惠蘭原創
天生夜遊神，小半生從事中文。敝姓王，但從未登基，隻是沾了些先祖靈氣而已；生於午夜，著歌而來……
惠蘭的新浪博客地址：http://blog.sina.com.cn/huilan1991
I Thought My Father Was God
Editor: Paul Auster ( US)
Translator: Huilan (
《我曾以為父親是上帝》
編著：保羅·奧斯特（美國）
漢譯：惠蘭（中國）
Blue Skies
藍色的天空
In 1956,
一九五六年。亞利桑那州的鳳凰城，一個有著無邊無際藍色天空的城市。有一天，我把姐姐凱瑟新買的寵物，一隻名叫伯克的藍色虎皮鸚鵡放在手上，在屋裏走來走去。突然間我想到為什麽不把伯克帶到戶外，讓它看看美麗的藍天。或許，伯克還會由此交上一個小鳥朋友呢。於是我把伯克帶到後園，跟著，讓我驚慌失措的事情發生了：伯克飛走了。那巨大而無情的藍色天空，瞬間便吞沒了姐姐心愛的藍色珍寶。伯克在我沒有反應過來的刹那消失，我隻來得及看到它如剪刀般張合的翅膀。跟著，它的整個身影便消失得無影無蹤。
Kathy managed to forgive me. With fake optimism, she even tried to reassure me that Perky would find a new home. But I was far too canny to believe that such a thing was possible. I was inconsolable. Time passed. Eventually, my great remorse took a modest place among the larger things of life, and we all grew up.
凱瑟好不容易才原諒了我。之後為了不讓我過於難過，她甚至假裝樂觀地向我保證伯克一定會找到一個新家。可我心裏清楚這種事情是不可能的。好長一段時間，沒有人能夠安慰我。時光流逝，我們漸漸長大成人，當時心裏的巨大傷痛也慢慢被生活中其他更重要的事給衝淡了。
Decades later, I watched my own children growing. We shared their activities，spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the parents of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around
多年之後，我看著自己的孩子們逐漸長大。我們積極參與孩子們的各項活動，周六常與孩子們朋友的父母克索家，坐在一起看孩子們踢足球。我們兩家逐漸成為很好的朋友，常一起在亞利桑那附近露營或是開著麵包車上電影院。一天傍晚，幾家朋友聚在一起玩遊戲，內容是講精彩的寵物故事。有人講他活得最久的金魚，有人講一隻通靈的狗。當輪到我們朋友家的父親貝瑞時，他站在屋子中央，對大家講他所有經曆中最了不起的寵物：甜陷餅，一隻藍色的虎皮鸚鵡。
'The best thing about Sweetie Pie,' he said, 'was the way we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear blue sky, a little blue parakeet just floated down and landed on my finger,'
“最有趣的事是我們得到甜陷餅的過程，”他說，“在我八歲的一天，從清澈湛藍的天空，飛來一隻藍色的虎皮鸚鵡，它端端地落在我的手指上。”
When I was finally able to speak, we examined the amazing evidence. The dates and the locations and the pictures of the bird all matched up. It seems that our two families had been connected long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, 'You were right! Perky lived!!”
當終於輪到我講的時候，我和貝瑞相互核對了不可思議的細節。當時的時間、地點以及鳥的照片等等全都一一對上了號——那隻鸚鵡正是當年從我手裏飛走的伯克！看來，我們兩家在認識之前，其實早就已經聯係在一起了。四十年後，我跑到姐姐那裏，告訴她，“你完全正確，伯克活下來了！”
Corki Stewart
考克．斯圖爾特
於坦佩 亞利桑那
The Yellow Butterfly
黃蝴蝶
In the
按照菲律賓人的傳統，孩子們從二年級開始就得學習教堂分享儀式。每個星期六，我們都必須到學校排練怎樣走步，怎樣拿蠟燭，在什麽地方就坐，怎樣下跪，以及伸出舌頭接受聖餅等等。
One Saturday my mother and uncle picked me up from practice in a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. As I slid into the back seat, my uncle attempted to start the car. It gave several dry coughs, and then the engine stopped turning over. My uncle sat in silent frustration, and my mother turned around and asked me what we should do. I was eight years old, and without hesitation I told her that we had to wait for a yellow butterfly to touch the car before it would again. I don’t know whether my mother believed me or not. She only smiled, and then she turned back to my uncle to discuss what to next. He got out of the car and told her that he was going to the nearest gas station for help. I fell in and out of sleep, but I was awake when my uncle returned from the gas station. I remember him carrying a container of gas, filling up the car, the car not starting, and him tinkering some more, and still the car wouldn’t start. My mother then got out of the car and hailed a cab. A yellow cab stopped. Instead of taking us home, the driver looked at our predicament and suggested that my uncle squirt some gas on the engine. This seemed to do the trick, and after thanking this good Samaritan, my uncle turned the ignition and the car started right away.
一個星期六我排練之後，媽媽和叔叔開著一輛黃色的大眾“甲殼蟲”到學校接我。我的屁股剛剛落在後座，叔叔就開始發動汽車。不幸的是，汽車在幾聲“幹咳”之後，引擎就停止了轉動。叔叔坐在那裏一聲不吭，十分沮喪，媽媽突然轉過頭問我該怎麽辦？那時我隻有八歲，想都沒想就對媽媽說，我們必須等一隻黃蝴蝶落在車上，車才能動。不知媽媽是否相信我的話。她隻微笑著轉身和叔叔商量該怎麽辦。跟著，叔叔就下了車，對媽媽說他要到附近的加油站找人幫忙。我很快便陷入半睡半醒狀態。不過當叔叔從加油站回來的時候，我是醒著的。記得他當時提著一個汽油桶，往車裏加油，可車還是不動；他便補加更多，可同樣毫無用處。媽媽隻好下車去叫出租。很快，一輛黃色的車開過來，但司機並沒有急於送我們回家，他了解情況後建議叔叔往引擎上噴點兒油。這一招果然靈。謝過這位厚道的好人之後，叔叔一打火，車立即就動了。
I began falling back to sleep. Half a block later, my mother woke me up. She was all excited, and her voice was full of wonder. When I opened my eyes, I turned to where she was pointing. Fluttering around the rearview mirror was a tiny yellow butterfly.
不知不覺我又睡著了。汽車才走了半條街的樣子，媽媽突然把我叫醒。她十分興奮，聲音裏充滿了驚奇。我睜開眼睛，順著她手指的方向看去，隻見一隻小小的黃蝴蝶，正繞著汽車的後視鏡翩翩起舞。
SIMONETTE
西蒙內特．傑克遜
於卡諾伽園，加利福尼亞
祝你節日快樂！！！