Between Words and Eyes
--of a Mysterious Walnut, and a Missing Question Mark
在字眼與眼睛之間
--關於一顆神秘的核桃、以及一個失蹤的問號
Words are looking for eyes
字眼搜尋著
Those sealed with secretes and silence.
以秘密與沈默封印著的眼睛
A Dungeon, or a Basement,
地窖也好,地下室也好
For anything underground
任何處於地下的,
Only the Suppressed sublimed.
惟有那些被封鎖壓抑著的,最為純粹崇高
Purification is the Sacrifice to words
淨化,是字眼的祭品
From restless eyes.
來自無休止的眼睛
Every red blink is a knife
每個赤紅的眨眼瞬間都是刀刃,
Cutting into the night in heaven’s height.
以天堂的高度,凌遲著夜晚
Once, twice, until every word turns into wounds,
一刀,兩刀,直到每個字眼都成傷
Twisting the path of every single look.
扭曲了每一個注視的路徑
We may be bigger than walnut,
也許我們比核桃大
But we'll never taste sweet.
但我們永遠不會有甜味
This could be the only thing I admit—
而這可能是我唯一會承認的事——
Between words and eyes, we survive.
在字眼與眼睛之間,我們殘存著
Searching for a perfect way to creak the walnut or me
尋找某種完美的方式,碎開核桃,或者我
I need to confirm who, what, when, and where
我需要先確定人、事、時、地
So to recall if I missed the Appointment,
才能追溯我是否已經錯過了約定
(Or, much worse, forgot to make one at all).
(抑或,更糟糕,根本忘了去訂這個約)
I don't remember
我不記得
If any question was ever asked by me or to me.
是否問過或被問過任何問題
Perhaps we need to chat first.
或許我們需要先聊聊
Just chat, you know,
就只是聊聊,你懂的
About weather, about love, about life,
關於天氣,關於愛,關於人生
or even about your neighbors or mine…
或者關於你的或我的鄰居們
Those ordinary something I never understand
這些我永遠無法理解的日常
Where words hide themselves,
字眼將自身隱匿於其中
Like coded safety boxes—countlessly uncountable numbers—
就像上了密碼的保險箱——無可計數的不可數之數——
That I don’t have formula to decipher.
我卻沒有方法能解鎖
Yes, the question, the only important one.
是的,問題,那唯一重要的問題
I have many, but need to compress it to one, kind of long
我有很多想問的,其實,但卻必須壓縮成一個,會有點長
It must be
且這問題勢必要是
Grammatically correct,
文法正確,
Mathematically logical, and
合於數學邏輯,
Rhetorically polite.
修辭要有禮貌
Yes, it will definitely take a long time.
是啊,一定會花上很多時間
Never mind.
不要介意
I can give you the last few words
我能給你句尾的一些字眼
Before my question mark is found and carved down.
在我的問號被找到,被雋刻下之前
“…for a birth, or a death…”
「…為了一種生,或者一種死…」
Go home, if you’re already on the way.
回家吧,如果你已經在路上
Be nice and polite and cautious,
要善良,有禮,也要謹慎
If you met your question mark someday somewhere;
如果在某時某地你遇到了你的問號的時候
Otherwise it will slip away at once.
不然它會馬上溜走
Spare your mercy and love and the feeling of being hurt,
省省你的憐憫與愛與受傷的感覺吧
It will turn red anyway at last.
反正最後都會變成紅色