羅伯特 · 布萊〈渡鴉群，躲在鞋子裡〉2022.7.7

羅伯特 · 布萊〈渡鴉群，躲在鞋子裡〉　　　2022.7.7，試譯

某事醞釀在屋裡，但那裡的男人和女人
全然不知曉。老邁的煉金術士，佇立在他們的
火爐旁，他對燃燒的火爐，暗示過千次。

渡鴉群，躲在老婦的鞋裡。
一個四歲孩童，默誦著遠古的語言。
我們已經活過了自己的死亡足足一千次。

我們對朋友說的，每個句子，啊，都是我們的對立面
同樣地。每次我們說，「我倚靠神，」那意味著，神
已經拋棄了我們不下一千次。

母親們在教堂裡，跪拜，一次又一次
在戰爭頻仍的此刻，請求神保護他們的兒子，
他們的祈禱，被回絕了千次。

潛鳥寶寶——依隨母親身體的
光澤，已有幾個月。夏末的盡頭，她
已經把自己的頭顱，浸入雨湖一千次。

羅伯特，你荒蕪生活，揮霍了這麼多生命，坐在
這樣的斗室裡，寫詩。難道你會，重蹈覆轍這樣
困坐著？我想我會吧，而且這是，第一千次。



Robert Bly〈Ravens Hiding in a Shoe〉

There is something men and women living in houses
Don’t understand. The old alchemists standing
Near their stoves hinted at it a thousand times.

Ravens at night hide in an old woman’s shoe.
A four-year-old speaks some ancient language.
We have lived our own death a thousand times.

Each sentence we speak to friends means the opposite
As well. Each time we say, “I trust in God,” it means
God has already abandoned us a thousand times.

Mothers again and again have knelt in church
In wartime asking God to protect their sons,
And their prayers were refused a thousand times.

The baby loon follows the mother’s sleek
Body for months. By the end of summer, she
Has dipped her head into Rainy Lake a thousand times.

Robert, you’ve wasted so much of your life
Sitting indoors to write poems. Would you
Do that again? I would, a thousand times.

2010