Red Bird, Bluebird, Old Bird, You Bird

One afternoon in early September, at the outdoor city pool in La Pola with my brother, I asked whether he would like to be 10 again.

九月初的一天下午，我和弟弟在拉波拉的室外城市泳池里，我问他是否愿意回到 10 岁。

We were watching some kids about that age play in the pool.

我们正在看一些与这个年龄相仿的孩子在游泳池里玩耍。

“No,” he said, “been there, done that.” And I agree.

“不，”他说，“我去过那里，做过那件事。”我同意。

No need to go through that phase all over.

不需要从头到尾经历这个阶段。

Or any.

或任何。

Not the teen years or the college years, not getting settled in my 30s and having children, not the stretch of time between then and now, slowing down, contemplating my surroundings in a newly appreciative way: the birds, the trees, the river and the tides, the paths up and down.

不是青少年时期或大学时期，不是在三十多岁时安定下来并生孩子，不是从那时到现在的一段时间，放慢脚步，以一种新的欣赏方式思考我的周围环境：鸟儿，树木，河流和潮汐，上下的小路。

How wonderful to contemplate the vast array of the past too—from a safe distance.

从安全的距离思考过去的大量事情也是多么美妙。

The view from here is good; I would not squeeze myself into any of those ages again.

这里的景色很好；我不会再把自己挤进那个时代。

What about my mother, though—farther along and with more to gaze back on, but with a grasp of the past not quite so firm.

不过，我的母亲呢——走得更远，有更多的东西可以回顾，但对过去的把握并不那么坚定。

What would she say?

她会说什么？

My mother typically has at least three books going.

我母亲通常至少要读三本书。

At the table during that month of September, when she was visiting me in La Pola, she was reading Dr. Fulford’s Touch of Life .

九月那个月，当她去拉波拉探望我时，她正在餐桌上阅读富尔福德博士的《生命之触》。

By her bed she had another, The Forest Unseen .

她的床边还有另一本《看不见的森林》。

Old Filth was one she’d recently finished.

《旧污秽》是她最近完成的一部。

Why so many?

为什么这么多？

She is interested in everything, including, recently, in childhood.

她对一切都感兴趣，包括最近对童年感兴趣。

But not as an ideal time or an exciting time or a crucial developmental time but as a new time—a new experience for her.

但不是一个理想的时间、一个激动人心的时间或一个关键的发展时间，而是一个新的时间——对她来说是一种新的经历。

Having long ago forgotten what childhood was like for her, she was rediscovering its delights, first-hand.

很久以前，她已经忘记了童年对她来说是什么样的，现在她正在重新发现童年的第一手乐趣。

And so she is reading children’s literature, too.

所以她也在阅读儿童文学。

She was reading aloud to me one of her discoveries: Kate DiCamillo.

她正在向我大声朗读她的一项发现：凯特·迪卡米洛。

My mother says that old age is wonderful.

我妈妈说，晚年是美好的。

She sometimes means “It’s a wonder!” and sometimes simply that wonderful things abound.

她有时的意思是“这真是一个奇迹！”有时，美妙的事情比比皆是。

She also speaks of the difficulties and indignities.

她还谈到了困难和屈辱。

Here in Spain, though adjusting to a different household, a new schedule, new sights on the street, and the strange sounds of Spanish around her, she has been glowing rather more than frowning.

在西班牙，虽然适应了不同的家庭、新的日程安排、街上的新景象以及周围奇怪的西班牙语声音，但她一直在容光焕发，而不是皱着眉头。

That might be due, in part, to the delectable goodies she has enjoyed from the bakeries, but it’s also a result of her own exuberant enthusiasm.

这可能部分归功于她从面包店享用的美味佳肴，但这也是她自己热情高涨的结果。

“Old age really is a second childhood,” she has announced more than once.

“老年确实是第二个童年，”她不止一次地宣称。

Eager, excited by what is new, captivated by sights and sounds—all of that, true of children, is also true of my mother.

对新事物充满渴望、兴奋，对景象和声音着迷——所有这些，对于孩子来说都是如此，对于我的母亲来说也是如此。

It’s never too late to learn, she says, citing her own evolving insights about how to be in the world.

她说，学习永远不会太晚，并引用了她自己关于如何生活在这个世界上不断发展的见解。

I have watched the eight-year-old granddaughter of one friend at close hand, and more recently the year-old son of another.

我近距离观察了一位朋友八岁的孙女，最近又观察了另一位朋友一岁的儿子。

The girl is practically blasé about her discoveries and the little boy intrigued.

女孩对她的发现几乎感到厌倦，而小男孩却很感兴趣。

But my mother—she’s delighted.

但我的母亲——她很高兴。

Delighted with the world’s functioning and with her own as she hurries to keep up.

她对世界的运转和她自己的运转感到高兴，因为她急于跟上。

“I’m taking my shower now,” I said, and my mother gave me a perplexed look that soon passed.

“我现在正在洗澡。”我说，妈妈疑惑地看了我一眼，但很快就消失了。

Reenacting her mental process for me, she said, “Shower?

她向我重现了她的心理过程，说道：“洗澡？

Without running first?

不先跑？

Oh—race tomorrow, no running today.

哦——明天比赛，今天不跑步。

Shower now.”

现在就洗澡。”

One afternoon, from down in the park near the tracks where we had taken my dog Toby on a walk, she spotted on the ridge above us the cell phone tower that stands near my house, and she pointed it out.

一天下午，在我们带着我的狗托比散步的公园附近的小道上，她在我们上方的山脊上发现了我家附近的手机信号塔，她指出了它。

It seemed very far away and yet remarkably present, sticking up into the clouds.

它看起来很遥远，但又非常真实，高耸入云。

We commented on a thing’s being big yet small, distant yet not.

我们评价一个事物既大又小，远又不远。

“What do you think a bird would think, seeing a landmark so far off?” I asked.

“你认为一只鸟看到这么远的地标会怎么想？”我问。

Would it think how far it had to fly to get home, or would it sail on without a qualm?

它会考虑要飞多远才能回家，还是会毫无疑虑地继续航行？

Neither of us hazarded a guess.

我们俩都没有冒险猜测。

I thought of Christina Rossetti’s poem “A Birthday,” quoted in DiCamillo’s novel.

我想起了迪卡米洛小说中引用的克里斯蒂娜·罗塞蒂的诗《生日》。

In the poem, the speaker seems as thrilled as a child might be by the approach of a birthday.

在这首诗中，说话者似乎像孩子临近生日一样兴奋。

Her heart is gladder than a singing bird, an apple tree, or a rainbow shell.

她的心比歌唱的鸟儿、苹果树或彩虹贝壳更快乐。

That is my mother’s heart.

这就是我母亲的心。

A singing bird.

一只歌唱的鸟。

Happy at many perfect things, at some strange, and even at a few disappointing ones.

对许多完美的事情感到高兴，对一些奇怪的事情感到高兴，甚至对一些令人失望的事情感到高兴。

But happy to view them all, happy to sail above, teetering on the turns, to flutter down, squawking and fussing, until, with a hop, she takes to the air again.

但她很高兴能看到它们，高兴地在上面航行，在转弯时摇摇欲坠，在转弯时摇摇欲坠，在翅膀上扑腾而下，嘎嘎叫着，大惊小怪，直到她一跳，再次飞向空中。

No old bird could do better.

没有任何老鸟能做得更好。