For hours I’d lug her on my shoulder,

一连几个小时，我把她托在肩头，

up and down the sidewalk in front of that crumbling pre-war two-story

在楼前人行道上来回踱步，一栋战前的摇摇欲坠的两层楼

where we lived under the tap shoes

我们住在踢踏舞鞋下面

of a struggling hoofer. Up and down that sidewalk, stumbling

一位艰苦奋斗的职业舞蹈家。我在人行道上徘徊，跌跌撞撞

over cracks, singing those flies off the buttermilk, that bear

跨过裂缝，哼唱着飞离酪乳的苍蝇，翻过高山的熊熊

over the mountain,

经常是，看见太阳从翻修过的农舍屋顶上升起

and often saw the sun peep up over the rooftops of the renovated cottages

在里奇路。但这孩子就是不睡。

on Ridgeway. The child just wasn’t a sleeper.

这首歌，那首歌；这边肩头，那边肩头。

This song, that song, this shoulder, that shoulder,

但小姑娘还是不打盹。无计可施——

and the girl wouldn’t nod. Nothing to do –

只能一晚又一晚，在人行道上走来走去，摇摇晃晃

just night after night, up and down the sidewalk, staggering

在精疲力尽的恍惚中，上下颠动

in a trance of exhaustion, bouncing

那个襁褓里嘟嘟囔囔者，一夜又一夜，月亮

that swaddled grumbler, night after night of the moon

攀缘在繁星间

climbing through stars

当一座接一座房子合上欲泣的眼睑，街灯投射出我们的影子

while one by one the houses closed their weepy lids

一会在前，一会在后，然后又在前面，

and the street lamps flung our shadows

我在整个街区走来走去，我不知道走了

in front of us, then behind us, then in front of us again,

多少遍，直到疲惫的月亮开始褪色，像一杯热巧克力中的棉花糖

as I paced the whole block I don’t know

我躲闪一辆从车道上呼啸而出的汽车，

how many times until the worn-out moon started to fade

一份飞来的报纸, 汹涌而至的

like a marshmallow in a cup of hot chocolate

垃圾车的恶臭。然后我突然意识到，

and I’m dodging a car groaning out of a driveway,

这孩子不在扭动，不在嘟囔，而在打着呼噜

a flying newspaper, the rolling

在我的肩膀上，远远地越过了一个边界

stench of a garbage truck. Then it hits me

只有梦才能穿越，

the kid’s not stirring, not grumbling, but purring now

我赶紧转身向家走去，

on my shoulder, far-off beyond a border

突然进入晨光流溢的街区，

only the dream can cross,

这里看起来不再那么破败。

so I’d wheel toward home,

在我们身后的某个地方，收音机高声播放着

and suddenly in the dirty half-light flooding the neighborhood,

一首快乐的歌曲，街对面的路边上，

the block wouldn’t look half so ratty.

穿着浴袍的邻居对我点头

And somewhere behind us a radio would blare

挥舞着他的早间新闻。就连那些直升飞机隆隆作响着

a happy song, and on the curb across the street,

冲进繁忙时段，看起来也近乎仁慈。

the neighborhood grouch in his bathrobe would nod

所以我放慢脚步，警惕着破裂的人行道，

and wave his morning news. Even those eggbeaters rattling

盲目的驾驶，拖延着这一刻

into rush hour would almost seem benevolent.

当太阳在烟囱和弯曲的屋顶上投下光环，焰火

So I’d slow a little, watchful of the cracked sidewalk,

从楼上的窗户飞溅，我更慢一点，紧紧抱住

the blind drives, dragging out the moment

这个氛围，惶恐于这个新的喜乐

as the sun threw an aura over chimneys

在我的肩头，

and buckled rooftops, banked its fireworks

很高兴邻居们和我一样，正在醒来。

off upstairs windows, and I’d slow a little more, hugging

the blanket close, terrified of this new joy

on my shoulder,

delighted that the neighborhood, like me, was waking up.