本文出自美國著名作家納撒尼爾·霍桑之筆，描寫了他年少時(shí)在林中偶遇一眼泉水的情景。泉中美麗的仙女讓他難以忘懷。這里我們選了文章的前三段，寫的就是霍桑看見泉中仙女的一幕。
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
At fifteen, I became a?1)resident?in a country village, more than a hundred miles from home. The morning after my arrival-a September morning, but warm and bright as any in July-I?2)rambled?into a wood of?3)oaks.?The ground was rocky,?4)uneven,and?5)over?grown with bushes and young trees. The track,which I chanced to follow, led me to a crystal spring, as freshly green as on a May morning, and overshadowed by the limb of a great oak, one?6)sunbeam?found its way down, and played like a goldfish in the water.
15歲時(shí)，我來到一個(gè)離家一百多里的鄉(xiāng)村居住。到達(dá)這里的第二天早晨——那是九月的一個(gè)早晨，卻溫暖明亮有如七月的光景——我信步漫游來到一個(gè)橡樹林里。路面崎嶇不平，長滿了灌木和幼樹。偶然遇上一條小徑，它把我引到了一眼水晶般的泉水前，在一棵大橡樹的樹陰下，泉水清新碧綠如同五月的清晨。一縷陽光穿透橡樹的枝葉照射下來，像條金魚一樣在水里嬉戲。
From my childhood, I have loved to?7)gaze?into a spring, the water filled a circular basin, small, but deep, and set round with stones. The bottom was covered with sand, which?8)sparkled?in the lonely sunbeam, and seemed to?9)illuminate?the spring. In one spot, the sudden power of the water disturbed the sand, but without?10)obscuring?the fountain, or breaking the glassiness of its surface. It appeared as if some living creature was about to?11)emerge, the?12)Naiad?of the spring, perhaps, in the shape of a beautiful young woman. How would the one that saw her?13)shiver, pleasantly, yet fearfully, to see her sitting on one of the stones,?14)paddling?her white feet in the?15)ripples, and throwing up water, to sparkle in the sun! Wherever she laid her hands on grass and flowers, they would immediately be moist, as with morning?16)dew. Then she would set about her labors, like a careful housewife, to clear the fountain of withered leaves,and old?17)acorns?from the oaks above, and grains of corn left by cattle in drinking, till the bright sand, in the bright water, were like a treasury of diamonds. But, should the?18)intruder?come too near, he would find only the drops of a summer shower, shining about the spot where he had seen her.
我從小就很喜歡凝視著泉水。那水注滿了一個(gè)圓形的潭，周圍堆疊著一圈石子。這眼泉不大，卻很深，潭底覆蓋著一層沙，在那縷孤獨(dú)的陽光下閃耀著，仿佛把泉水點(diǎn)亮了。在潭中某個(gè)點(diǎn)，水流突然加大，擾動了沙層，可是泉水并沒有因此變渾濁，也沒有打破水面玻璃般的平滑與寧靜。看著它，感覺仿佛將有什么生物就要從水里冒出來，也許是泉水仙女將化成一個(gè)年輕美麗的女子出現(xiàn)在眼前?？吹剿娜嗽撛鯓拥仡澙醢?！顫栗著，歡喜然而帶恐懼——當(dāng)看見她坐在潭子周圍的其中一顆石頭上，在水波里拍打著白皙的雙腳，飛濺起來的水花迎著陽光熠熠發(fā)光！她雙手撫過的小草和花朵無不立刻變得濕潤，就像沾上了清晨的露珠。于是她便開始一天的勞作，像個(gè)細(xì)心的主婦一樣，清理起泉水里枯萎的葉子、橡樹掉落的老橡實(shí)，還有前來飲水的牛群遺落的谷粒，直到沙子在澄澈的水中變得像無數(shù)鉆石一樣璀璨奪目?？墒羌偃邕@位闖入者靠得太近了，他便只能發(fā)現(xiàn)夏天大雨過后雨水的痕跡，在剛才見到水仙子的地方閃爍著。
Lying on the border of grass, where the goddess should have been, I bent forward, and a pair of eyes met mine within the watery mirror. They were the?19)reflection?of my own. I looked again, and look! Another face, deeper in the fountain than my own image, clearer in all the features,yet?20)faint?as thought. The vision had the appearance of a fair young girl, with?21)locks?of palely gold, a happy expression laughed in the eyes and?22)dimpled?over the whole face, till it seemed just what a fountain would be; while dancing merrily into the sunshine, it should take the shape of woman. Through the?23)rosiness?of the cheeks, I could see the brown leaves, the acorns, and the sparking sand.The sunbeam was spread among the golden hair, which melted into its faint brightness, and became a?24)glory?round that head so beautiful! My words can give no idea how suddenly the fountain was thus?25)tenanted?and how soon it was left empty. I breathed; and there was the face! I held my breath; and it was gone! Had it passed away, or faded into nothing? I doubted whether it had ever been.
我躺在水仙子剛才現(xiàn)身過的草沿上，把身子往前探，視線與這面水鏡中的一雙眼睛相觸。這不過是我自己雙眼的倒影。我再細(xì)看一眼，看?。≡谌斜任易约旱牡褂案钐庍€有另外一張臉，五官比我的倒影更加清晰，卻又比想象中的還要縹緲模糊。這映像看起來宛如一個(gè)年輕女孩，有著淺金黃色的頭發(fā)。她的雙眸閃爍著喜悅，她的整個(gè)臉龐綻放出一朵酒窩，恰如一眼泉水本來應(yīng)有的樣子；假如它在陽光下歡快起舞的話，活脫脫就是一位女子的模樣。我的視線越過那玫瑰股的臉頰，可以看見那些褐黃的落葉，那些橡實(shí)，還有閃閃發(fā)光的沙子。陽光灑遍了她金黃的發(fā)絲，令它在自己的光明里熔化，變成一道光圈環(huán)繞著那個(gè)如此美麗的臉龐！我無法用言語描繪泉水是如何在一瞬間內(nèi)住進(jìn)了一位仙女，她又在一瞬間突然離去，使泉中空無一物。我吸了一口氣；這里那臉龐又是出現(xiàn)了！待我又屏息凝神時(shí)，卻又再次無跡可尋！它是離開了呢，還是已經(jīng)蕩然無存？我甚至懷疑它是否真的存在過。
1)?resident n.?居民
2)?ramble v.?漫游
3)?oak n.?橡樹
4)?uneven a.?不平坦的
5)?overgrow v.?長滿
6)?sunbeam n.?陽光光束
7)?gaze v.?盯，凝視
8)?sparkle v.?發(fā)光閃爍，（使）閃耀
9)?illuminate v.?照明，照亮
10)?obscure v.?使模糊，使朦朧
11)?emerge v.?顯現(xiàn)，浮現(xiàn)
12)?naiad n. (希臘神話中的)水神
13)?shiver v.?顫抖
14)?paddle v.?攪，拌，戲水
15)?ripple n.?波紋
16)?dew n.?露，露水
17)?acorn n.?橡樹果，橡子
18)?intruder n.?入侵者
19)?reflection n.?映象，倒影
20)?faint a.?微弱的，暗淡的，模糊的
21)?locks n.?頭發(fā)
22)?dimple v.?使起漣漪
23)?rosiness n.?玫瑰色，淡紅色
24)?glory n.?美麗，光輝
25)?tenant v.?出租
