与蝶共舞

一个七月的下午，在华盛顿特区的市中心，一只赤蛱蝶落在了作者的肩头。他带着蝴蝶去照相馆拍了合照，一起去餐厅吃饭，蝴蝶在他肩膀上停留了整整30分钟之久。第二天回到家里，他发现这只蝴蝶又回来了！自此之后，不时有赤蛱蝶来拜访他，在岳母的生日会上，在女儿出嫁前夕，在屋顶，在门前的樱桃树下……他认为蝴蝶与自己建立起了某种联系，他是受到了蝴蝶的祝福。

Dances with Butterflies

与蝶共舞

By Dan Southerland 丁飞 选 温纯 注

Since 2007 I’ve developed a friendship with a butterfly. A particular kind of butterfly, that is: the red admiral (Vanessa atalanta). It is among the most common and most friendly butterflies. It’s not unusual to have one land on you.

But the first of these butterflies in my experience lit on my shoulder at an unusual location, for an unusually long time¹. It was a July afternoon in downtown Washington, D.C. He stayed on me for 30 minutes, even while I stopped at a photo shop and asked to have my picture taken with him .

Then I took him into a steakhouse across the street and called my wife, Muriel. I told her that I planned to bring the butterfly home with me in a taxi.

The restaurant was filling up² as 6 p.m. approached. The manager searched online for what butterflies liked to eat: overripe fruit³. But the insect ignored the strawberries she offered.

I knew almost nothing about butterflies. I had a few notions about monarchs and their migrations⁴. My new friend looked nothing like a monarch. He was mostly black with orange bands on his wings. His wingspan⁵was a little more than two inches.

From the start, this small fragile creature brought out the best in people, even in the unlikely setting of a restaurant filled with dark wood and brass trim⁶. People at nearby tables smiled and spoke softly as they watched the butterfly. They seemed to sense that something special was happening.

With the butterfly still on my shoulder, I paid the bill. Then, out on M Street, I hailed⁷ a cab.

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1. 但我生命里的第一只赤蛱蝶，在一个特别的地点，在我的肩膀上停留了特别之久。

2. fill up: 挤满了人。

3. 餐厅经理上网查了蝴蝶喜欢吃的东西：熟透的水果。overripe:（尤指水果等）熟过头的，熟透的。

4. 我只知道帝王蝴蝶和它们的迁徙。notion: 观点，意见，认识；monarch: 帝王蝴蝶，在北美很常见的一种大型蝴蝶；migration: 迁徙。我只知道一些关于帝王蝴蝶和蝴蝶迁徙。

5. wingspan: 翼展，翼幅。

6. 从一开始，这只脆弱的小生物就使人们显示出了最美好的一面，即便是在最不可能的环境中——用黑木头和黄铜镶边装饰的餐厅。brass: 黄铜；trim: 镶边修饰。

7. hail: 打手势示意（计程车等）停下。