英译中作品

Iguazu Falls

BY PATTI NICKELL

伊瓜苏瀑布

佩蒂‧尼克尔

I heard the falls before I saw them -- the rumbling thunder of water that spews from the Garganta del Diablo, or Devil's Throat. By the time I reached the catwalk that took me to the very edge of the world's widest waterfall, I knew that I was looking at one of the planet's most awe-inspiring natural wonders.

久仰伊瓜苏瀑布的盛名，但亲见之时仍被它的磅礡气势深深折服。匹练似的水流飞然直下，横扫千军。恶魔般的怒吼声震千里，恍若天地吞噬，万物湮没。这就是伊瓜苏瀑布最摄人心魄的景点——恶魔咽喉。在观景步道的引领下我悄然走近，无语凝望这谪落人间的神迹。

The first sight of Iguazu Falls, straddling the border of Argentina and Brazil, leaves the viewer speechless, with emotions running the gamut from amazement that anything could be so beautiful to sheer terror that anything could be so powerful. Next to Iguazu, Niagara Falls seems like the drizzle from your shower head; in the pantheon of the world's waterfalls, only Africa's Victoria Falls compares. At Iguazu, an average of more than 53,000 cubic feet of water a second (as much as 450,000 cubic feet a second during the rainy season) pours in torrents over 200-foot cliffs, creating a horseshoe of 275 separate falls (my guide told me that during the rainy season that number escalates to more than 350), and on this day at least, it seemed that half of those came with their own rainbows.

伊瓜苏瀑布位于阿根廷与巴西的交界处。游客初到时会惊叹这不经雕琢的大美，而后又会被它的气势惊得莫可言语。位居次席的尼加拉瓜瀑布与之相较，直好似莲蓬头洒落的水珠。能与它分庭抗礼的，大约只剩大洋彼岸的非洲维多利亚瀑布。伊瓜苏瀑布的平均水量每秒超过53,000立方英尺，雨季来临则暴增为450,000立方英尺。如此滔滔巨流从两百英尺高的悬崖急遽直泻，形成275个各具情态的飞瀑，凭栏俯瞰，好似一个巨大的马蹄横亘天地之间。阳光照射氤氲的水雾，绚丽的彩虹纷纷浮现，真是彩彻云衢、水天一色。导游告诉我们，每逢雨季瀑布数量将增至350个。

The indigenous Guarani tribe, which inhabited the tropical jungles of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, named the falls Iguazu, or ''Big Water.'' The full import of just how big dawned on me as I made my way across the catwalk that allows visitors to stand directly over the Devil's Throat, the most impressive of the falls, and get a 260-degree view of the surrounding waters. My initial feeling was one of vertigo, staring at the deep chasm into which the waters plunged, and I grasped the edges of the catwalk -- slick from the mists churned up by the falls -- in a sort of death grip.

在阿根廷、巴西和巴拉圭的热带丛林中生活的瓜拉尼原住民部落，将这个伟大的瀑布名为“伊瓜苏”，意为“大水”。当我沿着步道慢慢前行，在“恶魔咽喉”之上驻足凝望时，我才真正领略到了瀑布的雄浑。面前有着开阔的视野，只见无数白练奔流而下，在深深的峡谷中激荡出堆雪似的水花，霎时我只觉天旋地转，头晕眼花！我只得拼命抓住步道上的栏杆，慢慢走出这水汽环绕的仙境，背后似乎能听见死神的嘲笑。

That feeling changed to exhilaration later in the day as I made my way down hundreds of steps carved into a cliff to board a speedboat for what is referred to as ''the Great Adventure.'' A more daring version of Niagara's Maid of the Mist, the Great Adventure took us beneath the outer edges of two of the falls -- where we momentarily disappeared in a lacy swirl of mist -- to reappear in the churning waters of the Iguazu River.

当我从悬崖的石阶下行百余级，搭上一艘高速游艇准备开启壮阔的冒险之旅时，先前的恐惧之情逐步化为兴奋与期待，随着徐徐清风一同融入这无限辽阔的江山。这次的航程比尼加拉瓜瀑布的雾中少女号惊险得多，我们依次经过两条瀑布的外缘，如同陷入湍流的迷茫水雾，又如同进入了时光隧道，出来之时已是水天一清，在伊瓜苏河上破浪而进。

As adrenaline-boosting as it was, the Great Adventure was mild compared with a former daredevil stunt: heading to the edge of the falls in a rowboat full of tourists. That activity was discontinued in the 1940s, when one rower, incorrectly estimating how close he could get before turning back, went over the falls, taking seven German tourists with him.

听闻此处于20世纪40年代发生的噩耗，不禁扼腕叹息、冷汗涔涔。当时是由船夫驾着划艇，满载游客驶向瀑布边缘。然而，有一位船夫判断失误，因过于接近瀑布而付出了生命代价，船上的七位德国游客也一同葬身水底，这个探险项目随后便被禁止。我们现在的所谓的伟大冒险，比起当年可谓小巫见大巫了。

Iguazu Falls is not just about the water. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The falls are in a virgin jungle ecosystem, protected by national parks on either side of the cascades. The jungle is home to immense orchids and a rich fauna that includes coatis, jaguars, crocodiles, snakes and poisonous spiders -- the last of which ''can only be found on the Brazilian side,'' my Argentine guide said jokingly.

伊瓜苏瀑布不仅有水色可赏，更有雄秀的奇景，因而被联合国教科文组织列入世界遗产地，两岸分别受到巴西和阿根廷的保护。这里鲜有人工匠气和斧凿痕迹，保留着纯天然的原始生态，成为动植物安心栖息的净土，除了芳草幽兰，这里还生活着浣熊、美洲虎，鳄鱼等濒危动物，毒蜘蛛也时有出没。阿根廷导游打趣说：“也许靠近巴西的那一端，才能找到毒蜘蛛吧！”