學習閱讀

        弗蘭茲.賴特
  

 

如果每看五六個字我就要翻字典，

那有什麽關係。我查找。

反正我無處可去。

 

我父親不在，我母親

像要即將爆發，

不是開成花朵，每當我說話。

我最愛讀伊利亞特。是的。

我不能準確發音，

但我什麽時候要發音，

 

給誰？

難道是我的繼父？

首先，他幾乎不會說英語；

 

其次他完全可能

嘲笑或打我

即使我沒有觸怒他。

 

孤獨，苦悶和恐懼

我的動機

火上澆油

 

我跪在地上為他們感謝上帝。

 

杜甫，讚美詩，惠特曼，裏爾克。

生活已經教會了我。

 

 

. （ 林木譯）

 

Learning To Read — by Franz Wright

 

If I had tolook up every fifth or sixth word,

so what. I looked them up.

I had nowhere important to be.

 

My fatherwas unavailable, and my mother

looked like she was about to break,

and not into blossom, every time I spoke.

 

My favoritewas the Iliad. True,

I had trouble pronouncing the names,
but when was I going to pronounce them, and 

 

to whom?
My stepfather maybe?

Number one, he could barely speak English;

 

two, he had sufficient intent

to smirk or knock me down

without any prompting from me. 

 

Loneliness, boredom and terror

my motivation

fiercely fuelled.

 

I get down on my knees and thank God for them.

 

Du Fu, the Psalms, Whitman, Rilke.

Life has taught me.