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英诗汉译:做人要像人
武夷山
做人要像人
作者: Jane Hirshfield(美国当代女诗人,1953年生)
译者:武夷山 ©
“做人要像人”是一个站不住脚的命题。
比例失当,
直立,
身体、情感与心智之间缺乏平衡的关系。
两只捕食动物的眼睛
朝向前方,
可又似乎总在试图回望。
无蹄,手指上无爪
似乎在多数情况下只能抓住悲伤与痛苦。
太经常发生的是,只会创造悲伤与痛苦。
某些人
在目睹苦难的情况下,寻乐。
某些人,在目睹的苦难当中,造美。
另一方面——
人这个动物会脸红羞赧,
喜欢转圈转到头晕目眩,
喜欢闪亮的东西,
要求自己在睡意浓浓时亦保持清醒。
人要学习什么是碱性,什么是酸性,
什么是气孔,什么是核,什么是笑柄,
哪些鸟不会飞。
学会四手联弹钢琴。
若有必要,用单手弹钢琴。
人会哼曲子。喂养流浪动物。
会说,“现在大家都有了,数到三就开始”。
说到头来,“做人要像人”也许还是有可能的。
或者可以认为,这个问题至少是开放的——
是未使用过的抽屉,是一双等着人穿的工装靴。
博主注:该诗选自Jane Hirshfield的诗集,The Asking: New and Selected Poems(询问:新诗和自选诗),美国Knopf出版社,2023年9月出版。
原诗如下:
TO BE A PERSON
by Jane Hirshfield
To be a person is an untenable proposition.
Odd of proportion,
upright,
unbalanced of body, feeling, and mind.
Two predator’s eyes
face forward,
yet seem always to be trying to look back.
Unhooved, untaloned fingers
seem to grasp mostly grief and pain.
To create, too often, mostly grief and pain.
Some take,
in witnessed suffering, pleasure.
Some make, of witnessed suffering, beauty.
On the other side —
a creature capable of blushing,
who chooses to spin until dizzy,
likes what is shiny,
demands to stay awake even when sleepy.
Learns what is basic, what acid,
what are stomata, nuclei, jokes,
which birds are flightless.
Learns to play four-handed piano.
To play, when it is needed, one-handed piano.
Hums. Feeds strays.
Says, “All together now, on three.”
To be a person may be possible then, after all.
Or the question may be considered still at least open —
an unused drawer, a pair of waiting workboots.
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