秀陶 譯 | 瘂弦詩英譯

文摘   文学   2024-10-12 05:56   美国  
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◇原文刊登於《新大陸》詩刊 


曾譯過幾首瘂弦詩,當時因編者催稿,有幾處後來自覺不妥,現再潤飾一番。然譯詩一事,古今中外永遠是一件吃力不討好的事。音韻美醜只好暫不追究,略除兩種文字間之隔閡而已。


瘂弦詩英譯


秀陶



Professor C

 

Even entering June, his white starchy collar still props his classic air

Every morning, he fastens a bow tie the pre-war style

Then a stick, a snuff bottle, then goes out

While walking through the campus

The aged desire of becoming a statue emerges as usual

 

And the spinach diet didn’t work

It was also long proven that nothing exists on the other side of the cloud

When all the darkness bends down in scrutinizing a lamp

He says he has an enormous face

At night, composed with an array of stars



C 教授 

 

到六月他的白色硬領仍將繼續支撐他底古典

每個早晨,以大戰前的姿態打著領結

然後是手杖、鼻煙壺,然後外出

穿過校園時依舊萌起早歲那種

成為一尊雕像的慾望

 

而吃菠菜是無用的

雲的那邊早經證實甚麼也沒有

當全部黑暗俯下身來搜索一盞燈

他說他有一個巨大的臉

在晚夜,以繁星組成


民國49年8月26日






The Sailor

 

He tightens the brine-soaked ropes

He climbs tall masts

At night he hangs his thoughtful head

On board when there is moon light

 

Yet the earth is round

 His little darling sends him letters from a brothel far away

And he tattooed her pet name with a daisy on his arm

When in a shower the wind disturbs the poplar behind the light house

There is a song about him circulates in the neighborhood

 

Yet the earth is round

O sea, to you all of these are only silly



 水 夫

 

他拉緊鹽漬的繩索

他爬上高高的桅桿

到晚上他把他想心事的頭

垂在甲板上有月光的地方

 

而地球是圓的

 

他妹子從煙花院裡老遠捎信給他

而他把她的小名連同一朵雛菊刺在臂上

當微雨中風在搖燈塔後邊的白楊樹

街坊上有支歌是關於他的

 

而地球是圓的

海啊,這一切對你都是蠢行


民國49年8月26日





  

The Colonel

 

It was purely another kind of rose

Born out of flame

In the buckwheat field they encountered the fiercest battle

He bid one of his legs farewells in 1943

 

He heard history and laughter

 

What is immortal?

Cough syrup, a razor and last month’s due rent, etc.

Yet under the skirmish of his wife’s sewing machine

He reckons the only one who can capture him

Is the sun



上 校


 

那純粹是另一種玫瑰

自火焰中誕生

在蕎麥田裡他們遇見最大的會戰

而他的一條腿訣別於一九四三年

 

他曾經聽到過歷史和笑

 

甚麼是不朽呢

咳嗽藥刮臉刀上月房租如此等等

而在妻的縫紉機的零星戰鬥下

他覺得唯一能俘虜他的

便是太陽


民國49年8月26日







The Nun

 

And she always feels the beckoning afar

At this mackerelish afternoon

After telling to the end of her beads

She always feels that there is something

 

And the sea is on the other side of the ferry

It’s now afternoon, she sits

The bugle tune from the camp sounds always the same

She sits

 

There might be wind tonight, and a mandolin outside of the wall

Whimperingly plucking along

Wasn’t it written like this in a book?

Then removes in passing the carnation from the piano top

Because it hurts



 修 女

 

且總覺有些甚麼正在遠遠地喊她

在這鯖魚色的下午

當撥盡一串念珠之後

總覺有些甚麼

 

而海是在渡船場的那一邊

這是下午,她坐著

兵營裡的喇叭總這個樣子的吹著

她坐著

 

今夜或將有風,牆外有曼陀鈴

幽幽怨怨地一路彈過去——

一本書上曾經這樣寫過的吧

那主角後來怎樣了呢

 

暗忖著。遂因此分心了……

閉上眼依靠一分鐘的夜

順手將鋼琴上的康乃馨挪開

 

因它使她心痛


民國49年8月26日





The Actress

 

When sixteen, her name strayed in the city
A kind of sad aria
 
Those almondish arms ought to be guarded by eunuches
O, that little cute hair coif broke the hearts of a whole Ching dynasty
 
Was it a famous tragedy?
(Night after night the whole theatre cracks the watermelon seeds’ face)
 
“How painful……”
She, with hands locked in the cuffs
 
It was said
She mingled with a white Russian officer in Jiamusi
 
A kind of sad aria
Every woman cursed her in every city



坤 伶

 

十六歲她的名字便流落在城裡

一種凄然的旋律

 

那杏仁色的雙臂應由宦官來守衛

小小的髻兒啊清朝人為他心碎

 

是玉堂春吧

(夜夜滿園子嗑瓜子兒的臉!)

 

“苦啊……”

雙手放在枷裡的她

 

有人說

在佳木斯曾跟一個白俄軍官混過

 

一種凄然的旋律

每個婦人詛咒她在每個城裡


民國49年8月26日





The late governor of certain province

 

All of a sudden his forehead and prominence collapsed when clock struck seven
In the night that borrowed from doctors
Under his sad yet wealthy skin——
 
The chorus ended



故某省長



鐘鳴七句時他的前額和崇高突然宣告崩潰

在由醫生那裡借來的夜中

在他悲哀而富貴的皮膚底下——

 

合唱終止。



民國49年8月26日




秀陶歷年來發表在《新大陸》詩刊上的世界各國譯詩,絕大部分屬散文詩,後編成一集名《不死的章魚——世界散文詩選粹》,台灣黑眼睛文化事業公司2006年出版







主編: 陳銘華    編委: 陳銘華,遠方,達文

顧問:非馬,鄭愁予,葉維廉,張錯,羅青

公眾號編輯:蘇拉






新大陸詩刊
美洲唯一持續定期持續出版34年的華文現代詩雙月刊 newworldpoetry.com