The Rainbow Maker 創造彩虹的人

 |2019.10.06
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字級

提要

經常在雨後可以看到的彩虹,因陽光射入空中飄浮的小水滴,折射分成不同的顏色。雨水象徵傷感的淚、陽光則代表愉悅地笑,雨過天晴、傷感變為愉悅後,同時出現彩虹。孩子對夢境般的經歷信以為真,也許因為他們天真無邪,也未必不能真有其事。

Under an archway stood the children, behind them was the blue sky, in the garden, they wandered about the clear still lake. Above their heads the leaves of a tree whispered and told strange stories to the breeze.

"Poor tree! It is sighing for the blossoms the wind has carried away," they said to each other, and they looked back at the garden. "And, poor flowers, too," they said, "all your bright colours are gone, and your petals lie scattered on the ground; tomorrow they will be dead." "Ah, no,” the flowers sighed," the rainbow-maker will gather them up, and once more they will see the sun."

Before the children could answer, a tall fair maiden came down the pathway. They could see her plainly in the twilight. Her eyes were dim with gathering tears, but on her lips there was a smile that came and went and flickered round her mouth. All down her back hung her pale golden hair; round her neck was a kerchief of many colors ; her dress was soft and white, and her snowy apron was gathered up in one hand. She looked neither to the right nor to the left.

She did not utter a single word; and the children could hear no sound of her footstep, no rustling from her dress. She stooped, and picking up the fading petals, looked at them tenderly for a moment, while the tears fell slowly down her cheeks ; but the smile hovered round her mouth; for she knew that they would shine again in the sight of their beloved sun. When her apron was quite full, she turned round and left the garden.

Hand-in-hand the children followed. She went slowly on by the side of the lake, far, far away across the meadows and up the farthest hill, until at last she found her home behind a cloud just opposite the sun. There she sat all through the summer days making rainbows. When the children had watched her for a long long time, they went quietly back to their own home. The rainbowmaker had not even seen them.

"Mother," they said one day, "we know now where the colours go from the flowers. See, they are there," and as they spoke they thought of the maiden sitting silently at work in her cloud-home. They knew that she was weeping at sending forth her most beautiful one, and yet smiling as she watched the picturesque archway she had made. "See, they are all there, dear mommy," the children repeated, looking at the falling rain and the shining sun, and pointing to the rainbow that spanned the river.

解 說

眺望藍天的拱門下,站著一群孩子,他們在花園裡、清澈的湖邊徘徊;在他們頭頂,一棵樹上的葉子正在低語,向微風講述奇特的故事。

「可憐的樹!正在為風吹走綻放的花朵嘆息。」孩子們彼此談論,然後他們回頭看著花園:「還有可憐的花瓣……」他們說著:「所有鮮豔的色彩都已經消失了,花瓣散落在地上,明天它們就會死了。」「啊,不!」花朵嘆了口氣:「創造彩虹的人會將收集花瓣,它們將再一次看到太陽。」

孩子們還來不及回答,一位高大的少女從小路走了下來。在暮色中,他們仍可以清楚地看到她:眼睛朦朧地含著淚水,但在嘴角不時出現淺淺地笑;她的金髮垂在背後,脖上繫著彩巾;她的衣服柔軟而潔白,她一手握著雪白的圍裙,不偏不倚地向前走。

她一個字都沒說,孩子們聽不到她的腳步聲,連衣服也不曾發出窸窸窣窣的聲音。她彎下腰,撿起褪色的花瓣,溫柔地凝視了一會兒,淚水慢慢地從臉頰落下,但是笑容仍在她的嘴邊,因為她知道,它們會在可愛的陽光下,再次閃耀光澤。她用圍裙裝滿了花瓣,轉身離開花園。

孩子們手拉著手,跟著她慢慢地走到湖邊,遠遠地穿過草地、到達最遠端的山丘,在太陽對面的雲層後,她的家終於到了。整個夏天,她都坐在那裡創造彩虹。孩子們看著她,過了好長一段時間之後,他們悄悄地回到了自己的家。創造彩虹的少女,完全沒抬頭看他們。

「媽媽」,孩子們有一天說:「我們現在知道,花朵的顏色都去了哪裡。」「看,它們就在那裡。」說這些話的時候,他們想到了那個少女,靜靜地、坐在她雲朵後的家裡工作。他們知道,少女在送走她最美麗的色彩時落淚,然後在看著她製作的蜿蜒拱門時微笑。「看,它們都在那裡,親愛的媽咪。」孩子們重複著,看著飄落的雨水和絢爛的陽光,指向橫跨河流的彩虹。

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