格丽克诗集《草场》选译

 

                                                        柳向阳/译

 

 

宁静夜

 

你牵了我的手；那时我们单独

在阴森森的树林里。几乎一转眼

 

我们就在一座房子里；诺亚

已经长大，搬走；铁线莲在十年后

突然开了花，洁白。

 

超过了世间万物

我爱我们在一起的这些夜晚，

这些宁静的夏天的夜晚，此刻天空仍然明亮。

 

就这样珀涅罗珀牵了奥德修斯的手，

不是要把他挽留，而是要把这种宁静

印在他的记忆里：

 

从这时起，你所穿越的那种寂静

是我的声音在追随你。

P. 5

 

QUIET EVENING

 

You take my hand; then we’re alone
in the life-threatening forest. Almost immediately

we’re in a house; Noah’s
grown and moved away; the clematis after ten years
suddenly flowers white.

More than anything in the world
I love these evenings when we’re together,
the quiet evenings in summer, the sky still light at this hour.

So Penelope took the hand of Odysseus,
not to hold him back but to impress
this peace on his memory:

from this point on, the silence through which you move
is my voice pursuing you.

 

 

 

礼仪

 

我断了吃菊芋的喜好，当我不再吃

黄油。茴香

我从不喜欢。

 

有件事我一直对你

憎恨：我恨你拒绝

让别人在这屋子里。福楼拜

有许多朋友，而且福楼拜

是个隐士。

 

      福楼拜是疯子：他跟他母亲

      住一起。

 

和你住一起就像住在

寄宿学校：

周二吃鸡，周三吃鱼。

 

      我也有交情深的朋友。

      我也有友谊

      跟其他隐士。

 

      为什么你把这称作顽固？

      难道不能称作

      好客尚礼？或者是你对美的渴求

      已被你自身完全满足？

 

另一件是：说说还有哪个人

没有家具。

 

      我们周二吃鱼

      因为周二的鱼新鲜。假如我会开车

      我们可以换个日子吃鱼。

 

      要是你极想

      寻找先例，试想一下

      史蒂文斯。史蒂文斯

      从不旅行；那并不表示

      他不懂快乐。

 

快乐，或许，但不是

喜悦。当你做菊芋，

为自己做。

P. 6-7

 

CEREMONY

 

I stopped liking artichokes when I stopped eating
butter. Fennel
I never liked.   

 

One thing I’ve always hated
about you: I hate that you refuse
to have people at the house. Flaubert
had more friends and Flaubert
was a recluse.

 

      Flaubert was crazy: he lived
      with his mother.

 

Living with you is like living
at boarding school:
chicken Monday, fish Tuesday.

 

      I have deep friendships.
      I have friendships
      with other recluses.

 

      Why do you call it rigidity?
      Can’t you call it a taste
      for ceremony? Or is your hunger for beauty
      completely satisfied by your own person?

 

Another thing: name one other person
who doesn’t have furniture.

 

      We have fish Tuesday
      because it’s fresh Tuesday. If I could drive
            we could have different days.

 

      If you’re so desperate
      for precedent, try
      Stevens. Stevens
      never traveled; that doesn’t mean
      he didn’t know pleasure.

 

Pleasure maybe but not
joy. When you make artichokes,
make them for yourself.

 

 

 

国王的寓言

 

那位伟大的国王眼望前方

看到的不是命运

而只是黎明闪耀

在无名岛上：作为国王

他思考必行之事——最好

不重新考虑方向，最好

一直向前

在波光粼粼的水上。无论如何，

所谓命运，只是忽略历史

及其伦理困境的

一个策略，一种审视当下的

方式，并由此

做出决定，正如过去（国王

作为年轻王子的形象）和辉煌的未来
（年轻女奴的形象）

之间的必要联系。无论

前方是什么，为什么必须

如此盲目？有谁能已经知道

那不是通常的太阳

而是火焰，正升起在一个

即将灭绝的世界之上？

P. 8

 

PARABLE OF THE KING

 

The great king looking ahead
saw not fate but simply
dawn glittering over
the unknown island: as a king
he thought in the imperative—best
not to reconsider direction, best
to keep going forward
over the radiant water. Anyway,
what is fate but a strategy for ignoring
history, with its moral
dilemmas, a way of regarding
the present, where decisions
are made, as the necessary
link between the past (images of the king
as a young prince) and the glorious future (images
of slave girls). Whatever
it was ahead, why did it have to be
so blinding? Who could have known
that wasn’t the usual sun
but flames rising over a world
about to become extinct?

 

 

 

无月之夜

 

一位女士在黑暗的窗边哭泣。

我们必须说是怎么回事吗？难道我们不能

只说是个人的事？这是初夏；

隔壁，赖茨一家正在练习克莱兹默音乐[1]。

一个美好的夜：竖笛悠扬。

 

至 于那位女士——她将永远等待；

继续观察已没有意义。

片刻之后，街灯熄灭。

 

但永远等待

一直是答案？没有什么

一直是答案；答案

依故事而定。

 

如此错误：渴望

所有事情都清楚。怎样度过

一个人的夜晚？尤其

像今夜，此刻如此接近结束。

而另一面，任何事都可能发生，

世上所有的欢乐，星星划过，

街灯变成一个公汽站。

P. 9

 

MOONLESS NIGHT

A lady weeps at a dark window:
Must we say what it is? Can’t we simply say
a personal matter? It’s early summer;
next door the Lights are practicing klezmer music.
A good night: the clarinet is in tune.

As for the lady— she’s going to wait forever;
there’s no point in watching longer.
After awhile, the streetlight goes out.

But is waiting forever
always the answer? Nothing
is always the answer; the answer
depends on the story.

Such a mistake to want
clarity above all things. What’s
a single night, especially
one like this, now so close to ending?
On the other side, there could be anything,
all the joy in the world, the stars fading,
the streetlight becoming a bus stop.

 

 

 

伊萨卡[2]

 

被爱的人不需要

活着。被爱的人

活在脑子里。织机架

是留给追求者的，绷起来

像一张竖琴，带着裹尸布的白纱线。

 

他曾是两个人。

他曾是身体和声音，一个活生生的男人

不经意的磁力，后来是

被织机上那女人定型的

那场梦与形象，慢慢展现；

她坐在客厅，那里

塞满了心智止于表面的男人。

 

当你可怜

那被骗的海洋，它曾

企图将他永远掠走，

而掳去的不过是前者，

那实体的丈夫，你必须

可怜这些男人：他们不知道

自己在看着什么；

他们不知道若一个人按这样的方式爱，

尸衣就变成了婚纱。

P. 12（得一忘二 译）

 

ITHACA

The beloved doesn't
need to live. The beloved
lives in the head. The loom
is for the suitors, strung up
like a harp with white shroud-thread.

He was two people.
He was the body and voice, the easy
magnetism of a living man, and then
the unfolding dream or image
shaped by the woman working the loom
sitting there in a hall filled
with literal-minded men.

As you pity
the deceived sea that tried
to take him away forever
and took only the first,
the actual husband, you must
pity these men: they don't know
what they're looking at;
they don't know that when one loves this way
the shroud becomes a wedding dress.

 

 

 

忒勒马科斯的超然

 

当我还是孩子的时候，看着

我父母亲的生活，你们可知道

我怎么想？我觉得

让人心碎。如今我觉得

让人心碎，而且

愚蠢。而且

非常滑稽。

P. 13

 

TELEMACHUS' DETACHMENT

 

When I was a child looking
at my parents’ lives, you know
what I thought? I thought
heartbreaking. Now I think
heartbreaking, but also
insane. Also
very funny.

 

 

 

 

藤架的寓言

 

一棵铁线莲长在巨大的藤架脚下。

虽然像一棵树，铁线莲

仍然是人类的创造；每年，到五月，

奋力前行的藤蔓用绿丝线

攀援简陋的

藤架，而许多年后

白色的花从易碎的木头上冒出来，像

来自花园心脏的一场流星雨。

 

看够了那个伎俩。我们都知道

如果没有藤架，藤怎样

生长，怎样在地上

小心潜行；我们两人都已经看到它

在那儿开花，白色的花朵

像汽车前灯从一条蛇身上生长出来。

 

这不是藤希望的。

记得，对于藤，藤架

从来不是表示监禁的意象：

这不是

贬低或悲剧。

 

藤梦想着光：

相比于受到支撑的攀登，

泥土里的生命和它黑暗的自由

算得上什么？

 

而每个夏天

有一段时间，我们都会看到那棵藤

重演这个结局，如此

遮蔽着那木头——它自身

漂亮的结构，像

一个港湾或一棵柳树。

P. 17-18

 

PARABLE OF THE TRELLIS

 

A clematis grew at the foot of a great trellis.
Despite being
modeled on a tree, the trellis
was a human invention; every year, in May,
the green wires of the struggling vine
climbed the straightforward
trellis, and after many years
white flowers burst from the brittle wood, like
a star shower from the heart of the garden.

Enough of that ruse. We both know
how the vine grows without
the trellis, how it sneaks
along the ground; we have both seen it
flower there, the white blossoms
like headlights growing out of a snake.

This isn’t what the vine wants.
Remember, to the vine, the trellis
was never an image of confinement:
this is not
diminishment of tragedy.

The vine has a dream of light:
what is life in the dirt
with its dark freedom
compared to supported ascent?

And for a time,
every summer we could see the vine
relive this decision, thus
obscuring the wood, structure
beautiful in itself, like
a harbor or willow tree.

 

 

 

忒勒马科斯的罪

 

我母亲对我父亲

奉行的那种耐心

（在他的自我
专注中，他误认为
是敬意，虽然事实上
那是一种愤怒[3]——难道他
不曾疑惑过：为什么他
在表达他天生的放纵时
如此语塞？）：这感染了
我的童年。她耐心地

养育我；耐心地

使唤那些好心的

奴隶，他们照顾我，不在意

我的行为，一副自大的模样

越来越蛮横，以此

试探他们。对我来说很清楚
在她眼里
我不存在，既然
我的举动没有
妨碍她的力量：我是
玩伴们嫉妒的对象。
在后来的几十年里
我为我的父亲
离家在外而骄傲，
哪怕他为错误的原因
而离家在外；
我过去常常微笑
当我母亲流泪。
如今我希望她能够
原谅那种残酷；我希望
她明白，这多么像

她自己的冷酷，
与一个深爱的人
保持分离的
一种方式。

P. 19-20

 

TELEMACHUS' GUILT

 

Patience of the sort my mother
practices on my father
(which in his self-
absorption he mistook
for tribute though it was in fact
a species of rage--didn't he
ever wonder why he was
so blocked in expressing
his native abandon?); it infected
my childhood. Patiently
she fed me; patiently
she supervised the kindly
slaves who attended me, regardless
of my behavior, an assumption
I tested with increasing
violence. It seemed clear to me
that from her perspective
I didn't exist, since
my actions had
no power to disturb her: I was
the envy of my playmates.
In the decades that followed
I was proud of my father
for staying away
even if he stayed away for
the wrong reasons;
I used to smile
when my mother wept.
I hope now she could
forgive that cruelty; I hope
she understood how like
her own coldness it was,
a means of remaining
separate from what
one loves deeply.

 

 

 

 赛壬

 

当我坠入爱，我就犯了罪。
以前我是个女招待。

我不想和你一起去芝加哥。
我想和你结婚，我想
让你的妻子受折磨。

我想让她的生活像一出戏
戏里的所有角色都悲伤不已。

一个善良的人
会这样想吗？我称得上

勇气可嘉——

我坐在你家门廊的黑暗里。
对我来说一切都清楚：
如果你妻子不让你走
那就证明她不爱你。
如果她爱你
难道她会不想让你幸福？

如今我想
如果当时我少一些感觉，我就会
是一个更好的人。我本来
是个不错的女招待。
我能端八份饮料。

我曾经给你讲我的梦。
昨天夜里我看到一个女人坐在黑暗的公汽里——
梦中，她在哭泣，她乘坐的公汽
正在离去。一只手
她挥动着；另一只手抚摸
一个盛满了婴儿的鸡蛋托。

那个梦并不能挽救那位女士。

P. 27-28

 

SIREN

 

I became a criminal when I fell in love.
Before that I was a waitress.

I didn't want to go to Chicago with you.
I wanted to marry you, I wanted
Your wife to suffer.

I wanted her life to be like a play
In which all the parts are sad parts.

Does a good person
Think this way? I deserve

Credit for my courage--

I sat in the dark on your front porch.
Everything was clear to me:
If your wife wouldn't let you go
That proved she didn't love you.
If she loved you
Wouldn't she want you to be happy?

I think now
If I felt less I would be
A better person. I was
A good waitress.
I could carry eight drinks.

I used to tell you my dreams.
Last night I saw a woman sitting in a dark bus--
In the dream, she's weeping, the bus she's on
Is moving away. With one hand
She's waving; the other strokes
An egg carton full of babies.

The dream doesn't rescue the maiden.

 

 

 

 岩石

 

大地的

可怕的隐秘处

之象征，黑暗

和罪恶的头脑
之精灵，我感到

你体内确实有某种

人类的东西，能够

在言语中接近。你还怎样

用令人着迷的消息

接近了夏娃？我为她的过错

已经付出了凄惨的

代价，所以

请听我细说。告诉我

你在地狱过得怎么样，

地狱里有什么要求？

因为我想把我爱的人

送到那里。当然

不是永远：

我可能什么时候

想要他回来，不是

永久的伤害，而是

严厉的惩戒，

因为他不曾受过，在此

尘世间。我应该

给他什么

当保护，什么样的盾牌

将不会完整地
掩护他？你一定要

当他的向导和主人：帮助他

蜕去他的皮

正如你一样，虽然就此而言

我们想要他

在下面老相一点，或许

有点儿鼠相。我相信

你肯定懂得

其中的微妙——你显得

那么兴致勃勃，你不要

溜回到你的岩石下面！噢

我确定我们莫名地心有戚戚

哪怕你不属于

人类；或许我还是

有着爬行动物的灵魂。

P. 35-36

 

THE ROCK

 

Insignia
of the earth’s
terrible recesses, spirit
of darkness, of
the criminal mind, I feel
certain there is within you
something human, to be
approached in speech. How else
did you approach Eve
with your addictive
information? I have paid
bitterly for her
lapse, therefore
attend to me. Tell me
how you live in hell,
what is required in hell,
for I would send
my beloved there. Not
of course forever:
I may want him
back sometime, not
permanently harmed but
severely chastened,
as he has not been, here
on the surface. What
shall I give him for
protection, what
shield that will not
wholly screen him? You must be
his guide and master: help him
shed his skin
as you do, though in this case
we want him
older underneath, maybe
a little mousy. I feel confident
you understand these
subtleties—you seem
so interested, you do not
slide back under your rock! Oh
I am sure we are somehow related
even if you are not
human; perhaps I have
the soul of a reptile after all.

 

 

 

喀耳刻[4]的威力

 

我从没有把任何人变成猪。

有些人就是猪；我让他们

有了猪的样子。

 

我厌恶你们的世界

它让外表掩饰内心。

 

你的随从并不是坏人；

散漫不羁的生活

让他们变成这样。作为猪，

 

它们在我和女伴们

照料之下

马上就温和了。

 

于是我倒念咒符，

让你见识我的善意

和我的威力。我看得出

 

我们在这儿可以过得幸福，

正如男男女女

在欲求简单的时候。几乎同时，

 

我预见到你要离去，

由于我的帮助，你们敢于迎战

汹涌咆哮的大海。你认为

 

几滴泪水就让我心烦意乱？我的朋友，

每个女巫在内心里

都是实用主义者；谁不能面对局限

就看不到本质。如果我只想留下你

 

我可以把你留作囚犯。

P. 37

 

CIRCE'S POWER

 

I never turned anyone into a pig.
Some people are pigs; I make them
Look like pigs.

I'm sick of your world
That lets the outside disguise the inside. Your men weren't bad men;
Undisciplined life
Did that to them. As pigs,

Under the care of
Me and my ladies, they
Sweetened right up.

Then I reversed the spell, showing you my goodness
As well as my power. I saw

We could be happy here,
As men and women are
When their needs are simple. In the same breath,

I foresaw your departure,
Your men with my help braving
The crying and pounding sea. You think

A few tears upset me? My friend,
Every sorceress is
A pragmatist at heart; nobody sees essence who can't
Face limitation. If I wanted only to hold you

I could hold you prisoner.

 

 

 

 忒勒马科斯的奇想

 

有时候我奇怪父亲
在海岛上的那些年：为什么
他对女人们
那么有吸引力？他那时落魄不堪，我猜
他应该绝望。我相信
女人们喜欢看到一个男人
仍然完整，仍然挺立，但
即将垮掉：这样的
崩溃总能唤起
她们的激情。我想象他们
完全赤裸地

过着整天的生活。那一定让他
眼花缭乱，我想，女人们

比他年轻那么多，
明显地为他发狂，情愿

做他渴望的任何事。他

遇到如此遂他心愿的情形，过了

这么多年

却不被质疑，不受挫败，

这是幸运吗？一个人

必须相信自己

非常善良，或值得尊敬。

我猜想，最终，要么

一个人变成怪物，要么

被爱他的人看清品性。我从没有

渴望父亲的生活，

也完全不知道

那时他为了活命

所付出的代价。如果相信

他是被勾引到她们身边，并因此留下来

去看她们是谁，这样想
就不那么危险。尽管我觉得

作为一个爱幻想的男人，

在某种程度上，他

变成了她们那样的人。

P. 39-40

 

TELEMACHUS’ FANTASY

 

Sometimes I wonder about my father’s
years on those islands: why
was he so attractive
to women? He was in straits then, I suppose
desperate. I believe
women like to see a man
still whole, still standing, but
about to go to pieces: such
disintegration reminds them
of passion. I think of them as living
their whole lives
completely undressed. It must have
dazzled him, I think, women
so much younger than
he was evidently
wild for him, ready
to do anything he wished. Is it
fortunate to encounter circumstances
so responsive to one’s own will, to live
so many years
unquestioned, unthwarted? One
would have to believe oneself
entirely good or worthy. I
suppose in time either
one becomes a monster or
the beloved sees what one is. I never
wish for my father’s life
nor have I any idea
what he sacrificed
to survive that moment. Less dangerous
to believe he was drawn to them
and so stayed
to see who they were. I think, though,
as an imaginative man
to some extent he
became who they were.

 

 

 

 珀涅罗珀的固执

 

一只鸟飞到窗边。把它们

当成鸟儿

是错误的，更多的时候

它们是信使。这就是为什么，它们一旦

骤然落到窗台，便端坐，

静止得近乎完美，嘲笑

耐心，昂首歌唱

它们三音节的警告，

“囧夫人，囧夫人”，随后飞去

像一片黑云从窗台飞到那片橄榄树林。

但谁会派一个如此无足轻重的生灵

来评判我的生活？我的思想深邃，

记忆绵长；我为什么要嫉妒那样的自由

当我还有仁慈心？那些

心最小的生命，才有

最大的自由。

P. 47

 

PENELOPE’S STUBBORNNESS

 

A bird comes to the window. It’s a mistake
to think of them
as birds, they are so often
messengers. That is why, once they
plummet to the sill, they sit
so perfectly still, to mock
patience, lifting their heads to sing
poor lady, poor lady, their three-note
warning, later flying
like a dark cloud from the sill to the olive grove.
But who would send such a weightless being
to judge my life? My thoughts are deep
and my memory long; why would I envy such freedom
when I have humanity? Those
with the smallest hearts have
the greatest freedom.