它获得形状通常

It usually starts taking shape

从一个词开始*

from one word

揭示它自己在一个微笑里

reveals itself in one smile

有时在眼镜的蓝色闪光里

sometimes in the blue glint of eyeglasses

在一朵被践踏的雏菊里

in a trampled daisy

在小径的一抹光亮中

in a splash of light on a path

在颤动的胡萝卜叶中

in quivering carrot leaves

在一束欧芹中

in a bunch of parsley

它来自阳台上晾晒的衣物

It comes from laundry hung on a balcony

来自插进面团​​的手

from hands thrust into dough

它渗透过紧闭的眼睑

It seeps through closed eyelids

如同渗透过事、物、面孔和风景的

as through the prison wall of things of objects

监狱的墙壁

of faces of landscapes

它是当你切面包的时候

It’s when you slice bread

当你倒茶的时候

when you pour out some tea

它来自扫帚，来自购物袋

It comes from a broom from a shopping bag

来自削皮新的土豆

from peeling new potatoes

来自针刺后的一滴血

from a drop of blood from the prick of a needle

在为孩子做短裤时

when making panties for a child

或为丈夫的葬礼衬衫缝上纽扣时

or sewing a button on a husband’s burial shirt

它源于辛劳源于挂心

It comes out of toil out of care

源于夜晚的极度疲惫

out of immense fatigue in the evening

源于一滴擦掉的泪水

our of a tear wiped away

源于一次被瞌睡中途打断的祈祷

out of a prayer broken off in mid-word by sleep

它并非源于宏大

It’s not from the grand

而是源于每一件微不足道的小事

but from every tiny thing

才得以变得巨大

that it grows enormous

正如某人像燕子筑巢一般

as if Someone was building Eternity

用一缕缕的瞬间

as a swallow its nest

建造着永恒

out of clumps of moments

【译注】

*这里翻译得比较“生”，目的是为了对应原作的暗示性，注意“taking shape/from one word”，其中的shape 和word 应该都不仅仅是它们的现代常用意，也与创世记和约翰福音的信息相关联。