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正文
人間仙境大煙山（英漢對照）
宋德利 譯自《Our National Parks》
說明：
一段時間以前，我曾發過一個美國國家公園係列。近來我發現有一篇“漏網之魚”的手稿，就是這篇《人間仙境大煙山》。看看還可以，丟掉有點可惜，於是才決定補發在此。與那些文章不同的是，這次我對照原書，把英文敲出來，以英漢對照方式發表在此。需要說明的是，這篇文字是東一段西一段摘譯拚湊的，而且沒有做過任何加工，故而難免在段落之間有硬傷的痕跡，不知讀者讀後的感覺如何，特此說明。
Few mountains anywhere in the world are more aptly named than the Great Smokies. Rank upon rank of smoothly rounded ridges recede toward the horizon like shadowy silhouettes, their contours blurred during the summer months by an ever-present haze – the product of incalculable quantities of vapor exhaled into the air by the luxuriant mantle of forest that covers these well-watered slopes.
堪稱名實相符之山者，大煙山為世間絕無僅有。線條圓柔的道道山嶺逶迤不絕，酷似朦朦朧朧的剪影被賦予了生命，朝地平線緩緩蠕動。夏季，潮濕的山坡透過茂密的山林，把夏季必有的大量水蒸氣源源不斷地發散到空中，致使此地終日煙霧繚繞，山影憧憧。此時的大煙山，迷迷蒙蒙，虛無縹緲，宛若仙境。
注釋：如果字對字的硬譯，這段的譯文其實是這樣的：
世界上任何地方都沒有什麽山的命名比大煙山更貼切了。光溜溜，圓乎乎的山嶺，就像隱隱約約的剪影，一道一道地朝著地平線的方向下降，它們的輪廓在夏季裏，被必不可少的煙霧弄得模糊不清- 而這些煙霧就是被覆蓋這些潮濕山坡的森林所形成的豐富的覆蓋物所發散到空中的大量的水蒸氣的產物。
破折號後麵的一段話多麽複雜，而這麽複雜的一段文字又僅僅是破折號前麵的“煙霧”（haze）的說明。可如果分解開說又會是：這些煙霧是大量水蒸氣的產物，而這些水蒸氣又是被豐富的覆蓋物發散到空中的，而這些覆蓋物又是由覆蓋潮濕山坡的森林所形成。連續不斷的層層解釋，反複說明，總共三次之多，真可謂一步三回頭。這在中文裏簡直難以容忍。有鑒於此，我才采用“半直譯半意譯”的方法做如上譯。
Time has gentled the ancient Smokies ( they are among the oldest mountains on earth ), softening their outlines as erosion works its magic. Yet the heights are still impressive: 20 peaks rise to elevations of more than 6,000 feet. Tallest of all is Clingmans Dome, near the very center of the park, at 6,642 feet.
時光柔化了古老的大煙山（這些都是世界上最古老的山），經年累月的風化腐蝕，就像魔術一般無二，把層巒疊嶂的輪廓琢磨得圓潤平滑。誠然，其高度依然令人歎為觀止。高達6，000英尺的山峰就不下20座之多。接近公園中心的多姆峰，更是以其6，642英尺的高度鶴立雞群。
On the heights are forests that seem strangely out of place in the South – a touch of Maine that is a remnant and reminder of the bygone Ice Age. During the thousands of years in which the northern part of the continent was locked in the grip of ice, the climate here was much cooler than today. As the glaciers advanced, cold-loving evergreens gradually extended their range farther and farther to the south. Then, as the Ice Age came to an end and the climate warmed, these forests receded toward the north – except on the mountain slopes, where they found the cool, moist growing conditions they require. And there they remain to this day, covering the ridge tops with the year-round greenery of red spruce and Fraser fir.
高山區的森林怪異多姿，仿佛不該地處南方。乍看上去，頗具緬因州的北國風韻，令人不禁聯想起古老的冰河期，進而思古之幽情油然而生。在北美洲當初還處在冰雪禁錮的數千年時光裏，此地的氣候比現在涼得多。隨著冰河的前進，耐寒的常綠植物區，逐漸向南延伸，直至冰河期結束，其後變暖，這些森林又向北退縮。當然，一些山坡地帶除外，因為那裏有耐寒植物所需的涼爽濕潤的生長環境。所以直至今日，千山萬嶺依舊被鬱鬱蔥蔥的常綠雲杉林所覆蓋。
Dampness is pervasive on these heights: showers are always imminent, fog a constant companion. Moss grows everywhere, and wood sorrel spreads its delightful blossoms over the forest floor. The calls of winter wrens and the scolding of red squirrels – wildlife more typical of Canada and New England than of the South – echo through the trees. Otherwise only the sighing of the wind interrupts the silence.
高山區常年潮濕，大霧不可或缺，山雨欲來之勢無時不刻地籠罩著這裏的一切。不過山林之內，則別是一番風光。那裏處處青苔，處處紅花，色彩豔麗，賞心悅目。尤其是為冬季所特有的鷦鷯也在這裏婉轉地歌唱，紅鬆鼠也在發出歡快的叫聲。這歌聲，這叫聲，在林木間回響，彰顯了生命的存在，但其所具備的並非隻是東方特色，而是典型的加拿大和新英格蘭的特色。如果沒有這些，那就隻有風兒的歎息聲才能打破這裏的寂靜。
On a few high ridges, forests are interrupted by openings known as balds. In some, tangled shrubbery takes the place of trees; others are grassy. Both offer superb vistas, but only the grass ones are welcoming, their thick, luxuriant carpet creating the perfect resting place. Along the edges of the openings the forest begins hesitantly with a flowery fringe. Bees buzz around azalea and rhododendron shrubs, creating a subtle back-ground music as they work the blooms for nectar. The fragrance of fir and of flowers drifts across the balds, mountains’ hazy contours fade in the distance.
（大煙山有一個獨特的地理現象，）在幾座蓊鬱青蔥的高山上，偶爾會出現禿頂。參天大樹為絞繞盤結的灌木叢或絨絨碧毯般的萋萋芳草所替代，因而形成狹長空曠而景致極佳的林間開闊地。而最令人能癡迷的要算那花團錦簇的開闊地邊緣，擢發難數的野花絢麗多姿，盡態極妍，為森林提供了一條鮮花織就的天然流蘇式飾帶。無數隻小蜂在美麗動人的杜鵑花叢中飛來飛去，以嗡嗡的響聲為繁忙的采蜜營造一種輕鬆神秘，音樂氣氛頗濃的環境。這種被稱為禿頂的林間開闊地，終日浸沉在雲杉和野花的馥鬱芳香之中，而此時此刻，其背後忽隱忽現的山影則正逐步被迷蒙的雲煙霧靄所湮沒。
As centuries passed and the climate warmed at the close of the Ice Age, rain replaced snow, and streams began dancing down the mountains, twisting their way between great gray boulders that had been cracked from the slopes by relentless freezing. In only a short time, perhaps a mere thousand years or so, the Smokies began to resemble the mountains we know today – mountains with a delightful array of forests of all different sorts. Oak and hickory, mixed together with pine, ungrudgingly contribute their gifts of acorns and nuts. In general such stands are confined to low elevations where thin soil and direct sun combine to rob the land of moisture. Quite different – but found just around the bend on the moist, cool, shady side of many a ridge – is another kind of forest, dominated by hemlocks. In mature forests these evergreens are huge, creating a moody sort of place where fog drifts among the branches and filters the morning sun into shafts of light and shadow. Little else grows within their world: the only shrubs that seem to thrive beneath the large old hemlocks are rhododendrons.
隨著多少世紀的推移，到冰河時代的末期，氣候逐漸轉暖，雨滴替代雪花，溪流便開始在山間起舞，在巨大的灰色圓石之間蜿蜒曲折地向前奔流，而這些圓石都是山坡久經嚴寒冷凍分崩離析而成。僅在隨後一個很短的時期，也許隻有千年左右，大煙山就開始呈現類似我們今天所知道的這副模樣。各種不同的森林在山間排列有序，齊榛榛，碧綠綠，委實壯觀。在許多潮濕陰涼的山坡上，則以鐵杉為主，株株高大參天。霧氣穿枝透葉，朝陽初照，一道道金光，一片片陰影，間隔有序，相映成趣。在鐵杉的一統天下裏，似乎容不得任何其它植物，唯一能見到的異類就隻是在高大古老的鐵杉之下茂密生長的灌木叢，而這些灌木叢就是花團錦簇的杜鵑。
Growing from 2 to 20 feet in height, in some places rhododendrons form all but impenetrable thickets; stems and trunks are so intertwined that few creatures will attempt to pass through the tangled growth. This is especially true where rhododendrons and a few related shrubs grow not beneath taller plants but in solid stands of their own. Scientists know such places as heath balds; local people call them laurel slicks.
這裏的杜鵑高達二至二十英尺不等。有些地方的杜鵑長勢繁茂，枝幹盤繞之密，就連最靈巧的動物應對起來也無計可施。尤其是當杜鵑不是在高大的樹木下生長，而是在獨自成林時，就更是如此。這裏以石南花開闊地的名字被科學家所認知，而當地人則把這裏稱作月桂穀。
From a distance, they look like open hilltop meadows where the grass is just right for resting. But this is pure illusion, as anyone who struggles up to one quickly realized. The first few steps into the thicket, even one that is only chest-high, require the strength of an ox. In taller tangles, forward movement is all but impossible. The branches are tough: they grab, they scratch, they whip. Even the most persistent soon give up, realizing that a laurel slick is more prison than refuge.
這種地方遠看似一片片開闊的山頂草地，仿佛正好是遊人休憩的最佳去處，但不少人千辛萬苦，奮力拚搏，終於抵達那裏之後，才立即發現那僅僅是一種迷人的幻覺。如果有人非想進去看一看，哪怕僅僅步入齊胸高的杜鵑叢，也是寸步難行。在高一些的杜鵑叢，枝交蔓繞，想插足一步，休想！杜鵑枝條堅硬粗壯，隻要有人貿然闖入，它們便會非抓即撓，甚而抽打如鞭笞。即便是耐力最強的人，也會因為意識到一處月桂穀與其說是庇護所，倒不如說像是監獄而很快就會放棄。
Rhododendrons have their redeeming qualities, however: beauty and , in this park, abundance. In early summer the ridgetops are brightened by the great red-dish-purple flower clusters of the Catawba rhododendron. Each cluster is a bouquet some six inches in diameter, and each shrub bears dozens of bouquets. For generations people have made pilgrimages to these natural gardens, knowing that to see the rhododendrons in full bloom is to witness the wild glory of the high Appalachians at their best.
不過杜鵑也有其美妙可人的特點，那就是花容豔麗絕倫。而在大煙山公園內，數量之大也有與眾不同之處。初夏時節，碩大的紫色華族把山嶺裝點得鮮豔絢麗。每一束花簇的直徑都在六英寸左右，而每一叢的花簇就有十多束之多。人們一代接一代地遠足這些天然園林去觀賞花團錦簇的杜鵑。他們知道這就是在巍峨的阿巴拉契亞山最佳時期去見證其野趣十足的壯美景觀。
During July the thickets at lower elevations come into their own with the pinkish-white flowers of the rosebay rhododendron, by far more common in the park than the catawba rhododendron. In winter the long, waxy leaves of both species serve as natural thermometers, drooping as limp as the ears of a basset hound when the temperature nears zero. Nothing looks so forlorn as rhododendron thicket in cold snow – yet no plants contribute more to the summer splendor than rhododendrons and their smaller relatives, azaleas and mountain laurel.
七月是生長在低地的粉紅色杜鵑花的黃金季節。這種粉紅色杜鵑在大煙山公園要比紫紅色的更為普遍。冬季裏，這兩個品種臘光光的長葉簡直就是天然寒暑表。氣溫接近零度時，葉子就會像獵犬的耳朵那樣無力地下垂。在寒冷的冬季，沒有任何植物能像杜鵑及其小品種、類杜鵑及山月桂那樣奉獻如此之多的美。
Spring on the summits is brief, summer is almost nonexistent. By October the highest elevations have already felt frost, and the first icicles are forming on rocky cliff tops. Through November and early December the weather is indecisive: one day it is warm and hazy, the next day a howling wind pulls a shroud of clouds across the peaks, and one third morning the trees glisten with a coating of rime. Finally the snow begin.
山峰上的春季是短暫的；夏季是潮濕涼爽的；秋季幾乎是不存在的。十月份，高山地帶就已寒霜初降，第一個氣候周期正在峭壁崖頂形成。在整個十一月裏和十二月初，這裏的氣候變幻莫測。第一天溫暖多霧；第二天寒風呼嘯，山頂烏雲籠罩；第三天林木結霜，處處熠熠閃光。而最後白雪終於從天而降。
Even this far south, winter stakes out a claim – and often does so with force. Storms carry moisture hundreds of miles northward from the Gulf Mexico and dump it on the Smokies. At lower elevations a cold, drizzly rain sometimes falls for days, feeding the streams until their roar fills every valley. On the ridges the moisture falls as snow, sometimes in big, wet flakes but often in fine, stinging, wind-driven granules. When the storms pass, warm Gulf air is replaced by frigid blasts howling their way southward from the interior of Canada. The trees moan under the assault of the wind. Clouds rip through the gaps, limbs snap in the gusts, and temperatures plummet, sometimes reaching -20。F in January.During these bursts of Arctic fury it seems as if the ice ages have once again returned, if only for several days or weeks. Finally toward mid-February warm spells become more frequent. But winter does not give up easily at these elevations. Though spring has been creeping up the slopes since late February or early March, it does not scale the summits until May.
即便在這遙遠的南方，冬季也是格外分明 – 而且往往是來勢洶洶。風暴把水汽從墨西哥灣帶到數百英裏之外的北方，而後又將其拋到大煙山上。在較低處，陰涼的蒙蒙細雨有時要持續數天之久，為溪流注入足夠的水量，最終使其洶湧澎湃灌滿每一處山川峽穀。在山梁上，這次濕氣變成紛紛揚揚的白雪。有時是碩大潮濕的雪花，但經常呈現的則是寒冷刺骨的冰霰。風暴過後，加拿大內地的寒風呼嘯著南下而來，最終替代了溫暖的墨西哥灣空氣。大樹在狂風襲擊之下呻吟。烏雲撕扯著從大山縫隙間擠過去，粗大的樹枝在狂飆中折斷，一月的氣溫有時會驟然跌至華氏零下20度。隻消數日，或數周的時間，北極狂飆的猖獗之勢就會攪得天翻地覆，宛若冰河時代又卷土重來。季節終於進入二月中旬，源源不斷地暖流就會經常光顧。然而，在如此之高的地勢上，冬季是不會輕易認輸的。從二月末或三月初，雖然春季已經悄然爬上山坡，然而在五月之前，意欲登頂，它是無能為力的。
宋德利 譯自《Our National Parks》
說明：
一段時間以前，我曾發過一個美國國家公園係列。近來我發現有一篇“漏網之魚”的手稿，就是這篇《人間仙境大煙山》。看看還可以，丟掉有點可惜，於是才決定補發在此。與那些文章不同的是，這次我對照原書，把英文敲出來，以英漢對照方式發表在此。需要說明的是，這篇文字是東一段西一段摘譯拚湊的，而且沒有做過任何加工，故而難免在段落之間有硬傷的痕跡，不知讀者讀後的感覺如何，特此說明。
Few mountains anywhere in the world are more aptly named than the Great Smokies. Rank upon rank of smoothly rounded ridges recede toward the horizon like shadowy silhouettes, their contours blurred during the summer months by an ever-present haze – the product of incalculable quantities of vapor exhaled into the air by the luxuriant mantle of forest that covers these well-watered slopes.
堪稱名實相符之山者，大煙山為世間絕無僅有。線條圓柔的道道山嶺逶迤不絕，酷似朦朦朧朧的剪影被賦予了生命，朝地平線緩緩蠕動。夏季，潮濕的山坡透過茂密的山林，把夏季必有的大量水蒸氣源源不斷地發散到空中，致使此地終日煙霧繚繞，山影憧憧。此時的大煙山，迷迷蒙蒙，虛無縹緲，宛若仙境。
注釋：如果字對字的硬譯，這段的譯文其實是這樣的：
世界上任何地方都沒有什麽山的命名比大煙山更貼切了。光溜溜，圓乎乎的山嶺，就像隱隱約約的剪影，一道一道地朝著地平線的方向下降，它們的輪廓在夏季裏，被必不可少的煙霧弄得模糊不清- 而這些煙霧就是被覆蓋這些潮濕山坡的森林所形成的豐富的覆蓋物所發散到空中的大量的水蒸氣的產物。
破折號後麵的一段話多麽複雜，而這麽複雜的一段文字又僅僅是破折號前麵的“煙霧”（haze）的說明。可如果分解開說又會是：這些煙霧是大量水蒸氣的產物，而這些水蒸氣又是被豐富的覆蓋物發散到空中的，而這些覆蓋物又是由覆蓋潮濕山坡的森林所形成。連續不斷的層層解釋，反複說明，總共三次之多，真可謂一步三回頭。這在中文裏簡直難以容忍。有鑒於此，我才采用“半直譯半意譯”的方法做如上譯。
Time has gentled the ancient Smokies ( they are among the oldest mountains on earth ), softening their outlines as erosion works its magic. Yet the heights are still impressive: 20 peaks rise to elevations of more than 6,000 feet. Tallest of all is Clingmans Dome, near the very center of the park, at 6,642 feet.
時光柔化了古老的大煙山（這些都是世界上最古老的山），經年累月的風化腐蝕，就像魔術一般無二，把層巒疊嶂的輪廓琢磨得圓潤平滑。誠然，其高度依然令人歎為觀止。高達6，000英尺的山峰就不下20座之多。接近公園中心的多姆峰，更是以其6，642英尺的高度鶴立雞群。
On the heights are forests that seem strangely out of place in the South – a touch of Maine that is a remnant and reminder of the bygone Ice Age. During the thousands of years in which the northern part of the continent was locked in the grip of ice, the climate here was much cooler than today. As the glaciers advanced, cold-loving evergreens gradually extended their range farther and farther to the south. Then, as the Ice Age came to an end and the climate warmed, these forests receded toward the north – except on the mountain slopes, where they found the cool, moist growing conditions they require. And there they remain to this day, covering the ridge tops with the year-round greenery of red spruce and Fraser fir.
高山區的森林怪異多姿，仿佛不該地處南方。乍看上去，頗具緬因州的北國風韻，令人不禁聯想起古老的冰河期，進而思古之幽情油然而生。在北美洲當初還處在冰雪禁錮的數千年時光裏，此地的氣候比現在涼得多。隨著冰河的前進，耐寒的常綠植物區，逐漸向南延伸，直至冰河期結束，其後變暖，這些森林又向北退縮。當然，一些山坡地帶除外，因為那裏有耐寒植物所需的涼爽濕潤的生長環境。所以直至今日，千山萬嶺依舊被鬱鬱蔥蔥的常綠雲杉林所覆蓋。
Dampness is pervasive on these heights: showers are always imminent, fog a constant companion. Moss grows everywhere, and wood sorrel spreads its delightful blossoms over the forest floor. The calls of winter wrens and the scolding of red squirrels – wildlife more typical of Canada and New England than of the South – echo through the trees. Otherwise only the sighing of the wind interrupts the silence.
高山區常年潮濕，大霧不可或缺，山雨欲來之勢無時不刻地籠罩著這裏的一切。不過山林之內，則別是一番風光。那裏處處青苔，處處紅花，色彩豔麗，賞心悅目。尤其是為冬季所特有的鷦鷯也在這裏婉轉地歌唱，紅鬆鼠也在發出歡快的叫聲。這歌聲，這叫聲，在林木間回響，彰顯了生命的存在，但其所具備的並非隻是東方特色，而是典型的加拿大和新英格蘭的特色。如果沒有這些，那就隻有風兒的歎息聲才能打破這裏的寂靜。
On a few high ridges, forests are interrupted by openings known as balds. In some, tangled shrubbery takes the place of trees; others are grassy. Both offer superb vistas, but only the grass ones are welcoming, their thick, luxuriant carpet creating the perfect resting place. Along the edges of the openings the forest begins hesitantly with a flowery fringe. Bees buzz around azalea and rhododendron shrubs, creating a subtle back-ground music as they work the blooms for nectar. The fragrance of fir and of flowers drifts across the balds, mountains’ hazy contours fade in the distance.
（大煙山有一個獨特的地理現象，）在幾座蓊鬱青蔥的高山上，偶爾會出現禿頂。參天大樹為絞繞盤結的灌木叢或絨絨碧毯般的萋萋芳草所替代，因而形成狹長空曠而景致極佳的林間開闊地。而最令人能癡迷的要算那花團錦簇的開闊地邊緣，擢發難數的野花絢麗多姿，盡態極妍，為森林提供了一條鮮花織就的天然流蘇式飾帶。無數隻小蜂在美麗動人的杜鵑花叢中飛來飛去，以嗡嗡的響聲為繁忙的采蜜營造一種輕鬆神秘，音樂氣氛頗濃的環境。這種被稱為禿頂的林間開闊地，終日浸沉在雲杉和野花的馥鬱芳香之中，而此時此刻，其背後忽隱忽現的山影則正逐步被迷蒙的雲煙霧靄所湮沒。
As centuries passed and the climate warmed at the close of the Ice Age, rain replaced snow, and streams began dancing down the mountains, twisting their way between great gray boulders that had been cracked from the slopes by relentless freezing. In only a short time, perhaps a mere thousand years or so, the Smokies began to resemble the mountains we know today – mountains with a delightful array of forests of all different sorts. Oak and hickory, mixed together with pine, ungrudgingly contribute their gifts of acorns and nuts. In general such stands are confined to low elevations where thin soil and direct sun combine to rob the land of moisture. Quite different – but found just around the bend on the moist, cool, shady side of many a ridge – is another kind of forest, dominated by hemlocks. In mature forests these evergreens are huge, creating a moody sort of place where fog drifts among the branches and filters the morning sun into shafts of light and shadow. Little else grows within their world: the only shrubs that seem to thrive beneath the large old hemlocks are rhododendrons.
隨著多少世紀的推移，到冰河時代的末期，氣候逐漸轉暖，雨滴替代雪花，溪流便開始在山間起舞，在巨大的灰色圓石之間蜿蜒曲折地向前奔流，而這些圓石都是山坡久經嚴寒冷凍分崩離析而成。僅在隨後一個很短的時期，也許隻有千年左右，大煙山就開始呈現類似我們今天所知道的這副模樣。各種不同的森林在山間排列有序，齊榛榛，碧綠綠，委實壯觀。在許多潮濕陰涼的山坡上，則以鐵杉為主，株株高大參天。霧氣穿枝透葉，朝陽初照，一道道金光，一片片陰影，間隔有序，相映成趣。在鐵杉的一統天下裏，似乎容不得任何其它植物，唯一能見到的異類就隻是在高大古老的鐵杉之下茂密生長的灌木叢，而這些灌木叢就是花團錦簇的杜鵑。
Growing from 2 to 20 feet in height, in some places rhododendrons form all but impenetrable thickets; stems and trunks are so intertwined that few creatures will attempt to pass through the tangled growth. This is especially true where rhododendrons and a few related shrubs grow not beneath taller plants but in solid stands of their own. Scientists know such places as heath balds; local people call them laurel slicks.
這裏的杜鵑高達二至二十英尺不等。有些地方的杜鵑長勢繁茂，枝幹盤繞之密，就連最靈巧的動物應對起來也無計可施。尤其是當杜鵑不是在高大的樹木下生長，而是在獨自成林時，就更是如此。這裏以石南花開闊地的名字被科學家所認知，而當地人則把這裏稱作月桂穀。
From a distance, they look like open hilltop meadows where the grass is just right for resting. But this is pure illusion, as anyone who struggles up to one quickly realized. The first few steps into the thicket, even one that is only chest-high, require the strength of an ox. In taller tangles, forward movement is all but impossible. The branches are tough: they grab, they scratch, they whip. Even the most persistent soon give up, realizing that a laurel slick is more prison than refuge.
這種地方遠看似一片片開闊的山頂草地，仿佛正好是遊人休憩的最佳去處，但不少人千辛萬苦，奮力拚搏，終於抵達那裏之後，才立即發現那僅僅是一種迷人的幻覺。如果有人非想進去看一看，哪怕僅僅步入齊胸高的杜鵑叢，也是寸步難行。在高一些的杜鵑叢，枝交蔓繞，想插足一步，休想！杜鵑枝條堅硬粗壯，隻要有人貿然闖入，它們便會非抓即撓，甚而抽打如鞭笞。即便是耐力最強的人，也會因為意識到一處月桂穀與其說是庇護所，倒不如說像是監獄而很快就會放棄。
Rhododendrons have their redeeming qualities, however: beauty and , in this park, abundance. In early summer the ridgetops are brightened by the great red-dish-purple flower clusters of the Catawba rhododendron. Each cluster is a bouquet some six inches in diameter, and each shrub bears dozens of bouquets. For generations people have made pilgrimages to these natural gardens, knowing that to see the rhododendrons in full bloom is to witness the wild glory of the high Appalachians at their best.
不過杜鵑也有其美妙可人的特點，那就是花容豔麗絕倫。而在大煙山公園內，數量之大也有與眾不同之處。初夏時節，碩大的紫色華族把山嶺裝點得鮮豔絢麗。每一束花簇的直徑都在六英寸左右，而每一叢的花簇就有十多束之多。人們一代接一代地遠足這些天然園林去觀賞花團錦簇的杜鵑。他們知道這就是在巍峨的阿巴拉契亞山最佳時期去見證其野趣十足的壯美景觀。
During July the thickets at lower elevations come into their own with the pinkish-white flowers of the rosebay rhododendron, by far more common in the park than the catawba rhododendron. In winter the long, waxy leaves of both species serve as natural thermometers, drooping as limp as the ears of a basset hound when the temperature nears zero. Nothing looks so forlorn as rhododendron thicket in cold snow – yet no plants contribute more to the summer splendor than rhododendrons and their smaller relatives, azaleas and mountain laurel.
七月是生長在低地的粉紅色杜鵑花的黃金季節。這種粉紅色杜鵑在大煙山公園要比紫紅色的更為普遍。冬季裏，這兩個品種臘光光的長葉簡直就是天然寒暑表。氣溫接近零度時，葉子就會像獵犬的耳朵那樣無力地下垂。在寒冷的冬季，沒有任何植物能像杜鵑及其小品種、類杜鵑及山月桂那樣奉獻如此之多的美。
Spring on the summits is brief, summer is almost nonexistent. By October the highest elevations have already felt frost, and the first icicles are forming on rocky cliff tops. Through November and early December the weather is indecisive: one day it is warm and hazy, the next day a howling wind pulls a shroud of clouds across the peaks, and one third morning the trees glisten with a coating of rime. Finally the snow begin.
山峰上的春季是短暫的；夏季是潮濕涼爽的；秋季幾乎是不存在的。十月份，高山地帶就已寒霜初降，第一個氣候周期正在峭壁崖頂形成。在整個十一月裏和十二月初，這裏的氣候變幻莫測。第一天溫暖多霧；第二天寒風呼嘯，山頂烏雲籠罩；第三天林木結霜，處處熠熠閃光。而最後白雪終於從天而降。
Even this far south, winter stakes out a claim – and often does so with force. Storms carry moisture hundreds of miles northward from the Gulf Mexico and dump it on the Smokies. At lower elevations a cold, drizzly rain sometimes falls for days, feeding the streams until their roar fills every valley. On the ridges the moisture falls as snow, sometimes in big, wet flakes but often in fine, stinging, wind-driven granules. When the storms pass, warm Gulf air is replaced by frigid blasts howling their way southward from the interior of Canada. The trees moan under the assault of the wind. Clouds rip through the gaps, limbs snap in the gusts, and temperatures plummet, sometimes reaching -20。F in January.During these bursts of Arctic fury it seems as if the ice ages have once again returned, if only for several days or weeks. Finally toward mid-February warm spells become more frequent. But winter does not give up easily at these elevations. Though spring has been creeping up the slopes since late February or early March, it does not scale the summits until May.
即便在這遙遠的南方，冬季也是格外分明 – 而且往往是來勢洶洶。風暴把水汽從墨西哥灣帶到數百英裏之外的北方，而後又將其拋到大煙山上。在較低處，陰涼的蒙蒙細雨有時要持續數天之久，為溪流注入足夠的水量，最終使其洶湧澎湃灌滿每一處山川峽穀。在山梁上，這次濕氣變成紛紛揚揚的白雪。有時是碩大潮濕的雪花，但經常呈現的則是寒冷刺骨的冰霰。風暴過後，加拿大內地的寒風呼嘯著南下而來，最終替代了溫暖的墨西哥灣空氣。大樹在狂風襲擊之下呻吟。烏雲撕扯著從大山縫隙間擠過去，粗大的樹枝在狂飆中折斷，一月的氣溫有時會驟然跌至華氏零下20度。隻消數日，或數周的時間，北極狂飆的猖獗之勢就會攪得天翻地覆，宛若冰河時代又卷土重來。季節終於進入二月中旬，源源不斷地暖流就會經常光顧。然而，在如此之高的地勢上，冬季是不會輕易認輸的。從二月末或三月初，雖然春季已經悄然爬上山坡，然而在五月之前，意欲登頂，它是無能為力的。
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