擋風玻璃 BY PAUL MULDOON

BY PAUL MULDOON
The Windshield

桑克譯：保羅•馬爾登《擋風玻璃》

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

我的呼吸正讓擋風玻璃生出絨毛
我穿著風衣坐在車裏，
發動機關閉，因後視鏡的顫抖而顛簸，
我等待著我的閨女

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

從她的排練中解脫。
在上演的《無事生非》中
她扮演厄休拉1。
突然我認出了陰影

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，
突然我認出了教堂街停車場
曾經坐著我的娘親

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.

我銘記著《彭讚斯的海盜》2
或在辯論會上高談闊論，經過黑暗
發現她穿反了衣服。

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

要發現她穿反了衣服
仿佛白樺除去了它的樹皮，
風俗除去了它的慣例，
我利用這個機會談論

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

讚成或反對
死刑或動物囚禁
或融合教育。
觀眾提議我們成為被責任左右的人。

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

觀眾提議我們不要玷汙
雙親的記憶，決不能給一個孩子
帶來一種震顫，

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

寧願放開同樣一個，緞紋的灰熊，
同樣一個吃東西的人
他的呼吸正讓擋風玻璃生出絨毛。

Note：
1. 厄休拉是莎士比亞名劇《無事生非》中的人物。
2. 《彭讚斯的海盜》是吉爾伯特和蘇利文的輕歌劇。
保羅•馬爾登最近的詩集包括《馬的自由》（2006）和獲得普利策詩歌獎的《錢沙和砂礫》（2002）。他在普林斯頓大學教書。