Every one, I suppose, is subject to a trick of mind which often puzzles me. I am reading or thinking, and at a moment, without any association or suggestion that I can discover, there rises before me the vision of a place I know. Impossible to explain why that particular spot should show itself to my mind's eye; the cerebral impulse is so subte that no search may trace its origin. If I am reading, doubtless a thought, a phrase, possibly a mere word on the page before me serves to awaken memory. If I am otherwise occupied, it must be an object seen, an odour, a touch; perhaps even a posture of the body suffices to recall something in the past. Sometimes the vision passes, and there an end; sometimes, however, it has successors, the memory working quite independently of my will, and no link appearing between one scene and the next.
有一种心理幻觉常常令我感到困惑——我想,每个人都避免不了这样的经历一一当我阅读或思考的时候，突然之间,在没有任何能够觉察到的关联或提示的情况下,我的眼前会出现我所知道的一个地方的幻象。为什么那个特殊的地点会出现在我的眼前,我无法解释这一点;大脑的冲动是如此微妙，以致无法去探究它的根源。如果我是在看书,毋庸置疑,唤起记忆的一定是我面前书页上的思想、短句,或者仅仅是一个单词;如果我在做某件事,能够令我想起以往事情的一定是我看到的一个物体,或者是一种气味、一次碰触,甚至可能仅仅是身体的一个姿势。有时,当幻象消失，一切便归于平静;但有时，新的幻象接踵而至,记忆的运转完全脱离了意志的控制,而且每两个场景之间没有丝毫关联。
Ten minutes ago I was talking with my gardener. Our topic was the nature of the soil, whether or not it would suit a certain kind of vegetable. Of a sudden I found myself gazing at --- the Bay of Avlona. Quite certainly my thoughts had not strayed in that direction. The picture that came before me caused me a shock of surprise, and I am still vainly trying to discover how I came to behold it.
A happy chance that I ever saw Avlona. I was on my way from Corfu to Brindisi. The steamer sailed late in the aftemoon; there was a little wind, and as the December night became chilly, I soon turned in. With the first daylight I was on deck, expecting to find that we were near the Italian port; to my surprise, I saw a mountainous shore, towards which the ship was making at full speed. On inquiry, I learned that this was the coast of Albania; our vessel not being very seaworthy, and the wind still blowing a little (though not enough to make any passenger uncomfortable), the captain had turned back when nearly half across the Adriatic, and was seeking a haven in the shelter of the snow-topped hills. Presently we steamed into a great bay, in the narrow mouth of which lay an island. My map showed me where we were, and with no small interest I discovered that the long line of heights guarding the bay on its southern side formed the Acroceraunian Promontory. A little town visible high up on the inner shore was the ancient Aulon.
十分钟之前，我正在和我的园丁谈论土壤的特性是否适合种植某种蔬菜。突然之间，我发现自己正在凝视一一阿弗罗那海湾。可以十分肯定的是，我的思想并没有随之偏离到那个方向上去。眼前出现的画面使我非常震惊，至于我是怎样看到它的，至今仍无从知晓。
我是因一次幸运的机会而看到阿弗罗那海湾的;当时,我正从科孚前往布林迪西。下午很晚的时候，汽船才起航;海上刮起了风,使十二月的夜晚变得异常寒冷，不久我便进了船舱。黎明时分，我登上甲板,期待着看到我们已经靠近意大利的港口;但使我惊奇的是,一片山峦起伏的海岸出现在我的视野里,我们的船正全速前往那里。经询问，我得知这是阿尔巴尼亚海岸;由于海上的风仍没有停息(虽然还不足以让乘客感到不适),考虑到我们的船抵御风浪的能力不强,于是,在几乎行驶过亚德里亚海一半的时候,船长下令掉转船头,去那个山顶上有雪的天然屏障中寻求庇护。没过多久，我们便驶人了一个巨大的海湾;海湾入口狭窄,旁边有一座小岛。我从地图上知道了我们身处何处。兴味盎然的我还发现,南边那一长列守护着海湾的山峰,就是阿克洛塞罗尼亚岬。内岸的高地上坐落着一个小镇,那就是古老的奥隆。
Here we anchored and lay all day long. Provisions running short, a boat had to be sent to land, and the sailors purchased, among other things, some peculiarly detestable bread --- according to them, cotto al sole. There was not a cloud in the sky; till evening the wind whistled above our heads, but the sea about us was blue and smooth. I sat in hot sunshine, feasting my eyes on the beautiful cliffs and valleys of the thickly-wooded shore. Then came a noble sunset; then night crept gently into the hollows of the hills, which now were coloured the deepest, richest green. A little lighthouse began to shine. In the perfect calm that had fallen, I heard breakers murmuring softly upon the beach.
At sunrise we entered the port of Brindisi.
我们在这里抛锚，停泊了整整一天。由于供给不足，不得不派一只小船上岸,水手们买了许多东西,包括一些令人十分嫌恶的面包——根据他们的说法,那是“在日光下烘烤的”。天空中没有一丝浮云;直到黄昏时分,海风仍在我们的头上咆哮,但我们周围的大海却是蔚蓝而平和的。我坐在炽热的阳光下,树木茂密的海岸上那美丽的峭壁和山谷令我大饱眼福;然后是瑰丽的日落景色;最后,夜色悄悄地潜入山谷之中,为它涂上了最深沉的绿色。一个小小的灯塔照亮了海面。一片静谧之中,我聆听着海浪冲刷海岸所发出的轻柔的声响。
太阳再次升起时,我们驶进了布林迪西港口。
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