冰岛 一个盛产诗人的国度

 　　Iceland, it seems, is full of hidden poets.

　　冰岛似乎到处都是隐藏的诗人。

　　When they’re not at their day jobs, a great many of the island’s 330,000 inhabitants dabble¹ in verse, including politicians, businessmen, horse breeders and scientists who study the genetic² isolation³ of the island in pursuit of medical breakthroughs. Even David Oddsson, who was prime minister in 2002 (when Iceland’s banks were privatized) and central bank governor in 2008 (when they collapsed), is a poet by training.

　　在从事本职工作之余，岛上33万居民中有许多人会寄情文字，包括政治人物、商人、马匹育种师和为追求医学突破而苦苦研究该岛屿遗传隔离性的科学家们 。即便是2002年（那一年冰岛的银行实行了私有化）当上冰岛首相、2008年（那一年冰岛的银行破产了）当上冰岛中央银行行长的大卫?奥德松(David Oddsson)，也是科班出身的诗人。

　　Birgitta Jonsdottir, the leader of the anarchist-leaning Pirate Party, which did well in a recent general election, describes herself rather loftily as a “poetician.” Her first published poem, “Black Roses,” written when she was 14, is about a nuclear holocaust⁴.

　　带有无政府主义倾向的海盗党(Pirate Party) 在近期的选举中表现良好，其领袖比吉塔?约恩斯多蒂尔(Birgitta Jonsdottir)颇为高傲地自称是“诗治家”(poetician)。她发表的第一首诗《黑玫瑰》(Black Roses)讲的是一场核灾难。

　　Kari Stefansson, one of the world’s leading geneticists and the founder⁵ of Decode⁶ Genetics, recalled a poem he wrote in 1996, a few months after the birth of Dolly, the cloned sheep.

　　卡里?斯特凡松(Kari Stefansson)是世界顶尖的遗传学家之一，也是解码遗传学的创始人，他回忆了1996年克隆羊多丽(Dolly)诞生几个月后他写下的一首诗。

　　“I was a little bit depressed,” Mr. Stefansson said in his office, which, with its slit⁷ windows and computer screens, looked a bit like the interior of a spaceship. “One of my ways to deal with that was to write a small poem,” he said, before proceeding⁸ to recite it:

　　“当时我有点郁闷，”斯特凡松在自己的办公室里说，狭长的窗子和电脑屏幕在一起，把这里变得有点像太空船的内部。 “我处理这种情绪的办法之一，就是写一首小诗，”接着他背诵起来：

　　Where do I find, lost in the brightness of a sunlit day, The happiness of an unhappy man Fortunate only to be just one copy of himself. Everything else stinks⁹.

　　明媚的日子里洒满了阳光，不幸者的幸福却无处寻觅。幸运只是他的一份复制品，其余的一切全都散发臭气。

　　Poetry is a national pastime, but not a particularly “specialist activity,” said Sveinn Yngvi Egilsson, a professor of Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland. “It’s part of being an Icelander,” he said. “Yes, it’s charming, isn’t it?”

　　诗歌是一种全民消遣，但并不是什么特别的“专业活动”，冰岛大学冰岛文学教授斯温?伊格维?埃吉尔松(Sveinn Yngvi Egilsson)说。 “这是冰岛人的一部分，”他说。“是的，很迷人，不是吗？”

　　In earlier times, verses were an integral part of social gatherings¹⁰ and were often improvised¹¹, he said. Poetry contests were held, with the prizes going to the wittiest¹², sharpest verses. The most popular verse form, he said, is called “ferskeytla,” four rhymed lines that can be divided into two parts.

　　他说，在早年间，诗歌是冰岛社交聚会不可或缺的组成部分，经常是即兴创作的。还会举行诗歌比赛，最风趣、最犀利的诗歌会获得嘉奖。他说，最流行的诗歌形式名叫“ferskeytla”，它有四句押韵的诗句，可以分为两部分。

　　Icelanders are unusually prolific¹³ readers and writers, and books of verse tend to sell well in Iceland. Poetry was the third-largest category of books published in the country in 2014, after fiction and the arts, according to figures from the national library. Far more poetry books were published in Iceland that year than books about economics or public administration. (There were apparently¹⁴ none at all about finance.)

　　冰岛人在阅读和写作方面格外勤奋，诗歌类书籍在冰岛往往能够卖得很好。根据国家图书馆的统计，2014年该国家出版的书籍之中，诗歌类列第三，位居小说和艺术之后。那一年在冰岛出版的诗歌远远多于经济学或公共管理方面的书籍（金融类书籍似乎一本都没有）。

　　The cold oceanic climate and long winter nights may also have something to do with it. “People usually get bored, and they try to humor each other,” Professor Egilsson said. “One of those ways is poetry.”

　　这可能也同这里寒冷的海洋气候与漫长的冬夜有关。 “人们往往会觉得无聊，于是就试着相互逗个乐，”埃吉尔松说。 “其中一种方式就是诗歌。”

1 dabble   

v.涉足，浅赏

参考例句：

• They dabble in the stock market.他们少量投资于股市。
• Never dabble with things of which you have no knowledge.绝不要插手你不了解的事物。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

4 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 decode   

vt.译（码），解（码）

参考例句：

• All he had to do was decode it and pass it over.他需要做的就是将它破译然后转给他人。
• The secret documents were intercepted and decoded.机密文件遭截获并被破译。

7 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

8 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

9 stinks   

v.散发出恶臭( stink的第三人称单数 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• The whole scheme stinks to high heaven—don't get involved in it. 整件事十分卑鄙龌龊——可别陷了进去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soup stinks of garlic. 这汤有大蒜气味。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

11 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

12 wittiest   

机智的，言辞巧妙的，情趣横生的( witty的最高级 )

参考例句：

• One of the wittiest exemplars of the technique was M. C. Escher. 最为巧妙地运用那种技巧的一个典型人物就是M.C.埃舍尔。 来自柯林斯例句

13 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

14 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。