4.Clearing in the Sky(1582)

Passage Four

Jesse Stuart (1907-1984) was born in the Kentucky hills where he first worked as a farmer.  At fifteen he decided to go on to high school, which was a big decision for young people his age in this area.   He wanted an education not just for himself, but for those around him. The stories that have brought him fame are about the land and people he knows so well.   Known as the man of the mountains and also called sometimes “the self-conscious hillbilly", Jesse Stuart's stories show the tradition of the Kentucky people who love nothing better than a good story and his stories are very popular, especially among children and young adults.

杰西·斯图尔特(1907-1984)出生在肯塔基山区，他最初是在那里当农民的。15岁时，他决定继续上高中，这对他这个年龄的年轻人来说是一个重大的决定。他不仅想让自己接受教育，也想让他周围的人接受教育。给他带来名声的故事都是关于他所熟知的土地和人民的。杰西·斯图尔特被称为山区的人，有时也被称为“自觉的乡巴佬”，他的故事显示了肯塔基州人民的传统，他们最喜欢好的故事，他的故事很受欢迎，特别是在儿童和年轻人中。

Clearing in the Sky

Jesse Stuart

【1】“This is the way,” said my father, pointing with his cane across the deep valley below us. “I want to show you something!”

“Isn’t it too hot for you to do much walking?” I wiped the streams of sweat from my face to keep them from stinging my eyes. I didn’t want to go with him. I had just finished walking a half mile uphill from my home to his, carrying a basket of dishes to Mom. I knew how hot it was.

【2】I knew also that from January until April my father had gone to eight different doctors. And they had all told him not to walk far. But I could not protest to him now. When he made up his mind to do a thing, he would do it. He didn’t care if it was 100°F in the shade or 20°F below zero. So I followed him down the little path between the pasture and the meadow.

【3】Suddenly he stopped, took out his pocketknife, and cut a wisp of alfalfa. He held it up in the sun. “Look at this, Jess!” he bragged, “Did you ever see better alfalfa grow out of the earth?”

【4】“It’s the best-looking hay I’ve ever seen,” I said.

“When I bought this land, everybody said I was crazy.” He bragged again. “It took me thirty years to make it do this!”

【5】As I stood looking at this meadow of alfalfa in the saddle between two hills, I remembered how he had hauled leaves from the woods and spread them over this field and then plowed them under and let them rot. All that would grow on this ground when he bought it were pines and briars.

【6】The pines didn’t grow waist-high. There wasn’t enough strength in the ground to push them any higher. He cut down the pines and plowed the land. He sowed a cover crop and turned it under. Then he sowed a second, a third, and a fourth. In a few years he had the land producing good crops of corn, wheat, and potatoes.

【7】“But this is not what I want to show you, Jess,” he said. “Come on. Follow me!”

I followed him through the pasture gate, then down a little narrow cattle path into the deep hollow.

“Where are we going?” I asked when he started to walk a log across the creek.

“There,” he smiled, pointing toward a wooded mountaintop. “That’s the way we are going!”

【8】I followed him across the foot log he had made by chopping down a white oak, felling it over the deep stream. Then we went up the winding footpath under the tall hickory trees, a place where I used to come with him when I was a little boy to hunt squirrels.

【9】But that had been nearly thirty years ago. And through the years, from time to time, I had walked over the rugged mountain slope and there was never a path on it until my father had made this one. It was a pretty little footpath under the high canopy of hickory, walnut, and oak leaves. We couldn’t see the sky above our heads.

【10】In front of me walked the little man who once walked so fast I had to run to follow him. But time had now slowed him, and much hard labor had bent his shoulders. His breath didn’t come as easily as it used to, for he stopped twice, and leaned on his cane to rest.

【11】“Remember how we used to come here to hunt squirrels? The morning wind in August was so good to breathe. And in October when the rabbits were fat and the frosts had come and the hickory leaves had turned yellow and when the October winds blew they rustled the big leaves from the trees and they fell like yellow raindrops to the ground! Those were good days, Jess!”

【12】“Is that what you wanted to show me?” I asked.

“Oh, no, no,” he said as he began to climb the slope that rose abruptly toward the sky.

The pines on top of the mountain above us looked as if the fingers of their long boughs were fondling a white cloud.

“Why do you take the path straight up?” I asked. “Look at these other paths! What are they doing here?”

Within the distance of a few yards, several paths left the main path and circled around the slope, climbing the mountain gradually.

【13】“All paths go to the same place,” he answered.

“Then why take the steep one?” I asked.

“I’ll explain later,” he gasped.

My curiosity was roused. I thought he had found a new kind of wild grass, or a new kind of tree. For I remembered the time he found a coffee tree in our woods. It is, as far as I know, the only one of its kind growing in our county.

【14】We finally reached the tall straight pines whose branches reached toward the blue depth of sky, for the white cloud was now gone. I saw a small clearing of not more than three-fourths of an acre in the heart of this wilderness right on the mountaintop.

【15】“Now, son,” he said as he pushed down the top wire so he could cross the fence. “This is something I want you to see!”

“Who did this?” I asked, “Who cleared the land and fenced it?”

“I cleared the land. And I fenced it!”

“But why did you do this?” I asked him. “Look at all the fertile land we have in the valley!”

【16】“Fertile,” he laughed as he reached down and picked up a double handful of the soil. “This is the land, son! This is it.” Then he smelled the dirt.

“Just like fresh air,” he said as he let the dirt run between his fingers. “It’s pleasant to touch, too,” he added.

“But Dad,” I said.

【17】“I know what you think,” he interrupted. “Your mother thinks the same thing. She wonders why I ever climbed to this mountaintop to raise my potatoes, yams, and tomatoes! But, Jess,” he almost whispered, “Anything grown in new ground like this has a better flavor. Wait until my tomatoes are ripe! You’ll never taste sweeter tomatoes in your life!”

【18】“This is the cleanest patch I’ve ever seen,” I exclaimed. “But I still don’t see why you took all this trouble. And all against your doctor’s orders!”

【19】“Twenty times in my life,” he said, “a doctor has told me to go home and be with my family as long as I could. Told me not to work, not to do anything but to live and enjoy the few days I had left me. But I have cheated death many times! Now, I’ve reached the years the Good Book allows to a man. Three-score years and ten!”

【20】He got up from the tree stump where he was sitting and wiped the drops of sweat from his red-wrinkled face.

【21】“And after these years, your time is borrowed,” he said, motioning for me to follow him to the edge of the clearing. “And then, you go back to the place you knew and loved. See this steep slope.” He pointed toward the deep valley below.

【22】“Your mother and I, when she was nineteen and I was twenty-two, cleared this mountain slope together. We raised corn, beans, and pumpkins here,” he continued, his voice rising with excitement. “That’s why I came back up here. I went back to our youth.”

【23】I looked at the vast mountain slope below. It was on this slope that my father once made me a little wooden plow. That was when I was six years old and they brought me to the field to thin corn. Now, to look at the slope, it was hard to believe that they had done it all. For many of the trees were sixty feet tall and the wild vines had matted their tops together.

【24】“And, Jess,” he went on, “the doctor told me to sit still and to take life easy. I couldn’t do it. I had to work. I had to smell this soil and touch it again. And I wanted to taste yams, tomatoes, and potatoes grown on the land.”

【25】I followed him from his clearing in the sky, down a new path, toward the deep valley below.

“But why do you have so many paths coming up here?” I asked.

【26】“Oh, yes,” he said. “Early last spring, I couldn’t climb straight up the steep path. That was when the doctor didn’t give me a week to live. So I made an easier path. Then, as I got better,” he explained, “I made another path that was steeper.

【27】And as I continued to get better, I made still steeper paths. That was one way of knowing I was getting better all the time!”

I followed him down the path that wound this way and that, three times the length of the path we had climbed.

天空晴朗

杰西·斯图尔特

【1】“就是这条路，”父亲一边说，一边用手杖指着我们脚下的深谷。“我想给你看点东西!”

“对你来说，走这么多路是不是太热了?”我擦去脸上的汗水，免得它们刺痛我的眼睛。我不想和他一起去。我刚从我家上山走了半英里到他家，提着一篮子菜给妈妈。我知道天气有多热。

【2】我还知道，从一月到四月，我父亲看了八个不同的医生。他们都告诉他不要走太远。但我现在不能对他提出异议了。当他下定决心做一件事时，他就会去做。他不在乎阴凉处的温度是华氏100度还是零下20度。于是我跟着他沿着牧场和草地之间的小路走下去。

【3】突然，他停下来，拿出小刀，切了一束苜蓿。他把它举在太阳下。“看看这个，杰西!”他吹嘘道，“你见过从地里长出来的更好的苜蓿吗?”

【4】“这是我见过的最好看的干草，”我说。

“当我买下这块地的时候，每个人都说我疯了。”他又在吹牛了。“我花了三十年才让它变成这样!”

【5】我站在那儿，看着两座小山之间的那片苜蓿草地，我想起了他是如何从树林里拖出树叶，铺在这片土地上，然后把它们犁到地里，任它们腐烂的。他买下这片土地时，地上只会长出松树和荆棘。

【6】松树长不到齐腰高。地面没有足够的力量把他们推得更高。他砍倒松树，犁地。他种了一种覆盖作物，把它翻了个底朝天。然后他又种了第二棵、第三棵、第四棵。没过几年，他的土地就长出了玉米、小麦和土豆。

【7】“但这不是我想给你看的，杰西，”他说。“来吧。跟我来!”

我跟着他穿过牧场大门，然后沿着一条狭窄的牧牛道进入了深深的山谷。

“我们要去哪儿?”当他开始走一根木头过河时，我问道。

“在那里，”他微笑着，指着一个树木繁茂的山顶。“这就是我们要走的路!”

【8】我跟着他走过他砍倒一棵白橡树做成的小圆木，把它倒在深溪上。然后我们沿着高大的山核桃树下蜿蜒的小路走去，我小时候经常和他一起去那里打松鼠。

【9】但那已经是将近30年前的事了。多年来，我不时地走过那崎岖的山坡，在我父亲开辟出这条小路之前，那上面从来没有一条小路。在山核桃树、胡桃树和橡树树叶的高高的树冠下，这是一条漂亮的小路。我们看不见头顶上的天空。

【10】在我前面走着一个小个子男人，他曾经走得很快，我不得不跟着他跑。但是现在时间拖慢了他的脚步，繁重的劳动使他的肩膀弯了下来。他的呼吸不像以前那么轻松了，因为他停了两次，靠在手杖上休息。

【11】“还记得我们以前是怎么来这里打松鼠的吗?”8月的晨风很好呼吸。到了十月，兔子长得很胖，霜冻来了，山核桃树的叶子变黄了，十月的风吹起，树上的大叶子沙沙作响，像黄色的雨滴一样落在地上!那些日子真美好，杰西!”

【12】“这就是你想给我看的吗?”我问。

“哦，不，不，”他一边说，一边开始爬上那陡坡，那陡坡直指天空。

在我们头顶的山顶上，松树的长枝仿佛在抚摸着一朵白云。

“你为什么要走那条笔直向上的路?”我问。“看看其他的小路!”他们在这里做什么?”

在几码远的地方，有几条小路离开了主路，绕着山坡转了一圈，逐渐向山上爬去。

【13】“所有的路都通向同一个地方，”他回答说。

“那为什么要坐陡峭的那条呢?”我问。

“我以后再解释。”他喘着气说。

我的好奇心被激起了。我以为他发现了一种新的野草，或者一种新的树。因为我记得有一次他在我们的树林里发现了一棵咖啡树。据我所知，这是我国唯一一种这种植物。

【14】我们终于到达了高大挺拔的松树，这些松树的树枝伸向蓝天深处，因为白云已经消失了。我在山顶的荒野中心看到了一小块不超过四分之三英亩的空地。

【15】“现在，儿子，”他一边说，一边推下顶端的铁丝，以便越过栅栏。“这是我想让你看看的东西!”

“这是谁干的?”我问:“谁清理了这片土地，把它围了起来?”

“我清理了土地。我把它围起来了!”

“但你为什么要这样做呢?”我问他。“看看我们山谷里那些肥沃的土地!”

【16】“肥沃，”他笑着伸手抓起两捧土。“这就是土地，孩子!”就是这里了。”然后他闻到了泥土的味道。

“就像新鲜空气一样，”他边说边让泥土从手指间流过。“摸起来也很舒服，”他补充说。

“可是爸爸，”我说。

【17】“我知道你在想什么，”他打断我说。“你妈妈也这么想。她想知道我为什么要爬到这个山顶来种植土豆、山药和西红柿!但是，杰西，”他几乎是在低声说，“像这样在新土地上生长的东西味道更好。等我的西红柿熟了再说!你这辈子都尝不到更甜的西红柿了!”

【18】“这是我见过的最干净的地方。”“但我还是不明白你为什么要费这么大的劲。这一切都违背了你的医嘱!”

【19】“在我的一生中，”他说，“有20次医生告诉我要回家，尽可能长时间地和家人在一起。告诉我不要工作，什么都不要做，只要好好生活，享受我剩下的那几天。但我已经骗过死神很多次了!现在，我已经到了《圣经》所允许的年龄。70年零10年!”

【20】他从坐着的树桩上站起来，擦去布满红肿皱纹的脸上的汗珠。

【21】“过了这些年，你的时间是借来的，”他说，示意我跟着他走到空地的边缘。然后，你回到你熟悉和喜爱的地方。看这陡峭的斜坡。”他指着下面的深谷。

【22】“你妈妈19岁，我22岁，我们一起清理了这个山坡。我们在这里种植玉米、豆类和南瓜，”他继续说道，他的声音因兴奋而提高了。“这就是我回到这里的原因。我回到了我们的青春时代。”

【23】我看着下面广阔的山坡。就是在这个斜坡上，我父亲给我做了一个小木犁。那是我六岁的时候，他们把我带到地里去种玉米。现在，看看这个斜坡，很难相信他们已经完成了所有的工作。因为许多树都有六十英尺高，野生的藤蔓把树顶缠在了一起。

【24】“还有，杰西，”他接着说，“医生让我坐着别动，生活要轻松。我做不到。我必须工作。我得闻闻泥土，再摸一摸。我还想尝尝这片土地上生长的山药、西红柿和土豆。”

【25】我跟着他从天空中的空地上走下来，沿着一条新的小路，走向下面的深谷。

“可你为什么有这么多小路到这儿来呢?”我问。

【26】“哦，是的，”他说。“去年初春，我爬不上陡峭的小路。那时医生说我活不过一周了。所以我选择了一条更简单的路。“后来，我好些了，”他解释说，“我又走了一条更陡的路。

【27】随着我的身体越来越好，我走的路越来越陡。这是知道我一直在好转的一种方式!”

我跟着他沿着这条弯弯曲曲的小路走下去，这条小路的长度是我们爬过的那条小路的三倍。