董繼平
馬克·斯特蘭德(Mark?Strand,1934-2014),第四任美國桂冠詩人,生于加拿大愛德華王子島,曾在耶魯大學(xué)和艾奧瓦大學(xué)作家班學(xué)習(xí),后來在美國多所大學(xué)執(zhí)教。他先后出版了《睜一只眼睛睡覺》《移動的理由》《愈加黑暗》《我們的生平故事》《遲來的時刻》《延續(xù)的生命》《黑暗的港口》《一個人的暴風(fēng)雪》《雞,影子,月亮及更多》和《人與駱駝》等多部詩集;散文詩集有《幾乎無形》。榮獲普利策詩歌獎、波林根獎、全國文藝獎、愛倫坡獎、斯蒂文斯獎等美國重要詩歌獎。
日落時分的急診室
退休的指揮官心煩意亂。他在城堡中的房間很冷,大廳對面的房間也如此,所有其他房間均如此。在有很多其他更便宜、更暖和的城堡拋售的時候,他決不該購買這個城堡??墒撬矚g這個城堡的外貌——它的石頭塔堡高聳到冬天的空氣之中,它的大門,甚至還有它那凍結(jié)的護城河,呈現(xiàn)出一種銀白色的魅力,他認為自己有一天可能到河上去溜冰。他給自己斟上一杯白蘭地,點上一支雪茄,試圖聚精會神地思考其他事情——他的很多次勝利,他的手下的勇敢——可是他的念頭形成小小的漩渦而旋轉(zhuǎn),最初落在這里,然后落在那里,猶如風(fēng)吹拂,從一個空寂的鎮(zhèn)子飄流到另一個空寂的鎮(zhèn)子。
The?retired?commander?was?upset.?His?room?in?the?castle?was?cold,?so?was?the?room?across?the?hall,?and?all?the?other?rooms?as?well.?He?should?never?have?bought?this?castle?when?there?were?so?many?other,?cheaper,?warmer?castles?for?sale.?But?he?liked?the?way?this?one?looked—its?stone?turrets?rising?into?the?winter?air,?its?main?gate,?even?its?frozen?moat,?on?which?he?thought?someday?he?might?ice?skate,?had?a?silvery?charm.?He?poured?himself?a?brandy?and?lit?a?cigar,?and?tried?to?concentrate?on?other?things—his?many?victories,?the?bravery?of?his?men—but?his?thoughts?swirled?in?tiny?eddies,?settling?first?here,?then?there,?moving?as?the?wind?does?from?empty?town?to?empty?town.
無窮小事物的謎
你在黃昏見過他們,沿著海岸行走,見過他們站在門口,從窗口探出身去,或者跨騎著一個緩慢移動的影子邊緣。中間的情侶,既不在這里也不在那里,既不在里面也不在外面??蓱z的家伙,他們被驅(qū)使去體驗?zāi)遣豢赡艿氖虑椤<词乖谝估?,他們也閉著一只眼、睜著一只眼躺在床上,希望捕捉意識的最后一秒和睡眠的第一秒,棲居在無主之地,那個美麗的地方,僅僅像神祇可能凝視那樣,去凝視虛無和萬物的光明的結(jié)合。
Youve?seen?them?at?dusk,?walking?along?the?shore,?seen?them?standing?in?doorways,?leaning?from?windows,?or?straddling?the?slow?moving?edge?of?a?shadow.?Lovers?of?the?in-between,?they?are?neither?here?nor?there,?neither?in?nor?out.?Poor?souls,?they?are?driven?to?experience?the?impossible.?Even?at?night,?they?lie?in?bed?with?one?eye?closed?and?the?other?open,?hoping?to?catch?the?last?second?of?consciousness?and?the?first?of?sleep,?to?inhabit?that?no?mans?land,?that?beautiful?place,?to?behold?as?only?a?god?might,?the?luminous?conjunction?of?nothing?and?all.
在托皮卡①的神秘與孤獨
下午黯淡成黃昏。一個人越來越深沉地陷入睡眠那緩慢的螺旋之中,它的漂流之中,它的長度之中,穿過那摸起來如同霧靄,并最終來到如同一道敞開的門的東西——他不知為什么就穿了過去,然后又不知道為什么就走向一個房間,坐在那里等待,同時,那房間似乎在他的四周合攏,黑暗比他所了解的任何黑暗還要黑暗,他感到有他所不清楚是什么的東西在他體內(nèi)形成,堅持在他身上立足生長,仿佛一個故事即將展開,故事中有兩個人物——歡樂和痛苦,犯下同樣的罪行,那是他的罪行,他將不得不一次次坦白,直到那毫無重要性可言。
注:①美國堪薩斯州州府。
Afternoon?darkens?into?evening.?A?man?falls?deeper?and?deeper?into?the?slow?spiral?of?sleep,?into?the?drift?of?it,?the?length?of?it,?through?what?feels?like?mist,?and?comes?at?last?to?an?open?door?through?which?he?passes?without?knowing?why,?then?again?without?knowing?why?goes?to?a?room?where?he?sits?and?waits?while?the?room?seems?to?close?around?him?and?the?dark?is?darker?than?any?he?has?known,?and?he?feels?something?forming?within?him?without?being?sure?what?it?is,?its?hold?on?him?growing,?as?if?a?story?were?about?to?unfold,?in?which?two?characters,?Pleasure?and?Pain,?commit?the?same?crime,?the?one?that?is?his,?that?he?will?confess?to?again?and?again,?until?it?means?nothing.