River Baptism By Garth Gilchrist河水的洗礼The summer I turned thirteen, my familys summer vacation was a visit to our relatives in the mountains of North Carolina. My cousin Jim, who was my age, took me down to his favorite swimming hole along the river. It was a deep pool under a high canopy of leaves. From the top of a twenty-five-foot cliff we looked down into the shimmering water and across to a sandy beach.那个夏天，我刚满13岁，我和家人去北卡罗来纳州山脉里的亲戚那里度暑假，我的表兄吉姆，和我差不多大，他带我沿着河岸，来到他最喜欢的深水潭。那个潭很深，在它的高处是一大片树林。从25英尺（将近8米）峭壁的顶部看下去，底下是鳞光闪闪的河水，对面是一片沙滩。Standing beside us on the edge of that cliff grew a big white oak tree, with its roots sunk deep down into the rock. And hanging from a limb that stretched out at just the right height and angle, was a rope swing.在峭壁边上，长着一棵巨大的白橡树，他的根深深地扎在石头里。它的一根大树枝上向外伸出，使其高度和角度正好形成一个秋千架。Look here, said Jim. This is the way you do it. You got to get a running start. Then you grab the rope and swing out and up as high as you can, and then you let go and fall to the water. Here, Ill show you.“看这里，”吉姆说，“是这样操作的。你得先助跑，然后抓住绳子，向外荡出去，荡得越高越好，然后放手，纵身跳进水潭里。来，我做给你看。”Jim made it look easy, and when his head surfaced in the bubbling water he hollered up, Now its your turn!吉姆很轻松地就完成了，他从冒泡的河水里探出头来，大叫道，“现在轮到你了！”I was certain I was going to die, but at thirteen dying is better than looking bad. When I came up sputtering, Jim smiled approvingly and we swam a few strokes to the beach, lay on the hot sand for awhile, and then swam back across the pool to do it again.我当时觉得我死定了，但是在13岁的年纪，死比丢面子好。当我奋力跳入潭中后，吉姆赞许地冲我微笑，我们划了几下水游到了沙滩上，在热沙子上躺了一会儿，然后游回对岸，再把这种活动做一遍。Jim and all of his friends always wore the proper North Carolina swimming attire, for skinny-dipping was a time honored tradition among boys throughout the mountain states. Sometimes I felt like I was a wild boy, or a beaver sliding through the water. Jim said he felt like an otter, since he loved to turn and twist in the deep pools and could swim under water a long ways.吉姆和所有他的朋友们总是穿着名副其实的“北卡罗来纳州泳装”（什么都没穿），因为裸泳是山区男孩子们历史悠久的运动。有时我觉得自己是个野男孩，或者是一个海狸在水中快速游动。吉姆说感觉自己像个水獭，他喜欢在深水潭里戏水，他还可以在水下潜游很长一段距离。Jims family was Baptists. On Sunday, Jims mom made us dress up in straight-jacket white shirts and strangle-hold ties, marched us down the street and filed us into church.吉姆的家人是浸礼教徒。星期天，他的母亲要求我和他穿着紧身白衬衣，戴着领结，领着我们走上大街，和大家一起去教堂礼拜。You must be baptized, by water and by the Spirit the preacher thundered. That water baptism sounded mighty good. I sat there dreaming of the river and waiting for the wonderful moment when the sermon would be over and Jim and I could go running down the path to the river.“你必须要经过圣水和精神的洗礼，”传教士高声叫喊着。用水洗礼听起来还不错。我坐在那，向往着去河里玩耍，等待着布道结束的美好时刻，到时我就可以和吉姆跑到小路上，奔向河边。On the tails of the closing prayer, Jim and I flew out into the sunny day and home for a quick sandwich. Then we plunged down the trail into the woods alive with the hum of cicadas hanging thick in the branches of the burr oaks and hickories.祈祷刚一结束，我和吉姆就冲出了教堂，外面的阳光明媚，我们在家里匆忙地吃了个三明治，然后就争先恐后地跑进了树林里，林子里的蝉儿发出嗡嗡的声音，大量地积聚在大果栎树和山胡桃树的树枝上。When we got within a hundred yards of the rope swing, Jim said, Ill race you!当我们离秋千不到100码时，吉姆说，“我们来赛跑吧！”You got it! I replied.“来就来！”我回答。We dropped our clothes right there and tore down the trail to see who could get to the rope swing first. I was a fast runner, but Jim was faster. He pulled ahead of me and dove for the rope. With a shriek of victory, Jim swung out over the water and up, to the very top of the arc. In perfect form, Jim let go of the rope and looked down to see where he was going to land.我们当场就脱下了衣物，扔掉身上一切杂物，比赛看谁先到秋千。我跑得很快，但吉姆跑得更快。他跑在我前面，扑向秋千。吉姆尖叫着欢庆胜利，在水潭上的秋千上荡来荡去，荡到弧形摆动的最高点。在最佳的高度和角度，吉姆放开了绳藤，往下查看自己的降落点。But there - not twenty yards away on the beach - stood the preacher and two dozen of the faithful, performing a baptism. I could see they were looking straight up at Jim with their mouths wide open.但是，离沙滩不到20码处，站着传教士和24名信徒，正在进行洗礼仪式。他们盯着吉姆看着，张大嘴巴说不出话来。As fervently as Jim prayed to fly, he quickly descended from the heavens. Jim abandoned his plans for a graceful swan dive and instinctively assumed the cannonball position - known for its magnificent splash.不管吉姆有多么诚心地祈祷自己会飞，他很快就从半空中落了下来。他本来想做个优雅的燕式跳水，结果只好本能地做出抱膝跳水（也叫炮弹跳水，因为溅起的大量水花而得名）。The whole congregation got baptized that day. But Jim never saw it. He broke his record for underwater swimming and was around the bend and out of sight while the congregation stood stunned and speechless on the shore.那天，所有的教众都得到了洗礼。但吉姆并没有看见。他打破了自己潜泳的纪录，在教众们站在沙滩感到吃惊和无语时，他已经疯狂地游到众人看不到的地方去了。Dont worry, Jim, I consoled him later. Im sure everybody thought you were an angel, and besides, it turned out fine. You got the river dunking you wanted, and those folks will never forget that baptism.“不必担心，吉姆，”迟些时候，我安慰他道。“我肯定每个人都把你当作天使，另外，也没有什么大不了的。你在河水里玩耍得到了你想要的快活，那些教众也绝对忘记不了这次洗礼。”Thinking about it now, I dont think theres much difference, anyway, between wild boys and angels, or betwee