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很久很久以前，世界刚刚诞生，因纽特人居住在遥远的北方，生活在黑暗中。他们从未听说过白昼。当在北方和南方之间来回旅行的乌鸦第一次向他们说起白天的时候，他们都不相信。 但是许多年轻人听说阳光可以把南方的大地镀成金色，感到无限向往。他们让乌鸦一遍遍讲他知道的故事，一直讲到他们都记住了这些故事。 ‘'想象一下要是有了阳光，我们可以到多远的地方去狩猎，狩猎的时间可以多长啊。"他们议论起来。 "是啊，可以在北极熊还没发起攻击之前就看见它。”其他人赞同地说。 不久，因纽特人对阳光的渴望变得异常强烈，所以他们央求乌鸦给他们带来阳光。乌鸦摇了摇头，"我太老了，”他告诉他们，"阳光在很远很远的地方，我再也去不了那么远了。但是人们不停地肯求他，他重新考虑了一下，最终答应长途旅行到南方去。 乌鸦在北方无尽的黑暗里飞了很远很远，许多次他都疲惫不堪，几乎要掉头回去。但最后他在地平线的边缘发现了一丝光亮，于是他知道了阳光近在阳尺。 乌鸦尽力扇动着翅膀，使出全身力气向前飞。突然，白昼世界那光彩夺目的壮丽景象展现在他眼前。数不清的色彩和各式各样的物体、形状包围着他，让他目不暇接。他拍打着翅膀落到一棵树上休息，漫长的旅程让他筋疲力尽。头顶上的天空是一片无边无际的蓝色，白色的云朵毛绒绒的，乌鸦怎么看也看不够这美妙的景色。 最后，乌鸦低头仔细一看，这才发现自己来到了一个村庄附近。村庄坐落在一条宽阔的河流旁边。正当他在观察时，一个漂亮的女孩来到河边，来到他栖息的那棵树附近。她拎着一个大水桶在冰冷的河水中打水，然后转身朝村庄走去。女孩经过树下时，乌鸦变成一颗小小的尘埃，慢慢飘向女孩，落在女孩的毛皮斗篷里。女孩回到了父亲的雪地小屋，乌鸦留心观察着，女孩的父亲是这个村庄的首领。 小屋里既舒适又暖和。乌鸦环顾四周，发现一个盒子边缘闪闪发着光，他想那应该就是日光了。地板上，一个小男孩正高兴地玩耍。乌鸦变成的尘埃从女孩身上飘走，飘进小男孩的耳朵里。小男孩马上坐起来搓着耳朵，那奇怪的灰尘粒惹恼了他，他哭了起来。首领是一个溺爱孩子的外公，他忙跑进屋里来看到底发生了什么事情。 "你为什么哭呀？”首领跪在孩子身边问。 乌鸦在小男孩的耳朵里小声说：‘‘你想要一个光球玩。”小男孩搓了搓耳朵，重复了乌鸦的话。 首领让女儿去取放在角落里发着光的盒子，女儿拿过来交给父亲。首领从盒子里取出一个闪闪发光的球，用一根细绳拴着，递给小男孩。小男孩拿球之前，若有所思地搓了搓耳朵。那个光球充满了光、影、色彩和形状。孩子高兴地笑了，他牵着绳子，看光球上下跳动。 乌鸦又刮了一下小男孩的耳朵。小男孩喘着粗气，又大哭起来。 “别哭，小宝贝儿。”溺爱孩子的外公焦急地说，“告诉我你怎么了。” 乌鸦在小男孩的耳朵里小声说：“你要出去玩。”小男孩搓了搓耳朵，向外公重复了乌鸦的话。首领马上抱起孩子，把他带到外面。母亲担心小男孩，也跟了出来。 他们刚一走出雪屋，乌鸦就飞出小孩的耳朵，恢复了原形。他向小男孩的手俯冲过去，从他手中抢过绳子，往上飞去，飞向无边无际的蓝天，光球在他身后和他一起飞翔。 在遥远的北方，因纽特人看到黑暗中一丝光亮向他们移动过来，它越来越亮，接着他们看到乌鸦挥动着翅膀朝他们飞了过来。人们高兴地张大了嘴，指点着，呼喊着。 乌鸦扔下光球，光球在地上摔得粉碎，释放出白昼，它向四周炸开，照亮每个黑暗的角落，驱散所有的阴霾。天空变亮变蓝，黑暗的山脉有了色彩、光亮和形态。雪和冰闪闪发光，亮得因纽特人不得不用手遮住眼睛。 人们放声大笑，欢呼起来，庆幸他们的好运。但是乌鸦告诉他们白昼不会永远持续下去，他只从南方人那里得到一个光球，它需要每年休息六个月来恢复力量。在这六个月的时间里，黑暗会来。 人们说：“半年的白昼就足够了，你带回白昼之前，我们一生都生活在黑暗中呢！"他们一遍又一遍地感谢乌鸦。 直到今天，因纽特人依然半年生活在黒暗中，半年生活在白昼中。他们一直对乌鸦非常友好，因为乌鸦给他们带来了光明。 Long, long ago, when the world was still new, the Inuit lived in darkness in their home in the fastness1 of the north. They had never heard of daylight, and when it was first explained to them by Crow, who traveled back and forth between the northlands and the south, they did not believe him. Yet many of the younger folk were fascinated by the story of the light that gilded the lands to the south. They made Crow repeat his tales until they knew them by heart. “Imagine how far and how long we could hunt.” they told one another. “Yes，and see the polar bear before it attacks.” others agreed. Soon the yearning for daylight was so strong that the Inuit people begged Crow to bring it to them. Crow shook his head. “I am too old.” he told them. “The daylight is very far away. I can no longer go so far.” But the pleadings of the people made him reconsider, and finally he agreed to make the long journey to the south. Crow flew for many miles through the endless dark of the north. He grew weary many times, and almost turned back. But at last he saw a rim of light at the very edge of horizon and knew that the daylight was close. Crow strained his wings and flew with all his might. Suddenly, the daylight world burst upon him with all its glory and brilliance. The endless shades of color and the many shapes and forms surrounding him made Crow stare and stare. He flapped down to a tree and rested himself, exhausted by his long journey. Above him, the sky was an endless blue, the clouds fluffy2 and white. Crow could not get enough of the wonderful scene. Eventually Crow lowered his gaze and realized that he was near a village that lay beside a wide river. As he watched, a beautiful girl came to the river near the tree in which he perched. She dipped a large bucket into the icy waters of the river and then turned to make her way back to the village. Crow turned himself into a tiny speck of dust and drifted down towards the girl as she passed beneath his tree. He settled into her fur cloak and watched carefully as she returned to the snow lodge of her father, who was the chief of the village people. It was warm and cozy inside the lodge. Crow looked around him and spotted a box that glowed around the edges. Daylight, he thought. On the floor, a little boy was playing contentedly. The speck of dust that was Crow drifted away from the girl and floated into the ear of the little boy. Immediately the child sat up and rubbed at his ear, which was irritated by the strange speck. He started to cry, and the chief, who was a doting4 grandfather, came running into the snow lodge to see what was wrong. “Why are you crying?” the chief asked, kneeling beside the child. Inside the little boy’s ear, Crow whispered: “You want to play with a ball of daylight.” The little boy rubbed at his ear and then repeated Crow’s words. The chief sent his daughter to the glowing box in the comer. She brought it to her father, who removed a glowing ball, tied it with a string, and gave it to the little boy. He rubbed his ear thoughtfully before taking the ball. It was full of light and shadow, color and form. The child laughed happily, tugging at the string and watching the ball bounce. Then Crow scratched the inside of his ear again and the little boy gasped and cried. “Don’t cry, little one.” said the doting grandfather anxiously. “Tell me what is wrong.” Inside the boy’s ear，Crow whispered: “You want to go outside to play.” The boy rubbed at his ear and then repeated Crow’s words to his grandfather. Immediately, the chief lifted up the small child and carried him outside, followed by his worried mother. As soon as they were free of the snow lodge, Crow swooped out of the child’s ear and resumed his natural form. He dove toward the little boy’s hand and grabbed the string from him. Then he rose up and up into the endless blue sky, the ball of daylight sailing along behind him. In the far north, the Inuit saw a spark of light coming toward them through the darkness. It grew brighter and brighter, until they could see Crow flapping his wings as he flew toward them. The people gasped and pointed and called in delight. The Crow dropped the ball, and it shattered upon the ground, releasing the daylight so that it exploded up and out, illuminating every dark place and chasing away every shadow. The sky grew bright and turned blue. The dark mountains took on color and light and form. The snow and ice sparkled so brightly that the Inuit had to shade their eyes. The people laughed and cried and exclaimed over their good fortune. But Crow told them that the daylight would not last forever. He had only obtained one ball of daylight from the people of the south, and it would need to rest for six months every year to regain its strength. During that six month period, the darkness would return. The people said: “Half a year of daylight is enough. Before you brought the daylight, we lived our whole life in darkness!” Then they thanked Crow over and over again. To this day, the Inuit live for half a year in darkness and half a year in daylight. And they are always kind to Crow, for it was he who brought them the light. |
