七月五號發刊的《紐約人》刊登了喬莉.格雷厄姆（Jorie Graham）寫於六月二十八號的詩 《為什麽》 （Why)。 原詩附在最後。
喬莉.格雷厄姆的這首詩用了跨行（enjambment), 而不是結句行（end-stopped), 即詩行不對應語法的句子，所以我這裏是意譯，即把這首詩按理解斷句，加標點符號，並翻譯。
我理解詩的大意是，一位母親帶了自己的正好到了不斷問“為什麽”的年紀的孩子在花園裏玩。孩子就一個杜鵑花苞和其他的事問很多問題。 母親答不出。 孩子開始自己思考答案，開始有自己的思想，有獨立意識。
下雨了，母親拉著孩子奔走躲雨。孩子在長大，但他仍然還是孩子，他沒有扔掉自己找到的一塊玫瑰色石子，而是放進自己的口袋...... 有新的美麗要去探索，舊的美麗卻仍值得保存。
《Why》
《為什麽》
You ask me again: “Why”, putting your tiny hand on the not yet unsheathed bud on the rhododendron.
你一麵把小手放在還緊閉著的杜鵑花苞上，一麵再次問我：“為什麽？”
And I see I need to be sky; I need to be soil. There are no words for why that I can find fast enough.
我明白，非得知天知地才回答得出，我搜腸刮肚一下子也回答不了那麽多為什麽。
“Why", you say at the foot of the cherry's wide blossomfall. “Is it dead now? Why did it let go?”
“為什麽？”你對著櫻桃樹下的遍地落花說，“這樹已經死了嗎？ 為什麽花都不要了啊？”
“Why” tossed out into what appears to be silence.
連串的為什麽問了出來，回應似乎隻有沉默。
When I say let's run, the rain is starting, "Why are we lost? Why did we just leave where we just were? Why is everything so far behind now as we go on?”
我說“咱們快跑”的時候，雨都已經下起來了。
“我們為什麽迷路了？”
“我們為什麽要離開我們剛才在的那個地方？”
“為什麽我們越往前走，一切就都落在後麵越遠？”
I see you think when you reach me again to ask why, when I say, “Are you coming now”, & you say, “No, I want to stay, I want things to stay, I do not want to come away from things.”
我看到，當你又來到我身旁問為什麽的時候，你在思考。我說，“你快跟上。” 你說，“不，我要待在這兒，我要所有一切都原地不動，我不想和它們分別。” 說這些時你都在思考。
What is this we are entering? Me taking yr hand now to speed our going as fast as we can in this suddenly hard rain, yr hand not letting go of the rose pebble u found.
我們這是進到哪裏來啦？ 雨突然下大了，為了加快速度，我便拉起你的手，你手裏仍然攥著那塊你找到的玫瑰色石子不放。
Feeling the first itching of personal luck as you now slowly pocket it, thinking you have taken with you a piece of what u could not leave behind.
你一麵頭一回體驗個人運氣帶來的刺激，一麵慢慢把石子放進口袋，覺得你這就是隨身帶走了自己不舍得離開的東西的一部分。
It is why we went there and left there.
這就是我們為什麽去了那裏又離開那裏。
It is your why.
這就是對你的為什麽的回答。
--------------------------------------
原作：
《Why》
you ask me
again—why
putting your tiny hand on
the not yet
unsheathed
bud on the
rhododendron
and I see
I need to be sky
I need to be soil
there are no words
for why that I
can find fast
enough, why
you say at
the foot of the cherry’s wide
blossomfall
is it dead now why
did it let go, why,
tossed out
into what appears
to be silence
when I say
let’s run the
rain is starting—why
are we lost why did
we just leave
where we just
were why is
everything
so far behind
now as we go on I
see you think
when you reach
me again to ask
why when I say
are you coming now &
you say no,
I want to stay, I want
things to stay, I do
not want to come
away from things—what
is this we are
entering—me taking yr
hand now to speed
our going
as fast as we can in this suddenly
hard rain, yr
hand not letting go
of the rose pebble u found
feeling the first itching of
personal luck as
you now slowly
pocket it thinking
you have taken
with you a piece of
what u could not
leave behind. It is
why we went there
and left there.
It is your why.
Published in the print edition of the July 5, 2021, issue.
Jorie Graham teaches at Harvard. Her latest collection of poems is “Runaway.”
