All winter he eats tangerines,

整個冬天他都在吃著桔子，

sometimes at the table,

有時是在餐桌上吃，有時是在公共汽車上吃，

sometimes on a bus.

有時吃著吃著

Sometimes, as he’s eating,

雪就從書櫥的內部下下來了；

snow falls inside the bookcase.

有時他不吃，只是慢慢地剝著，

Sometimes instead of eating,

彷彿有什麼在那裏面居住。

he simply peels, slowly,

as if something lives within.

整個冬天他就這樣吃著桔子，

吃著吃著他就想起了在一部什麼小說中

So he eats tangerines, all winter long,

女主人公也曾端上來一盤桔子，

and while eating recalls a novel

其中一個一直滾落到故事的結尾……

in which the heroine also brought to the table

但他已記不清那是誰寫的。

a dish of tangerines. One kept rolling

他只是默默地吃著桔子。

till the end of the story.

他窗臺上的桔子皮愈積愈厚。

But he can’t name the author.

He simply eats the tangerine in silence.

他終於想起了小時候的醫院床頭

The peels on his windowsill rise higher.

擺放著的那幾個桔子，

那是母親不知從什麼地方給他弄來的；

At last an image comes, several tangerines,

弟弟嚷嚷著要吃，媽媽不讓，

in childhood, placed near his hospital bed.

是他分給了弟弟；

His mother had found them somewhere.

但最後一個他和弟弟都捨不得吃，

Though his little brother begged one, mother refused.

一直擺放在床頭櫃上。

He shared, but neither

would eat the last tangerine,

（那最後一個桔子，後來又怎樣了呢？）

which stayed on the night stand.

整個冬天他就這樣吃著桔子，

Who knows what became of it?

尤其是在下雪天，或灰濛濛的天氣裏；

他吃得特別慢，彷彿

So he eats tangerines all winter,

他有的是時間，

especially on snowy days, gray days.

彷彿，他在吞食著黑暗；

He eats slowly, as if

他就這樣吃著、剝著桔子，擡起頭來，

there’s plenty of time,

窗口閃耀雪的光芒。

as if he’s devouring darkness.

He eats, peels, and when he lifts his head,

snow glitters at the window.