葛綠柯植物誌 (12): The Jacob's Ladder

〈雅各的天梯〉*

困在土裡，
若是你，不也會想
上天堂？我住在
一位淑女的花園。原諒我，女士，
渴望已帶走了我的優雅。我
不是你原先想要的。但
一如男與女似乎
彼此渴求，我也渴求
認識天堂——而現在
你的悲傷，一根光禿枝幹
伸及前廊的窗。
盡頭有什麼？一朵藍色小花
像顆星星。永遠
離不開這世界！這
不就是你淚水的意思？

The Jacob's ladder

Trapped in the earth,
wouldn't you too want to go
to heaven? I live
in a lady's garden. Forgive me, lady;
longing has taken my grace. I am
not what you wanted. But
as men and women seem
to desire each other, I too desire
knowledge of paradise--and now
your grief, a naked stem
reaching the porch window.
And at the end, what? A small blue flower
like a star. Never to leave
this world! Is this
not what your tears mean?



-----

* Jacob's ladder 學名 Polemonium caeruleum，是一種花荵科的多年生草本植物，植株直挺，開藍紫色花。我查不到中文俗名（應該是沒有，因為它原產歐洲），此處直譯英文原名，因為跟天堂的意象比較有關。

葛綠柯植物誌 (11): Ipomoea

話說牽牛花是我從小就很熟悉的植物，因為太普遍甚至有種土俗感，看到 Glück 從這種我從沒想過的切入點來寫還真的吃了一驚（笑）。

〈牽牛花〉

前世我的罪是什麼，
一如此生我的罪
是哀傷，使我再也
不得上升，
永不得以任何方式
重複我的生命，
纏繞在山楂樹間，所有
塵世之美都是我的處罰
因為那是你的——
我苦難的來源，為何
你引我開出
這些天空般的花，只為
標示我是我主的
一部分：我是
他披風的顏色，我的肌骨使
他的榮耀成為有形。


Ipomoea

What was my crime in another life,
as in this life my crime
is sorrow, that I am not to be
permitted to ascend ever again,
never in any sense
permitted to repeat my life,
wound in the hawthorn, all
earthly beauty my punishment
as it is yours--
Source of my suffering, why
have you drawn from me
these flowers like the sky, except
to mark me as a part
of my master: I am
his cloak's color, my flesh giveth
form to his glory.

-----

* 牽牛花英文俗稱 morning glory，指其晨開暮謝（日文的「朝顏」顯然也是同樣的邏輯），本詩最後一句的 glory 一字應也由此而來。

葛綠柯植物誌 (10): Witchgrass

〈巫草〉*

有什麼
來到這世界不受歡迎
喊著失序，失序——

若你這麼恨我
不必特地給我
一個名字：難道需要
又一個辱罵之詞
在你的語言，多一種
方式把所有事
歸咎於一族——

你我都知道，
若你崇拜
一個神，就只需要
一個敵人——

我不是敵人。
只是個藉口讓你
忽視眼前正在
這片花圃發生的，
一個小小的
失敗範式。你的寶貝花朵
幾乎每天都在死去
而你無法罷休直到
你攻擊禍首，也就是
任何留下的，任何
湊巧堅韌耐活

勝過你偏愛之物——

那本就註定
無法在真實世界長久。
但何必承認這點，大可
照你慣常的
繼續哀悼與怪罪，
總是兩者並行。

我存活並不需要
你的讚美。我存在
早於你，早在
你種花蒔草之前。
而我會繼續在這裡直到只剩
日月，大海，和遼闊原野。

我就將是那原野。


Witchgrass

Something
comes into the world unwelcome
calling disorder, disorder--

If you hate me so much
don't bother to give me
a name: do you need
one more slur
in your language, another
way to blame
one tribe for everything--

as we both know,
if you worship
one god, you only need
One enemy--

I'm not the enemy.
Only a ruse to ignore
what you see happening
right here in this bed,
a little paradigm
of failure. One of your precious flowers
dies here almost every day
and you can't rest until
you attack the cause, meaning
whatever is left, whatever
happens to be sturdier
than your personal passion--

It was not meant
to last forever in the real world.
But why admit that, when you can go on
doing what you always do,
mourning and laying blame,
always the two together.

I don't need your praise
to survive. I was here first,
before you were here, before
you ever planted a garden.
And I'll be here when only the sun and moon
are left, and the sea, and the wide field.

I will constitute the field.



-----

* Witchgrass 學名 Panicum capillare，是一種原生於北美的禾本科植物，我查不到台灣的正式譯名，網路上有簡體中文資料稱它為「毛絨稷」或「毛狀稷」。此處選擇直譯為巫草，主要為傳達原詩中污名和雜草的意象。

葛綠柯植物誌 (9): Snowdrops

一元復始，大家讀詩。


〈雪花蓮〉

你知道我曾是什麼嗎，我如何活？你懂得
絕望；那
你應該明白冬天意味什麼。

我沒料想自己能存活，
泥土壓住我。我沒料想
能再醒來，感覺
潮潤泥土裡的身體
恢復反應，記得
這麼久之後再度綻放
在冷冷天光
最早的初春——

懼怕，是的，但回到人世
叫喊是的冒險喜悅

在新世界的寒冽風中。


Snowdrops

Do you know what I was, how I lived? You know
what despair is; then
winter should have meaning for you.

I did not expect to survive,
earth suppressing me. I didn't expect
to waken again, to feel
in damp earth my body
able to respond again, remembering
after so long how to open again
in the cold light
of earliest spring--

afraid, yes, but among you again
crying yes risk joy

in the raw wind of the new world.

大年初一飯店早餐桌上熱騰騰出爐的譯文手（ㄍㄨㄟˇ）寫（ㄏㄨㄚˋ）稿（ㄈㄨˊ），
大家看我多認真啊哈哈哈～

葛綠柯植物誌 (8): Clover

上個月後半比較忙亂靜不下心，所以葛綠柯花園暫停了兩個星期，但其實還有很多植物可供採擷啊，比方這株語帶諷刺有點妙的〈苜蓿〉。


〈苜蓿〉

那散佈在
我們當中的，你稱之為
幸運的象徵*
儘管它就像我們
是雜草，是要
根除的東西——

是什麼邏輯
你收藏
單獨一根卷鬚
而要其他的
死？

若我們當中存在
如此強大，難道不該
讓它繁衍，服務
你珍愛的花園？

你該問自己
這些問題，
而非把疑問留給
受害者。你該知道
當你大搖大擺穿過我們
我聽見兩個聲音說話，
一是你的靈，另一
是你雙手所為。

Clover

What is dispersed
among us, which you call
the sign of blessedness
although it is, like us,
a weed, a thing
to be rooted out--

by what logic
do you hoard
a single tendril
of something you want
dead?

If there is any presence among us
so powerful, should it not
multiply, in service
of the adored garden?

You should be asking
these questions yourself,
not leaving them
to your victims. You should know
that when you swagger among us
I hear two voices speaking,
one your spirit, one
the acts of your hands.

-----
* 苜蓿一般為三葉，偶有四葉的變種被視為幸運象徵，就是中文說的幸運草（只是在台灣我們通常好像是指酢漿草）。

葛綠柯植物誌 (7)：Daisies

其實這首詩前半的那種二元對立有點老套，但最後的反轉帶點諷刺還蠻有趣的。類似的回馬槍之感在〈延齡草〉也出現過，但那首的反轉更後設而且力道更強烈，我就喜歡得多。

〈雛菊〉

別客氣，你就直說吧。庭園

不是真實世界。機器

才是真實世界。坦白說出任何傻子

都能從你臉上讀出的：合理的做法

是避開我們，是抗拒

懷舊。這

不夠現代，風吹動

草地上雛菊的聲音：頭腦

不會因聽風而閃亮。而頭腦

當然要閃亮，就像

機器閃亮，而非

比方說，像樹根扎深。但還是

很感人，看你小心翼翼

走近草地邊緣，一大清早

絕不會有人

看見你的時候。你在草地旁站愈久，

愈顯緊張。沒人想聽

自然世界的印象：你會再度

被嘲笑；人們會對你嗤之以鼻。

至於你今晨此刻

實際聽到的話：想清楚

是否要告訴別人這原野上說了什麼

又是誰說的

Daisies

Go ahead: say what you're thinking. The garden

is not the real world. Machines

are the real world. Say frankly what any fool

could read in your face: it makes sense

to avoid us, to resist

nostalgia. It is

not modern enough, the sound the wind makes

stirring a meadow of daisies: the mind

cannot shine following it. And the mind

wants to shine, plainly, as

machines shine, and not

grow deep, as, for example, roots. It is very touching,

all the same, to see you cautiously

approaching the meadow's border in early morning,

when no one could possibly

be watching you. The longer you stand at the edge,

the more nervous you seem. No one wants to hear

impressions of the natural world: you will be

laughed at again; scorn will be piled on you.

As for what you're actually

hearing this morning: think twice

before you tell anyone what was said in this field

and by whom.

葛綠柯植物誌 (6)：The Wild Iris

經過黑暗無邊深陷谷底的 2020，新的一年就以這首充滿重生意象的詩來開始吧。與《野鳶尾》詩集同名的開卷之作有著 Glück 一貫簡單無華的用字，但細讀之下其實很難翻譯，尤其是來回在過去與現在之間的英文動詞時態極簡卻有效地形成回想敘述的角度與對比，但中文幾乎無法同樣簡潔有力地傳達。我只能盡力而為啦，總之是非常有趣又有挑戰性的練習。Here's to hoping for a hopeful year!

〈野鳶尾〉

我苦難的盡頭

有一扇門

聽我說：你們所稱的死亡

我記得

頭上有聲響，松枝搖曳。

然後沉寂。微弱陽光

閃動在乾燥的表面

這樣存活是可怕的

剩下意識

埋在黑暗的土裡

然後結束了：你們害怕的，有

靈魂卻無法

言語，突然終止，僵硬的泥土

彎拱少許。然後我想是

鳥在矮灌木間飛跳

你們不記得

自另一個世界穿渡而來

我告訴你們我又能言語了：所有

從遺忘回來的

會找到聲音：

從我生命中心湧出

一道豐沛的泉，深藍的

影在湛碧海水上

The Wild Iris

At the end of my suffering

there was a door.

Hear me out: that which you call death

I remember.

Overhead, noises, branches of the pine shifting.

Then nothing. The weak sun

flickered over the dry surface.

It is terrible to survive

as consciousness

buried in the dark earth.

Then it was over: that which you fear, being

a soul and unable

to speak, ending abruptly, the stiff earth

bending a little. And what I took to be

birds darting in low shrubs.

You who do not remember

passage from the other world

I tell you I could speak again: whatever

returns from oblivion returns

to find a voice:

from the center of my life came

a great fountain, deep blue

shadows on azure seawater.

葛綠柯植物誌 (5): The White Rose

〈白玫瑰〉

這是大地？那麼

我不屬於這裡

亮著燈的窗內你是誰

此刻掩映在行路人樹*

閃動的葉影裡？

你是否會存活，當我

在這第一個夏季後死去？

整夜，樹的纖細枝條

在明亮的窗外窸窣欠動。

解釋我的生命吧，不做任何表示的你，

儘管我在夜裡向你呼喊：

我不像你，我只有

這具身體作為聲音；我無法

消失在沉默裡——

清冷的早晨

在黑暗的地表

我的聲音迴響飄散

白色漸漸被黑暗吸納

彷彿你畢竟做出表示

要說服我你也無法在此存活

或者告訴我你並非我呼喊的光

而是其後的闃黑

The White Rose

This is the earth? Then

I don't belong here.

Who are you in the lighted window,

shadowed now by the flickering leaves

of the wayfarer tree?

Can you survive where I won't last

beyond the first summer?

All night the slender branches of the tree

shift and rustle at the bright window.

Explain my life to me, you who make no sign,

Though I call out to you in the night:

I am not like you, I have only

my body for a voice; I can't

disappear into silence--

And in the cold morning

over the dark surface of the earth

echoes of my voice drift,

whiteness steadily absorbed into darkness

as though you were making a sign after all

to convince me you too couldn't survive here

or to show me you are not the light I called to

but the blackness behind it.

-----

* Wayfarer's tree 又稱 wayfaring tree，學名 Viburnum lantana，中文叫綿毛莢蒾，但這名稱傳達不出英文俗名的行路意象，所以此處選擇字面直譯。

葛綠柯植物誌 (4)：The Hawthorne Tree

繼續 Glück，繼續採收《野鳶尾》裡的草木（笑）。我發現對我這種喜歡植物的人，以植物為題的詩相對容易掌握，尤其有助使她筆下的簡潔意象更加鮮活、躍然眼前。

〈山楂樹〉

肩並肩，而非

手牽手：我看著你們

走在夏日庭園——無法

移動的東西

學會看；我不需要

緊跟你們穿過

庭園；人類

四處留下情感的

記號，花

散落在泥土小徑，一朵朵

白的金的，有些

輕輕被晚風

掀動；我不需要

一路跟到你們此刻所在

有毒的田野深處，也知道

是什麼讓你們逃離，人的

激情或憤怒：除此還會是

什麼原因，你們丟下

手中的一切？

The Hawthorn Tree

Side by side, not

hand in hand: I watch you

walking in the summer garden--things

that can't move

learn to see; I do not need

to chase you through

the garden; human beings leave

signs of feeling

everywhere, flowers

scattered on the dirt path, all

white and gold, some

lifted a little by

the evening wind; I do not need

to follow where you are now,

deep in the poisonous field, to know

the cause of your flight, human

passion or rage: for what else

would you let drop

all you have gathered?

葛綠柯植物誌 (3)：Violets

繼續每週一首 Glück。其實我鮮少讀英詩，更幾乎從來不譯詩（因為太困難太麻煩了啊沒事何必），不過這幾星期下來忽然發現，以翻譯對詩做深讀、精讀真是非常有趣而且收穫良多……算是同時身為譯者和詩人的某種「特權」？（笑）

〈堇〉

因為在我們的世界

總隱藏著什麼

小而白

小而你稱之為

純淨的，我們不像你

那樣傷逝，親愛的

悲痛的主；你

不比我們

更迷失，在

山楂樹下，山楂端著

一捧捧凝鍊的珍珠：是什麼

帶你來到這裡，我們

希望你明白，儘管

你跪倒哭泣

一雙大手緊握

如此偉大卻絲毫

不知靈魂的本質

不知它永遠不死：可憐的悲傷的神

你從來沒有靈魂

或者你永不會失去

Violets

Because in our world

something is always hidden,

small and white,

small and what you call

pure, we do not grieve

as you grieve, dear

suffering master; you

are no more lost

than we are, under

the hawthorn tree, the hawthorn holding

balanced trays of pearls: what

has brought you among us

who would teach you, though

you kneel and weep,

clasping your great hands,

in all your greatness knowing

nothing of the soul's nature,

which is never to die: poor sad god,

either you never have one

or you never lose one.

-----

* 關於山楂（引自維基詞條）：
In Gaelic folklore, hawthorn (in Scottish Gaelic, sgitheach and in Irish, sceach) 'marks the entrance to the otherworld' and is strongly associated with the fairies.
哇這真是太有趣，感謝詩人阿芒指出這一點。然後我立刻聯想到 The Buried Giant 裡那叢令我好傷心又難忘的山楂！！

葛綠柯植物誌 (2)：Lanium

繼續 Glück。跟上星期一樣隨機挑一首。這次覺得比較難翻，因為 Glück 的用字都很簡素而這首更短，更不好掌握……但我喜歡植物所以還是乖乖認真譯下去，沒有另外換一首。

〈野芝麻〉

當你有一顆冷的心，你這樣活。

像我：陰影裡，爬過冰涼的石

在高大的楓樹下

太陽很少碰觸我。

有時在早春我看見它遠遠升起

然後樹葉長出，將它完全遮住。我感覺它

在葉間閃耀，忽隱忽現

彷彿有人拿金屬匙敲打玻璃杯身

並非所有活物都同樣

需要光。有些我們

做自己的光：一片銀葉

像一條沒人能走的小路，像淺的

銀湖在高大楓樹下的黑暗裡

但這你已經知道了。

你和其他人認為

你們為真實而活，因此愛

一切的冷

Lanium

This is how you live when you have a cold heart.

As I do: in shadows, trailing over cool rock,

under the great maple trees.

The sun hardly touches me.

Sometimes I see it in early spring, rising very far away.

Then leaves grow over it, completely hiding it. I feel it

glinting through the leaves, erratic,

like someone hitting the side of a glass with a metal spoon.

Living things don’t all require

light in the same degree. Some of us

make our own light: a silver leaf

like a path no one can use, a shallow

lake of silver in the darkness under the great maples.

But you know this already.

You and the others who think

you live for truth and, by extension, love

all that is cold.

葛綠柯植物誌 (1)：Trillium

話說本來想偷懶買 Louise Glück 的譯本來讀讀就好，結果找了一下台灣和中國的版本都不喜歡……然後就忍不住自己動手了哈哈。

〈延齡草〉

醒來時我在森林裡。黑暗

顯得自然，松樹間的天空

光點密布

我什麼都不知道；只能看

看著看著，蒼穹所有的光點

漸隱合一，成為火

燃燒穿透冷杉

然後就不能再

盯著天看了會引火燒身

是否有些靈魂需要

死亡的存在，一如我需要保護？

我想若我講得夠久

就能回答這個問題，就能看見

他們所看見的，一把梯子

伸出杉林，某種事物

呼喚他們拿命去換——

想想我已經了解的東西。

我醒在森林裡一無所知；

前一刻，還不知道我的聲音

如果有誰給我聲音

會如此充滿悲傷，我的字句

像一連串哭喊。

我甚至不知道自己感覺悲傷

直到這個詞出現，直到我感覺

雨從體內湧出

Trillium

When I woke up I was in a forest. The dark

seemed natural, the sky through the pine trees

thick with many lights.

I knew nothing; I could do nothing but see.

And as I watched, all the lights of heaven

faded to make a single thing, a fire

burning through the cool firs.

Then it wasn’t possible any longer

to stare at heaven and not be destroyed.

Are there souls that need

death’s presence, as I require protection?

I think if I speak long enough

I will answer that question, I will see

whatever they see, a ladder

reaching through the firs, whatever

calls them to exchange their lives--

Think what I understand already.

I woke up ignorant in a forest;

only a moment ago, I didn’t know my voice

if one were given to me

would be so full of grief, my sentences

like cries strung together.

I didn’t even know I felt grief

until that word came, until I felt

rain streaming from me.