The back, the yoke, the yardage. Lapped seams,

这件衬衫的后片、抵肩、码数，做工精湛

The nearly invisible stitches along the collar

领口处接缝有重叠的搭接

Turned in a sweatshop by Koreans or Malaysians

细致的针脚几乎不露痕迹。加工地

Gossiping over tea and noodles on their break

在一家血汗工厂，韩国或马来西亚。

Or talking money or politics while one fitted

休息时，他们闲聊茶和面包，或一边讲钱讲政治

This armpiece with its overseam to the band

一边将这件胳膊的袖口装上

Of cuff I button at my wrist. The presser, the cutter,

直到袖带扣系在我的衬衫手腕上。

The wringer, the mangle. The needle, the union,

压板机，裁剪机，绞线机，轧布机。

The treadle, the bobbin. The code. The infamous blaze

针，接头，踏板，梭芯，编码。以及

At the Triangle Factory in nineteen-eleven.

工会和工厂规范。关于血汗工厂

One hundred and forty-six died in the flames

我只记得一场臭名昭著的大火

On the ninth floor, no hydrants, no fire escapes—

1911年3月25日，16:40分

发生在三角女式衬衣工厂。一百四十六人丧生

The witness in a building across the street

在第九层，没有消防设备，没有逃生通道——

Who watched how a young man helped a girl to step

Up to the windowsill, then held her out

街对面一栋建筑中的见证人

他看着一个年轻人如何帮助女孩跳楼

Away from the masonry wall and let her drop.

将女子托到窗台上，踩到窗框外侧

And then another. As if he were helping them up

To enter a streetcar, and not eternity.

然后松手让她在墙外掉落。然后托出第二个，

好像是扶她登上一辆有轨电车，

A third before he dropped her put her arms

而不是通往永生的末路

Around his neck and kissed him. Then he held

Her into space, and dropped her. Almost at once

第四个在他抱到窗外时，她将双臂

环抱男子的颈脖，轻轻吻了他。

He stepped to the sill himself, his jacket flared

接着，他松开了手。

And fluttered up from his shirt as he came down,

Air filling up the legs of his gray trousers—

目送她掉下去。最后他自己

也登上了窗台，纵身一跃时，

Like Hart Crane’s Bedlamite, “shrill shirt ballooning.”

他的夹克衫已经闪着火光，衬衫在风中翻卷

Wonderful how the pattern matches perfectly

Across the placket and over the twin bar-tacked

风灌满了他膨胀的裤管—

就像哈特·克兰在《桥》里写的自杀者一样，

Corners of both pockets, like a strict rhyme

 “衬衫在呼啸膨胀，如气球”。

Or a major chord.   Prints, plaids, checks,

Houndstooth, Tattersall, Madras. The clan tartans

我不知道那奇妙的花式图案，如何与门襟和

双杆密钉完美匹配，胸前口袋的四角，

Invented by mill-owners inspired by the hoax of Ossian,

仿佛严谨的大和弦。印刷品，格子布，支票，

To control their savage Scottish workers, tamed

By a fabricated heraldry: MacGregor,

千鸟格，塔特索尔，马德拉斯。苏格兰格子呢

由工厂主发明，伪造的纹章

Bailey, MacMartin. The kilt, devised for workers

灵感来自于波斯人的骗局，用以控制

To wear among the dusty clattering looms.

其野蛮的苏格兰工人。马基高，麦马丁

Weavers, carders, spinners. The loader,

在灰尘满天的作坊里，苏格兰短裙

The docker, the navvy. The planter, the picker, the sorter

专为工人在轰隆作响的织布机旁工作时

Sweating at her machine in a litter of cotton

穿着设计。织布工，整烫工，纺纱工。装载机

As slaves in calico headrags sweated in fields:

码头工人，海军。播种机，分拣机

George Herbert, your descendant is a Black

而在机器旁，垫上的一包包棉花出于

Lady in South Carolina, her name is Irma

棉花的种植工和采摘工们

And she inspected my shirt. Its color and fit

她们裹着印花头巾，在棉花地里挥汗如雨：

And feel and its clean smell have satisfied

乔治·赫伯特，也许你的后裔是这位

Both her and me. We have culled its cost and quality

来自南卡罗来纳州的黑人女子，

Down to the buttons of simulated bone,

她的名字叫爱玛，印在衬衫标签上，

正是她检验了我买下的这件衬衫。

The buttonholes, the sizing, the facing, the characters

Printed in black on neckband and tail. The shape,

颜色、尺寸、手感、干净的气味令她

The label, the labor, the color, the shade. The shirt.

和我都感到愉悦。我对这件衬衫的价格和品质都

非常满意，包括那些仿骨的纽扣

纽扣孔，大小，饰面，以及在后领的

黑色印刷字符、形状，

标签，人工，颜色深浅，阴影

都教我如此倾心，这件我手中所持的衬衫。

译注

[1] 臭名昭著的大火：指美国纽约华盛顿三角女式衬衣厂高楼大火，改写历史的一场大火。

[2] 哈特·克兰：（Hart Crane, 1899-1932），美国诗人，有长诗《桥》，指布鲁克林大桥。

[3] 马基高（MacGregor）等：洋名全是面料或者公司服装品牌，好象叙述服装史。

[4] 乔治·赫伯特，威尔士诗人，诗人跟历史上的诗人开个玩笑，错觉联想。