“Habits and customs differ, but all peoples have the love of flowers in common.”
“每个民族的风土人情各不相同，但是所有民族对花的喜爱是相同的。”—Chinese Proverb.
——中国谚语
I
一
It was in northern Hopei. The clouds had failed to gather in their season, and the time of showers has passed without rain. Parched by the midsummer sun, the earth was a dull beige in color. We had traveled three days over plains, valleys, and hills and seen nothing green except in the artificially irrigated plots near hamlets.
河北北部。云朵还没来得及如期聚集，雨季便已经过去了。在仲夏烈日的炙烤下，褐色的大地一片苍茫的景象。在平原上、山谷里和山丘间走了三天，除了村落附近灌溉过的土地，再没有见到绿色。
The ancient stone-paved trail led up along a narrow ledge. We waited at the foot for a line of pack coolies to come down. They were heavily laden with inland produce which they were transporting to the coast for foreign export. The containers roped on their backs towered high above their heads. Yet, despite his burden, the foremost man swerved out suddenly to the very edge of the cliff, and, as they came on, each of the nine men behind him did the same.
沿着古老的石头小径向上，就到了一处狭窄的岩架。一队挑夫正从这里下来，于是我们在下头等了一会儿。压在他们身上的是要运到海边出口海外的内陆土产。巨大的箱子通过绳子绑在背上，比脑袋都要高出许多。尽管负重艰难，领头的那位还是一下就侧过身去站到了悬崖边上，后面的九位也依样照做，继续行进。
When they had passed us, we began our climb. My pack coolie was before me. When I came up to the place round which the others had swerved, he had squatted down and was pouring the last of the contents of his drinking canteen into a crevice in the paving. There, through the dust between the stones, a wild rose had grown—a slender fragile tendril with five pale leaves and an open flower. A perfect flower, beautifully tinted, and sweetly fragrant. “It is from such a one as this,” my coolie said, “that we learn fortitude.”
等他们都过去了，我们就开始向上攀登。我的挑夫走在前面。等到我也走到大家都通过的转弯处，我看到他已经蹲在那儿，把水罐里最后几滴水洒到了路边的石缝里。原来在那乱石间的尘土中，有一株野玫瑰。纤细修长的藤蔓上点缀着五片萧疏的叶和一朵绽放的花。完美的花朵，层层渲染，吐露着芬芳。“就是从这样的花身上，”我的挑夫说道，“我们学会了坚韧。”
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