The Winter Cold

By Edwin Way Teale (U.S.A.)

Protected by sweaters and a leather jacket against the biting blasts of the north wind, I walk along the hillside this afternoon. Snow lies drifted among the wild cherries. Where the wind has swept bare the ground, the soil is frozen and rocklike. On this day of bleak cold, the earth seems dead. Yet every northern field hillside, like a child, has the seeds and powers of growth locked within it. From cocoon to bur, on a winter’s day, there is every where life, dormant but waiting.

Within the earth there are roots and seeds; on the bare twigs, there are winter buds; buried in soil and mud beneath ice-locked water are the turtles and frogs and dragonfly nymphs; hidden in decaying logs and under snow-covered debris are the fertilized queens of the wasps and bumblebees. Everywhere, on all sides of us, as far as winter reigns, life is suspended temporarily. But it has not succumbed. It is merely dormant for the time being, merely waiting for the magic touch of spring. All the blooms of another summer, all the unfolding myriad leaves, all the lush green carpet of the grass, all the perfumes of the midsummer dusk, all the rush and glitter of the dragonfly’s wings under the August sun --all these are inherent, locked up in the winter earth.

Nor is this time of suspended activity wholly wasted. Scientists have discovered that, for many kinds of seeds, a period of cold is essential to their proper sprouting. They require the months of cold just as they do the days of spring.

Seeds that lie on the frozen ground, that are coated with sleet and buried by snow, are thus the most favored of all. Bring those same seeds indoors, coddle them, keep them warm, protect them from wind and cold and snow, and they sprout less readily in the spring. The seeming punishment of winter is providing, in reality, invaluable aid. Similarly, the eggs of some insects, such as the Rocky Mountain locust, need cold for proper hatching.

Winter cold, the enemy of the easy life, thus is not the enemy of all life. It aids in the proper development of seed and egg. The deathlike inactivity of the winter earth is only an illusion. Life is everywhere, in every foot of frozen soil, in every rocklike yard of solid ground – life in the endless variety of its natural forms.

寒冬

[美]艾温·威·蒂尔

午后，迎着阵阵凛冽的北风，我裹着厚厚的毛线衣和皮夹克，走在山坡上。白雪飘落在野樱树丛中。寒风扫过之处，裸露的地面上只见泥土冻得像岩石一般。在这萧瑟寒冷的日子里，大地上似乎已经没有了生命。然而，犹如孩童般的，北方的每一片田野，每一座山坡都蕴藏着生命的种子，成长的力量。在冬日里，从虫卵到刺果，到处都有生命在沉睡中等待着。

根和种子埋藏在大地里，冬天的蓓蕾长在光秃秃的嫩枝上；龟、青蛙和蜻蜓的活蛹埋在冰冻的泥土里；受了精的黄蜂王和野蜂王，藏在朽木里，藏在白雪覆盖的瓦砾下。严寒所及之处，在我们周围，生命暂时停止了活动，但并没有死去。它们只是小睡片刻，等待着春姑娘神奇的抚摸。之后，又迎来一个百花盛开的夏日，枝繁叶茂，草地一片肥绿，仲夏之夜散发着迷人的芳香，秋阳之下蜻蜓飞舞，翅膀闪闪。所有这一切都是与生俱来的，如今锁于冬天的大地之中。

这段休眠时间也并非完全白费。科学家们已经发现，对许多种子而言，经历一段寒冷期对它们的茁壮发芽非常重要。它们需要经历几个月的寒冷，就像它们需要经历春天一样。

因此，冰雪覆盖之下，躺在冻土之中的种子受惠于大自然最多。倘若将这些种子移到室内，悉心照料，让它们保持温暖，不受风雪严寒的考验，开春时它们发芽就不会如此茁壮。冬天给予它们的，看似惩罚实际上是无价的帮助。同样，一些昆虫的卵（例如落矶山脉的蝗卵）也需要经历一场寒冷才能正常孵化。

因此，寒冬这个脆弱生命之敌，并非所有生命之敌。它有助于种子和虫卵的正常生长。冬天大地里这种死一般的静止仅仅是一种幻象。生命无所不在，它在每一尺冻土里，在每一寸岩石般坚硬的泥土中—生命的自然形式无穷无尽。