美国诺奖诗人露依丝·格利克《一段记忆》《儿童故事》
《一段记忆》
一场病悄然降临，
病因从未确定，
尽管越来越难以维持
一切正常、身体健康
或生活愉快的表象——
渐渐地，我只想和与我类似的人在一起；
我竭尽所能找到他们，
而这绝非易事，
因为他们都有伪装或者躲了起来。
但最终我总算找到了几个同伴，
那段时间，我有时会
与这个那个在河边散步，
说话时又有了我几乎遗忘了的坦率——
然而更多时候，我们沉默无语，更喜欢
河流，而不是我们可能说到的任何东西——
河两岸，高高的泽地禾草
被秋风吹拂，静静的，毫无间断。
我似乎从童年起
就记得这个地方，虽然
小时候这里没有河，
只有房屋和草坪。所以，也许
我正慢慢回到童年之前
那段时间，回到遗忘之中，也许
我记得的就是那条河。
A Memory
A sickness came over me
whose origins were never determined
though it became more and more difficult
to sustain the pretense of normalcy,
of good health or joy in existence —
Gradually I wanted only to be with those like myself;
I sought them out as best I could
which was no easy matter
since they were all disguised or in hiding.
But eventually I did find some companions
and in that period I would sometimes walk
with one or another by the side of the river,
speaking again with a frankness I had nearly forgotten —
and yet, more often we were silent, preferring
the river over anything we could say —
On either bank, the tall marsh grass blew
calmly, continuously, in the autumn wind.
And it seemed to me I remembered this place
from my childhood, though
there was no river in my childhood,
only houses and lawns. So perhaps
I was going back to that time
before my childhood, to oblivion, maybe
it was that river I remembered.
《儿童故事》
国王和王后厌倦了乡村生活，
回城里去，小公主们全都跟着，
在车后面喋喋不休，齐唱系动词是的变位歌：
我是am，你是are，is用于他她它——
但是车里
不会有变位，不会。
谁能说说未来？没人对未来有一星半点的了解，
甚至行星也不了解。
但公主们免不了要住在里面。
那一天终于到来，这是多么悲伤的一天。
车外，牛群与草场渐行渐远；
它们看起来很平静，但平静绝非真相。
绝望才是真相。这一点，
母亲和父亲心知肚明。所有的希望都已烟消云散。
我们必须回到那希望消散处，
才可能再次找到它。
A Children’s Story
Tired of rural life, the king and queen
return to the city,
all the little princesses
rattling in theback of the car
singing the song of being:
I am, you are, he, she, it is —
But there will be
no conjugation in the car, oh no.
Who can speak of the future? Nobody knows anything about the future,
even the planets do not know.
But the princesses will have to live in it.
What a sad day the day has become.
Outside the car, the cows and pastures are drifting away;
they look calm, but calm is not the truth.
Despair is the truth. This is what
mother and father know. All hope is lost.
We must return to where it was lost
if we want to find it again.
