Clear memory清晰的記憶

Sunrise on the eastern coast is a special event. I stood at Dolphin’s Nose, a spur jutting out into the Bay of Bengal, to behold the breaking of the sun’s upper limb over the horizon of the sea. As the eastern sky started unfolding like the crimson petals of a gigantic flower, I was overcome by a wave of romantic feelings and nostalgia—vivid memorie not diminished by the fact that almost ten years had passed.
東海岸的日出是一道特別的景觀。我站在海豚鼻——一塊向外延伸至孟加拉海灣的地方——觀看太陽的上半邊緣冉冉升起在海平面上。當東邊的天空開始如一朵巨大的花展開深紅色的花瓣般逐漸紅透時，我被一股浪漫的感覺和懷舊之情征服了——如此清晰的記憶，并沒有因為近乎十年的光陰已經(jīng)逝去這個事實而褪去。
I was a young bachelor then, and Visakhapatnam did not have much to offer. Every Sunday morning, I used to rise before dawn and head for Dolphin’s Nose, to enjoy the dazzling spectacle of the sun majestically rising out of the sea. The fresh, salty sea breeze was a panacea for all the effects of hangovers caused by Saturday night excesses.
那時，我還是一個年輕的單身漢，維薩卡帕特南市對我來說并沒有太多好玩的東西。每個周日早晨，我習慣天不亮就起床，前往海豚鼻，享受太陽從海面上莊嚴升起的壯麗景觀。清新又有一絲咸味的海風不啻是一種萬能藥，能夠緩解周六晚上因盡情玩樂而引發(fā)的宿醉后的不適感。
After viewing the metamorphosis at sunrise, I would walk downhill along the steep mountain-path, towards the rocky beach, for a brief swim. Each time, I noticed a flurry of activity in a distant compound with a single decrepit building. I used to ignore it, but curiously, one day I decided to take a closer look. It was a fish market. Most customers were housewives from the nearby residential complexes. They were at their “Sunday-worst”—sans make-up, slovenly dressed, faces unwashed, and unkempt hair—in stark contrast with their carefully made-up appearances at the club the previous evening.
在觀看了日出時奇妙的變化以后，我會沿著陡峭的山路下行，走到一個遍布巖石的海灘，游一會兒泳。每次，我都注意到遠處有一個居民區(qū)，里面有一座破舊的建筑物，人聲沸沸揚揚。我通常都對它視而不見，但很奇怪的是，有一天，我竟決定走過去看看。這是一個鮮魚市場。大部分顧客都是附近居民樓里的家庭主婦。她們完全是一副最糟糕的周日裝扮——不施粉黛，衣著邋遢，臉也沒洗，頭發(fā)蓬亂——這與她們前一晚在夜店里那副精心裝扮的外表形成了鮮明的對比。
I had began to walk away, quite dejected, when I saw her for the first time. I stopped, dead in my tracks. She was a real beauty—tall, fair and freshly bathed, her long lustrous hair dancing on her shoulders. She had large, expressive brown eye and her sharp features were accentuated by the rays of the morning Sun. I can’t begin to describe the sensation she evoked in me; it was the first time in my life that I felt my heart ache with such intense yearning. I knew this was love. Yet, in my heart, I knew that Istood no chance—she had a mangalsutra around her neck. She was married—maybe happily, too. Nevertheles I drew closer to her and made the pretence of buying some fish. Smiling guardedly at me, she selected a couple of pomfrets and held them out to me. I managed to briefly touch her soft hands—the feeling was electric and a shiver of thrill passed through me. She communicated an unspoken “good-bye” with her teasing, dancing eyes and briskly walked away. Too dazed to follow her, I returned to my room and had fried pomfret for breakfast. Needless to say, they tasted delicious.
我很失望，正要離開時，我第一次看見了她。我停了下來，腦子里一片空白。她真是一個美人——個子高高的，膚若凝脂，帶著浴后的清新。長而有亮澤的頭發(fā)在她的肩上起舞。她有一雙大而有神的褐色眼睛，分明的輪廓在晨曦里更加清晰可見。我無從描述她在我內心喚起的感受。在我的一生中，我還是頭一次由于強烈的渴望而感到內心疼痛。我知道這是愛。然而，我心里清楚我已經(jīng)沒有機會了——她脖子上戴著用來護佑婚姻的幸運項鏈。她結婚了——說不定還很幸福。然而，我不由地向她靠近，假裝要買魚。她警覺地朝我笑了笑，挑選了兩條鯧魚，撈出水面遞給我。我設法碰了碰她柔軟的雙手——猶如觸了電一般，一陣顫栗襲遍全身。她揶揄似的轉動雙眸，無聲地示意“再見”，然后腳步輕快地走了。我昏昏沉沉的，以至無法跟從她，便回到自己的房間，炸了鯧魚做早餐。不用說，味道好極了。
Soon, I was following this routine every Sunday morning with almost religious zeal. She never missed her rendezvous with me—same place, same day, at precisely the same time, Seven o’clock. Still, not a word was exchanged between us. I was too shy and she probably wanted to keep it this way—a beautiful ethereal relationship—a love so delicate that one wrong move might ruin everything. Meanwhile, I had developed a taste for fried pomfret—quite surprisingly, considering that I had never eaten fish before.
不久，每個周日早上，我都帶著近乎宗教般的虔誠做著相同的事。她從沒有錯過與我的相聚——相同的地點，相同的日子，分毫不差的時間，七點整。我們依舊沒有說過一句話。我太害羞了，而她或許是希望一切止步于此吧——一種美麗而縹緲的關系——這種愛如此微妙，以至一個錯誤的舉動就可能毀掉一切。同時，我逐漸喜歡上了炸鯧魚——鑒于我之前從不吃魚，這確實讓我很吃驚。
As the years went by, I left Visakhapatnam and travelled around the world, met many beautiful girls at the various exotic places I visited. But I never forgot her! A man’s first love would always have an enduring place in his heart.
時間一年一年地流逝，我離開了維薩卡帕特南市，周游世界。在異國他鄉(xiāng)，我遇見過很多漂亮的女孩，但我從沒忘記她！初戀在男人的心里總占據(jù)著一個恒久的位置。
And now, I was back in Visakhapatnam, almost ten years later. As I walked down the slope towards the beach, in my mind’s eyes I could still vividly envision the playfully sublime look on her face—her gentle smile and communicative eyes—even if ten years had passed. I could not contain the mounting excitement and anticipation in me; I was desperately yearning to see her again. It was a forlorn hope but I felt flushed with optimism.Reaching the beach, I noticed that the sun was well clear of the horizon. I glanced at my watch—almost seven o’clock. I hastened my step, almost breaking in to a run, and reached the fish market where I stood at the exact same spot, where we used to have our rendezvous at sunrise.
現(xiàn)在，近十年以后，我又回到了維薩卡帕特南市。當我沿著斜坡下山走向海灘，在我的腦海里，我依舊能生動地回想起她臉上那頑皮而矜持的神情——她那溫柔的微笑和會說話的眼睛——盡管十年已經(jīng)過去了。我無法再控制這不斷堆積的興奮和我心中的期望。我非常渴望能再見到她。盡管這個希望很渺茫，但我心中還是充滿了期待。到達海灘后，我注意到太陽已經(jīng)完全躍出海平面了。我瞥了一眼手表——快七點了。我加快腳步，幾乎跑了起來，來到當年的鮮魚市場，站在當年的位置上，那兒是我們過去常常在日出之時相聚的地方。
Trembling with anticipation verging on anxiety, I looked around with searching eyes. Nothing had changed. The scene was exactly the same as I had left it ten years ago. There was only one thing missing—she wasn’t there! I had drawn out the short straw! I felt crestfallen. My mind went blank and I stood motionles overcome with gloom, when suddenly, I felt that familiar electrifying touch, the same shiver and the familiar thrill. It jolted me back to reality, as quick as lighting. As she softly put two promfret fish in my hand I was feeling in the seventh Heaven.
帶著近乎焦慮的期待，我不住地顫抖，用雙眼四處搜尋著。一切都沒變。這個場景還和我十年前離開時一模一樣。只有一樣東西不見了——她不在那里！倒霉透了！我感到很沮喪，大腦一片空白。我一動不動地站在那里，滿懷憂郁。忽然，我感覺到那熟悉的觸電似的觸碰。同樣的顫抖，熟悉的戰(zhàn)栗。它閃電般把我飛快地拽回到現(xiàn)實。當她把兩條鯧魚輕輕放到我手里時，我感覺自己如同飄上了七重天。
Looking at her, I was not disappointed. Her beauty had enhanced with age. Yet, something had changed, indeed. Yes! It was her eyes. Her large brown eyes did not dance so teasingly anymore. There was a trace of sadnes a sense of tender poignancy in her liquid brown eye as she bid me her unspoken “good-bye”. Dumbstruck by the abruptness of the event and the enormity of the moment, I stood frozen like a statue, unable to react or say anything. It was only when she was leaving that I noticed that there was no mangalsutra around her slender neck anymore.
  看著她，我并不失望。隨著年齡的增長，她愈發(fā)美麗了。然而有什么東西的確已經(jīng)改變了——是的！就是她的眼睛。她那大大的褐色雙眼不再顧盼生姿，飽含揶揄了。她的眼里有一絲悲苦。當她向我無聲地示意“再見”時，她那水汪汪的褐色眼睛里流露出一種溫柔的酸楚。我被這突如其來的一切震呆了，這一瞬間是如此長久，我像泥塑木雕一般站在那里，不能回應，說不出一句話來。只有當她離開時我才注意到，她那細細的脖子上不再戴著那串用來護佑婚姻的幸運項鏈了。