九座岛,三大板块

波莉低低地飞过黑色的火山岩,绿色的田野一直延伸到悬崖边,雾气从内陆的圆山上滑过。这里是圣米格尔岛,亚速尔群岛九座岛中最大的一座,孤零零地立在北大西洋上。海风里有咸味,也有湿土和青草的味道。

Polly came in low over black volcanic rock, where green fields ran to the cliff edge and mist slid across rounded hills inland. This was São Miguel, the largest of the nine Azores islands, alone in the North Atlantic. Salt air mixed with wet earth and cut grass.

这座岛之所以存在,是因为海底深处有一道裂缝,三大板块在那里慢慢地互相碾磨。北美洲往一边拉,欧洲往另一边拉,非洲从南边推过来。热量从它们相接的裂缝里升上来。这里的每一座岛,都是由火和冷却的岩石造成的。

The island exists because of a seam far below the ocean floor, where three great plates grind slowly against each other. North America pulls one way, Europe another, and Africa presses from the south. Heat rises through the cracks where they meet. Every island here was built from fire and cooling rock.

圣米格尔岛上几乎每块田的边上都有一道绣球花篱,有蓝色、紫色,有时是浅粉色,密得像画上去的一样。十九世纪,农民把这种花从亚洲带来,只是用来标出田地的边界。火山土里矿物质很多,让花瓣变得更蓝。

Almost every field on São Miguel is edged by a hedge of hydrangeas, blue, violet, and sometimes soft pink, so thick they look painted onto the land. Farmers brought the plants from Asia in the nineteenth century just to mark field borders. The volcanic soil, rich in minerals, turns their petals an even deeper blue.

再往内陆,绿色的山丘围着一些安静的盆地,波莉在海岸边看不到它们。有淡淡的蒸汽从中间某处升起,在灰色的天空下像细细的白线。于是她转身朝高处飞去。

Further inland, green hills folded around quiet basins Polly could not see from the coast. Steam rose faintly from somewhere among them, thin white threads against the grey sky, and she turned toward the high ground.