Birth of Gay-Neck

By Dhan Gopal Mukerji

T he city of Calcutta, which boasts of a million people, must have at least two million pigeons. Every third Hindu boy has perhaps a dozen pet carriers, tumblers, fantails and pouters. The art of domesticating pigeons goes back thousands of years in India, and she has contributed two species of pigeons as a special product of her bird fanciers, the fantail and the pouter. Love and care have been showered on pigeons for centuries by emperors, princes and queens in their marble palaces, as w ell as by the poor, in their humble homes. The gardens, grottos1. grotto: （人工開(kāi)挖用以避暑的）洞室。and fountains of the Indian rich—the small f ield of f lowers and fruits of the common folk, each has its ornament and music, —many-coloured pigeons and cooing w hite doves w ith ruby eyes.

Even now, any winter morning, foreigners who visit our big cities may see on the f lat-roofed houses innumerable boys waving white f lags as signals to their pet pigeons f lying up in the crisp cold air. Through the blue heavens f locks of the birds soar like vast clouds. They start in small f locks, and spend about twenty minutes circling over the roofs of their owners' homes. Then they slowly ascend, and all the separate groups from different houses of the town merge into one big f lock, and f loat far out of sight. How they ever return to their own homes is a w onder, for all the housetops look alike in shape in spite of their rose, yellow, violet and white colours.

《彩虹鴿》小說(shuō)封面

But pigeons have an amazing sense of direction and love of their owners. I have yet to see creatures more loyal than pigeons and elephants. I have played with both, and the tusker on four feet in the country, or the bird on two wings in the city, no matter how far they w andered, w ere by their almost infallible instinct brought back to their friend and brother—Man.2. tusker: 有長(zhǎng)牙的動(dòng)物（如象、野豬等）；infallible: 絕對(duì)可靠的，肯定有效的。

My elephant friend was called Kari, of whom you have heard before, and the other pet that I knew w ell w as a pigeon. His name w as Chitra-griva; Chitra

meaning “painted in gay colours,” and Griva, “neck”—in one phrase, pigeon Gay-Neck. Sometimes he w as called “Iridescence-throated.”

Of course, Gay-Neck did not come out of his egg with an iridescent throat; he had to grow the feathers week by w eek; and until he w as three months old, there w as very little hope that he would acquire the brilliant collar; but at last, when he did achieve it, he was the most beautiful pigeon in my town in India, and the boys of my town owned forty thousand pigeons.

But I must begin this story at the very beginning. I mean with Gay-Neck's parents. His father was a tumbler who married the most beautiful pigeon of his day; she came from a noble old stock of carriers. That is why Gay-Neck proved himself later such a worthy carrier pigeon in w ar as w ell as in peace. From his mother he inherited w isdom, from his father bravery and alertness. He w as so quick-witted that sometimes he escaped the clutches of a hawk by tumbling at the last moment right over the enemy's head. But of that later, in its proper time and place.

Now let me tell you what a narrow escape3. narrow escape: 九死一生，幸免于難。Gay-Neck had while still in the egg. I shall never forget the day when, through a mistake of mine, I broke one of the two eggs that his mother had laid. It was very stupid of me. I regret it even now. Who know s? Maybe w ith that broken egg perished the f inest pigeon of the w orld. It happened this way. Our house was four stories high—and on its roof was built our pigeon house. A few days after the eggs were laid I decided to clean the pigeonhole in which Gay-Neck's mother was sitting on them. I lifted her gently and put her on the roof beside me. Then I lifted each egg carefully and put it most softly in the next pigeonhole, which, however, had no cotton or f lannel4. f lannel: 法蘭絨。on its hard wooden f loor. Then I busied myself with the task of removing the debris from the birth-nest. As soon as that was done, I brought one egg back and restored it to its proper place. Next I reached for the second one and laid a gentle but f irm hand on it. Just then something fell upon my face like a roof blow n by the storm. It was Gay-Neck's father furiously beating my face with his wings. Worse still, he had placed the claws of one of his feet on my nose. The pain and surprise of it was so great that ere5. ere: 在……之前。I knew how, I had dropped the egg. I was engrossed in beating off the bird from my head and face, and at last he f lew aw ay. But too late: the little egg lay broken in a mess at my feet. I was furious w ith its clumsy father and also with myself. Why with myself? Because I should have been prepared for the father bird's attack. He took me for a stealer of his eggs, and in his ignorance was risking his life to prevent my robbing his nest. May I impress it upon you that you should anticipate all kinds of surprise attacks w hen cleaning a bird's home during nesting season.

But to go on with our story. The mother bird knew the day when she was to break open the egg-shell w ith her ow n beak, in order to usher Gay-Neck into the world. Though the male sits on the egg pretty nearly one-third of the time—for he does that each

day from morning till late afternoon—yet he does not know when the hour of his child's birth is at hand. No one save6. save: 除……外。the mother bird arrives at that divine certainty. We do not yet understand the nature of the unique w ireless message by w hich she learns that w ithin the shell the yolk and the white of her egg have turned into a baby-bird. She also knows how to tap the right spot so that the shell will break open without injuring her child in the slightest. To me that is as good as a miracle.

Gay-Neck's birth happened exactly as I have described. About the twentieth day after the laying of the egg, I noticed that the mother was not sitting on it any more. She pecked the father and drove him away every time he f lew dow n from the roof of the house and volunteered to sit on the egg. Then he cooed, w hich meant, “Why do you send me away?”

She, the mother, just pecked him the more, meaning, “Please go. The business on hand is very serious.”

At that, the father f lew away. That worried me, for I was anxious for the egg to hatch, and was feeling suspicious about its doing it at all. With increased interest and anxiety I w atched the pigeonhole. An hour passed. Nothing happened. It was about the third quarter of the next hour that the mother turned her head one way and listened to something—probably a stirring inside that egg. Then she gave a slight start. I felt as if a tremor were running through her w hole body. With it a great resolution came into her. Now she raised her head, and took aim. In tw o strokes she cracked the egg open, revealing a wee7. wee: 極小的。bird, all beak and a tiny shivering body! Now watch the mother. She is surprised. Was it this that she was expecting all these long days? Oh, how small, how helpless! The moment she realizes her child's helplessness, she covers him up with the soft blue feathers of her breast.

只見(jiàn)母鴿抬起頭，對(duì)準(zhǔn)目標(biāo)。她兩下就啄開(kāi)了鴿蛋，從里面露出了一只小小鳥(niǎo)，整個(gè)嘴，還有小小的顫抖的身體！且看母鴿，她非常驚訝。這就是她這么多日來(lái)期待的小寶寶嗎？噢，他是多么弱小，多么無(wú)助啊！母鴿意識(shí)到鴿寶寶的無(wú)助時(shí)，就用胸前柔軟的藍(lán)色羽毛蓋住了他。

以擁有上百萬(wàn)人而自豪的加爾各答城，肯定至少有兩百萬(wàn)只鴿子。每三個(gè)印度男孩子大概就會(huì)擁有十二只鴿子，比如寵物信鴿、翻頭鴿、扇尾鴿和球胸鴿。在印度，馴鴿的技藝可以追溯到幾千年以前，而印度也給這里的鳥(niǎo)迷們獻(xiàn)上了兩個(gè)特殊的鴿子品種——扇尾鴿和球胸鴿。幾百年來(lái)，無(wú)論是大理石宮殿里的皇帝、王子和皇后，還是寒磣窩棚里的窮苦百姓，都對(duì)鴿子關(guān)愛(ài)備至。無(wú)論是印度富人家的花園、洞室、噴泉，還是普通百姓的花果小田地，各自都有裝飾和音樂(lè)，那就是顏色繽紛的彩鴿和咕咕叫的有著紅寶石般眼睛的白鴿。

即使到現(xiàn)在，任何一個(gè)冬天的早晨，來(lái)到我們大城市的外國(guó)人也可能會(huì)看到無(wú)數(shù)男孩子站在房子的平頂上，揮舞著白色的旗幟，在清冷的空氣中向飛起的愛(ài)鴿發(fā)出信號(hào)。在藍(lán)天上翱翔而過(guò)的鴿群，猶如大片大片的云朵一般。起初鴿子是一小群一小群的，在主人的房頂上空盤(pán)旋20分鐘左右。隨后，他們慢慢地飛高，所有來(lái)自城里各家的單獨(dú)鴿群合并為一大群，越飛越遠(yuǎn)，飛出人們的視野。他們到底是怎樣回家的一直是個(gè)謎，因?yàn)楸M管房頂顏色不同，有玫瑰色、黃色、紫羅蘭色和白色，但所有的房頂形狀看上去都是相似的。

然而，鴿子有一種令人驚嘆的方向感和對(duì)主人的愛(ài)。我見(jiàn)過(guò)的生物中最忠誠(chéng)的莫過(guò)于鴿子和大象。我曾經(jīng)跟這二者為伴，無(wú)論是鄉(xiāng)村里的四足長(zhǎng)牙動(dòng)物，還是城市里的雙翼飛鳥(niǎo)，無(wú)論他們走多遠(yuǎn)，總能通過(guò)自己絕對(duì)可靠的本能回到他們的朋友和兄弟——人類(lèi)——身邊。

我的大象朋友名叫卡里，你們以前可能聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)他。我熟悉的另一個(gè)寵物是一只鴿子。他的名字叫齊特拉-格里瓦；“齊特拉”意思是“用鮮艷顏色畫(huà)的”，“格里瓦”意思是“脖頸”，連起來(lái)說(shuō)就是“長(zhǎng)著鮮艷顏色脖頸的鴿子”。有時(shí)，他被稱(chēng)為“彩虹頸”。

當(dāng)然，彩虹鴿剛從蛋里出生時(shí)并沒(méi)有彩虹頸，他必須得經(jīng)過(guò)幾個(gè)星期才能長(zhǎng)出羽毛；直到三個(gè)月大的時(shí)候，他會(huì)擁有鮮亮頸羽的希望還微乎其微；但最后，當(dāng)他真正長(zhǎng)出鮮亮頸羽的時(shí)候，他就成了印度我那個(gè)城里最漂亮的鴿子，我那個(gè)城里的男孩子們有四萬(wàn)只鴿子呢。

不過(guò)，我還是從頭開(kāi)始講述這個(gè)故事吧。我是說(shuō)，從彩虹鴿的父母親講起。他的父親是一只翻頭鴿，娶了當(dāng)時(shí)最漂亮的一只母鴿，她出身于一個(gè)古老高貴的信鴿家族。這就是彩虹鴿后來(lái)能證明自己無(wú)論是在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)還是和平時(shí)期都是相當(dāng)出色的信鴿的原因。他繼承了母親的智慧和父親的勇敢與機(jī)敏。彩虹鴿是那樣機(jī)智靈敏，有時(shí)候在最后時(shí)刻會(huì)一個(gè)筋斗翻到敵人頭部的正上方，逃脫老鷹的魔爪。不過(guò)，這一點(diǎn)以后會(huì)在適當(dāng)?shù)臅r(shí)間和地點(diǎn)再說(shuō)。

現(xiàn)在，讓我來(lái)告訴你彩虹鴿還在蛋里時(shí)九死一生的經(jīng)歷。我永遠(yuǎn)都不會(huì)忘記那一天，當(dāng)時(shí)母鴿生下了兩個(gè)蛋，我一時(shí)失誤，打破了其中一只。我真是笨到家了，甚至現(xiàn)在還感到后悔。誰(shuí)知道呢？說(shuō)不定打破那只蛋就等于扼殺了世界上最出色的一只鴿子。事情是這樣發(fā)生的。我們的房子有四層樓高——房頂上建有鴿巢。母鴿生下兩個(gè)蛋的幾天后，我決定清掃一下鴿巢的垃圾。當(dāng)時(shí)，母鴿正臥在那兩只蛋上。我輕輕地抱起母鴿，把

她放在我身邊的房頂上。然后我小心翼翼地拿起每個(gè)蛋，極其溫柔地放在鄰近的鴿巢里。不過(guò)這個(gè)鴿巢沒(méi)有在硬木地板上鋪棉花或法蘭絨。接下來(lái)，我就忙著清理鴿巢里的雜物。一清理完，我就拿著其中一只蛋放回原處。接著，我又伸手拿起另一個(gè)蛋，輕輕而又牢牢地握在手里。就在這時(shí)，有什么東西落在了我的臉上，就像風(fēng)暴刮過(guò)房頂一般。原來(lái)是彩虹鴿的父親正怒氣沖沖地用翅膀撲打我的臉。更糟糕的是，他一只爪子抓在了我的鼻子上。既疼痛萬(wàn)分，又突如其來(lái)，以至于我還不知道是怎么回事呢，就把手里的蛋掉在了地上。我全神貫注地拍打公鴿，使他離開(kāi)我的頭和臉。最后他終于飛走了。但是，一切都太遲了：那個(gè)小小的鴿蛋落在我的腳邊，碎成了一攤。我對(duì)這只蠢笨的公鴿，也對(duì)自己怒不可遏。為什么對(duì)自己這樣呢？因?yàn)槲冶驹搶?duì)公鴿的襲擊作好準(zhǔn)備。他以為我是偷蛋賊，就懵懂無(wú)知地冒著生命危險(xiǎn)來(lái)阻止我搶劫他的窩。但愿我能給你留下深刻的印象，就是當(dāng)你在鴿子筑巢孵蛋的季節(jié)清掃鴿巢時(shí)，應(yīng)該預(yù)料到各種突然襲擊的發(fā)生。

不過(guò)，我們還是接著講故事吧。母鴿知道應(yīng)該在哪天用自己的嘴啄開(kāi)蛋殼，以便讓彩虹鴿來(lái)到這個(gè)世界。盡管

公鴿幾乎三分之一的時(shí)間都臥在鴿蛋上——因?yàn)樗刻鞆脑缟系桨矶际侨绱恕⒉恢离r鴿什么時(shí)候?qū)⑵茪ざ?。只有母鴿才確切知道那個(gè)神圣的時(shí)刻。我們還不明白這種獨(dú)特的無(wú)線電信號(hào)的特性，母鴿就是通過(guò)它得知蛋殼內(nèi)的蛋黃和蛋白已經(jīng)變成了鴿寶寶。母鴿也知道如何輕擊準(zhǔn)確的位置，好讓蛋殼破開(kāi)，而不讓鴿寶寶受到絲毫傷害。在我看來(lái)，這簡(jiǎn)直就像是奇跡。

彩虹鴿的出生完全像我描述過(guò)的那樣。我注意到，大約從下蛋后的第20天起，母鴿就不再伏在鴿蛋上了。每次公鴿從房頂上飛下來(lái)，主動(dòng)要臥在蛋上的時(shí)候，母鴿就啄他，趕他走。這時(shí)候公鴿就會(huì)咕咕直叫，意思是說(shuō)：“你為什么趕我走??？”

母鴿只是啄他啄得更兇了，意思是說(shuō)：“請(qǐng)走吧。即將發(fā)生的事情非常嚴(yán)肅。”

就這樣，公鴿飛走了。這讓我非常擔(dān)心，因?yàn)槲壹鼻信瓮@只蛋孵化，而且對(duì)它能不能孵出來(lái)感到懷疑。我越來(lái)越興致勃勃，越來(lái)越渴望地觀察鴿巢。一個(gè)小時(shí)過(guò)去了。什么都沒(méi)有發(fā)生。又過(guò)了大約45分鐘，母鴿把腦袋轉(zhuǎn)向一邊，傾聽(tīng)著什么——很可能是那只鴿蛋里的動(dòng)靜。隨后，她微微地驚動(dòng)了一下。我覺(jué)得仿佛她的整個(gè)身體都在震顫。隨之，她下定了巨大的決心。只見(jiàn)她抬起頭，對(duì)準(zhǔn)目標(biāo)。她兩下就啄開(kāi)了鴿蛋，從里面露出了一只小小鳥(niǎo)，整個(gè)嘴，還有小小的顫抖的身體！且看母鴿，她非常驚訝。這就是她這么多日來(lái)期待的小寶寶嗎？噢，他是多么弱小，多么無(wú)助??！母鴿意識(shí)到鴿寶寶的無(wú)助時(shí)，就用胸前柔軟的藍(lán)色羽毛蓋住了他。