Say “death” and the whole room freezes–

一说到“死亡”，整个屋子都冻僵

even the couches stop moving,

甚至沙发椅都停止移动

even the lamps.

即使灯

Like a squirrel suddenly aware it is being looked at.

就像松鼠突然警觉被人盯

Say the word continuously,

继续提这个字

and things begin to go forward.

而诸事仍在进行

Your life takes on

你的生活承受

the jerky texture of an old film strip.

一部旧胶片般急速的抽动

Continue saying it, hold it moment after moment inside the mouth,

再说下去

it becomes another syllable.

在口中不断欲言又止

A shopping mall swirls around the corpse of a beetle.

变成另一种音节

购物商场像甲虫尸体般打旋

Death is voracious, it swallows all the living.

Life is voracious, it swallows all the dead.

死亡是贪馋的，吞噬一切生者

neither is ever satisfied, neither is ever filled,

生命是贪馋的，吞噬一切亡灵

each swallows and swallows the world.

仍很不满意，也永不满足

每吞噬一次，世界便失去一次

The grip of life is as strong as the grip of death.

握住生命就像握住死亡一样强烈

(but the vanished, the vanished beloved, o where?)

（但那些消失的，消失掉的心爱的人，在哪里呢？）