挡风玻璃 BY PAUL MULDOON

BY PAUL MULDOON
The Windshield

桑克译：保罗•马尔登《挡风玻璃》

I

My breath is furring a windshield
where I sit in my windcheater,
engine shut off, jolted by a rearview mirror’s jolt,
and wait for my daughter

我的呼吸正让挡风玻璃生出绒毛
我穿着风衣坐在车里，
发动机关闭，因后视镜的颤抖而颠簸，
我等待着我的闺女

to be released from her rehearsal.
A production of Much Ado
in which she’s taking the part of Ursula.
All at once I recognize that shadow

从她的排练中解脱。
在上演的《无事生非》中
她扮演厄休拉1。
突然我认出了阴影

coming toward me as my own,
all at once recognize the Cathedral car park
where my mother has sat

向我靠近如我自己，
突然我认出了教堂街停车场
曾经坐着我的娘亲

while I’ve been impressed by The Pirates of Penzance
or held forth in a debate, coming through the dark
to find her turned the wrong side out.

我铭记着《彭赞斯的海盗》2
或在辩论会上高谈阔论，经过黑暗
发现她穿反了衣服。

II

To find her turned the wrong side out
like a birch relieved of its bark,
a custom relieved of its consuetude,
would be to avail myself of this opportunity to remark

要发现她穿反了衣服
仿佛白桦除去了它的树皮，
风俗除去了它的惯例，
我利用这个机会谈论

on the pros or cons
of the death penalty or animal captivity
or integrated education.
This house proposes that we are slaves of duty.

赞成或反对
死刑或动物囚禁
或融合教育。
观众提议我们成为被责任左右的人。

This house proposes that we not sully
the memory of a parent, least of all one who sends a judder
through a child,

观众提议我们不要玷污
双亲的记忆，决不能给一个孩子
带来一种震颤，

unleashing rather that selfsame, satin-lined grizzly,
that selfsame man-eater
whose breath is furring the windshield.

宁愿放开同样一个，缎纹的灰熊，
同样一个吃东西的人
他的呼吸正让挡风玻璃生出绒毛。

Note：
1. 厄休拉是莎士比亚名剧《无事生非》中的人物。
2. 《彭赞斯的海盗》是吉尔伯特和苏利文的轻歌剧。
保罗•马尔登最近的诗集包括《马的自由》（2006）和获得普利策诗歌奖的《钱沙和砂砾》（2002）。他在普林斯顿大学教书。