By Stephen Leacock

田園牧歌，簡單和樂，這是不少人都向往的生活。本期介紹的《小鎮(zhèn)陽光隨筆》就刻畫了這樣一個充滿牧歌情調(diào)的可愛小鎮(zhèn)。

本書的作者斯蒂芬·里柯克（Stephen Leacock，1869—1944）是加拿大著名幽默作家，也是加拿大最享有世界聲譽(yù)的作家之一。他的作品承繼了英國幽默傳統(tǒng)而又有其獨(dú)特的色彩，文筆生動風(fēng)趣，意義耐人尋味，深得加拿大乃至全世界讀者的由衷喜愛。加拿大人常常自豪地說：英國有狄更斯，美國有馬克·吐溫，我們加拿大有里柯克。

《小鎮(zhèn)陽光隨筆》是里柯克出版于1912年的一部著名長篇幽默小說，也是他的主要代表作之一。這是里柯克專門為加拿大讀者寫的一部以加拿大為背景的小說，全書由幾個既相對獨(dú)立又相互關(guān)聯(lián)的短篇故事構(gòu)成。作者以他生活過的安大略省的奧瑞利亞鎮(zhèn)（Orillia，Ontario）為原型，塑造了一個牧歌情調(diào)與喜劇色彩交融的典型的加拿大小鎮(zhèn)——馬里波薩，通過將鎮(zhèn)上發(fā)生的幾件趣事、怪事娓娓道來，生動地描摹了小鎮(zhèn)的風(fēng)俗人情。書中采用漫畫式的筆法刻畫了一群既可笑又可愛的鎮(zhèn)民，在揶揄鎮(zhèn)民們可笑的人性弱點(diǎn)的同時始終保持著一份善意和同情，溫和的筆觸似一抹寬厚悲憫的微笑，在調(diào)侃小鎮(zhèn)的故人往事中也流露出對故鄉(xiāng)的追憶與回想。這本書的出版奠定了里柯克在加拿大文學(xué)史以及加拿大人民心中不可動搖的地位。里柯克當(dāng)年居住過并用作馬里波薩鎮(zhèn)藍(lán)本的小鎮(zhèn)奧瑞利亞，如今已改名為“艷陽鎮(zhèn)”。

o the careless eye the scene on the Main Street of a summer afternoon is one of deep and unbroken peace. The empty street sleeps in the sunshine. There is a horse and buggy tied to the hitching post in front of Glovers hardware store. There is， usually and commonly， the 1）burly figure of Mr. Smith， proprietor of Smiths Hotel， standing in his 2）chequered waistcoat on the steps of his 3）hostelry， and perhaps， further up the street， Lawyer Macartney going for his afternoon mail， or the 4）Rev. Mr. Drone， the Rural Dean of the Church of England Church， going home to get his fishing rod after a mothers 5）auxiliary meeting.

But this quiet is mere appearance. In reality， and to those who know it， the place is a perfect hive of activity. Why， at Netleys butcher shop （established in 1882） there are no less than four men working on the sausage machines in the basement； at the Newspacket office there are as many more 6）job-printing； there is a long distance telephone with four distracting girls on high stools wearing steel caps and talking 7）incessantly； in the offices in McCarthys block are dentists and lawyers with their coats off， ready to work at any moment； and from the big planing factory down beside the lake where the railroad siding is， you may hear all through the hours of the summer afternoon the 8）long-drawn music of the running saw.

Busy—well， I should think so！ Ask any of its inhabitants if Mariposa isnt a busy， hustling， thriving town. Ask Mullins， the manager of the Exchange Bank， who comes hustling over to his office from the Mariposa House every day at 10：30 and has scarcely time all morning to go out and take a drink with the manager of the Commercial； or ask—well， for the matter of that， ask any of them if they ever knew a more rushing go-ahead town than Mariposa.

Of course if you come to the place fresh from New York， you are deceived. Your standard of vision is all 9）astray. You do think the place is quiet. You do imagine that Mr. Smith is asleep merely because he closes his eyes as he stands. But live in Mariposa for six months or a year and then you will begin to understand it better： the buildings get higher and higher； the Mariposa House grows more and more luxurious； McCarthys block towers to the sky； the buses roar and hum to the station； the trains shriek； the traffic multiplies； the people move faster and faster； a dense crowd 10）swirls to and fro in the post-office and the five and ten cent store—and amusements！ Well， now！ 11）Lacrosse， baseball， excursions， dances， the Firemans Ball every winter and the Catholic picnic every summer； and music—the town band in the park every Wednesday evening， and the 12）Oddfellows brass band on the street every other Friday； the Mariposa Quartette， 13）the Salvation Army—why， after a few months residence you begin to realize that the place is a mere mad round of 14）gaiety.

Not that the little town is always gay or always bright in the sunshine. There never was such a place for changing its character with the season. Dark enough and dull it seems of a winter night， the wooden sidewalks 15）creaking with the frost， and the lights burning dim behind the shop windows. In olden times the lights were coal oil lamps； now， of course， they are， or are supposed to be， electricity， brought from the power house on the lower Ossawippi nineteen miles away. But， somehow， though it starts off as electricity from the Ossawippi rapids， by the time it gets to Mariposa and filters into the little bulbs behind the frosty windows of the shops， it has turned into coal oil again， as yellow and 16）bleared as ever.

After the winter， the snow melts and the ice goes out of the lake， the sun shines high and the shanty-men come down from the lumber woods and lie round drunk on the sidewalk outside of Smiths Hotel—and thats spring time. Mariposa is then a fierce， dangerous lumber town， calculated to terrorize the soul of a newcomer who does not understand that this also is only an appearance， and that presently the rough-looking shanty-men will change their clothes and turn back again into farmers.

Then the sun shines warmer and the maple trees come out and Lawyer Macartney puts on his tennis trousers， and thats summer time. The little town changes to a sort of summer resort. There are visitors up from the city. Every one of the seven cottages along the lake is full. The Mariposa Belle 17）churns the waters of the Wissanotti into foam as she sails out from the wharf， in a cloud of flags， the band playing and the daughters and sisters of the 18）Knights of Pythias dancing gaily on the deck.

That changes too. The days shorten. The visitors disappear. The 19）goldenrod beside the meadow droops and withers on its stem. The maples blaze in glory and die. The evening closes dark and chill， and in the gloom of the main corner of Mariposa the Salvation Army around a naphtha lamp lift up the confession of their sins—and that is autumn. Thus the year runs its round， moving and changing in Mariposa， much as it does in other places.

不留心細(xì)看的話，你會覺得夏日午后的主街沉浸在一片深沉的寧謐之中。空蕩蕩的街道在陽光下安睡著。一輛輕型馬車拴在格羅佛五金店門前的系留柱上。平常這個時候，史密斯旅館的老板——魁梧壯實(shí)的史密斯先生就穿著他那件格子西裝背心站在旅館的臺階上。沿街而上，你也許會看到麥卡特尼律師正走去取下午的郵件，或者看到圣公會教堂的鄉(xiāng)村教長德羅恩牧師在主持完母親輔助會后正回家拿釣魚竿。

但這種寧靜只是表象。事實(shí)上，對熟悉這里的人來說，馬里波薩實(shí)在是個喧雜熱鬧之地。你瞧，奈特利肉鋪（建于1882年）里至少有四個工人在地下室的幾臺香腸機(jī)旁忙活；新聞出版社的辦公室里也有好幾個人在忙著印刷各種紙品；負(fù)責(zé)長途電話接線的四位美女頭戴鋼帽，正坐在高腳凳子上講個不停；麥卡錫大樓的辦公室里，牙醫(yī)和律師們脫了外套，隨時準(zhǔn)備開工；湖邊的鐵路側(cè)線旁有個大型的刨木廠，夏天的一整個下午你都能聽到從里面?zhèn)鱽碇ㄖㄑ窖降匿從韭暋?/p>

繁忙——嗯，一點(diǎn)不錯！你可以問任何一個馬里波薩的居民這是不是一個熙熙攘攘、來去匆匆的繁華小鎮(zhèn)。問問外匯銀行的經(jīng)理馬林斯吧，他每天上午十點(diǎn)半從馬里波薩酒吧匆匆趕往辦公室，整個上午幾乎沒有時間外出跟商業(yè)銀行的經(jīng)理喝杯飲料；又或者，你可以問一下——嗯，這個問題嘛，隨便問一個人，看看他們知不知道有哪個小鎮(zhèn)比馬里波薩還要繁忙，還要急吼吼地一心朝前沖。

當(dāng)然了，如果你是剛從紐約來到這里，你會被感覺所騙。你的衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)完全不對，因此你確實(shí)會覺得這是個安靜的小鎮(zhèn)。僅僅看到史密斯先生站著的時候閉上眼睛，你就會以為他睡著了。但是如果在馬里波薩住上一年半載，你就會對它有更深入的了解：樓房越建越高；馬里波薩酒吧越來越豪華；麥卡錫大樓高聳入云；公共汽車呼嘯著駛往車站；火車尖嘯而過；車輛越來越多；人們的步履越發(fā)匆忙；密集的人流在郵局和五分十分廉價商店里穿梭往來——還有各種娛樂！那可了不得！長曲棍球、棒球、遠(yuǎn)足、跳舞、每年冬季的消防員舞會和夏季的天主教野餐；還有音樂——鎮(zhèn)樂隊(duì)每周三晚上會在公園里演奏，那些互助團(tuán)體的銅管樂隊(duì)在隔周的周五會上街演奏，再加上馬里波薩四重奏樂隊(duì)和救世軍——住上幾個月你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)這個小鎮(zhèn)完全是一片狂歡的樂土。

不過，小鎮(zhèn)也不總是這般明媚和歡樂。從來沒有哪個地方像馬里波薩這樣，在不同的季節(jié)呈現(xiàn)出如此不同的面貌。冬夜里，這里看似黑暗乏味，木板鋪成的人行道在霜雪下嘎吱作響，店鋪的窗戶里透出暗淡的燈光。舊時用的是煤油燈，現(xiàn)在當(dāng)然是，或者說應(yīng)該是電燈了，所用的電來自19英里（約31公里）外的俄撒威比河下游的發(fā)電站。不過，雖然電從俄撒威比河急流處出發(fā)的時候是實(shí)實(shí)在在的電，但當(dāng)它抵達(dá)馬里波薩并鉆進(jìn)結(jié)了霜的商店窗戶后面的小燈泡時，電仿佛又變回了煤油，燈光仍是像從前一樣昏黃朦朧。

冬天過后，雪融冰消，艷陽高照，住在棚屋的伐木工人們走出樹林，來到鎮(zhèn)上，喝得醉醺醺地躺在史密斯旅館外的人行道上——春天來了。此時的馬里波薩是一個兇悍、危險(xiǎn)的伐木小鎮(zhèn)，初來乍到的人定會被嚇一跳，并不知道這同樣只是小鎮(zhèn)的表象而已，也不知道這些外表兇悍的伐木工人們很快就會換上一身務(wù)農(nóng)的裝束，變回農(nóng)民。

然后，陽光越發(fā)煦暖，楓樹綻出新芽，麥卡特尼律師換上了網(wǎng)球褲，夏天到了。小鎮(zhèn)變成了度假勝地，接待著城里來的游客，湖邊的七個小木屋都住得滿滿當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)?。馬里波薩貝爾號駛出碼頭時，維薩諾提湖在船下翻騰起泡沫，船上彩旗飄揚(yáng)，樂隊(duì)歡奏，皮西厄斯騎士會的女眷們在甲板上快樂地跳著舞。

此后又是另一番景象。白晝變短了，游客們不見了蹤影。草坪邊上的一枝黃垂下來凋謝了，楓樹絢爛一番之后也零落了。夜晚黑暗而寒冷，在鎮(zhèn)上昏暗的拐角處，救世軍圍在一盞油燈旁，懺悔他們的罪過——秋天降臨了。一年四季的光景就這樣在馬里波薩變換輪回，如同在別處一樣。