一個七月的下午，在華盛頓特區的市中心，一只赤蛺蝶落在了作者的肩頭。他帶著蝴蝶去照相館拍了合照，一起去餐廳吃飯，蝴蝶在他肩膀上停留了整整30分鐘之久。第二天回到家里，他發現這只蝴蝶又回來了！自此之后，不時有赤蛺蝶來拜訪他，在岳母的生日會上，在女兒出嫁前夕，在屋頂，在門前的櫻桃樹下……他認為蝴蝶與自己建立起了某種聯系，他是受到了蝴蝶的祝福。

Dances with Butterflies

與蝶共舞

By Dan Southerland 丁飛 選 溫純 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蛺蝶，在一個特別的地點，在我的肩膀上停留了特別之久。

2. fill up: 擠滿了人。

3. 餐廳經理上網查了蝴蝶喜歡吃的東西：熟透的水果。overripe:（尤指水果等）熟過頭的，熟透的。

4. 我只知道帝王蝴蝶和它們的遷徙。notion: 觀點，意見，認識；monarch: 帝王蝴蝶，在北美很常見的一種大型蝴蝶；migration: 遷徙。我只知道一些關于帝王蝴蝶和蝴蝶遷徙。

5. wingspan: 翼展，翼幅。

6. 從一開始，這只脆弱的小生物就使人們顯示出了最美好的一面，即便是在最不可能的環境中——用黑木頭和黃銅鑲邊裝飾的餐廳。brass: 黃銅；trim: 鑲邊修飾。

7. hail: 打手勢示意（計程車等）停下。