《Growing Up》中的环境描写
拉塞尔·贝克（Russell Baker）在其自传体书籍《成长》（Growing Up）一书中关于童年生活的一段自然环境的描写，给人留下了深刻的印象。那是一种深邃的寂静，时间仿佛静止不动，成年后回忆当时的情境，是值得一生珍藏的宝贵记忆。现将原文摘录如下，并辅以中文机翻。
The occasional outbursts of passion that flickered across my childhood were like summer storms. The sky clouded suddenly, thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, and I trembled a few moments, then just as swiftly the sky turned blue again and I was basking contentedly in the peace of innocence.
我童年时偶尔爆发的激情就像夏天的风暴。天空忽然乌云密布，雷声隆隆，电闪雷鸣，我颤抖了一下，很快天又变蓝了，我心满意足地沐浴在天真无邪的宁静中。
Morrisonville was a poor place to prepare for a struggle with the twentieth century, but a delightful place to spend a childhood.
莫里森维尔对于准备与 20 世纪的斗争来说是一个糟糕的地方，但却是度过童年的好地方。
It was summer days drenched with sunlight, fields yellow with buttercups, and barn lofts sweet with hay. Clusters of purple grapes dangled from backyard arbors, lavender wisteria blossoms perfumed the air from the great vine enclosing the end of my grandmother's porch, and wild roses covered the fences.
那是被阳光浸透的夏日，毛茛染黄的田野，以及堆满干草的谷仓阁楼。 一串串紫色的葡萄挂在后院的凉亭上，薰衣草紫藤花在环绕着祖母门廊尽头的大藤蔓上散发着香气，野玫瑰覆盖着栅栏。
On a broiling afternoon when the men were away at work and all the women napped, I moved through majestic depths of silences, silences so immense I could hear the corn growing. Under these silences there was an orchestra of natural music playing notes no city child would ever hear. A certain cackle from the henhouse meant we had gained an egg. The creak of a porch swing told of a momentary breeze blowing across my grandmother's yard. Moving past Liz Virts's barn as quietly as an Indian, I could hear the swish of a horse's tail and knew the horseflies were out in strength. As I tiptoed along a mossy bank to surprise a frog, a faint splash told me the quarry had spotted me and slipped into the stream. Wandering among the sleeping houses, I learned that tin roofs crackle under the power of the sun, and when I tired and came back to my grandmother's house, I padded into her dark cool living room, lay flat on the floor, and listened to the hypnotic beat of her pendulum clock on the wall ticking the meaningless hours away.
在一个炎热的下午，当男人们都外出工作，所有的女人都在打盹时，我穿过了巨大的深邃的寂静，寂静是如此巨大，我能够听到玉米生长的声音。在这些寂静中，有一个自然音乐的管弦乐队演奏着城市孩子永远听不到的音符。鸡舍里发出的咯咯叫声意味着我们获得了一个鸡蛋。门廊秋千的吱吱声说明有一阵微风吹过我祖母的院子。我像印第安人一样安静地走过利兹-维尔茨的谷仓，我可以听到马尾的嗖嗖声，知道马蝇已经出动了。当我沿着长满青苔的河岸蹑手蹑脚地去惊吓一只青蛙时，一阵微弱的水花告诉我，它已经发现了我并溜进了小河。在沉睡的屋子里徘徊，我知道铁皮屋顶在太阳的照射下会发出噼啪声，当我累了回到祖母的房子时，我踱进她阴暗凉爽的客厅，平躺在地板上，听着墙上的摆钟催眠般地滴答，将毫无意义的时间带走。