雪人 第7期

"It's so beautifully cold that my whole body crackles!" said the Snow Man. "This is a kind of wind that can blow life into one; and how the gleaming one up yonder is staring at me." He meant the sun, which was just about to set. "It shall not make me wink--I shall manage to keep the pieces."

He had two triangular pieces of tile in his head instead of eyes. His mouth was made of an old rake, and consequently was furnished with teeth.

He had been born amid the joyous shouts of the boys, and welcomed by the sound of sledge bells and the slashing of whips.

The sun went down, and the full moon rose, round, large, clear, and beautiful in the blue air.

"There it comes again from the other side," said the Snow Man. He intended to say the sun is showing himself again. "Ah! I have cured him of staring. Now let him hang up there and shine, that I may see myself. If I only knew how I could manage to move from this place, I should like so much to move. If I could, I would slide along yonder on the ice, just as I see the boys slide; but I don't know how to run."

"Off! Off!" barked the old Yard Dog. He was somewhat hoarse. He had got the hoarseness from the time when he was an indoor dog, and lay by the fire. "The sun will teach you to run! I saw that last winter in your predecessor, and before that in his predecessor. Off! Off!--and they all go."

"I don't understand you, comrade," said the Snow Man. "That thing up yonder is to teach me to run?" He meant the moon. "Yes, it was running itself, when I looked hard at it a little while ago, and now it comes creeping from the other side."

"You know nothing at all," retorted the Yard Dog.

"But then you've only just been patched up. What you see yonder is the moon, and the one that went before was the sun. It will come again tomorrow, and will teach you to run down into the ditch by the wall. We shall soon have a change of weather; I can feel that in my left hind leg, for it pricks and pains me; the weather is going to change."

"I don't understand him," said the Snow Man; "but I have a feeling that he's talking about something disagreeable. The one who stared so just now, and whom he called the sun, is not my friend. I can feel that."

"Off!Off!" barked the Yard Dog; and he turned round three times, and then crept into his kennel to sleep.

The weather really changed. Towards morning, a thick damp fog lay over the whole region; later there came a wind, an icy wind. The cold seemed quite to seize upon one; but when the sun rose, what splendour!Trees and bushes were covered with hoar-frost, and looked like a complete forest of coral, and every twig seemed covered with gleaming white buds. The many delicate ramifications, concealed in summer by the wreath of leaves, now made their appearance: it seemed like a lacework, gleaming white. A snowy radiance sprang from every twig. The birch waved in the wind--it had life, like the trees in summer. It was wonderfully beautiful. And when the sun shone, how it all gleamed and sparkled, as if diamond dust had been strewn everywhere, and big diamonds had been dropped on the snowy carpet of the earth! Or one could imagine that countless little lighets were gleaming, whiter than even the snow itself.

"That is wonderfully beautiful," said a young girl, who came with a young man into the garden. They both stood still near the Snow Man, and contemplated the glittering trees. "Summer cannot show a more beautiful sight," said she; and her eyes sparkled.

"And we can't have such a fellow as this in summer-time," replied the young man, and he pointed to the Snow Man. "He is capital."

The girl laughed, nodded at the Snow Man, and then danced away over the snow with her friend--over the snow that cracked and crackled under her tread as if she were walking on starch.

"Who were those two?" the Snow Man inquired of the Yard Dog. "You've been longer in the yard than I. Do you know them?"

"Of course I know them," replied the Yard Dog. "She has stroked me, and he has thrown me a meat bone. I don't bite those two."

"But what are they?" asked the Snow Man.

"Lovers!" replied the Yard Dog. "They will go to live in the same kennel, and gnaw at the same bone. Off!Off!"

"Are they of as much consequence as you and I?" asked the Snow Man.

"Why, they belong to the master," retorted the Yard Dog. "People certainly know very little who were only born yesterday. I can see that in you. I have age and information. I know everyone here in the house, and I know a time when I did not lie out here in the cold, fastened to a chain. Off! Off!"

"The cold is charming," said the Snow Man. "Tell me, tell me--But you must not clank with your chain, for it jars within me when you do that."

"Off! Off!" barked the Yard Dog. "They told me I was a pretty little fellow; then I used to lie in a chair covered with velvet, up in master's house, and sit in the lap of the mistress of all. They used to kiss my nose, and wipe my paws with an embroidered handkerchief. I was called 'Ami--dear Ami--sweet Ami' . But afterwards I grew too big for them, and they gave me away to the housekeeper. So I came to live in the basement story. You can look into that from where you are standing, and you can see into the room where I was master; for I was master at the housekeeper's. It was certainly a smaller place than upstairs, but I was more comfortable, and was not continually taken hold of and pulled about by children as I had been. I received just as good food as ever, and much more. I had my own cushion, and there was a stove, the finest thing in the world at this season. I went under the stove, and could lie down quite beneath it. Ah! I still dream of that stove. Off! Off!"

"Does a stove look so beautiful?" asked the Snow Man. "Is it at all like me?"

"It' s just the reverse of you. It's as black as a crow, and has a long neck and a brazen drum. It eats firewood, so that the fire spurts out of its mouth. One must keep at its side, or under it, and there one is very comfortable. You can see it through the window from where you stand."

And the Snow Man looked and saw a bright polished thing with a brazen drum, and the fire gleamed from the lower part of it. The Snow Man felt quite strangely; an odd emotion came over him, he knew not what it meant, and could not account for it; but all people who are not snow men know the feeling.

"And why did you leave her?" asked the Snow Man, for it seemed to him that the stove must be of the female sex. "How could you quit such a comfortable place?"

"I was obliged," replied the Yard Dog. "They turned me out of doors, and chained me up here. I had bitten the youngest young master in the leg, because he kicked away the bone I was gnawing. 'Bone for bone, ' I thought. They took that very much amiss, and from that time I have been fastened to a chain and have lost my voice. Don't you hear how hoarse I am? Off! Off! That was the end of the affair."

But the Snow Man was no longer listening to him. He was looking in at the housekeeper's basement lodging, into the room where the stove stood on its four iron legs, just the same size as the Snow Man himself.

"What a strange crackling within me!" he said. "Shall I ever get in there? It is an innocent wish, and our innocent wishes are certain to be fulfilled. It is my highest wish, my only wish, and it would be almost an injustice if it were not satisfied. I must go in there and lean against her, even if I have to break through the window."

"You will never get in there," said the Yard Dog; "and if you approach the stove then you are off! off!"

"I am as good as gone," replied the Snow Man. "I think I am breaking up."

The whole day the Snow Man stood looking in through the window. In the twilight hour the roombecame still more inviting; from the stove came a mild gleam, not like the sun nor like the moon; no, it was only as the stove can glow when he has something to eat. When the room door opened, the flame started out of his mouth; this was a habit the stove had. The flame fell distinctly on the white face of the Snow Man, and gleamed red upon his bosom.

"I can endure it no longer," said he;"how beautiful it looks when it stretches out its tongue!"

The night was long; but it did not appear long to the Snow Man, who stood there lost in his own charming reflections, crackling with the cold.

In the morning the window-panes of the basement lodging were covered with ice. They bore the most beautiful ice-flowers that any snow man could desire; but they concealed the stove. The window-panes would not thaw; he could not see her. It crackled and whistled in him and around him; it was just the kind of frosty weather a snow man must thoroughly enjoy. But he did not enjoy it; and, indeed, how could he enjoy himself when he was stove-sick?

"That's a terrible disease for a Snow Man," said the Yard Dog. "I have suffered from it myself, but I got over it. Off! Off!" he barked; and he added, "the weather is going to change."

And the weather did change; it began to thaw.

The warmth increased, and the Snow Man decreased. He said nothing and made no complaint--and that's an infallible sign.

One morning he broke down. And, behold, where he had stood, something like a broomstick remained sticking up out of the ground. It was the pole round which the boys had built him up.

"Ah!now I can understand why he had such an intense longing," said the Yard Dog. "The Snow Man has had a stove-rake in his body, and that is what moved within him. Now he has got over that too. Off! off!"

And soon they had got over the winter.

"Off! Off!" barked the Yard Dog; but the little girls in the house sang:

"Spring out, green woodruff, fresh and fair;

Thy woolly gloves, O willow, bear.

Come, lark and cuckoo, come and sing,

Already now we greet the Spring.

I sing as well: twit-twit! cuckoo!

Come, darling Sun, and greet us too."

And nobody thought any more of the Snow Man.

“天冷得真够舒服的,我浑身都发出‘咔咔’的响声!”雪人说,“这样的风儿,可以把生命的活力吹进你身体里。瞧那个闪闪发光的家伙瞪着我的样子!”他指的是太阳,那时正在落山。“它是不能让我眨眼的――我要保住瓦片儿。”

他的头上有两块三角形的瓦片,就算是他的眼睛了。他的嘴是用一个旧耙做的,因此上面装点着牙齿。

他是在一群孩子欢闹的叫声中生下来的,受到了雪橇的铃声和鞭子抽打声的热烈欢迎。

太阳落山,一轮圆月升了起来。月亮又圆又大又明亮,在蔚蓝的天空里十分美丽。

“它又从另一边跑出来了,”雪人说。他的意思是说太阳又露出来了。“啊,我算是把它瞪眼的毛病治好啦。现在让它挂在那儿照吧,我好来瞧瞧我自己。我要是知道怎么才能从这儿挪一挪就好了,我真是想动一动呀。我要是能动,我会在那边的冰上滑一滑,就像我看到的孩子们滑的那样。但我不知道怎么才能跑。”

“汪!汪!”院子里的老狗叫道。他的嗓音有点哑,这是他在屋子里的时候,睡在炉子边得的毛病。“太阳会教你怎么跑的!我去年冬天看到你的前辈是这样的,在那之前也看过你前辈的前辈也是这样。汪!汪!他们都走了。”

“我不明白你的意思,朋友,”雪人说,“那个挂在天上的东西会教我跑吗?”他指的是月亮,“是啊,它自己倒是会跑,刚才我盯它看时还觉得刺眼,现在它又从另一边爬上来了。”

“你真是什么都不懂,”护院的狗说。

“也难怪,你也是刚刚被堆起来的,你看见的那个东西是月亮,原先落山的那个是太阳。它明天还会出来的,会教你怎么在墙边水沟里跑。我们这里天气很快就要变了,我通过自己左后腿就可以感觉得到,因为它有刺痛感。天气是要变了。”

“我不明白他的意思,”雪人说,“但我能感觉得到,他讲的是件不愉快的事儿。刚才盯着我的那个家伙,就是他说叫太阳的,不是我的朋友。我能觉察到这点。”

“汪!汪!”护院狗叫道。他转了三圈,然后爬回自己的窝里睡大觉了。

天气真地变了。天快亮的时候,浓湿的大雾覆盖了整个地区。然后刮起一阵风,冰冷冰冷的风。寒冷好像要紧紧地抓住一切,但当太阳升起的时候,四周多么漂亮!树林和灌木丛盖上了一层白霜,看起来像个完整的珊瑚礁,所有的树枝上都覆盖着亮白的花蕾。许多柔嫩的枝条,在夏天里都被叶子给罩住了,现在却能展露出来。这很像一张刺绣,白光闪闪的。雪亮的光辉从每一个枝条放射出来。白桦树在风中摇摆,它生机勃勃,像夏季的树木一样。景色真是美极了。太阳照出来的时候,所有的东西都闪闪发光,好像钻石的粉粒儿撒得到处都是,而地面的雪毯上好像落着大颗的钻石!你也可以想像有无数盏小小的灯在照耀,比雪还要白亮。

“这真是太美啦!”一个年轻的姑娘说。他和一个小伙子走进花园。他们都站在雪人身边,对着闪烁的树木沉思。“夏天的景色也不比这更美,”姑娘说。她的眼睛忽闪忽闪的。

“在夏天里我们可不会有这样一个伙伴,”小伙子指着雪人答道,“他真好看。”

姑娘笑了起来,冲雪人点点头。然后,她和自己的朋友在雪地上蹦蹦跳跳地走了――雪在她的脚下咔咔作响,好像是走在硬面浆上似的。

“那两个人是谁呀?”雪人问护院的狗,“你在院子里的时间比我长,你认识他们吗?”

“当然认识,”护院狗答道,“她挠过我,他还扔给我一根带肉的骨头吃。我才不会咬他们俩呢。”

“但他们是干什么的呀?”雪人问道。

“恋人!”护院狗答道,“他们将会住在一个窝里,啃同一根骨头。汪!汪!”

“他们和我们都是平起平坐的吗?”

“噢,他们是属于这儿的主人的。”护院狗说,“昨天刚出生的人,知道的事情当然很少啦。我看你就是这样。我上了年纪,知道的事情也多。我认识这个房子里的每一个人,有一段时间,我可不是这样躺在寒冷的门外,系在一根链子上的。汪!汪!”

“天冷得真好,”雪人说,“再给我讲,再给我讲――但你不要老是把链子弄得哗哗响,你这样会搞得身上好像要爆裂似的。”

“汪!汪!”护院狗叫道,“他们曾经讲过,说我是一个漂亮的小家伙。那时我躺在屋里一个天鹅绒椅子上,还坐在太太的膝上。他们亲我的嘴和鼻子,还用绣花的手帕擦我的爪子。他们叫我‘阿咪――亲爱的阿咪――心爱的阿咪’。但后来我的个头长得太大了,他们就把我交给了管家。所以我就住到了地下室里。你从自己站的地方可以看见里面,可以看见属于我的那个房间,因为在管家那里,我就是主人。那儿确实比楼上小多了,但我觉得更舒服,不会像在楼上一样,被孩子们抓住,推来搡去的。我得到的食物和以前一样好,而且量更大。我有自己的垫子,还有一个炉子,在这个季节里它算是最好的东西啦。我钻到炉子下面,正好躺在那底下。啊,我还在梦想着那个炉子。汪!汪!”

“炉子看上去很漂亮吗?”雪人间道,“是不是像我一样好看?”

“和你正相反。它黑得像炭,长着个长脖子,还有个铜肚子。它吃下柴禾,火苗就从它嘴里喷出来。你必须躲在它的一边,或在它底下,那儿是很舒服的。从你站的地方,透过窗户可以看得见。”

于是雪人望过去,看见一个明晃晃的东西,长着个大肚子,火焰从底下蹿上来。雪人觉得十分奇怪,一种怪怪的感觉传过了他的全身,他不知道是怎么回事,也猜不出原因来。但除雪人外,所有人都知道这种感觉是怎么回事。

“你为什么离开她呢?”雪人问,因为他觉得火炉一定是个女性。“你怎么能离开这么舒适的地方呢?”

“我是不得已呀,”护院狗答道,“他们把我赶出门,用链子系在这儿。我曾经在最小的主人的腿上咬过一口,因为他把我正在啃的骨头给踢飞了。‘骨头要用骨头还!’我想。他们认为这是个大错,从那时起我就被系在一根链子上,好嗓音也没了。你听见我的声音有多哑吗?汪!汪!这就是故事的结局。”

但雪人已经不再听他唠叨了。他朝管家的地下室张望,看见四条铁腿支着的那个炉子所在的房间。那个炉子和雪人差不多大。

“我身上的咔咔声好奇怪呀!”他说,“我能进到那里面去吗?这个愿望可是光明正大的,而光明正大的愿望总是可以实现的。这是我最大的愿望,我惟一的愿望,如果不被满足的话,那太不公平了。我要走进那里,靠在她的身上,哪怕打破窗子进去也行。”

“万万不能到那儿去,”护院狗说,“你一旦接近那个炉子,你可就消失啦。汪!”

“我已经差不多完蛋了,”雪人回答道,“我觉得自己正在裂开。”

雪人一整天都站在那里,透过窗户朝里面看。黄昏时分,屋子里更诱人了。炉子里发出柔和的光亮,既不像阳光,也不像月光。不,只有炉子吃了点东西后才能发出这种光亮。当房门打开的时候,火焰就从炉子的嘴里蹿出来,炉子就是有这种习性。火光清晰地照在雪人白白的脸上,在他的胸部映出红红的一片。

“我再也忍不住啦,”他说,“它伸出舌头时,真是太美了!”

夜很长很长,但在雪人看来,夜晚却并不算长。它站在那里,出神地想入非非,在寒冷里咔咔作响。

早晨,地下室的窗子上覆盖了一层冰。那上面有雪人能想像的最美的冰花,但它们却遮住了炉子,雪人看不见她了。它全身都咔咔作响,这是雪人最喜欢的寒冷天气。但他却高兴不起来。确实,他害了炉子相思病,怎么能快乐起来呢?

“对于雪人来说,这真是个可怕的病,”护院狗说,“我自己就得过这种病,但我最终战胜了它。汪!汪!”他大叫道,然后又加上一句,“天气正在变化呀。”

天气确实变了,冰雪开始融化。

天越来越暖和,雪人越缩越小。他一句话也不说,也没有抱怨――这是最明显的病症。

一天早晨,雪人倒塌了。啊,你瞧,在他站立的地方,一个像扫帚柄的东西还支在地上。孩子们就是顺着这根杆儿把它垒起来的。

“啊!现在我明白他为什么害那么强烈的相思病了,”护院狗说,“雪人身体里有火钳子,它在雪人的身体里乱动。现在他总算挺过来了。汪!汪!”

很快,他们就度过了冬天。

“汪!汪!”护院狗叫道。屋里的小姑娘们在唱:

“发芽吧,碧绿的香车叶草儿,清新又美貌;

啊,柳树,长出你羊毛般的手套。

来呀,百灵鸟和杜鹃,来唱歌吧,

现在我们已经和春天打招呼啦,

我也会唱:啾啾!咕咕!

来吧,亲爱的太阳,也来和我们玩吧。”

于是,没有人再去想那个雪人了。