THE FOREST was large and thickly overgrown with all kinds of leaf-bearing trees. Usually
it is cold this time of year and it even happens that it snow
but this November was relatively warm. You might have thought it was summer except that the whole forest was strewn with fallen leaves－some yellow as saffron
some red as wine
some the color of gold and some of mixed color. The leaves had been torn down by the rain
by the wind
some by day
some at night
and they now formed a deep carpet over the forest floor. Although their juices had run dry
the leaves still exuded a pleasant aroma. The sun shone down on them through the living branches
and worms and flies which had somehow survived the autumn storms crawled over them. The space beneath the leaves provided hiding places for crickets
field mice and many other creatures who sought protection in the earth.
At times during cold and stormy nights
Trufa would plain: “My time had e
Ole
but you hand on!”
“What for?” Ole asked. “Without you
my life is senseless. If you fall
I'll fall with you.”
“No
Ole
don't do it! So long as a leaf can stay up it mustn't let go.”
“It all depends if you stay with me
” Ole replied. “By day I look at you and admire your beauty. At night I sense your fragrance . Be the only leaf on a tree? No never!”
“Ole
your words are so sweet but they're not true
” Trufa said. “You know very well that I'm no longer pretty. Look how wrinkled I am
how shriveled I've bee! Only one thing is still left me－my love for you.”
“Isn't that enough? Of all our powers love the highest
the finest
” Ole said. “So long as we love each other we remain here
and no wind
rain or storm can destroy us. I'll tell you something
Trufa－I never loved you as much as I love you now.”
“Why
Ole? Why? I'm all yellow.”
“Who says green is pretty and yellow is not? All colors are equally handsome.”
And just as Ole spoke these words
that which Trufa had feared all these months happened－a wind came up and tore Ole loose from the ig. Trufa began to tremble and flutter until it seemed that she
too
would soon be torn away
but she held fast. She saw Ole fall and sway in the air
and she called to him in leafy language: “Ole! Come back! Ole! Ole!”
But before she could even finish
Ole vanished from sight. He blended in with the other leaves on the ground
and Trufa was left all alone on the tree.
So long as it was still day
Trufa managed somehow to endure her grief. But when it grew dark and cold and a piercing rain began to fall
she sank into despair. Somehow she felt that the blame for all the leafy misfortunes lay with the tree
the trunk with all its mighty limbs. Leaves fell
but the trunk stood tall
thick and firmly rooted in the ground. No wind
rain or hail could upset it. What did it matter to a tree
which probably lived forever
what bee of a leaf? To Trufa
the trunk was a kind of god. It covered itself with leaves for a few months
then it shook them off. It nourished them with its sap for as long as it pleased
then it let them die of thirst. Trufa pleaded with the tree to give her back her Ole
to make it summer again
but the tree didn’t heed her prayers.
Trufa didn't think a night could be so long as this one—so dark
so frosty. She spoke to Ole and hoped for an answer
but Ole was silent and gave no sign of his presence.
Trufa said to the tree: “Since you've taken Ole from me
take me too.”
But even this prayer the tree didn't acknowledge.
After a while
Trufa dozed off. This wasn't sleep but a strange languor . Trufa awoke and to her amazement found that she was no longer handing on the tree. The wind had blown her down while she was asleep. This was different from the way she used to feel when she awoke on the tree with the sunrise. All her fears and anxieties had now vanished. The awakening also brought with it an awareness she had never felt before. She knew now that she wasn't just a leaf that depended on every whim of the wind
but that she was part of the universe. Through some mysterious force
Trufa understood the miracle of her molecules
atoms
protons and electrons－the enormous energy she represented and the divine plan of which she was a part.
Next to her lay Ole
and they greeted each other with a love they hadn't been aware of before. This wasn't a love that depended on chance or caprice
but a love as mighty and eternal as the universe itself. That which they had feared all the days and nights beeen April and November turned out to be not death but redemption. A breeze came and lifted Ole and Trufa in the air and they soared with the bliss known only by those who have freed themselves and have joined with eternity.
词语注释: crawl n. 爬行;缓慢的行进 cricket n. 蟋蟀
板球 fragrance n. 芬芳
香味 languor n. 怠惰
疲倦
无气力 leafy adj. 叶茂盛的
多叶的
叶状的 overgrown adj. 长得很快
杂草丛生
这是一座很大很茂密的森林，长满生有各种各样叶子的树。通常，每年的这个时候天气很冷了，甚至下雪了，可是这个十一月比较暖和，如果不是满林子的落叶——桔黄的，酒红的，金黄的，还有杂色的——也许以为还是夏天呢。这些落叶有些在白天，有些在夜里被雨打落，被风吹落，如今它们在森林的地面上形成了一条厚厚的落叶毯子。尽管已干枯，落叶仍散发出好闻的香味。阳光透过树枝照耀着它们，落叶上爬动着在秋天的暴风雨中不知怎么存活下来的虫子、苍蝇。落叶底下也为蟋蟀们提供了藏身之所，田鼠和许多其它生物也在大地上找寻庇护。
有时在寒冷的暴风雨之夜，特鲁法会抱怨：“我的时间到了，奥立，可是你要坚持住！”
“为了什么理由呢？”奥立问。“没有你我的生命毫无意义，如果你掉下去，我将跟你一起掉下去！”
“不，奥立，别这样！一片树叶只要能留在树上就不应该松手往下掉。”
“这全得靠你是否留下来陪我。”奥立回答。“白天我看着你爱慕你的美丽，夜里感觉着你的芬芳。只我一片树叶留在树上？决不！”
特鲁法说：“奥立，你的话真让我高兴，可是你说得不对。你很清楚我不漂亮了，看我多皱，变得多枯萎了啊！我唯一剩下的就是——我爱你。”
奥立说：“那不就够了吗？爱是所有力量中最高尚、最美好的。只要我们在这里彼此相爱，就没有风，没有雨或暴风雪能毁灭我们。告诉你，特鲁法，我从来没有像现在这么爱你。”
“为什么，奥立？为什么，我已经完全枯黄了。”
“谁说绿色漂亮黄色就不漂亮了？所有的色彩都同样漂亮。”
在一棵其它叶子都落了的树梢上，还有两片挂在一根细枝上：这是奥立和特鲁法。奥立和特鲁法也不知道为什么他们在所有的雨、寒夜和风中幸存了下来。没有人知道为什么有的树叶会飘落下来而有的树叶依旧长在树上？可是奥立和特鲁法认为答案在于他们深深地爱着对方。奥立比特鲁法年长几天，外形略大于特鲁法，可是特鲁法更漂亮精致。每当刮风下雨或开始下冰雹时，一片树叶并不能为另一片做些什么。然而每到这个时候，奥立都鼓励特鲁法。在最恶劣的暴风雨里，雷鸣电闪，狂风不仅刮落树叶，甚至刮断整根树枝，奥立央求着特鲁法：“坚持，特鲁法！尽你的全力坚持住！”
奥立刚说完这些话，特鲁法这几个月里一直害怕的事发生了——一阵风刮来从细枝上拉扯松了奥立。特鲁法开始颤抖、晃动，似乎她很快也要被刮落了，可是她牢牢抓住了。她看到奥立掉了下去在空中摇晃着，她用叶子的语言大声喊：“奥立，回来！回来啊，奥立！”
可是她甚至话都没能说完，奥立就从视野里消失了。他跟地上的其它落叶混合在一起，而特鲁法孤伶伶地留在了树上。
只要天还没黑，特鲁法不管怎样还能设法忍受悲痛。可是天渐渐黑冷下来，并开始下起刺骨的雨，她绝望了。不知怎么地她觉得所有树叶不幸的责任要怪树，要怪长有巨大树枝的树干。树叶掉了，而树干仍旧高大牢固地扎根在大地上，没有风雨或冰雹能掀翻它。这些对树有什么要紧呢，它有可能永远存活下去，可是成为一片树叶呢？在特鲁法看来，树干就像上帝，它用树叶覆盖自己几个月，然后又抖落它们；在树干高兴的时候就用树的汁液滋养树叶，而后又渴死它们。特鲁法请求树把奥立还给她，让夏天再一次来临，可是树没有注意到它的祈求。
特鲁法从没想到一个夜晚能像今晚这么长——这么黑暗，这么严寒。她呼唤着奥立，希望能听到一声回答，可是奥立沉默着，没有给出一点他存在的迹象。
特鲁法对树说道：“既然你从我身边带走了奥立，把我也一起带走吧。”
可是甚至这个祈求树也没有注意。
片刻后，特鲁法打瞌睡了。这不是睡，而是让人不适的衰弱无力。醒来后，她吃惊地发现她不挂在树上了，睡着时风已把她刮了下来。这给了她不同于伴着日出醒来的感觉，她所有的害怕和焦虑此刻都消失了。这次醒来给了她前所未有的意识。她知道现在她不只是一片依赖于风的一时兴致的树叶了，她成为宇宙的一部分。通过某些神秘的力量，特鲁法了解了自身分子，原子，质子和电子的奇迹，她所代表的巨大能量以及她是其中一部分的神圣计划。
奥立就躺在她身旁，他们怀着前所未有的爱问候对方。这不是依赖机会或反复无常的爱，这爱跟宇宙本身一样巨大和永恒。在四月至十一月间他们日日夜夜恐惧的结果却不是死亡而是解救。一阵和风把奥立和特鲁法带到空中，他们在只有解放自己进入永恒才能领悟到的无限幸福里冲入云宵。