乾旱之地

Pale， dry， baked earth， that blows into dust of fine sand. Low hills of baked pale earth， sinking heavily， and speckled sparsely with dark dots of cedar bushes. A river on the plain of drought， just a cleft of dark， reddish-brown water， almost a flood. And over all， the blue， uneasy， alkaline sky.

　　A pale， uneven， parched world， where a motor-car rocks and lurches and churns in sand. A world pallid with dryness， in human with a faint taste of alkali. Like driving in the bed of a great sea that dried up unthinkable ages ago， and now is drier than any other dryness， yet still reminiscent of the bottom of the sea， sand hills sinking， and straight， cracked mesas， like cracks in the dry-mud bottom of the sea.

　　So the mud church standing discreetly outside， just outside the pueblo， not to see too much. And on its fa.ade of mud， under the timbered mud-eaves， two speckled horses rampant， painted by the Indians， a red piebald and black one.

　　Swish！ Over the logs of the ditch-bridge， where brown water is flowing full. There below is the pueblo， dried mud like mud-pie houses， all squatting in a jumble， prepared to crumble into dust and be invisible， dust to dust returning， earth to earth.

　　That they don't crumble is the mystery. That these little squarish mud-heaps endure for centuries after centuries， while Greek marble tumbles asunder， and cathedrals totter， is the wonder. But then， the naked human hand with a bit of new soft mud is quicker than time， and defies the centuries.

　　Roughly the low， square， mud-pie houses make a wide street where all is naked earth save a doorway or a window with a pale-blue sash. At the end of the street， turn again into a parallel wide， dry street. And there， in the dry， oblong aridity， there tosses a small forest that is alive： and thud-thud-thud goes the drum， and the deep sound of men singing is like the deep soughing of the wind， in the depths of a wood.

　　（form Dance of the Sprouting Corn by D. H. Lawrence）

　　Particular Scenes 特設場景

　　speckle 點綴，裝點

　　cedar 雪松

　　cleft 裂縫，裂口

　　alkaline 堿性的

　　parch 烘烤，燒焦

　　lurch 蹣跚，東倒西歪地曏前

　　churn 劇烈抖晃，繙騰

　　pallid 蒼白的，虛弱的

　　mesa 平頂山，方山

　　pueblo 印第安的村莊

　　fa.ade 門麪，正麪

　　rampant （馬等）用後腿立起的，躍立的

　　piebald 有花斑的馬

　　squat 蹲伏

　　crumble 破碎，崩潰，倒塌

　　tumble 倒塌

　　asunder 分散，碎裂

　　totter 搖搖欲墜

　　sash 窗框格