Jonathan Livingston Seagull[海鸥乔纳森][Cn/En]
一只不安于平庸的海鸥，它终生的快乐就是学会飞翔，它因此而遭到族群的惩罚，在悬崖边过着离群索居的生活。但对于飞翔的热爱令他坚持不懈，他终于碰到了一群志同道合的海鸥，也在不断的飞翔学习中接近着心中的天堂。一个清新单纯的寓言故事，一只从不放弃飞翔快乐的海鸥，三十多年前曾征服了无数读者，也曾秘密地飞抵过中国，现在，随着南海出版公司《海鸥乔纳森》的出版，它终于改变了以前作为内部读物被传看的命运。人们也因此认识了一个独特的美国作家理查德·巴赫。
理查德·巴赫可能是继《小王子》的作者之后第二个集飞行员、作家、行吟诗人为一身的作家，这部与飞翔有关的作品在其问世的1970年前后，曾38周位居《纽约时报》畅销书排行榜第一名，风头曾盖过《乱世佳人》。作家本人也被喻为“天上派来的使者”。
时至今日，《海鸥乔纳森》已经被翻译成40多种语言，无数“海鸥乔纳森”的专题网站、专区和BBS在互联网上随处可见，甚至很多已经进入中老年的读者，还在其中回忆着第一次读到这本书时的激动心情。这是一个关于梦想、勇气、毅力与自我成长的故事，它让我感受一只鸟的快乐的同时，也在思考自己的生存意义。一位国外编辑因此说：“飞翔其实是一个隐喻，从根本上说，这是一个讲述寻找更高生命目的的寓言，甚至当你的族群和同伴发现你的雄心对他们形成威胁的时候。因为不放弃更高的视野，乔纳森得到了最终的报偿：出类拔萃。最终，它领会了爱和仁慈的含义。”
作者书中的许多话也堪称点睛之语，比如：“天堂不是一个地点，也不是一段时间，天堂是完美的状态。”“在你接近完美速度的时候，你将开始接触天堂。”
Part One
第一部
It was morning, and the new sun sparkled gold across the ripples of a gentle sea.
早晨,初升的太阳照耀着恬静的海面,荡漾的微波闪着金光。
A mile from shore a Fishing boat chummed the water and the word for Breakfast Flock flashed through the air, till a crowd of a thousand seagulls came to dodge and fight for bits of food. It was another busy day beginning.
离岸一英里的海上,一只渔船随波逐浪地前进,这是吃早饭的信号,近千只海鸥飞来,相互追逐着争食吃。又一个忙碌的日子开始了。
But way off alone, out by himself beyond boat and shore, Jonathan Livingston Seagull was practicing. A hundred feet in the sky he lowered his webbed feet, lifted his beak, and strained to old a painful hard twisting curve through his wings. The curve meant that he would fly slowly, and now he slowed until the wind was a whisper in his face, until the ocean stood still beneath him. He narrowed his eyes in fierce concentration, held his breath, forced one... single... more... inch... of... curve... Then his featliers ruffled, he stalled and fell.
但在远离渔船和海岸的地方,海鸥乔纳森·利文斯顿独自在练习飞行。在百英尺的上空,他伸下两只带蹼的脚,仰起嘴,使劲儿弯着翅膀。翅膀一弯,就可以放慢速度。而现在,他越飞越慢了,慢得几乎听不到耳边的风声,慢得连脚下的大海也仿佛静止不动了。他眯起眼睛,集中精力,屏住呼吸,使劲儿想再……弯……那么一英寸……然后,他浑身的羽毛直坚,失去平衡,摔了下来。
Seagulls, as you know, never falter, never stall. To stall in the air is for them disgrace and it is dishonor.
要知道,海鸥飞行时决不摇晃,决不失去平衡。在空中失去平衡,对海鸥来说是丢脸的事,是极不光彩的事。
But Jonathan Livingston Seagull, unashamed, stretching his wings again in that trembling hard curve - slowing, slowing, and stalling once more - was no ordinary bird.
但是乔纳森并不觉得丢脸,他再一次展开双翅,依旧颤抖着使劲弯曲——一点、一点地放慢速度,又一次失去平衡一一他不是只平凡的鸟。
Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight - how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else. Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly.
大多数海鸥只求学会最简单的飞行本领一一如何从岸上飞出去觅食,再飞回来。对他们来说,重要的不是飞行,而是觅食。但对这只海鸥来说,重要的不是吃而是飞。乔纳森喜爱飞行胜于一切。
This kind of thinking, he found, is not the way to make one’s self popular with other birds. Even his parents were dismayed as Jonathan spent whole days alone, making hundreds of low-level glides, experimenting.
他发现,像他这样的想法,在同类中是吃不开的。他那么整天独自练习,成百次地作低飞滑翔,连他的双亲都替他担心呢。
He didn’t know why, for instance, but when he flew at altitudes less than half his wingspan above the water, he could stay in the air longer, with less effort. His glides ended not with the usual feet-down splash into the sea, but with a long flat wake as he touched the surface with his feet tightly streamlined against his body. When he began sliding in to feet-up landings on the beach, then pacing the length of his slide in the sand, his parents were very much dismayed indeed.
他自己也不知道是什么原故,只要他保持离水面不到半翅的高度作低空飞行,他就能在空中停留较久,费劲较小。他滑翔下来并不像一般鸟儿那样伸下双足溅落海中，而是蜷起双足紧贴着身体掠过海面,在水面留下长长一道波纹。他蜷起双足在沙滩上滑翔着陆,然后步测着沙滩上滑翔的距离,他的父母见了,着实为他担忧。
“Why, Jon, why?” his mother asked. “Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock, Jon? Why can’t you leave low flying to the pelicans, the albatross? Why don’t you eat? Son, you’re bone and feathers!”
"怎么啦,乔?怎么啦?"他妈妈问。"难道学其他海鸥的样儿这么难,乔?低飞是鹈鹕和信天翁的事,你学这干什么?你干吗不吃点儿?孩子,你都瘦得皮包骨头了!"
“I don’t mind being bone and feathers mom. I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can’t, that’s all. I just want to know.”
"我倒不在乎瘦得皮包骨头,妈妈。我只是想知道我在空中能够做什么,不能够做什么。"
“See here Jonathan “ said his father not unkindly. “Winter isn’t far away. Boats will be few and the surface fish will be swimming deep. If you must study, then study food, and how to get it. This flying Business is all very well, but you can’t eat a glide, you know. Don’t you forget that the reason you fly is to eat.”
"你瞧,乔纳森,"他父亲温和地说,"冬天快到了,船只就要少了,海面上的鱼也要钻到海底去了。你要是一定要学习，那就学学怎么觅食吧。飞行当然好，可你总不能拿滑翔当饭吃啊。别忘了，你飞行的目的就是为了吃。”
Jonathan nodded obediently. For the next few days he tried to behave like the other gulls; he really tried, screeching and fighting with the flock around the piers and Fishingboats, diving on scraps of fish and bread. But he couldn’t make it work.
乔纳森顺从地点点头。以后几天，他试着学其他海鸥的样儿；他作了认真的尝试，与鸥群一道围绕着码头和渔船嘎嘎叫着争食吃，扎到海里抢点儿面包片和烂鱼。但这样做他受不了。
It’s all so pointless, he thought, deliberately dropping a hard-won anchovy to a hungry old gull chasing him. I could be spending all this time learning to fly. There’s so much to learn!
“这样太没意思了，”他心里想，一边故意把好不容易弄到的一条鲤鱼丢给一只追逐他的饥饿的老海鸥。“我可以把所有这些时间都用来学飞行。要学的东西太多啦！”
It wasn’t long before Jonathan Gull was off by himself again, far out at sea, hungry, happy, learning.
不久，乔纳森又独自一个出去了。他飞到海上远处，饿着肚子学习，很是快乐。
The subject was speed, and in a week’s practice he learned more about speed than the fastest gull alive.
课目是速度。经过一周的练习，他学到的有关速度的知识，超过了任何一只活着的飞得最快的海鸥。
From a thousand feet, flapping his wings as hard as he could, he pushed over into a blazing steep dive toward the waves, and learned why seagulls don’t make blazing steep power-dives. In just six seconds he was moving seventy miles per hour, the speed at which one’s wing goes unstable on the upstroke.
从一千英尺高空，他使劲地拍着翅膀，朝着海浪垂直疾降，于是他懂得了海鸥不作垂直疾降的道理。在六秒钟内，他以每小时七十英里的速度运动。在这样的速度下，翅膀向上一举，就会失去平衡。
Time after time it happened. Careful as he was, working at the very peak of his ability, he lost control at high speed.
这种情况反复出现。不管他多么当心，施展出了全副本领，但速度一快，就要失去控制。
Climb to a thousand feet. Full power straight ahead first, then push over, flapping, to a vertical dive. Then, every time, his left wing stalled on an upstroke, he’d roll violently left, stall his right wing recovering, and flick like fire into a wild tumbling spin to the right.
飞到一千英尺高空。他先是全速前进．然后一转身，拍着翅膀，垂直疾降。可每次都一样，只要一举翅膀，左翼总要失去平衡，他于是猛地向左翻转，刚恢复平衡，右翼又失去控制，于是他像火花似地向右一闪，乱转着直栽下来。
He couldn’t be careful enough on that upstroke. Ten times he tried, and all ten times, as he passed through seventy miles per hour, he burst into a churning mass of feathers, out of control, crashing down into the water.
举翅真是个难题，他怎么当心都不行。他试十次,十次都一样，速度一达到每小时七十英里，他就失去控制，成了毛茸茸的一团，乱转着直栽下来，掉进水里。
The key, he thought at last, dripping wet, must be to hold the wings still at high speeds - to flap up to fifty and then hold the wings still.
他身上湿漉漉的直淌水，最后终于领悟到，关键在于高速飞行时一定要让翅膀静止不动——鼓翼飞到时速五十英里，然后稳住翅膀不动。
From two thousand feet he tried again, rolling into his dive, beak straight down, wings full out and stable from the moment he passed fifty miles per hour. It took tremendous strength, but it worked. In ten seconds he had blurred through ninety miles per hour. Jonathan had set a world speed record for seagulls!
他从两千英尺高空再试一次。时速一达到五十英里，他就翻转身俯冲下来，嘴朝下，双翅完全展开，一动不动。这样做非常吃力，但很成功。十秒钟内，他达到了时速九十英里。乔纳森创造了海鸥飞行的世界纪录！
But victory was short-lived. The instant he began his pullout, the instant he changed the angle of his wings, he snapped into that same terrible uncontrolled disaster, and at ninety miles per hour it hit him like dynamite. Jonathan Seagull exploded in midair and smashed down into a brickhard sea.
但胜利是短暂的。他刚要改变飞行姿势，更换翅膀的角度，又突然控制失灵，一败涂地。在一小时九十英里的快速下，就像挨了炸药一样，乔纳森在半空中爆炸了,一头撞入砖样硬的海里。
When he came to, it was well after dark, and he floated in moonlight on the surface of the ocean. His wings were ragged bars of lead, but the weight of failure was even heavier on his back. He wished, feebly, that the weight could be just enough to drug him gently down to the bottom, and end it all.
等他苏醒过来，已经是黑夜了。他在月光下的海面上漂浮。他的翅膀重得像粗糙的铅条，但失败的重量压在他 背上比铅还要重。他起了一线微弱的希望：但愿这重压能把他渐渐拖入海底，了结一切。
As he sank low in the water, a strange hollow voice sounded within him. There’s no way around it. I am a seagull. I am limited by my nature. If I were meant to learn so much about flying, I’d have charts for brains. If I were meant to fly at speed, I’d have a falcon’s short wings, and live on mice instead of fish. My father was right. I must forget this foolishness. I must fly Home to the Flock and be content as I am, as a poor limited seagull.
他在水里往下沉的当地，心中忽然响起一个奇怪的空洞声音。没有别的出路。我是海鸥。我受到天生条件的局限。如果老天真要我懂得飞行的奥妙，那我就该有航海图一样的头脑；如果真要我快速飞行，我就该有猎鹰的短翅，而且不吃鱼光吃老鼠。我父亲说的对。我不该再干这种蠢事。我应该飞回到鸥群里去，安安分分做一只可怜的、天赋有限的海鸥。
The voice faded, and Jonathan agreed. The place for a seagull at night is on shore, and from this moment forth, he vowed, he would be a normal gull. It would make everyone happier.
声音消失了，乔纳森也屈服了。海鸥夜间是应该呆在岸上的。他发誓，今后他要做一只平凡的海鸥。这样会使大家都高兴。
He pushed wearily away from the dark water and flew toward the land, grateful for what he had learned about work- saving low-altitude flying.
他疲倦地从黑暗的水面起飞，向陆地进发，心想：幸亏我学会了省力的低空飞行。
But no, he thought. I am done with the way I was, I am done with everything I learned. I am a seagull like every other seagull, and I will fly like one. So he climbed painfully to a hundred feet and flapped his wings harder, pressing for shore.
不成，他又想。我要和过去一刀两断，我要和自己学会的东西一刀两断。我只是一只像其他海鸥一样的海鸥，我要像他们那样飞行。于是他吃力地升到一百英尺高空，更使劲地拍着翅膀，朝岸上飞去。
He felt better for his decision to be just another one of the Flock. There would be no ties now to the force that had driven him to learn, there would be no more challenge and no more failure. And it was pretty, just to stop thinking, and fly through the dark, toward the lights above the beach.
他下定决心要做鸥群里的另一只海鸥之后，心里觉得好过了一些。今后，那股驱使他去学习的力量和他没有关系了，今后，不会有什么挑战，也不会有什么失败了。一切都很美好，只要停止胡思乱想，穿越黑暗，朝着海滩上的亮处飞去，就可以了。
Dark! The hollow voice cracked in alarm. Seagulls never fly in the dark!
黑暗!那个空洞的声音又惊呼起来。海鸥从来不在黑暗中飞行！
Jonathan was not alert to listen. It’s pretty, he thought. The moon and the lights twinkling on the water, throwing out little beacon-trails through the night, and all so peaceful and still...
乔纳森并不注意听。一切都那么好，他心里想。月光和灯光在海而闪亮，向黑夜散发出一串莹光，四周是这样安宁、恬静……
Get down! Seagulls never fly in the dark! If you were meant to fly in the dark, you’d have the eyes of an owl! You’d have charts for brains! You’d have a falcon’s short wings!
下来!海鸥从来不在黑夜飞行！如果要你在黑夜飞行，你就该长一双猫头鹰的眼睛！你就该有航海图一样的头脑！你就该有猎鹰的短翅！
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海鸥乔纳森（中英文对照） -ZT
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