摩托车穿过春天的荒野（2）

中途休息的时候，对着车上的观后镜看了一眼，吓了一大跳——发现自己少了两颗门牙！再定睛一看，原来是门牙变成黑色的了……

During the break, I glanced at the rearview mirror in the car and was shocked to find that I had lost two front teeth! Upon closer inspection, I realized that my front teeth had turned black...

全是给风吹的，沾了厚厚一层土，嘴唇也黑乎乎的，僵硬干裂。

It was all because of the wind; they were covered in a thick layer of dust, and my lips were black and cracked.

这样的季节正是沙尘肆虐的时候。我叔叔头盔的挡风镜上也蒙了厚厚的一层灰土。

This season was indeed the time when dust storms wreaked havoc. My uncle’s helmet visor was also coated with a thick layer of dirt.

难以想象这一路上他怎么坚持到这会儿的，居然还能始终准确地行驶在土路中央。

I couldn’t imagine how he had managed to keep going all this way, yet he still managed to stay accurately on the dirt road.

我就用手心帮他擦了擦，谁知越擦越脏。只好改用衣袖擦。

I tried to wipe it with my palm, but it only got dirtier. I had to switch to my sleeve.

我们站在车边休息，口渴得要命。风呼啸着鼓荡在天地间。我头发蓬乱，面部肌肉僵硬。

We stood by the car to rest, dying of thirst. The wind howled fiercely between the heavens and the earth. My hair was messy, and my facial muscles felt stiff.

那风大得呀——后来，我不小心在这样的风里失手掉落五块钱，跟在钱后面一路狂追了几百米都没能追上。

The wind was so strong—once, I accidentally dropped a five-yuan bill in such wind and chased it for several hundred meters without being able to catch up.

幸亏钱最后被一丛芨芨草挂住了才停下来。

Fortunately, the money was finally caught by a patch of grass and stopped.

我掏钱是因为买汽油。买汽油是因为我们的油又不够了。

I was rummaging for money to buy gasoline because we were running low on fuel.

油不够是因为油箱漏了——有一根插在油箱上的管子，不知怎么的掉了下来……

We were low on fuel because the fuel tank was leaking—one of the hoses connected to the tank had somehow fallen off...

在戈壁滩上抛锚，是必须得随时迎接和从容面对的事情。

Breaking down in the Gobi Desert is something you must always be prepared to face calmly.

因为那是属于“万一”的事。因此我叔仍旧乐呵呵的，根本不为由于自己的疏忽连累了我而有所愧疚。

Because that is part of the “just in case” situation. Therefore, my uncle still seemed cheerful and didn’t feel guilty about putting me in a predicament because of his oversight.

他只是笑眯眯地告诉我还有一次更惨，走到一半路时，爆了胎。

He simply smiled and told me about a worse time when, halfway through, he had a flat tire.

于是那一次他在戈壁滩上推了整整九个钟头的车……

So that time he pushed the vehicle for a whole nine hours in the Gobi Desert...

若是这一次也要让我陪着他再走九个小时的话……

If I had to accompany him for another nine hours this time...

我发誓，等我一回到家就打死也不出门了。出门太危险了。

I swore that once I got home, I would never go out again, no matter what. It was just too dangerous outside.

这四野空空茫茫的，视野里连棵树都没有，到哪儿找汽油去？

The land around us was vast and desolate, with not a single tree in sight. Where could we find gasoline?

我们运气也未免太好了。平时走这条路，从头到尾除了偶尔一两个牧羊人，鬼影子也见不着一个。

Our luck was extraordinarily good. Usually, when taking this route, except for the occasional shepherd, you wouldn’t see a single soul.

可这次车一坏，不到一会儿，视野尽头就有另一辆摩托车挟着滚滚尘土过来了。

But this time, shortly after the breakdown, another motorcycle appeared in the distance, kicking up clouds of dust.

我们远远地冲他招手。近了，是一个小伙子。一看就是牧业上的，脸膛黑红，眼睛尖锐地明亮着。

We waved to him from afar. As he got closer, we could see it was a young man. He looked like he worked in livestock, with a dark red face and sharp, bright eyes.

我们比划着让他明白我们的处境，他立刻很爽快地去拧自己的油箱盖子。

We gestured to let him understand our situation and he quickly went to unscrew the cap of his fuel tank.

我连忙找接油的容器，可是在背包里翻半天，只翻出一只用来装针线的小号“娃哈哈”酸奶瓶子。

I hurriedly searched for a container to catch the fuel, but after rummaging through my backpack for a long time, all I found was a small “Wahaha” yogurt bottle meant for holding needles and threads.

于是这两个男人把那台摩托车翻倒，我小心翼翼地持着这个过于小巧纤细的瓶子对准油箱流出的那股清流。

So, the two men flipped the motorcycle over, and I carefully held the delicate little bottle toward the clear stream flowing from the tank.

一连接了五六瓶后，就再也不好意思要了。人家也是出远门，要是也出了点事，油不够了怎么办？

After filling it up five or six times, I felt embarrassed to ask for more. They were also traveling a long way; what if they ran into trouble and ran out of fuel?

最后，为了表示感谢，我想给他点钱，于是……他们两个站在风中，看着我追逐着那张纸币越跑越远。像是永远也不会回来了。

In the end, to express my gratitude, I wanted to give him some money, but... the two of them stood in the wind, watching me chase that banknote as it grew further and further away. It seemed it would never return.

后来当我把钱给他时，他反倒向我们道谢不迭，对我们感激得没办法。

Later, when I finally gave him the money, he instead thanked us repeatedly, grateful to the point of being speechless.

加了油，我们继续在戈壁滩上渺小地奔驰。身后尘土荡天。天色渐渐暗了。

After refueling, we continued our small journey across the Gobi Desert. Dust rose into the sky behind us. The sky gradually darkened.

土路也变得若隐若现，时断时续。渐渐地，发现不是这条路，我们走错了，我们迷路了。

The dirt road became indistinct, appearing and disappearing. Gradually, we realized that we weren’t on this road; we were lost.

在戈壁滩上迷路实在是一件可怕的事。白天还好说，晚上温度会降到零度左右，风也许会更猛烈。

Getting lost in the Gobi Desert is genuinely terrifying. It’s manageable during the day, but at night, temperatures might drop to around zero degrees, and the wind could become even fiercer.

而且，迷路这种事，一旦有了开头，越着急就越糊涂，越搞不清方向。

Moreover, once you begin to lose your way, the more anxious you get, the more confused you become, and the harder it is to figure out which direction to go.

这大地坦阔，看似四通八达，其实步步都有可能通向永远回不到上一步的地方。

The land appeared vast and accessible, yet every step could lead to a place you could never go back from.

我们进入了一片陷入大地的褚红色起伏地带。

We entered a rolling area of reddish-brown earth.

而在此之前，在这片大地上往返过许多趟，对这一处根本没有印象。

Before this, we had traveled many times across this land but had no impression of this particular area at all.

我提醒叔叔往回走，他却认为反正都是朝南的方向，怎么走都会走到乌伦古河的，沿着乌河往下游走，怎么走都能走到家。这会儿我也没什么主见，只好听他的。

I suggested to my uncle that we turn back, but he believed that since we were generally heading south, we would eventually reach the Ulungur River, and by following the U River downstream, we would definitely make it home. At that moment, I couldn’t think of anything better, so I decided to follow his lead.

在大地西方，有静穆的马群在斜阳下拖着长长的影子缓缓移动，一个牧马的少年垂着长鞭，静坐在马背上，长久地往我们这边看。

To the west, a quiet herd of horses in the slanting sunlight stretched long shadows as a young horseman sat quietly on horseback, gazing at us for a long time.

我建议向这个孩子问一下路，但他离我们太远了。

I suggested we ask the boy for directions, but he was too far away.

而我叔叔想要再往南走几公里，走出这片红色的戈壁滩，走到前方的高处看看地形。

My uncle wanted to walk a few more kilometers south, to get out of this reddish Gobi desert and see the terrain from a higher point.

到了后来，我们还是不得不回头去找那个少年。为抄近路，我们的摩托车离开浅色的土路直接开进深色的赤裸粗硬的野地，往西北方向走了很久。

Eventually, we had to go back to find that boy. To cut across, our motorcycle left the light-colored dirt road and directly entered the dark, bare, and rugged wilderness, heading northwest for quite a while.

却再也找不到刚才的马群和孩子了。可能又一次迷路了。

Yet we could no longer find the horse herd or the boy. We might have gotten lost again.

大地上空旷无碍，天空的云丝丝缕缕地稠密起来。眼下的世界虽然清晰依旧，但黄昏真的来临了。那五六小瓶汽油烧到现在，不知还能折腾多久。

The vast land felt unimpeded, and the clouds in the sky began to thicken. Although the world appeared clear, dusk had truly arrived. Those five or six small bottles of gasoline had burned for quite some time; who knew how much longer they would last?

我们在戈壁滩上停下来，脚下是扎着稀疏干草的板结地面。

We stopped in the Gobi Desert, our feet on a hardened ground sparsely covered with dry grass.

我弯腰从脚边土壳中抠出一枚小石子，擦干净后发现那是一块淡黄色渗着微红血丝的透明玛瑙。

I bent down and dug out a small stone from the dirt at my feet; after cleaning it, I discovered it was a light yellow transparent agate with faint red veins.

再四下一看，脚下像这样的漂亮石子比比皆是，一枚挨一枚紧紧嵌在坚硬的大地上。

Looking around, I noticed there were beautiful stones just like that one everywhere, tightly embedded in the hard earth.

我乱七八糟拾了一大把，揣进口袋。这时，抬起头来，看到远远的地方有烟尘腾起。

I haphazardly collected a handful and tucked them into my pocket. At that moment, when I looked up, I saw smoke rising in the distance.

我们连忙骑上车向那一处追去。渐渐地才看清，居然是一辆卡车！

We hurriedly hopped on the bike and chased after it. Gradually, we realized it was a truck!

还是车头凸出一大块的那种浅蓝色的雷锋时代的“老解放”……

It was one of those old blue “Liberation” trucks that had a big bulge in the front from the era of Lei Feng...

真是见了鬼了。好像我们迷了路后，就穿越到了过去年代似的。

This was quite a surprise. It felt as if, after getting lost, we had traveled back in time.

近了，才看清这辆车实在是破得可以。咣咣当当地在大地上晃荡着前行，随时都可能散架的光景。

As we got closer, we saw that the truck was in such poor condition. It rattled along the ground, swaying as though it might fall apart at any moment.

肯定是一辆黑车。远远超过了法定的使用年限，但还是能使用，下半辈子便只能行驶在这种永远不用提防交警的“黑路”上了。

It was definitely an unlicensed vehicle, far exceeding its legal lifespan, yet still operational. It would spend the rest of its life traveling on these “black roads” where it never had to worry about traffic police.

荒野将它从很久以前藏匿到如今，像是为世界小心地保存了一样逝去的东西……

The wilderness had concealed it for a long time, as if it were carefully preserving something lost to the world...

司机察觉到有车在后面追，就停了下来，静止在远处的大地上。我们赶到时，他正靠在半开着的车门上卷莫合烟。

The driver noticed we were following, so he stopped and sat still on the expanse of earth. When we arrived, he was leaning against the half-open door of his truck, rolling a hand-rolled cigarette.

问明来意，他建议我们跟在他的大车后面走，否则太危险了。

After learning our intention, he suggested we follow his large truck, as otherwise it would be too dangerous.

可是他所去的地方同我们要去的不在一块儿。虽然也可以从那边再绕到我们的目的地，但我们实在是急于往家赶，不想再绕远了。

However, where he was headed was not on our route. While it was possible to circle around to our destination from there, we were eager to get home and didn’t want to take a longer path.

而且，大车所到之处，尘土漫天，跟在它后面吃土不是舒服的事。于是我们仔细地问清路后，就道谢分别了。

Moreover, the dust kicked up by the large truck was abundant, and following it meant eating dust, which wasn't pleasant. So we carefully clarified the route, thanked him, and parted ways.

那司机再三告诫我们不能走西边的岔路，一遇到岔路千万记得往左拐。一直往左拐怎么着都会到达乌河的。

The driver repeatedly advised us not to take the west branching road, reminding us to always turn left at any intersection. By continually turning left, we would eventually reach the U River.

这个司机真是好人啊，就像他的古董车一样实在。他还取了根管子出来，往我们的油箱里又给灌了些油，最后还送给我们半瓶水。

What a good person this driver was, just like his antique vehicle, honest and genuine. He even took out a hose and poured some fuel into our tank, and finally gifted us half a bottle of water.

接下来我们告别，朝着两个方向，彼此在大地上渐渐走远了。

After that, we bid farewell and gradually drifted apart in different directions across the earth.

我两只手轮换着插在外套口袋里取暖，一只手紧紧地抠着叔叔的肩膀。

I took turns sticking my hands into my jacket pockets for warmth, my one hand tightly gripping my uncle's shoulder.

他越开越快，风越来越猛。我却在想：此后，再也回不到一个有玛瑙的地方了……

He drove faster and faster, the wind grew stronger. I couldn’t help but think: I would never return to a place with agate again...