They’ll meet life’s three intentions on a streetcorner:

他們將在街頭同人生的三個意向相遇

an old man’s tobacco pipe, still smoking, children’s graffiti smeared across a wall,

老人菸斗的餘火、兒童塗寫在牆上的筆跡

the damp calves of women walking in the rain.

和濕漉漉的雨中行走的女人的小腿

They’ve wandered the whole night

他們徘徊了一整夜

looking for the signboard of the small white hotel—

圍繞小白房子尋找標記

no luck till sunrise.

太陽升起來了，歸宿仍不能斷決

Then a mistake:

錯誤就從這時發生

without praying

沒有經過祈禱

they sleep together in one bed,

他們就合睡到一張床上

indifferent to the sunlight outside

並且毫不顧忌室外光線

and later its cruel rays,

在晚些時候的殘酷照射

falling asleep with a smile

因而能夠帶著動人的笑容睡去

as touching as if dead,

像故去一樣

too lazy even to recall

竟然連再溫柔的事情

anything tender,

也懶得回憶

then rise and walk through the streets

就起身穿行街道

until they come to the tall door

一直走進那

of an unmarked building.

毫無標記的樓房大門

So they vanish

他們因此而消失

just as mother prophesied

同母親臨終前

before dying.

預言過的一模一樣

Yet their hearts

still crave the chance

其實在他們內心

to interpose that moment from the past,

時時都在尋找

their talk all the time hinting

穿插那段往事的機會

like a snowy day

時時都在用暗語交談

tiptoeing in from the mist

就像雪天

to peel and feed an orange to a patient.

用輕柔的步子從霧裏歸來

Those flowers in the greenhouse

剝餵病人橘子時的心情一樣

blooming through red and purple frost

那花房的花

ignite the unforgettable.

透過紫紅的霜霧

Let this ambience blaze.

肯定給他們留下難忘的印象

Let them

讓他們的情調

swoon awhile longer.

就此熾烈起來

—Go

那就讓他們

give them the rhythm

再短暫地昏迷一下吧

but not awareness.

——去

Don’t let this dim

給他們一個拍節

the window of their cohabitation.

但不要給他們以覺察

Don’t let them lose

不要讓他們同居的窗口

that stunning vision of the empty field.

因此變得昏暗

不要讓他們因此失去

When they stroll down the middle of the street toward dawn,

眺望原野的印象力量

they see life. Life

is that streetsweeper pausing

當他們向黎明的街心走去

to watch them pass.

他們看到了生活。生活

In blue coveralls,

就是那個停住勞動

pipe set in his teeth, he stands upright at morning—

看著他們走近的清道夫

他穿著藍色的工作服

還叼著一支菸斗，站在早晨——