In my father's backyard, in the heart of what used to be Little Italy1) but is fast becoming yet another enclave of Toronto yuppydom2), there is a fig tree. As fig trees go, it is a scraggly3) little thing with a kind of forlorn4) theatricality5) that would make it a suitable stage piece for Beckett's Waiting for Godot6). But when you consider that the species was not meant by its creator to live north of, say, the 35th parallel7), its paltry8) appearance is a sign of its endurance, and like Beckett's tramps9), the little tree seems to go on with a kind of hope-against-hope response to its absurd position in a climate that is, to put it mildly, hardly conducive10) to its health. 
在父亲的后院里，有一棵无花果树。那一带过去被称作小意大利，但现在很快就成了多伦多雅皮士的又一领地，父亲的后院就在它的中心地带。说是无花果树，其实也就是一株枝叶凌乱的小树，给人以孤独凄凉的感觉，别具戏剧效果，特别适合用作贝克特的剧作《等待戈多》的舞台道具。但是，如果你了解到造物主在创造这一物种之时，并未打算让其生存在北纬35度以北，你就会明白它那不起眼的外表实则代表着内心的坚忍。和贝克特笔下的流浪汉一样，这棵小小的果树，置身于如此不宜生存的荒谬地带——气候即使算不上恶劣，对其健康生长也毫无益处——却能顽强地生存下来，凭借的似乎就是一波又一波不灭的希望。
I like to think of it as a conscious display of the desire to survive against overwhelming odds, if only to reward my father's obsessive care, sustained by his soul's need to surround itself with a vestige11) from the Garden of Eden of his youth in the Calabrian12) hills.
我更喜欢把它看作是一种有意识的意志的展示，显示了与强大力量抗争的生存意志，哪怕这仅仅是为了回报我父亲无微不至的照顾。为了一解乡愁，父亲特意从家乡的卡拉布里亚山上—他青春的伊甸园里带来这株树，陪伴在自己身旁。
Brought here from Southern Italy as a young sapling13), the fig tree, like its immigrant caretaker, survived the violent uprooting and thrives in its new home, a large wooden half-barrel, of the kind that is used by wine makers. To prevent its freezing to death, it has spent the past three winters buried under four inches of soil.
这棵无花果树被从意大利南方带到这里时，还是一棵幼苗，和那位照料它的移民一样，在遭受残酷的连根拔起的命运之后，它又活了下来，并在异乡的土地上开枝散叶。它的新家是半个大木桶，就是酿酒用的那种。为了防止冻死，过去三个冬天里，它都被深埋在四英寸的土壤中。
Shortly after Victoria Day14) my father unearthed it and within days, like the Phoenix15) of the storytellers, it was magically reborn, its leaves luxuriating16) in the northern sun; the Mediterranean homeland but a distant memory, an indelible17) genetic imprint. It's as though my father and the little tree have agreed upon an ecological covenant18) and both struggle to live up to its terms, practical concerns being merely secondary to the tree's great symbolic value as messenger across time and geography.
维多利亚节过后不久，父亲就将它从土里挖出，就像传说中的凤凰涅一样，几天后它就奇迹般地重生了，在北方的阳光下变得枝繁叶茂。远在地中海的家乡成了一个遥远的记忆，一个永远无法磨灭的基因印记。父亲和这棵小树之间似乎有一个生态约定，两者都按照约定的条款顽强地生活着。作为一棵树，它的实用价值已经不那么重要，重要的是作为跨越时间和地域的信使而具有的象征价值。
It's a tough bargain for the little tree to live up to, but it seems to have managed bravely for the past four years. This summer it bore an appropriately abundant crop of figs, about a baker's dozen19). My father was thrilled and understands this to be nothing short of20) a renewable miraculous event; for him clear evidence of the providential21) bursting forth of the Great Chain of Being22)(my words, his reality).
对这棵小树来说，要信守这一约定实属不易，但在过去四年里，它似乎勇敢地挺了过来。今年夏天，它竟结出了不少的果实，大约有十二三个。父亲欣喜万分，认为这完全是一个奇迹，一个可以重复发生的奇迹。对他来说，这显然是上天对他的眷顾，是存在之巨链爆发的明证(这话是我说的，但对他却恰如其分)。
For his part, he tends to the tree's needs, checking the soil moisture, the lustre23) on its large three-pronged drooping24) leaves, turning each one over to check for parasites25) in a daily ritual that never fails to light up his whole face. In their silent dialogue, my father and his tree speak of a distant homeland, a world disrupted26) by large-scale emigration, a pre-industrial, agricultural time in which the movement of the sun and moon in the sky and the ebb and flow27) of the seasons set clear parameters for the life of the senses and the soul.
对父亲来说，他的任务就是照料这棵树。检查土壤湿度，查看它宽大、下垂的三瓣叶片的光泽，将每片叶子都翻过来检查寄生虫，都是他每天例行的工作。每当这样做时，他脸上都会泛起喜悦的神色。在他们无言的对话中，父亲和他的树谈论着遥远的故乡——那个因大规模移民而变得残缺不全的世界，那个工业革命前的农业时代。那时，人们的生息劳作、抒情感怀都还围绕着日出日落、月圆月缺和季节的交替而行。
At a recent Sunday brunch my father wanted to share the crop with his grandchildren. And so, consummate28)storyteller that he is, he told a tale about the joy of Calabrian children in the early summer when they are abundantly rewarded by the first crop of delicious figs. A joy that cannot ever be matched, he says, by a sort hop to the local Miracle Mart29) just beyond Euclid Ave. My children loved the story but didn't care much for the figs. After all, they did not come wrapped in glitzy30) foil with surprise stickers of Dick Tracy31) stuffed in them. My father smiled his sad smile and made his usual comment about the modern world having lost the sense of the miraculous.
在最近的一个星期天，吃早午餐时，父亲想要和孙辈们分享无花果树的果实。父亲很善于讲故事，于是，他就讲述了初夏时收获的第一轮美味的无花果如何给卡拉里利亚的孩子们以丰厚的馈赠，使他们欣喜若狂。他说，那种喜悦远远超过了去逛欧几里德大街那边的当地奇幻超市的快乐。孩子们喜欢这个故事，但却不太喜欢无花果。毕竟，无花果没有华丽的锡纸包装，里面也没有赠送令人惊喜的至尊神探迪克·特蕾西的贴图。父亲忧郁地笑了笑，和往常一样，说现代世界已经不知奇迹为何物。
In downtown Toronto figs are becoming available almost year-round, as are other exotic fruits, in markets that bear little relationship to the cycle of the seasons. In the consumer utopia of post-agricultural Toronto, seasonal restraint on cravings of any sort is seen as a limitation on personal freedom. Yuppie children, mine among them, do not have to wait for the arrival of summer to titillate32) their palates33) with the exotic sensuality of figs.
在多伦多市中心，几乎一年到头都可以买到无花果，也不乏其他异国风味的水果，这里的市场几乎不受季节轮替的影响。多伦多是后农业时代消费者的理想国，在这里，不管是何种需求，如果因季节受限的原因而无法得到满足，都会被认为是对个人自由的限制。那些雅皮士少年，包括我的孩子在内，都不必等到夏天到来便可享受到无花果那具有异国情调的美味。
But if a delicacy34) is available year-round and within easy reach of the local supermarket, is it still a delicacy? My father, citing such ancient wisdom as life's blessings being more enjoyable when they are “the fruit of thy labor”, doesn't think so. But then, unlike his Canadian grandchildren, he does not crave35) instant gratification36), and is happy to live within the cycle of nature. And although his figs are as scrawny37) as the tree that bears them, to him they definitely do taste better than the ones from the local supermarket. They are a true delicacy, and the fruit of his labor. In any case, they speak in a silent language of a time in which soul and landscape, man and tree lived together in the same mythical dwelling with no consumer utopia to act as mediator between them.
但是，如果一种美味一年四季都能得到，都能从当地超市轻而易举地买到，它还算是美味吗？父亲不这么认为，他引用古训，认为只有“劳动的果实”带来的幸福生活才会更加甜美。和加拿大的孙辈们不同，他并不追求那种手到擒来的满足，而是乐于顺其自然，享受符合自然规律的生活。虽然他的无花果像结果实的树那样又瘦又小，但对他来说，它们的味道绝对要比从当地超市里买来的甜美。它们是真正的美味，是他劳动的果实。不管怎样，它们是在用无声的语言诉说着一个时代的故事，在那个时代里，心灵与风景、人与树神话般地和谐共生，不需要什么消费者的理想国来给他们充当纽带、从中调停。
As a child growing up in the Calabrian hills I too remember the miraculous taste of figs ripened on my favorite tree. The scraggly relative making its home in my father's backyard pales38) in comparison, but its symbolic value is far greater. My father's ecological covenant with the fig tree conceals in its core the kernel of a social contract with my children. And although they do not now realize it, the memory of their grandfather's little tree will one day be central to their own dialogue with a part of themselves that yearns to live in harmony with the movement of the sun and the moon, and the eternal recurrence of the seasons.
小时候，我在卡拉布里亚的山上长大，那里有一棵我最喜爱的无花果树，我至今仍能记起树上那熟透的果实奇异的甜美。相比之下，那棵树的“亲戚”——父亲后院里那棵树所结的瘦小果实未免有点相形见绌，但其象征意义远大于此。在父亲与无花果树签订的生态约定的最深处，隐藏着他与我的孩子们所签订的社会约定最本质的部分。尽管孩子们现在还意识不到，但他们对祖父那棵小树的记忆，总有一天会成为他们与自己对话的核心内容，在他们内心深处，总会有一种渴望，渴望与自然和谐共生，看日出日落、月圆月缺，感受亘古不变、周而复始的季节轮转。
As the northern winds will portend39) the onset of winter my father will once again bury the fig tree. Then he will wait. Spring will return, as it must, and his silent dialogue with a distant homeland, a place and time that are no more, will start again.
北风呼啸，又一个冬天就要来了。和往年一样，父亲还会将无花果树埋起来。然后，他会等待。春天总会回来。而他和遥远故乡之间无言的对话，和那个已不复存在的地点与时间的对话，也必将重新开始。
1. Little Italy：喻指居民以意大利移民为主的地区。
2. yuppydom：此词是由名词yuppy和后缀-dom合成。yuppy [ˈjʌpɪ] n. (也可写成yuppie)雅皮士，指西方国家能干、有上进心的中青年人士，他们一般受过高等教育，具有较高的知识水平和技能，在着装、消费行为及生活方式等方面带有较明显的群体特征。后缀-dom表示“领域，领地”。
3. scraggly [ˈskræɡ(ə)lɪ] adj. 蓬乱的，不整齐的
4. forlorn [fə(r)ˈlɔː(r)n] adj. 被遗弃的
5. theatricality [θɪˌætrɪˈkælətɪ] n. 戏剧风格
6. Waiting for Godot：《等待戈多》，爱尔兰剧作家塞缪尔·贝克特(Samuel Beckett, 1906~1989)写的两幕悲喜剧，1952年用法文发表。这部戏剧讲述的是两个流浪汉在荒凉的村路上等待戈多——一个他们自己都不认识而且不知何时能见面的人。《等待戈多》是戏剧史上真正的革新，也是第一部演出成功的荒诞派戏剧。
7. parallel [ˈpærəlel] n. 纬线，纬线圈
8. paltry [ˈpɔːltrɪ] adj. 可鄙的；没价值的
9. tramp [træmp] n. 流浪汉
10. conducive [kənˈdjuːsɪv] adj. 有利于……的
11. vestige [ˈvestɪdʒ] n. 痕迹，遗迹
12. Calabrian [ˌkəˈleɪbrɪən] adj.卡拉布里亚的。卡拉布里亚(Calabria)位于意大利西南部，是最古老的地中海文明发源地。这一地区绝大部分是山区和丘陵，是意大利最贫穷的地区之一。在20世纪早、中期，很多卡拉布里亚人移民到意大利北部、欧洲其他地区、澳大利亚和美洲的工业中心。
13. sapling [ˈsæplɪŋ] n. 树苗，小树
14. Victoria Day：维多利亚节，加拿大法定节日，时间是5月24日之前(包括5月24日)的最后一个星期一，为纪念英国女王维多利亚的诞辰而设。维多利亚节一般也被认为是夏季的开始，从这天起即可开始播种。
15. Phoenix [ˈfiːnɪks] n. 指埃及神话里的不死鸟，又译作“菲尼克司”，类似于中国的凤凰。不死鸟每隔五百年左右便会采集各种有香味的树枝或草叶，将之叠起来后引火自焚，最后留下来的灰烬中会出现重生的幼鸟。
16. luxuriating [lʌɡˈzjʊərɪeɪtɪŋ] adj. 茂盛的
17. indelible [ɪnˈdeləb(ə)l] adj. 去不掉的，不能拭除的
18. covenant [ˈkʌvənənt] n. 契约，盟约
19. baker's dozen：13个为一组。这个习语是个典故，据说源于3世纪的英国。那时，为防止面包师缺斤短两，克扣份量，英国制定了有关面包份量的标准。面包师销售的面包不符合标准，就要受到严厉的惩罚。为避免受罚，面包师们就在出售面包时每打多给一个，即13个为一打。
20. nothing short of：完全是
21. providential [ˌprɒvɪˈdenʃ(ə)l] adj. 天意的，天佑的；由神的意旨产生的
22. Great Chain of Being：存在之巨链，是基督教和西方中世纪的一个重要概念。这个“存在之链”对所有物质和生命的严密的层级结构进行了详细的解释，并且认为这些层级结构都是由上帝所指明的，上帝位于层级结构的最高地位，人类居其中。
23. lustre [ˈlʌstə(r)] n. 光泽，光彩
24. drooping [druːpɪŋ] adj. 下垂的，无力的
25. parasite [ˈpærəsaɪt] n. 寄生虫
26. disrupt [dɪsˈrʌpt] vt. 使分裂
27. ebb and flow：潮起潮落；盛衰，消长
28. consummate [kənˈsʌmət] adj. 完美的，圆满的，至上的
29. Miracle Mart：奇幻超市，加拿大一家著名的折扣连锁超市；mart [mɑː(r)t] n. 商业中心，市场
30. glitzy [ˈɡlɪtsɪ] adj. 闪光的，耀眼的
31. Dick Tracy：迪克·特蕾西，电影《至尊神探》(Dick Tracy)中的女主角
32. titillate [ˈtɪtɪleɪt] vt.刺激(味觉, 想象等)；使兴奋、活跃或愉快
33. palate [ˈpælət] n. 味觉，嗜好
34. delicacy [ˈdelɪkəsɪ] n. 美味佳肴
35. crave [kreɪv] vt. 恳求，渴望
36. gratification [ˌɡrætɪfɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n] n. 满意
37. scrawny [ˈskrɔːnɪ] adj. 瘦脊的，骨瘦如柴的
38. pale [peɪl] vi. 相形见绌；相形失色
39. portend [pɔː(r)ˈtend] vt. 预示