斯人如桂：维吉尔的田园风光

十）维吉尔的田园风光

维吉尔（公元前70年－公元前19年）在他的《牧歌》（Eclogues，也叫Bucolics）第七卷列举了几位希腊大神喜爱的树：

“阿尔克德斯无比珍爱白杨树，

伊阿科斯爱的是葡萄藤，菲伯斯爱他的月桂，

美丽的维纳斯喜爱香桃木；

但菲丽思爱的是榛子树，而只要是为她所爱，

无论香桃木还是月桂都会被榛子树比下去”。

（The poplar doth Alcides hold most dear,

The vine Iacchus, Phoebus his own bays,

And Venus fair the myrtle: therewithal

Phyllis doth hazels love, and while she loves,

Myrtle nor bay the hazel shall out-vie.）

《牧歌》中还有另外几处也出现了月桂树：

第二卷：

“到这儿来吧，俊美的孩子； 看吧，仙女们为你带来了一整个篮子的百合花； 为你，美丽的水泉女神采来浅色的紫香堇和罂粟果，把水仙花和芬芳的茴香花放在一起，用蜡叶芫花和其他香草将它们缠绕，然后把柔软的风信子和金色的金盏花放在一起。我要亲自采集有着灰白色柔毛的榲桲和阿玛瑞莉丝曾经钟爱的栗子。还有蜡李，让它享受荣耀。你，哦，月桂，我也要采来，还有你，月桂的邻居香桃木，把你们混在一起香气更加迷人”。

（Come hither, lovely boy! See, for you the Nymphs bring lilies in heaped-up baskets; for you the fair Naiad, plucking pale violets and poppy heads, blends narcissus and sweet-scented fennel flower; then, twining them with cassia and other sweet herbs, sets off the delicate hyacinth with the golden marigold. My own hands will gather quinces, pale with tender down, and chestnuts, which my Amaryllis loved. Waxen plums I will add – this fruit, too, shall have its honour. You too, O laurels, I will pluck, and you, their neighbour myrtle, for so placed you blend sweet fragrance.）

诗行中的Cassia指的是蜡叶芫花，而不是肉桂。香桃木是地中海常见的香花灌木，叶子也很芳香，与月桂叶混合在一起，香气愈发迷人。

第八卷：

“但您，不管是驶过了提马伍河里的岩石，还是在伊利里亚海的岸边游荡，说，哪一天我才能宣扬您的事迹呢？我是否可以自由地在全世界传播您的歌曲，仅此一项就与索福克勒斯的街头表演一样珍贵？我的歌从您开始，在您的荣耀下终结。请接纳您命我写的歌曲，并同意，在这些胜利者的月桂叶子之间，这支常春藤绕在您的头上”。

（But you ， whether you are already sailing past the rocks of great Timavus or coasting the shore of the Illyrian sea – say, will that day ever dawn when I may tell your deeds? Shall I be ever free to spread your songs throughout the world, that alone are worthy of the buskin of Sophocles? From you is my beginning; in your honour shall I end. Accept the songs essayed at your bidding, and grant that, amid the conqueror’s laurels, this ivy may creep about your brows.）

月桂在这里象征着荣誉。

第八卷：

“撒一把大麦粉，点燃月桂，发出劈劈啪啪的声音。在同一团火焰中，随着粘土变硬，蜡变软，达芙妮也会因爱我而熔化。我的残忍的达芙妮在燃烧，因为达芙妮我点燃这月桂。

我的歌啊，请把达芙妮带回家吧！”

（ As this clay hardens and as this wax melts in one and the same flame, so may Daphnis melt with love for me! Sprinkle meal, and kindle the crackling bays with pitch. Me cruel Daphnis burns; for Daphnis burn I this laurel.

Bring Daphnis home from town, bring him, my songs!）

“撒一把大麦粉，点燃月桂”是献祭阿波罗的仪式之一，作者在字里行间表达了阿波罗对达芙妮爱恨交织的心情。

 月桂也在维吉尔的《农事诗》（Georgics）中占据一席之地：

第一卷：

“冬天是农民们的慵懒时光。在寒冷的天气里，农民主要享受收成，并快乐地聚在一起饱餐一顿。冬季的欢愉使他们大大放松-就像满载的船只终于到达港口，快乐的水手们用花环装饰着船尾一样。尽管如此，是时候剥去橡子、月桂浆果，橄榄和血红色的香桃木浆果了。当地上的积雪很深，河面被冰层覆盖 —是时候装置诱捕鹤的陷阱，搭起诱捕公鹿的罗网，并追逐长耳野兔；是时候旋动巴利阿里（注：位于地中海的群岛）弹弓的麻绳，来射猎母鹿”。

（winter is the farmer’s lazy time. In cold weather farmers chiefly enjoy their gains, and feast together in merry companies. Winter’s cheer calls them, and loosens the weight of care – even as when laden keels have at last reaches port, and the merry sailors have crowned the poops with garlands. Still, then is the time to strip the acorns and laurel berries, the olive and blood-red myrtle; the time to set snares for cranes and nets for the stag, and to chase the long-eared hares; the time to smite the does, as you whirl the hempen thongs of a Balearic sling – when the snow lies deep, when the rivers roll down the ice.）

第二卷：

“首先，大自然界有多种养育树木的方式。有些树没有任何约束，随心所欲地冒出来，占据平原和蜿蜒的河流两岸大片面积；例如，垂柳和轻盈的金雀花，白杨，带有银色叶子的苍白的柳树林。有些树从落地的种子里发出来，如高大的栗子树，是一种坚果树，林地之王，为朱庇特遮阴，还有橡树，与希腊人的神谕有关。还有一些树是从母株的根部茂密地生出来的，如樱桃和榆树。帕纳塞斯山的月桂小苗也从母树巨大的树荫下长出来。这些是大自然最先规定的模式；使得森林里各种各样的树木、灌木和圣林郁郁葱葱”。

 （Firstly, Nature has manifold ways for rearing trees. For some, under no man’s constraint, spring up of their own free will, and far and wide claim the plains and winding rivers; such as the limber osier and lithe broom, the poplar, and the pale willow beds with silvery leafage. But some spring from fallen seed, as tall chestnuts, and the mast tree, monarch of the woodland, that spreads its shade for Jove, and the oaks, deemed by the Greeks oracular. With others a dense undergrowth sprouts from the parent root, as with cherries and elms; the laurel of Parnassus, too, springs up, a tiny plant, beneath its mother’s mighty shade. These are the modes Nature first ordained; these give verdure to every kind of forest trees and shrubs and sacred groves.）

（注：诗行里的Jove 是朱庇特的别名，希腊人和意大利人都把橡树同他们最高的神宙斯（即朱庇特，天神、雨神和雷神）联系在一起。希腊最有名最古老的圣地多多纳（Dodona）先后为母神狄俄涅和宙斯的供奉地，女祭司聆听橡树叶沙沙作响的声音来解读神谕。）

月桂树和其他各种动植物一起，组成了一派美丽的田园风光，维吉尔的《农事诗》极大影响了后世对于田园和农耕的兴趣。

《农事诗》中大约有50行诗原封不动地出现在了《埃涅阿斯纪》（Aeneid）里。《埃涅阿斯纪》是维吉尔最好的一部作品，作者历时十年，写了十二卷，叙述了埃涅阿斯在特洛伊陷落之后辗转来到意大利，最终成为罗马人祖先的故事。 可惜这部史诗般的作品尚未完成，维吉尔就病故了。