為什麼主婦舔勺子總是慢慢的
在這些煤油浸透的年份裡, 她找不到一根不理智的火柴。
主婦穿過海洋,面紅耳赤又無精打采。 聽診器的聽筒被換成了盛菜的鏟子。
她想,生活只有兩種選擇: 你努力營造它,或者你只是路過它。
繈褓裡的嬰兒照片被寄到家裡, 但卻沒有人寄錢,她感到尷尬。
經年累月,她生長著她的頭髮。而後她的神經噴發新芽。 主婦不是傻子,但她也沒有妄想。
她生活在一個錙銖必較的季節裡,而這個季節漫無邊際。 她的悲傷有厚度,
主婦知道洗衣服要抓緊。 在做飯時,她舔勺子卻是慢慢的。
每晚,她都用豬肉餡做一個菜。 而另一個菜一定要高纖維。
作者 / [美國] 詹妮·謝 翻譯 / 光諸
MetamorphosisNowhere in those kerosene years could she find a soft-headed match.
The wife crosses over an ocean, red-faced and cheerless. Trades the flat pad of a stethoscope for a dining hall spatula.
Life is two choices, she thinks: you hatch a life, or you pass through one.
Photographs of a child swaddled in layers arrive by post. Money doesn’t, to her embarrassment.
Over time, she grows out her hair. Then she sprouts nerves. The wife was no fool, but neither did she wander.
She lives inside a season of thrift, which stretches on. Her sorrow has thickness and a certain sheen.
The wife knows to hurry when she washes. When she cooks, she licks spoons slowly.
Every night, she made a dish with ground pork. Paired with a dish that was fibrous.
JENNY XIE
今天這首詩包含一個老梗:卡夫卡的《變形記》的題目其實翻譯得不對,正確的翻譯應當叫《變態記》。“Metamorphosis”這個詞的意思是“生物從生命一個階段的形態轉化成另一個階段的形態”,比如說蝌蚪變青蛙,毛毛蟲變蝴蝶。還記得卡夫卡《變形記》的開頭嗎?“一天早晨,
如果把“變形”轉為“變態”,一切就更容易理解了。在格裡高爾的世界裡,可能“變成大甲蟲”就是他生命更高階段的形態,
帶著這種認識,可以更好地理解今天的詩。主婦的命運讓人悲傷,
當主婦慢慢地舔勺子的時候,會想些什麼呢?
薦詩 / 光諸(微信號:ghostinthezoo) 2017/11/06
題圖 / Emi Adachi