎叫。

His eyes rolled up and he screamed and his body was rigid.

他的眼睛往上翻，他尖叫，全身僵硬。

The men in the other canoes looked up, startled, and then they dug their paddles into the sea and raced towards Kino’s canoe.

其他獨木舟上的男人吃驚地抬起頭，接著把槳插進海裡，飛快地朝奇諾的獨木舟划去。