“I’m Working On the World” by Wistawa Szymborska
“我正在寫 這個世界”
I’m working on the world,
revised, improved edition,
featuring fun for fools,
blues for brooders,
combs for bald pates,
tricks for old dogs.
我正在寫這個世界,
一個改寫過,潤飾過的版本,
為傻瓜們找一些樂子,
為沉思者譜幾首藍調,
給禿頭們尋幾把梳子,
給老狗們想幾招新把戲.
Here’s one chapter: The Speech
of Animals and Plants.
Each species comes, of course,
with its own dictionary.
Even a simple “Hi there,”
when traded with a fish,
make both the fish and you
feel quite extraordinary.
這是其中一章: 動物與植物的談話
每個物種生來, 無庸置疑,
皆有自己的字典.
即使是一句簡單的 “嗨!”
當跟魚說的時候,
都使你和魚感覺 分外
與眾不同.
The long-suspected meanings
of rustlings, chirps, and growls!
Soliloquies of forests!
The epic hoot of owls!
Those crafty hedgehogs drafting
aphorisms after dark,
while we blindly believe
they are sleeping in the park!
在樹葉沙沙作響,小鳥啁啾歌唱,小狗汪汪吠叫中皆有
費人疑猜的心思啊!
還有 森林的自言自語
貓頭鷹史詩般的整夜咕嚕聲
狡猾的豪豬在黑夜裡
想一些格言警句
我們還天真地以為
它們在公園裡睡覺呢!
Time (Chapter Two) retains
its sacred right to meddle
in each earthly affair.
Still, time’s unbounded power
that makes a mountain crumble,
moves seas, rotates a star,
won’t be enough to tear
lovers apart: they are
too naked, too embraced,
too much like timid sparrows.
時間(第二章)則持有
它神聖的權利干涉
世間所有事務.
然而, 它那能使一座山崩解,
移動海水,
轉移星星的無限能力,
卻無法使一對戀人分開:
他們太赤裸, 太相愛
就像一對害羞的麻雀.
Old age is, in my book,
the price that felons pay,
so don’t whine that it’s steep:
you’ll stay young if you’re good.
Suffering (Chapter Three)
doesn’t insult the body.
Death? It comes in your sleep,
exactly as it should.
年老, 在我的書中,
是重刑犯所付的代價.
別覺得這罰則過於嚴峻:
如果你善良將永保年輕.
受苦 (第三章)
並不侮辱身體.
死亡? 它只在睡夢中降臨,
就像它本來就應這樣.
When it comes, you’ll be dreaming
that you don’t need to breathe;
that breathless silence is
the music of the dark
and it’s part of the rhythm
to vanish like a spark.
Only a death like that. A rose
could prick you harder, I suppose;
you’d feel more terror at the sound
of petals falling to the ground.
當它降臨時, 你會睡得正香
無需呼吸,
那無需呼吸的沉默是夜晚的樂曲
如火花般 稍縱即逝的一段旋律
只有像是那樣的死亡才能 讓玫瑰
紮的你更深, 我猜想:
你才會在花瓣掉落地面時
感到更加恐懼.
Only a world like that. To die
just that much. And to live just so.
And all the rest is Bach’s fugue, played
for the time being
on a saw.
只有像是那樣的一個世界 像那樣地
死去, 且一般地活著.
而剩下的皆是巴哈的賦格曲, 眼下
正在一把鋸子上演奏.
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◆ From: 111.251.153.91
※ 編輯: sylviaplath 來自: 111.251.153.91 (01/26 21:05)
※ 編輯: sylviaplath 來自: 111.251.153.91 (01/26 21:11)