For fertility, a new bride is lifted to touch it with her left hand,

为了多生贵子，新娘被托起，用左手摸它，

or possibly kiss it.

也有可能吻它。

The sound close in, my friend told me later, is almost silent.

我朋友后来告诉我，钟声聚拢起来时近于无声，

At ten kilometers, even those who have never heard it know what it is.

而十公里处，就算从没听过的人也都知道那是什么。

If you stand near during thunder, she said,

她说，如果打雷时你站在它附近，

you will hear a reply.

你会听到它回应。

Six weeks and six days from the phone’s small ringing,

电话低鸣，六星期又六天之后，

replying was over.

回应完全没了。

She who cooked lamb and loved wine and wild mushroom pastas.

她，做羊肉，爱葡萄酒和野生菇意面。

She who when I saw her last was silent as the great Zygmunt mostly is,

我最后一次见到她时，她无声，就像大多数时候的齐格蒙特大钟，

a ventilator’s clapper between her dry lips.

她干燥的嘴唇之间被呼吸机的管夹封住。

Because I could, I spoke. She laid her palm on my cheek to answer.

因为我可以说话，所以由我说。她把手掌放在我脸颊上回答。

And soon again, to say it was time to leave.

很快，又到时间了，得离开。

I put my lips near the place a tube went into

我把嘴唇贴在她手背

the back of one hand.

插输液管的地方。

The kiss—as if it knew what I did not yet—both full and formal.

那个吻，满满的，也很正式，似乎它知道我还不知道的事。

As one would kiss the ring of a cardinal, or the rim

就像亲吻红衣主教的戒指，或者亲吻

of that cold iron bell, whose speech can mean “Great joy,”

那口冰冷的铁钟边缘，这口钟的话可能表示“大喜”，

or—equally—“The city is burning. Come.”

或者也等于说——“这座城在燃烧。来。”

【译按】

齐格蒙特大钟，波兰克拉科夫市内的齐格蒙特钟塔里的著名大钟，铸造于1520年。