Nautilus Island's hermit

鹦鹉螺岛上的隐士

heiress still lives through winter in her Spartan cottage;

那个女继承人在简陋的屋子里过了一冬；

her sheep still graze above the sea.

她的羊群还在海边高地上吃草。

Her son's a bishop.  Her farmer

她儿子是个主教。她的农场主

is first selectman in our village;

是咱们村里的第一任村长；

she's in her dotage.

她如今已经老迈。

Thirsting for

她渴望得到

the hierarchic privacy

维多利亚女王时代

of Queen Victoria's century,

那种等级森严的清静闲适，

she buys up all

她收买了

the eyesores facing her shore,

and lets them fall.

所有对岸看不顺眼的地方，

任它去倾颓。

The season's ill--

we've lost our summer millionaire,

这季节出了毛病——

who seemed to leap from an L. L. Bean

我们丧失了夏天的百万富翁，

catalogue.  His nine-knot yawl

他仿佛从一个货目单上逃走了。

was auctioned off to lobstermen.

他那九英尺长的游艇

A red fox stain covers Blue Hill.

拍卖给了一个捕虾的人。

秋天的蓝山沾满狐狸皮的红斑点。

And now our fairy

decorator brightens his shop for fall;

如今我们那仙子般的装饰家

his fishnet's filled with orange cork,

粉饰好店铺等着秋市开张，

orange, his cobbler's bench and awl;

他的渔网挂满橘黄色的浮子，

there is no money in his work,

鞋匠的凳子、锥子也是橘色的；

he'd rather marry.

他干活，挣不了钱，

还不如去结婚。

One dark night,

my Tudor Ford climbed the hill's skull,

一个黑夜，

I watched for love-cars.  Lights turned down,

我的福特车爬上山头，

they lay together, hull to hull,

我注视情人们的车子。灯黑了，

where the graveyard shelves on the town. . . .

车子并列着，机身捱着机身，

My mind's not right.

坟场在市镇上空层层排列着。

我的脑袋不对头。

A car radio bleats,

'Love, O careless Love . . . .' I hear

一辆车中的无线电在尖叫，

my ill-spirit sob in each blood cell,

“爱情，啊，轻率的爱情……”

as if my hand were at its throat . . . .

我听到每个血细胞中都有恶神在啜泣，

I myself am hell;

仿佛我的手卡住了喉咙……

nobody's here--

我自己也像是座地狱；

这里没有人——

only skunks, that search

in the moonlight for a bite to eat.

只有黄鼠狼，在月光下

They march on their soles up Main Street:

寻找一口食物，

white stripes, moonstruck eyes' red fire

他们在大街上阔步行进；

under the chalk-dry and spar spire

毛上的白条纹，狂乱的眼神吐出红的火光，

of the Trinitarian Church.

在三一教堂

那些白垩色、带横梁的尖顶下面。

I stand on top

of our back steps and breathe the rich air--

我站在我家

a mother skunk with her column of kittens swills the garbage pail

后门的台阶上，吸入浓烈的气味——

She jabs her wedge-head in a cup

一只黄鼠狼带着一群小的

of sour cream, drops her ostrich tail,

and will not scare.

舐着废物箱中的食钵，

她把尖尖的脑袋插进

一个酸乳酪杯子，吹下她鸵鸟似的尾巴，

什么也不怕。